Patent ID: 7746884

Claim:
A communications gateway, comprising: an input/output port to receive an input signal from a first twisted pair of wires from a source external to a building housing the communications gateway; a switch that includes a first selectable switch position associated with an analog telephone and a second selectable switch position associated with a voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephone; a combining module; an analog telephone adapter to receive the input signal from the input/output port, to separate a first voice signal from the input signal, and to route the first voice signal through the combining module to a second twisted pair of wires for distribution to one or more locations within the building when the first selectable switch position is selected; a coaxial cable adapter to receive the input signal from the input/output port, to separate a data signal from the input signal and to separate a second voice signal from the input signal, to route the data signal to a coaxial cable for distribution to one or more locations within the building, and to route the second voice signal to the combining module; and a firewall module between the input/output port and the analog telephone adapter and the coaxial cable adapter, the firewall module to protect one or more devices coupled to the second twisted pair of wires and one or more devices coupled to the coaxial cable, wherein the combining module comprises: a first input to receive the second voice signal from the coaxial cable adapter; and a second input to receive a second signal, wherein the second signal includes the first voice signal when the first selectable switch position is selected, and wherein the second signal includes the input signal when the second selectable switch position is selected; wherein the combining module is operable to combine the second voice signal and the second signal to generate a combined signal and to couple the combined signal to the second twisted pair of wires, and wherein when the second selectable switch position is selected, the input signal bypasses the analog telephone adapter and the firewall module.