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please double check my moca set up

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Brett Stimpson

Occasional Visitor
I have the following equipment:
comcast cable- no tv service
Arris Modem SB6141
Google wifi mesh
3 Actiontec moca 2.5 adapters

My set up which is working.
cable in from comcast with POE filter to Ideal #85-132 5Mhz-1Ghz spliter (2)4db out
1- out to office/ then 2 way splitter/ one end going to arris modem other end going to moca adapter/ google wifi router puck/ 4 port switch.
2- out to another spliter/ one end going to basement moca adapter/ google wifi puck and the other end going to family room moca adapter /google wifi puck

its working, but is it correct? I tried to buy this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QF5SHHC/?tag=snbforums-20
but it made two pucks turn red and not work.
Which switch would allow me to connect all my cables together? this way the house would be outfitted for moca in other rooms not currently used.
i have a box next to the fuse panel where they terminated all the coax lines together. They were originally hooked to this , what i think is a power amplifier for UHF signals for over the air tv? The previous owner does have a large antena in the attic. He also had satelite but im only using internet with roku.
 
I have the following equipment:
comcast cable- no tv service
Arris Modem SB6141
Google wifi mesh
3 Actiontec moca 2.5 adapters

My set up which is working.
cable in from comcast with POE filter to Ideal #85-132 5Mhz-1Ghz spliter (2)4db out
1- out to office/ then 2 way splitter/ one end going to arris modem other end going to moca adapter/ google wifi router puck/ 4 port switch.
2- out to another spliter/ one end going to basement moca adapter/ google wifi puck and the other end going to family room moca adapter /google wifi puck

its working, but is it correct? I tried to buy this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QF5SHHC/?tag=snbforums-20
but it made two pucks turn red and not work.
Which switch would allow me to connect all my cables together? this way the house would be outfitted for moca in other rooms not currently used.
i have a box next to the fuse panel where they terminated all the coax lines together. They were originally hooked to this , what i think is a power amplifier for UHF signals for over the air tv? The previous owner does have a large antena in the attic. He also had satelite but im only using internet with roku.

An 8 way splitter with no amplification is cutting your signal by over 90%. Then you're running it to a 2 way splitter that cuts that remaining few percent in half again. That is why those two pucks went red, basically no signal left for them to use. I'm assuming the Arris modem was offline or getting extremely slow speed also. There is a good reason you'll rarely see a good name brand 8 way splitter that has no amp built in, it is basically useless. Then once you put the 2 port on top of that, you had no chance.

Wiring every room to a coax splitter port is not something you can do, this isn't ethernet with active switching. If it was just for TV you could do it with an amplifier, but this is for high bandwidth 2-way data, which does not play well with amps generally. It can be done but it would be expensive and probably not the best performance. You'll see 90% of the time when the cable companies do use an amplifier, they put it on the TV portion only, and the modem bypasses it.

If you want ethernet in every room/many rooms you have a few options, in order of best to worst:
1. Run ethernet wire
2. Move Arris router/modem to basement, put an ethernet switch in the basement, use MOCA adapters to convert each coax run to ethernet. Plug all those ethernets and the modem/router LAN into the switch. You can still have your switch in the office and put switches in any other room where needed, daisy chaining switches is fine (to a point). To be clear, in this solution, each coax connects only to the MOCA adapter on each end. No splitters, no connectivity between the coax cables at all. They just become individual home runs, and only get connected together on the ethernet side of the adapters.
3. Try powerline adapters to do the same thing - hit or miss, probably about the same cost as MOCA and not as good performance/more problematic.

There are other options like wifi bridges or just using wifi, but we're talking about hardwiring so I'm not listing those as it sounds like you want hardwired?

Possibly some other options using a combination of MOCA and splitters and switches but need to know more specifics on your needs and wiring.

I'd also replace those Ideal splitters with good Extreme branded ones which are -3.5 per port on a 2 port splitter. They are cheap and readily available, Xfinity will give them to you (branded with their name but same thing). But if you do option 2 above, you really don't need a splitter anymore, just plug modem directly into the feed from outside.

The amplifier you are seeing could be for the antenna but it could also be from the cable company. It should say on it what it is for. I wouldn't try to use it regardless as they are only for one-way TV signals typically.

What is the POE filter for? Sounds like it is for that amp that is there probably, if it isn't needed, take it out of the line. Comcast hasn't run POE for quite some time but I guess your house could still have it, you'd know because you'd have a grey telephone box on the outside of your house and the cables would be labeled with a warning that they have power on them. Typically they put the POE filter on the outside of the house before it even comes inside. But you may want to check with them to be sure before removing it, it probably isn't hurting too much.
 
Thanks for the help Drinking bird.
Your help setting up option 2 would be preferred. I have 3 locations that are necessary for me ( office, family room tv, basement tv) the other rooms would just be future proofing for another owner but optional. 5 bedroom home.
I thought the POE filter was required to not let your moca network escape back into the cable company causing interference, but thats a novice trying to understand various forum posts. So its not necessary anymore with comcast internet?

So you are saying best option is 6 moca adapters?
all terminating from coax into ethernet into a switch connected to the modem in the control room?
would a power amplipher 8 way with one moca adapter to 3 at the other end work? I guess my thinking was that way is future proofing because if i needed to add another bedroom just add the moca adapter.

I purchased this home 4 years ago and have been renovating and updating everything.
I will attach links to photo to show this mess better. just trying to get consisten faster internet for streaming 4k .
back of device i think this was for his over the air antena. he was big into watching baseball in his basement bar in the 90's.
front of device
old phone lines
control space

lastly running ethernet is always preffered for the future but as DIY with some skills cant see how to run cable in a finished home to 5 bedrooms, 2 living rooms, and a finished basement. it would take serious wall fishing skills.
 
its working, but is it correct?
Your topology sounds fine, is quite typical for a cable setup, pretty much matching the example diagram I like to throw about.

basic MoCA+cable setup.png

But the specific splitters used could use a rethink. I'd recommend swapping for splitters optimized for MoCA 2.x, especially the secondary splitter where port hopping would be more necessary. (You'd probably want to stick with the split-level splitter hierarchy at the central junction, so long as the cable Internet signal needs to be passed, to ensure the best possible signal is delivered to the cable modem.)

That said, if looking to rework your coax lines to optimize the setup, you might want to also consider, and possibly address, the encroachment of the DOCSIS spec into the MoCA [Band D] frequency range. (The conditional rationale for the "protective" MoCA filter in the above example diagram, an effective near-term workaround in most cases.) As for a longer-term solution, do you have just the one coax line between the central coax junction and your office? Ideally, the ISP/modem feed could be wholly isolated from the MoCA-infused coax, either by using a separate, isolated coax line, by moving the modem to where the isolation would be possible, or getting creative to find/create an alternate path (perhaps by borrowing a coax outlet on a shared wall in an adjacent room).
 
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I thought the POE filter was required to not let your moca network escape back into the cable company causing interference, but thats a novice trying to understand various forum posts. So its not necessary anymore with comcast internet?
The "PoE" MoCA filter *IS* necessary/required, at least for the topology that you describe. The prior reply appeared to misunderstand the "POE" acronym, understandable given its many iterations. (point-of-entry, Power Over Ethernet, Purity of Essence, ...)
 
Your topology sounds fine, is quite typical for a cable setup, pretty much matching the example diagram I like to throw about.

View attachment 48203

But the specific splitters used could use a rethink. I'd recommend swapping for splitters optimized for MoCA 2.x, especially the secondary splitter where port hopping would be more necessary. (You'd probably want to stick with the split-level splitter hierarchy at the central junction, so long as the cable Internet signal needs to be passed, to ensure the best possible signal is delivered to the cable modem.)

That said, if looking to rework your coax lines to optimize the setup, you might want to also consider, and possibly address, the encroachment of the DOCSIS spec into the MoCA [Band D] frequency range. (The conditional rationale for the "protective" MoCA filter in the above example diagram, an effective near-term workaround in most cases.) As for a longer-term solution, do you have just the one coax line between the central coax junction and your office? Ideally, the ISP/modem feed could be wholly isolated from the MoCA-infused coax, either by using a separate, isolated coax line, by moving the modem to where the isolation would be possible, or getting creative to find/create an alternate path (perhaps by borrowing a coax outlet on a shared wall in an adjacent room).
Thanks Krkaufman. I can set it up exactly like the diagram.
i can move the modem to the basement and run it on a seperate line as you show to isolate the modem.
then i just need one more moca adapter for a total of 4.
moca 2.5 splitters - 2)2 way, 1) 3way.
1- more POE filter - any recommendation there?
sound right?

all that signal splitting doesnt degrade the speed? no need for an amplipher?
 
future proofing for another owner
I wouldn't get too hung-up on this, depending on the timeframe for "future." You're just as likely to have someone oblivious to your efforts or who'd consider coax only useful as a possible means of pulling new Cat9 cabling runs.

But on the future-proofing front, you hadn't mentioned anything about telephone service or telephone outlets. Do you have landline-ish phone service, through a phone provider or your Internet service? Do you have any unused telephone jacks at/near your current modem/router location?

'gist: If you do NOT have phone service but DO have a phone jack near the modem/router, you might pull that phone jack wallplate to inspect the cabling used for the phone jack line. In many homes built over the last 20 years, installers used Cat5+ cabling, potentially allowing for reworking the lines for networking. Being able to do so even for the single outlet at the modem/router location would go a long way to optimizing and future-proofing your setup.
 
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yes this entire house is wired for landlines. not in use. i will pull the wiring and see what i can learn. not sure if you saw but i have a link in a post further up labeled old phone lines showing where they terminate in the control space just above the cable control box. i will be back with more info.

you make a great point though. what possible use for old phone lines? why not use them to pull cat9?
 
i can move the modem to the basement and run it on a seperate line as you show
Doesn't your current topology already follow the example diagram, with the modem & router in the Office location?

cable in from comcast with POE filter to Ideal #85-132 5Mhz-1Ghz spliter (2)4db out
1- out to office/ then 2 way splitter/ one end going to arris modem other end going to moca adapter


If you can move the modem & router to the basement, and are OK with the Office only being serviced via a MoCA link, the optimum solution would have the modem direct-connected to the incoming cable provider feed, wholly isolated from the MoCA-infused coax, similar to the example below, leaving you with just a single splitter needed to interconnect the MoCA nodes.
isolated modem sans TV.png

NOTE: The "PoE" MoCA filter (capped w/ a 75-ohm terminator), not required in this configuration for isolating/securing the MoCA signals, is employed in this topology to retain the reflective performance benefit.​
 
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my current set up does match your original diagram.
Right! ...
Which switch would allow me to connect all my cables together?
... and as mentioned in my initial reply, all you'd likely need to do is use right-sized splitters that are optimized for MoCA 2.x, sticking with your original topology (to maintain DOCSIS signal strength enroute to the modem).
  • (2x) 2-way splitters (top-level and modem location)
  • (1x) 4-way splitter (secondary splitter servicing MoCA-only locations)
  • (2x) 75-ohm terminators ... to cap the currently unused coax ports/outlets
NOTE: The Antronix MMC1000 series splitters are a recommended option.

The SB6141 has a built-in "MoCA immunity filter," so doesn't require any additional protection from MoCA signals. If/when you upgrade the modem and the new modem exhibits instability, you could try a 70 dB MoCA filter installed directly on its coax port, as a prophylactic, or look at getting the ISP/modem feed isolated from the MoCA-infused coax.
 
ok changed all links to public so should be veiwable now.
First, recapping the MoCA setup side of things ...
* Your orig OP topology is fine, just needs MoCA-optimized splitters and, optionally, the secondary splitter adjusted to service more MoCA-only outlets.
* Setup could be future-proofed by getting the ISP/modem feed isolated from the MoCA-infused coax ... via several alternate approaches.
* Overall throughput could be max'd using MoCA adapters in pairs, vs the "access point & client" topology ... budget allowing!

Wiring every room to a coax splitter port is not something you can do
So… it actually *is* something you can do, and you’ll find innumerable instances where people have done so… here, on TCF, the HomeNetworking sub-Reddit, etc. … but the how can vary by requirement, conditions and simple preference. Cat5+ drops are much preferred but MoCA can be a great fallback where direct Ethernet connectivity isn’t possible.


Re: images...
* Re: amplifier pics... It would makes sense to remove that amplifer and all unused splitters and jumper lines from the coax junction box, to clean it up.
* Re: phone jack pic ... That cable definitely isn't usable for networking; as you stated, it's just old school POTS (plain old telephone service) cabling. Boo.
* Re: old phone lines (junction) pic... It's hard to tell from the pic whether the pictured cables could possibly be used for networking, as nothing I can see proves them to be authoritatively compatible or incompatible.
  • The cable colors don't match the color of the cable from the 'phone jack' pic: the phone jack cable appears tan (common for POTS cabling) while the cables in the central box appear to be white(?). So I can't use the phone jack pic as a means of judging all the cables connected at the central junction.
  • The cables in the central box are certainly terminated to just RJ11/RJ12 jacks, but that doesn't preclude that the cables, themselves might be 4-pair twisted pair. Further, from what I see in the picture, I'm not sure that all the cables pictured in the central phone junction box are the same cable type. I see one that look flat-ish (row 2, port 1), but all the others appear round.
One thing to do to get more detail, perhaps resolution, would be to see if you can get a better pic of all the text printed on the jacket of any of the cables, a pic for each different cable variation. The 'old phone lines' pic does include some text from one of the cables, but not enough to determine the cable type.

Separately, given the different color between the central phone junction cabling and the cable in the phone jack pic, is there some other junction where the white central cables run that would explain the change in coloring? Or is the photo of the one phone jack somehow the outlier?

Given the pics, the odds seem quite low that they could be networking-compatible, but best to make sure.
 
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couldnt get pictures but here is what i see.
white round = 22 awg type CL2
tan round = 22 awg type CMX
tan flat = 24 awg type CM

i purchased the splitters, should be here friday.
 
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no, but in the there is an extra unfinished hole in the wall in the 3 bedrooms upstairs but not the master bedroom.
there is cat 5e coming out of two of the holes. its clear the homeowner did this. its not finished with a plate.
my guess is he used the same room for an office that i am. He made the holes and dropped cat 5e from the attic so he connect to a switch or modem to hardwire the bedrooms for computers which were his kids rooms in the other two.
basically daisy chaining from the office to two other rooms.
 
no, but in the there is an extra unfinished hole in the wall in the 3 bedrooms upstairs but not the master bedroom.
“in the there”? … in the upstairs?

basically daisy chaining from the office to two other rooms.
There are 2 Cat5+ cables in your Office, with each cable running to one other upstairs bedroom? (So a mini home-run setup from your Office, really, right?) Or is the cabling truly daisy-chained (office > bedroom1 > bedroom2)?

Are there coax outlets in either of these two other bedrooms? If so, the Cat5+ lines from the Office would offer the alternate path necessary to isolate the modem feed from MoCA if/when that becomes necessary[1]. (Modem in Office direct-connected to ISP, with main MoCA adapter connected in either Cat-connected bedroom.)

Example:
isolated modem via alternate path.png

NOTE[1]: Related to DOCSIS encroachment on the MoCA [Band D] frequency range
 
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