a base station detects that an end - user has turned on an on / off switch on the base station , and in response , the base station transfers a registration request to a service node over an ip network . the service node processes the registration request to register the base station . the base station exchanges wireless telephony signals with a plurality of end - user communication devices , wherein the wireless telephony signals transport end - user communications . the base station and the service node exchange ip packets over the ip network , wherein the ip packets transport the end - user communications . the service node processes the end - user communications to provide a telephony service to the end - user communication devices , but the service node does not provide the telephony service to end - user communication devices through the base station until the base station registration is complete .