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MOCA and OTA -- can both be run over same cable? are filters needed

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Howard G.

New Around Here
Newbie poster here. with a question on how to make MOCA and OTA antenna work togehter using same whole-house coax wiring

To complete our recent cord cutting from cable TV, I need to add an OTA antenna in my attic. Currently my internet comes from the FIOS box on ethernet to my main router. From my main router I connect via MOCA to an Actiontec WCB6200Q extender in a remote part of the house -- this seems to work very well. Note that both the main modem and the Actiontec extender are both on segments of the whole hose coax cabling that are connected to the "output side of the whole-house splitter in the main panel where all of the coax runs in the house come together.

I plan to connect my antenna in my attic via a currently unused coax segment that also runs to the box. Finally, the ActionTEC extender sits right next to the TV that I want to hook up to the OTA antenna. THis leads me to the following questions:

1. Will the OTA antenna interfere with the MOCA extender or vice-versa?
2. Right now, all of the coax segments in my house terminate on the output side of the whole house splitter. THe only thing on the input side is the cable from FIOS, which is no longer in use. Am I better off just leaving it this way, or should I use a combiner or diplexer to join the segments that will run from the new OTA and the MOCA connection on the main router? If the latter, should I put them on the input side of the whole house splitter? What specific devices would work best?
3. Finally my primary TV and the MOCA extender are co-located at the end of one coax segment. Do I need anything beyond a simple splitter to provide MOCA to the extender and and OTA signals to the TV? If so, what specific devices are needed/recommended?

Thanks in advance to anyone who has guidance to offer. My autistic son, who is addicted to Wheel of Fortune, which is unfortunately very difficult to stream, will be especially grateful if I, with your help, can figure this out.

Howard
 
Newbie poster here. with a question on how to make MOCA and OTA antenna work togehter using same whole-house coax wiring

To complete our recent cord cutting from cable TV, I need to add an OTA antenna in my attic. Currently my internet comes from the FIOS box on ethernet to my main router. From my main router I connect via MOCA to an Actiontec WCB6200Q extender in a remote part of the house -- this seems to work very well. Note that both the main modem and the Actiontec extender are both on segments of the whole hose coax cabling that are connected to the "output side of the whole-house splitter in the main panel where all of the coax runs in the house come together.

I plan to connect my antenna in my attic via a currently unused coax segment that also runs to the box. Finally, the ActionTEC extender sits right next to the TV that I want to hook up to the OTA antenna. THis leads me to the following questions:

1. Will the OTA antenna interfere with the MOCA extender or vice-versa?
2. Right now, all of the coax segments in my house terminate on the output side of the whole house splitter. THe only thing on the input side is the cable from FIOS, which is no longer in use. Am I better off just leaving it this way, or should I use a combiner or diplexer to join the segments that will run from the new OTA and the MOCA connection on the main router? If the latter, should I put them on the input side of the whole house splitter? What specific devices would work best?
3. Finally my primary TV and the MOCA extender are co-located at the end of one coax segment. Do I need anything beyond a simple splitter to provide MOCA to the extender and and OTA signals to the TV? If so, what specific devices are needed/recommended?

Thanks in advance to anyone who has guidance to offer. My autistic son, who is addicted to Wheel of Fortune, which is unfortunately very difficult to stream, will be especially grateful if I, with your help, can figure this out.

Howard
1) No.
2) The whole house splitter must be MOCA 2 compatible. Holland makes very good ones. You can get one with a MOCA POE filter to help the signal or buy a separate MOCA2 POE filter. Disconnect the incoming cable from the splitter and replace with a 75 ohm terminating cap or with the POE filter + cap. Any unused connections should be terminated with these caps.

Is the whole house splitter inside or outside the house ?
If there is an earthing connection to this splitter, it must be maintained on anything you install.
Where is the cable earthed ?
It should be at the demarcation box.

3) If the extender does not have a TV signal pass through port, then yes, a MOCA2 splitter will be required. Again Holland makes these.
4) Since the antenna will be inside the attic, you will need a low noise amp mounted and connected directly to the antenna downlead after the conversion to RG6 cable type. ChannelMaster makes great amps for this.

The best installation for an antenna is as high as you can get and outside. i use the following mounted just under my roof eave.

Make sure you follow NEC ( if US) guidance for earthing antennas to prevent lightning from entering your house / power and causing damage or fire.

You can also use a HDHomeRun tuner box close to the antenna in conditioned air space to distribute the antenna stream digitally over ethernet to any DLNA capable device - TVs, PCs, DVR, etc.
 
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Thank you so much for your helpful response. THe antenna is in and works great -- all that remains is to get it connected to the coax network following your advice.
 
If you only have a couple connections for the OTA signal to pass through, you may not need an amp.

Usually they are necessary. If you can connect the antenna to the coax now, you can test to see if there is adequate signal at the TV. The usual installation for OTA would be a single coax run to the TV with only two connections (at antenna and at TV). More connections than that may require use of an amp. It is 3dB of loss at each coax connection. The input signal from the antenna in the attic is usually heavily degraded due to the roof. When the roof gets wet from rain, it will degrade further.

If not, you have two choices - either an amp at the antenna or possibly a HDHomeRun tuner on the first coax segment from the antenna without any connection to the moca coax. Then you can have the TVs and other devices select the HDHomeRun box as input using DLNA protocols that most smart TVs have.

Start with the lowest gain setting on the amp (if there is a low and a high). See if that is enough. High gain can sometimes oversaturate a tuner producing issues equal to not enough signal. Oversaturation can affect only some of the channels as it is frequency dependent. Usually, you can get an indication of signal level on most smart TVs. If not, try the high gain setting. Usually for a house, the low gain is enough unless there are cable issues or a lot of loss through connections and splitters particularly 4 way or more splitter types.
 
FYI, the roof antenna was really not an option due community rules. Hopefully, it will all go well when I hook it all up -- I'll try w/o the amp first, then get one if needed. I did get the termination caps for the unused outlets, so maybe that will help. One further question. On the 2 -way MOCA 2.0 splitter that I plan to use at the point where the extender and the primary TV are located, it looks to that both of the output ports are marked "power Passthrough" -- is that OK?

Thanks again.
 
you may want to do some internet research on the community roof antenna issue. i believe that we resolved in the favor of the antenna owner a decade or more ago.

Is there a DC power injector on the coax anywhere ?
 
you may want to do some internet research on the community roof antenna issue. i believe that we resolved in the favor of the antenna owner a decade or more ago.

Is there a DC power injector on the coax anywhere ?
no power injector that I am aware of, unless the MOCA extender or the MOCA connection to the main modem supplies it. I f I needed to add an antenna amplifier, that would be powered -- not sure if that power actually goes into the coax.
 
there will be a DC power injector to the amp at the antenna. There is also a DC block included with the amp to place below the injection point or built into the injector, in the coax to prevent the DC current into your coax plant.
 

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