MoCA 1.1 and 2.0 adapters

[tc2311]

I have Fios tv/internet/phone. I still have the router they provided me years ago, Actiontec MI424WR Rev. 1 - Gigabit Wifi N-Router.
Doing some reading it shows that this router supports MoCA 1.1, not 2.0. I've looked into MoCA 2.0 adapters, ECB6000 and ECB6200 from Actiontec. They only have two Ethernet ports on each adapter, so I'd be limited to wiring my TV and Roku or Blu-Ray player. Can I take advantage of the newer MoCA 2.0 speeds with these adapters, since my router is only MoCA 1.1? Or, what do I need to get MoCA 2.0?

The Fios router is located on the first floor. Upstairs I have an Actiontec Extender, WCB3000N. It's a dual-band N-extender with 2 Ethernet ports. It only works well in the room it's in, for the most part.
I'd like to upgrade to wireless-AC, and buy a reasonably priced AC router (Asus, Netgear, etc.), but I'd still have to use the Fios router as my main router. Fios has a MoCA 2.0 AC1750 router, but it's $200.
Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[tc2311]

The MoCA 2.0 adapters I referenced only have 1 ethernet port on each adapter, not two.
I'm not sure if a MoCA 2.0 adapter is an upgrade to the MoCA 1.1 dual band N-extender I already have. There are two ethernet ports on my Actiontec extender. I hard wired with ethernet my TV and Roku to it. Would this be the same setup as using a ECB6000 or ECB6200 but with only 1 device hard wired to one adapter?

If I buy an AC router to use as an AP in my room, then I think I'd need one of the MoCA adapters to get my new router (not MoCA) on my network.
Sorry for my confusion.

 

[tc2311]

Is anyone out there to help?

 

[degrub]

A sketch of your coax and ethernet layout would help make it clear what you have and what you want to do. Include splitters and their frequency rating as well. It would also help you/us understand what you need to change to upgrade.

What's your cable data rate maximum ?

 

[tc2311]

Thanks for your response, degrub.
I have a coax connection in each room in my house. I'm not wired for ethernet. My ONT is outside and wired with coax. My router is on the first floor in a corner of the room, closest to the ONT outside. There's a MoCA 2.0 two-way splitter from the wall coax, one end to a Fios set top box, the other end to a mi424wr rev. I Actiontec router (MoCA 1.1) that I need for my set top boxes (video on demand, guides).
On the second floor in my room, I have a coax from the wall into another MoCA 2.0 splitter. One end to a Fios set top box, the other end to a Actiontec wcb3000n N-dual band extender.
How do I find my cable data rate maximum?
If MoCA 2.0 provides me wired speeds that I can realistically tell the difference, I'd like to explore that.
Upgrading to AC wireless is another goal, whether it's through a third party router as an Access Point or Bridge, or through the newer AC Fios gateway (g1100).

 

[degrub]

What issue are you trying to solve ? Since you have to use the verizon router, you will be stuck at moca 1.1 speeds which is fine for almost all applications. You should be able to overlay moca 2 over the same cable unless you have a dvr or sat or non moca 2 bi directionsl splitters. Search the other threads here.

What down/up bandwidth rates are you buying from verizon ?

What does your cable layout look like ? A star - single runs to each room from the central point ?
Or a couple chains off the central point ?
Need this map to know what your options are short of replacing the router. The router may be a throttle point anyway. If you are only streaming a couple HD movies and gaming at the same time you probably won't saturate the network cable, but you may the router if you have ips and other filtering on.

If you have a couple independent chains you may be able to create a separate moca 2 backbone and tie it into your router.

If you only want to upgrade the wireless in the one area you could add a 5 port unmanaged switch to the extender and plug in the existing 2 devices to it. Add an AC WAP and turn off its 2.4 ghz radio or just replace the extender to the AC version if it will downgrade to 1.1 moca.

 

[tc2311]

I know very little about networking.
Since I'm connected through coax with a MoCA 1.1 Fios provided router, I was trying to determine if I could try to take advantage of MoCA 2.0 speeds through the coax connections in my house.
Fios offers a Quantum Gateway, which is MoCA 2.0. It's AC1750. Not sure if you know about it, but it looks decent.
I have 3 STBs, 1 digital adapter, and a MRDVR, and I'm almost positive they are MoCA 1.0 or 1.1. I pay for 50/50 bandwith from Fios.
In my basement, there are a lot of coax cables running along the ceiling, but I wouldn't know where to begin to give you a mental sketch of it. There is a 4-way coax splitter not far from where the ONT was installed outside the house, but that splitter was there when I had another ISP. On the opposite side of the basement is one 2-way splitter. I don't see any other splitters.

There are 3 iPhones, 2 IPads, Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, iMac, PC, etc. No gaming devices, but quite a bit of streaming HD video.

The 4-5 yr old Actiontec router works well downstairs, but it's an N300 single band
N-router. Upstairs in my room where I connected the Actiontec extender by coax via 2-way splitter, it works good in my room, but it's not AC, only dual band N. When I leave my room, range and speed really suffer, and that's like only 15-20 ft away from the extender.

I think good AC wireless is most important to me right now, but I'm not sure if I should 1) replace my main router with Fios' AC router, and disconnect my current router and extender (wouldn't be needed?), 2) buy an Asus, Netgear, etc. AC router and set it up as a AP in my room upstairs, leaving my current Fios router as the main one. If I do the 2nd option, do I need to buy a MoCA to Ethernet adapter to connect a third party router in or will my current extender already serve that purpose? The wcb3000n extender has two Gig E ports, and it's MoCA 1.1. The AC extender version is not even available through Fios yet. On Amazon it's $180+, which seems ridiculous. That's why a good AC router (Fios or 3rd party) sounds like a better, more cost effective option. The Fios Gateway AC router is cheaper on eBay and Amazon.
In my room I'd prefer to hard wire by cat5e my TV, Roku. The new router or extender would be split from the main coax with my Fios set top box.

 

[degrub]

If you just want to add AC at your room, buy a 5 port unmanaged gigabit switch and add a cheap wireless router or AP. Turn off the N radio in the extender. No need to replace it.

The MOCA 1.1 bandwidth is more than sufficient for the FIOS 50 mbit bandwidth. You might see issues if too many HD streams are running. Where it is easy to choke is on wireless because it is a more complicated situation. This may be a useful link for you.

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/verizonfios/3.0_Networking#12506

Are all of the devices except the mobile ones on wired conections ?

On one of your ipads, get the airport utility from the Apple app store. It is free. You can do a simple wireless survey with it.

Are each of your wireless configured to auto select a channel or are they fixed channel ?

Your house has two ssids, correct ? Or do you use just one ssid common for both ?

Make a map of your house by floor large enough to take clear notes on. Indicate inside walls and if they have brick or something other than sheetrock. Plaster or brick or solid wood walls can attenuate radio signals significantly.

About when was the house built ?

Walk around the house to all of the spots where you want wireless coverage. Go to different spots and for each ssid, write down the ssid, the channel used, and the signal strength shown on the airport utility wireless scan. A 20 second scan should be enough. Note any other ssids showing up from your neighbors, the channel and signal strength as well. From this it may be obvious if there is channel interference between ssids. Any reading above 75db should not be a major issue. Anything below 70 may be causing conflict. Any reading for your ssids above 65 may indicate insufficient signal. Then you may be able to find a different channel for each of your ssids. Channel 1 or 6 or 11 are generally good choices. 6 is a default for many radios.

Down in your basement, make a map on a piece of paper starting from the optical termination to all of the cables and show what cable is connected to what splitter/device. Indicate the individual ports on each splitter. Each cable should have a label indicating where it goes if you are lucky. Otherwise just label them cable A, B, etc. splitter 1, 2, etc. Each splitter should have a cable on each port. If not, make a note if it has a metal cap on the port or not.

All of the above will help you make a smarter choice about what to do.