A system, apparatus, and method to combine radio frequency identification and electronic article surveillance receivers into a single device are described wherein a first selection signal is sent to switch a first switch to a first state to connect a receiver to a first antenna in order to detect a first type of security tag in a first operating mode and a second selection signal is sent to switch the first switch to a second state to connect the receiver to a second antenna to detect a second type of security tag in a second operating mode. Other embodiments are described and claimed.