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I recently moved into a new place (rental) and I'm wondering if the following is possible. There's a single coaxial cable that powers the internet connection. It is currently hooked up to a modem provided by the ISP, which we connect to wirelessly. There are other tenants in building that use this same connection.

I have a Unifi Dream Machine AP that I'd like to use. I've plugged this directly into the modem of the ISP and it works fine right now. But, I've been running into problems with port forwarding, etc as the modem is not in bridge mode since there are other users of it. I'm also concerned about performance, and generally would like to skip the existing modem middleman.

I'm wondering if it's possible to use a splitter on the existing Coaxial cable, having one end go to the modem (as is done currently), and have the other go to my access point to run a different wireless network. The only thing there is that I would need to convert the Coaxial to Ethernet, which seems possible to do through a MOCA adapter. Is there any issues with two different networks using one Coaxial cable (performance, or otherwise)?

Thank you very much!

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    This probably won’t work since the ISP would have to whitelist two devices
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jan 18, 2021 at 1:50
  • You are using a shared internet service for your building... If you need anything more than they provide, you are better off to get your own dedicated Internet service connected up.
    – acejavelin
    Commented Jan 18, 2021 at 1:56

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If I correctly understand what you're asking, then the short answer is No, you can't do what you're asking. A MoCA adapter is a very different device than a cable modem, and what it sounds like you want is actually a second cable modem.

Cable TV providers use a protocol called "DOCSIS" to provide internet service via their coaxial cable infrastructure. DOCSIS works by sending data over spare TV channel frequencies below about 1GHz. A cable modem is the device that connects to a DOCSIS ISP over coaxial cables, and then provides an Ethernet LAN port so you can connect your home LAN to the Internet via that DOCSIS ISP's network.

MoCA is a completely different technology for sending LAN traffic over coax. It purposely only uses frequencies well above 1GHz, so that it can share the same coax cables in your home without interfering or interacting in any way with DOCSIS or cable TV channels. It's a way to connect LAN devices in one part of your home to LAN devices in another part of your home, by way of cable TV coax you already have, to save the hassle of installing Ethernet cabling in the walls.

If you want another box that talks directly to your DOCSIS ISP over coax, you would need a DOCSIS cable modem, not a MoCA adapter. You would also need your DOCSIS ISP to authorize that second cable modem, which may mean additional service fees.

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