A method of registering a coax network unit (CNU) in a network is performed at an optical-coax unit (OCU). In the method, a first discovery message is broadcasted to a plurality of CNUs. In response, a first registration request is received from a first CNU of the plurality of CNUs. In response to the first registration request, a proxy entity corresponding to the first CNU is implemented in the OCU. A second discovery message is received from an optical line terminal (OLT). In response to the second discovery message, a second registration request is transmitted to the OLT requesting registration of the proxy entity with the OLT.