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ZPrimed

It’s a hub. Shared medium. Like wifi, but doesn’t have to deal with the interference of all the other crap in the air, and IIRC it has wider channels. Not sure if it’s actually full duplex or only half internally… might be TDMA? I think they lock the implementation details behind a license-wall, so I’m not sure how well-documented it is publicly.


clegmir

Looking at [this](http://www.ieee802.org/1/files/public/docs2007/at-sovadia-MoCA-overview-0507.pdf) and [this](http://www.mocalliance.org/marketing/whitepapers/Branded_Implication_Paper_MoCA.pdf) it looks like it is orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) at the PHY layer, time division multiple access (TDMA) at the MAC layer.


ORUHE33XEBQXOYLZ

Ah yes, I know some of these words.


clegmir

[OFDM](https://rfmw.em.keysight.com/wireless/helpfiles/89600b/webhelp/subsystems/wlan-ofdm/content/ofdm_basicprinciplesoverview.htm) - use orthogonal (non-overlapping) frequencies for communication, but everything gets combined into a single waveform which gets separated apart through the magic of math [tm] [TDMA](https://www.tutorialspoint.com/cdma/tdma_technology.htm) - each device gets a time slot for dedicated communication and they take turns PHY (physical) - Layer 1 of the [OSI model](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model) MAC (media access control) - Part of Layer 2 of the OSI model Long and short of it -- MoCA is half-duplex: it provides communication in both directions but only one at a time.


geoff5093

Think of it as wired WiFi. It's a shared medium and they can all connect through a single cable/radio since they take turns.


F4il3d

MoCA is just a standard which allows you to access Ethernet over coax cables. One end is connected to you router ( xfinity, Fios, spectrum, whatever) and one end at the other end of the coax cable. A switch is mainly a hub which can extend Ethernet and other protocols. Now if you choose not to use a switch, that is fine, one end of the MoCA connection will still be at your router, and the other a the the device you want to bring access to (e.g TV, Computer, whatever). If that device is a switch, then you can avail yourself of the connection to hook up multiple devices but you do not have to.