Is my set up correct?

[truoc]

Hi all. We recently had a Comcast tech come and check everything out because of unexpected speed slow downs in the evening time. Upon checking signal levels and all cables, the tech said he was seeing noise in the line. I told him and showed him that I used MOCA adapters and he determined that is where the noise was coming from. This was NOT the problem of unexpected slow downs as we found out by completely bypassing the MOCA setup and hooking directly to the modem. Upon having the tech tell me that there was noise in the line from the MOCA adapter he said he couldn't willingly hook the MOCA adapters back up because of the noise, but left that decision up to me when he left. I have decided to use wifi for now, but I'm wondering if I should just go back to the MOCA's and try them again even though there is noise. I have posted 2 pictures of my setup and tried to make it as clear as possible. First, is my setup correct? Do I have everything hooked up the way it should be? If I don't please let me know what I'm doing wrong. Second, do you think I should hook them back up or just go the wifi route? Third if I do hook them back up should I maybe change the frequency that they are operating at or do they automatically go above or below what frequency the modem signal is in the coax line? Thank you for your time and any recommendation(s) you can provide.

***EDIT***
Actually thinking about this a little bit more I think I have the main room setup wrong, but correct me if I'm wrong please. Is this how it is supposed to be?
http://i.imgur.com/kEEWJMC.jpg

 

[stevech]

hook them back up assuming they make no difference. They shouldn't as the signals are far removed from the highest cable TV signals.

It is possible that a bad MoCA device is making noise in the lower frequencies. I doubt it.

Be sure the tech you get from Cable Co. is trained in and really understands how to assess you cable modem upstream performance. You can often see this yourself by web browsing 192.168.100.1 for most modems. The signal strength page should show downstream (to you) and upstream (to them). The latter is often intermittently too high (like above 50dBmV), due to problems in cable Co's system. The upstream will vary a lot by season, time of day (busy hours are worst), wet weather, etc. The upstream is at about 15-30MHz (very low) and bad cables/splitters/etc. affects this low freq. differently than higher TV channel signals.

If you do have upstream too-high signals now and then, correlated with Internet speed problems occurring, an amplifier with an upstream amp in addition to downstream amp might help. It is necessary in my house due to the old crummy 150 ft. RF59 coax from my attic to the cable co's point of demarcation.

 

[truoc]

hook them back up assuming they make no difference. They shouldn't as the signals are far removed from the highest cable TV signals.

It is possible that a bad MoCA device is making noise in the lower frequencies. I doubt it.

Be sure the tech you get from Cable Co. is trained in and really understands how to assess you cable modem upstream performance. You can often see this yourself by web browsing 192.168.100.1 for most modems. The signal strength page should show downstream (to you) and upstream (to them). The latter is often intermittently too high (like above 50dBmV), due to problems in cable Co's system. The upstream will vary a lot by season, time of day (busy hours are worst), wet weather, etc. The upstream is at about 15-30MHz (very low) and bad cables/splitters/etc. affects this low freq. differently than higher TV channel signals.

If you do have upstream too-high signals now and then, correlated with Internet speed problems occurring, an amplifier with an upstream amp in addition to downstream amp might help. It is necessary in my house due to the old crummy 150 ft. RF59 coax from my attic to the cable co's point of demarcation.

I will keep an eye on it when I hook them back up tomorrow. I think I made an edit when you were typing your reply so you might not have gotten to see my updated setup. Is that the way it should be or should it be set up like my original image?

 

[stevech]

Similar to what I have with old D-Link MoCA.
I'd move the MoCA on the head-end- MoCA box would connect to the wall outlet and the splitter. Makes not a lot of difference.

When I have cable co. tech out, I disconnect the MoCA during the visit so they can't blame that. My various recurring cable TV problems stem from their crummy cable plant operation, not my gear.

 

[truoc]

Similar to what I have with old D-Link MoCA.
I'd move the MoCA on the head-end- MoCA box would connect to the wall outlet and the splitter. Makes not a lot of difference.

When I have cable co. tech out, I disconnect the MoCA during the visit so they can't blame that. My various recurring cable TV problems stem from their crummy cable plant operation, not my gear.

So it should be setup like this correct? Just want to make sure I'm understanding correctly.
http://i.imgur.com/kEEWJMC.jpg

If I'm not understanding it correctly could you spell it out for me? I apologize, but I'm fairly new to MOCA.

Also good idea on unhooking it in the future during tech visits, I will definitely do that.

 

[stevech]

In that revised drawing, I'd move the MoCA adaptor so that is in-line with the coax from the wall outlet and the coax to the splitter.

 

[truoc]

In that revised drawing, I'd move the MoCA adaptor so that is in-line with the coax from the wall outlet and the coax to the splitter.

Steve, thank you for continuing to help me through this. I apologize again if I'm not understanding correctly I just want to make sure I get this hooked up the right way as to cause as little issues as possible. When you say "in-line with the coax from the wall outlet" do you mean attach the MOCA adapter as the very first thing coming out of the wall instead of the splitter? I have attached a Revision 2 showing hopefully what I think you mean. Again thank you so much for sticking with me on this, I appreciate it so much.

 

[stevech]

My guess is this is best... BUT
What is missing in the in-wall, in-attic, in sub-floor, and at your house's demarcation box - wiring- how does the the cable co feed get into the wiring? Splitters in this wiring, etc.

 

[truoc]

My guess is this is best... BUT
What is missing in the in-wall, in-attic, in sub-floor, and at your house's demarcation box - wiring- how does the the cable co feed get into the wiring? Splitters in this wiring, etc.

hmm...all very good questions. We just moved to this new place not too long ago and rent the house so I can't provide all of those details with 100% certainty as I haven't fully explored all of it and I'm not too terribly knowledgeable with how everything is wired. I will have to take a look in the attic and see if there are any splitters as well as on the outside of the house the way it is hooked up. In the mean time I have attached a screenshot of my signal levels before hooking it up the way it is supposed to be in the last picture per your recommendation. I will keep an eye on them, but I think (I'm a newbie) they all look pretty decent? Again, thanks a million for your patience with me and your assistance. It means a lot to me!