MoCa install questions

[tigerfan_9]

My internet service is AT&T Fiber 300. I am wanting to utilize existing coax to improve both wired and wireless internet. I don't have cable tv nor cable internet service connected.

After inspecting the existing wiring:
coax wire is RG6
one splitter in attic with line to each room, needs to be replaced with a MoCa compatible one (holland seems to be the go to). I will be running moca to 3 rooms (front br, living room, office-fiber drop is here).

Question 1: For the splitter do i need a 3 way and put a POE filter and termination cap on the IN and then connect the 2 other rooms to the OUT or do i just need a 2 way splitter and connect each room to the splitter? I wasn't sure on this since I don't have cable connected.


planned setup:

fiber to house -> ONT (attic) -> ethernet -> AT&T GATEWAY (ip passthrough) in office-> EERO PRO -> GOCOAX -> coax -> attic splitter -> coax to living room / front br

living room: coax -> GOCOAX -> EERO PRO -> ethernet -> FIRE TV (or switch if add more devices)
front br: coax -> GOCOAX -> EERO PRO -> ethernet -> FIRE TV (or switch if add more devices)

Question 2: The eero pro has one "extra" lan port (other one used for wired backhaul) so if i'm just wiring one device then i'll connect it direct, but should i need to connect more would it be better to put the switch between the GOCOAX and the EERO or between the EERO and the wired devices?

coax -> GOCOAX -> SWITCH-> EERO PRO
................................................. -> wired device
................................................. -> wired device
or

coax -> GOCOAX -> EERO PRO -> SWITCH -> wired device
.......................................................................... -> wired device

thanks ahead of time.

 

[Trip]

Q1 Answer - Splitter should be MoCa compatible, 4-way (5 total ports), correct. Just leave the "In" port empty, as you have no single-source feed (ie. TV signal). Holland is decent. BAMF is also well-reviewed. If signals are sub-par due to the house being larger and/or line loss, you may want to use a MoCa amplifier splitter with active return, such as the PCT-VC series units, specially the PCT-VC-F14A (4-port) or -F19A (8-port). You can find both on eBay for fairly cheap. They should come with a coaxial power injector AC adapter plus the unit itself. You would then connect the injector to the top left port (power in), and your 4 lines from your MoCa devices to ports 1-4 (or 1-8 for the 8-port model).

Q2 - I'd go coax ---> MoCa adapter ----> Eero ----> Switch -----> Wired Devices. Eero engages in a fair amount of link-layer bandwidth sampling to dynamically adjust its QoS algorithms, and you want as little in the way of the upstream connection as possible, switches included, if you can help it. As far as cascading points of failure goes, I'd give the reliability edge to the unmanaged switch, but considering the first point about Eero, I'd leave Eero first, switch second.

Everything else looks good with the proposed setup, however if you already know you'll have full wired backhaul, you might want to opt for a wire-first AP system, like TP-Link Omada, plus web-managed switch(es) a wired router, for the ability to use differing fronthaul wifi channels per AP, VLANs for segmentation (Private, Guest, IoT, etc.) and much deeper feature set overall. But I can also see the value in wanting to keep it simple, and/or being able to run a node or two via pure wireless mesh if needed with Eero. Could go either way, really, and get good results.

 

[tigerfan_9]

I definitely started going down the worm hole of more intricate systems like Unifi UDM and I saw you mentioned the t-link Omaha in another thread. The APs for the TP system are pretty obtrusive and wouldn’t pass the wife test. I really liked the UDM idea with the hd lite or flex but I read the ceiling mount is best for the lite and that doesn’t really work bc I would need wiring and the flex adds up cost. Your thoughts on mounting orientation of the disk style APs? If I went that route they would be on a self face up. Also, I read the UDM may have some bugs that need to be worked out?

I wouldn’t mind paying more if I was convinced I would utilize the added features over what the eero system would provide. I can certainly be one to pay more to get more but sometimes I talk myself into upgrades that are “better” but may not end up being that needed. I’ve read some but I’m definitely not fully educated on the biggest benefits of going with a more customized system.

I saw a thread with the refurb eero pro on amazon and was thinking of going that route bf I talked myself into the deep end. I just need a system that works for streaming tv, basic internet use and my sons gaming. I’m not doing a lot of heavy lifting at this point.

 

[degrub]

Keep it simple. Avoid G.A.S. infection. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). You have a good wired backhaul plan. Keep devices that can be wired as wired connections. Find APs that will at least meet wireless AC. Antennas radiate mostly to the sides and up from the device. There is also some radiation to the rear of the unit (bottom). So for a downstairs only AP, you want to ceiling mount it to reduce the signal going upstairs. You can also mount or hang it under a shelf with open front, but not ideal. I have a cisco 371 mounted this way covering the back 2/3s of my house. Restrict the bands to 5 GHz only as that will penetrate the ceiling less. Do the same for the upstairs, possible using the ATT box or just an AP attached to your router. You may want to set this one on a desk so most of the signal is going upwards rather than downstairs.

Use POE based APs with a power injector near a plug to reduce cable clutter. The power injectors are inexpensive or you can get them as part of a switch. Just make sure you have plenty of watts above what the AP requires. If separate injector, just buy the high power version.