Need help setting up MoCa for superior speed for upstair room in house

[mominn8266]

Hey guys i need some help. I just upgraded my plan to the 50/20 Fios and now i really want that speed upstairs to my gameroom. Before i had the 10/2 plan where wireless was sufficient (i could get 9mpbs download speed wirelessly everywhere i needed internet using the mi424wr)

But now this crappy (no offense ) router is just not sufficient for the 50mbps download speed. Even if my laptop is RIGHT NEXT to the router, i only get max speed of 20 - 23mpbs download. Whereas if im connected via ethernet, i get the full 50+Mbps download speed. For some reason the upload speed is fine at over 20mpbs. (Anyone has any explanation for this? If other 2.4ghz devices were causing interferences, shouldnt the upload speed be affected also?) And Yes, i have changed the channel to 11 (every other wifi network is on 6)

I also have this hawking high gain antenna connected to the router: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

In any case i feel that MoCa would be a much cheaper and more reliable approach to achieve better speeds compared to buying a wireless n dual band router & adapter

Currently i have the ONT connect to the WAN Router VIA Coax

I also have Dish network for Tv services with the STB upstairs (same room where i want the Ethernet from MoCa to connect to PC,PS3). Not sure if relevent, but the dish is set up so that my downstair tv has acces to Dish tv VIA the coax connected to the STB upstairs. So ONE STB provides TV upstairs AND TV downstairs with dish services via Coax.

There are two jacks for Coax upstairs and only one is in use. I have attached a picture of how it is set up.


From the various articles i have read, this is my understanding of what i should do but of course im a newbie so i need your suggestions. I should add splitter the coax coming out of the ONT and connect one split to the router and the other split to the wall? then upstairs add a splitter to the coax connection from the wall and split one for dish STB and split one for MoCa actiontec which will then be connect to the internet and i could run ethernet from MoCa actiontec to ps3 and PC.



Is that anywhere even close to a working solution or im just dreaming that it would this easy? lol



Thanks for all the help!

 

[CaptainSTX]

My opinion is that this won't work unless you have a coaxial cable available in the area where you want to install the router that isn't being used by the satellite receivers. The frequencies used by satellite and MOCA over lap. MOCA seems to be designed to work when sharing with CATV as CATV only uses 950 Mhz of bandwidth.

Secondly your existing coaxial cable may not be capable of handling MOCA. It needs to be able to handle frequencies higher than CATV. Looking at the picture your coaxial is terminated with crimp fittings (not good and obsolete ). Based on the crimp fittings I am guessing you have RG59 cable which can work, but the recommendation would be to use RG6 capable of handling 3000Mhz.

My suggestions:

1. Run new cables either Ethernet or coaxial.

2. If you can't or won't run new cables try using Ethernet over powerline.

3. Consider replacing the coaxial cable or at least the crimp terminations.

If you send a complete diagram of your current networks perhaps someone can give you other suggestions that will help you accomplish your objective.

 

[thiggins]

I agree with the Captain. MoCA isn't going to work.

I suggest you get a pair of HomePlug AV500 adapters and see what you can get for throughput. Be sure to plug them directly into the wall. Also, get any cellphone chargers or small wall-wart power supplies plugged into a filtered power strip. Cellphone chargers in particular are notorious for reducing powerline networking throughput.

 

[mominn8266]

hmm bummer!

I really wish i could run cat6 or a new coax but unfortunately the owner would not go for it.

Do you guys have any suggestions for decent powerline adapters? and realistically, what kind of speeds do you think i could get with the best powerline adapter?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[thiggins]

Start your research at the Powerline charts. This view is with the adapters in outlets on different floors.

 

[mominn8266]

Thank you

Thank you for that link, it definitely helps pick out which one to go with.

I didnt want to open another thread but had a quick question. My current modem/router is actiontec mi424wr which is ONLY 10/100mbps. If i was to go with a gigabit port powerline adapter, it would not be able to take advantage of the gigabit port on the powerline, correct?

So what would be the cheapest way to get gigabit ethernet to the powerline adapter?

The router is connected to the Fios ONT VIA Coax WAN so If i get another gigabit router and connect that to the actiontec, will i be able to get gigabit speed on the new router which then would connect to the powerline and thus taking advantage of the gigabit port on the powerline?

Or is the gigabit port powerline not a factor with internet download speeds? Would the real time internet download speed be more for the gigabit powerline or would it be the same as fast ethernet powerline?

Thank you!

 

[thiggins]

Gigabit doesn't matter for internet, only local LAN traffic.

Gigabit switch connected to one of the router LAN ports is cheapest way to add Gigabit.

 

[stevech]

RG59 coax will do OK for MoCA.

 

[mominn8266]

Gigabit doesn't matter for internet, only local LAN traffic.

Gigabit switch connected to one of the router LAN ports is cheapest way to add Gigabit.

So technically, i could get a 200mbps powerline adapter and i would get the same speed as the 500mbps powerline adapter at speedtest.net?

Is there a way to test if another coax cable in the room isn't being used by the satellite receivers?

 

[stevech]

the MoCA I've seen allows you to choose a frequency, or it automatically chooses a frequency, so as to not conflict with a satellite feed.

 

[mominn8266]

the MoCA I've seen allows you to choose a frequency, or it automatically chooses a frequency, so as to not conflict with a satellite feed.

The Coax for Fios internet is coming directly from the wall. BUT the ONT for fios is right next to that coax jack, however the only wire visibly coming from the ONT is the power cable for power supply.

Could you please explain step by step on how to set it up? Do i have to add any splitters to where the first router (the one getting the internet from fios Coax) is? Upstairs i have two jacks, one is used by the dish (as seen in the picture) and the other one is unused.

Is that upstairs jack already getting a signal from the Fios Coax or do i have to first do something? If it *should* already be getting a signal from the fios, cant i just unplug the router from downstairs and take it upstairs, plug it in to the coax which is not being used and it should get internet?

Im extremely sorry if all of what im saying sounds really noobish but truth is im learning as im going along.
Thank you so much for the patience

 

[CaptainSTX]

The Coax for Fios internet is coming directly from the wall. BUT the ONT for fios is right next to that coax jack, however the only wire visibly coming from the ONT is the power cable for power supply.

What you are describing is the power supply which is back feeding electrical power back to your homes interface where the signal coming to the home is transferred from fiber to coax. It has nothing to do with your network except powering the interface which is probably mounted in your basement or perhaps on the outside of your home. Never seen a Fios installation up close.

The router or modem on the second floor is where you would plug in an AP, power over Ethernet adapter, MOCA adapter or a switch. How many available Ethernet LAN ports are available at this location/device?

As for trying to hook up a MOCA adapter on existing coax you will have to tone the line and trace it from one end to the other and see exactly what devices if any are attached, if there are any splitters and if there are replace them if they aren't rated for the bandwidth you need. If there are any diplexers from Dish you probably can't use the line. While you are checking the coax replace the crimped on f-fittings so as to deliver the best signal possible.

As Tim said power over Ethernet is your best solution if you can't run new cables. This technology, just as is WiFi, is over hyped by the marketing departments of the manufacturers. Just as it is very unlikely that anyone can get 450Mbps downloads with WiFi, it is is just as unlikely to get that magnitude of speed with Ethernet over powerline. What you should get is a more stable link than WiFi provides right out of the box. Power over Ethernet is plug and play with no settings other than a security code.

Purchase a pair of Ethernet over powerline adapters from someplace where you can easily return them if they don't work for you.

 

[mominn8266]

Got the new mi424wr REV I router

after bitching to verizon about wireless speeds they proposed to send another router. At first they tried selling the rev I router for $80! Luckily i got the REV I as a replacement with gigabit ports and wireless N. Although that helped with speeds downstairs (now getting full 50mpbps down if in the same room), upstairs speeds are still horrible. So i plan on getting the TL-PA511KIT to test what kind of speeds i get with this powerline.

My question is, if i get good enough speeds, can i use the other router as a bridge / extender to increase the range of wireless network upstairs? They did not request to send the old router back so i do plan on using it as a switch anyways but if its possible to expand the wireless range this way, i figured why not make the most use out of it.

Thank you for all the help.

 

[mominn8266]

Network COMPLETED

FINALLY my network is completed. I am now getting 55+mbps download and 30+mbps upload for my upstairs computer.

I have used the powerline adapter TRENDnet TPL-308E2K Powerline 200 AV Nano Adapter Kit connected to my rev i mi424wr.
Upstairs i connected the second powerline adapter to the older rev mi424wr and disabled the DHCP and changed the router ip address.

Thank you everyone for all the help, could not have done it without your help!

Also, if you think i should change some other settings in the router to make it better, please let me know! thanks.

 

[Gronnie]

There are actually MOCA solutions for satellite homes now, too.

http://forums.solidsignal.com/showt...-computer-anywhere-you-have-a-satellite-cable