Patent ID: 6928576

Claim:
A backup gateway apparatus operating on a home network, comprising: a home net communicator selectively connected to a peripheral device; an outside connection communicator selectively connected to an Internet service provider and connected to a primary gateway apparatus, the primary gateway apparatus performing a routing operation, an application conversion, and a protocol conversion between the peripheral device and the Internet service provider; a routing table that stores an address of the peripheral device and an address of the Internet service provider; and a controller configured to transmit a Route Information Protocol (RIP) to the primary gateway apparatus, to update the routing table based on a response to the RIP from the primary gateway apparatus, to determine that the primary gateway apparatus is malfunctioning when the response to the RIP is not detected for a predetermined time, to perform the routing operation between the peripheral device and the Internet service provider based on the updated routing table without performing the application conversion and the protocol conversion when it is determined that the primary gateway apparatus is malfunctioning, to determine that the primary gateway apparatus is no longer malfunctioning when the response to the RIP is received from the primary gateway apparatus after it was determined that the primary gateway apparatus has malfunctioned, and to terminate the routing operation when it is determined that the primary gateway apparatus is no longer malfunctioning, the primary gateway apparatus thereafter re-starting the routing operation, the application conversion, and the protocol conversion between the peripheral device and the Internet service provider.