Ok to extend MoCA through switch?

[JeffL]

I'm assuming that a segment of coax with a MoCA adapter at each end should logically be thought of as nothing more than a cat6 cable. So given that... I have a home wired network. Almost 300' away from the house I have outbuilding A (with coax running between the two). In building A I want to place a switch with a couple IP security cameras on it. I'll put MoCA adapters at both ends of this coax connecting it to my home network. Now... about 275' further from building A I have building B (also with coax running between A and B). I'd like to place MoCA adapters at both ends of this coax and connect building B to the switch in building A.

Is there any reason why this won't work? I know you can't extend MoCA distance by connecting one adapter to another (in this case using 3 adapters). But hooking two separate MoCA networks on a common switch (with 4 adapters) should be ok right? Thanks for your help!

 

[stevech]

yes, once the MAC layer packets are translated from MoCA/RF to IEEE 802.3 copper media, it's a layer 2 topic, and any Ethernet switch should work. I have my MoCA device connected to a cheap switch to support a computer, HDTV w/etherent (for Netflix), Blueray DVD and an RS232 to ethernet adapter, in the home "theater" setup. No WiFi (yeah!) needed for those devices.

 

[JeffL]

I can confirm now that the setup I described above works fine. I've got a NAS sitting in building B and sending a 10GB file from the home office to the NAS that involves a total of 4 switches and two MoCA segments (with one of the switches in between) totaling nearly 600'. I'm averaging about 83 Mb/s. This is plenty for some IP security cameras in those remote sites. Very happy with MoCA. This will be a much more robust and dependable setup then wireless.

 

[stevech]

83Mbps is excellent for MoCA.

 

[JeffL]

83Mbps is excellent for MoCA.

Ya I was pretty happy with that especially given the distance. Most of the 600' is RG11 which is lower loss than RG6. So maybe that helps.

 

[stevech]

With MoCA, a decent signal strength will yield max data rate, whereas power-line IP has to degrade from noise and attenuating things on the power line ("signal suckers").