Preparing to buy a set of MoCA 2.5 adapters...

[OzarkEdge]

I'm about to order a set of ScreenBeam MoCA 2.5 adapters ECB7250:

Amazon.com: ScreenBeam Bonded MoCA 2.5 Network Adapter for Highest Speed Internet, Ethernet Over Coax - Starter Kit (Model: ECB7250K02)

ScreenBeam appears to be a retail outlet for Actiontec(?), so I'm assuming these adapters are nearly the same/good as Actiontex ECB7250s sold to ISPs, etc. (not available in the retail channel). 'Good as' including Actiontec-sourced firmware and documentation. These adapters (Actiontec) appear to use the latest MaxLinear MxL93712 chipset.

Application will be over coax dedicated to MoCA and two OTA TV antennas (coupled and preamped; no cable modem/DOCSIS signaling). I plan to add two POE/LPF/MoCA filters, one at each end to stop the MoCA signal from reaching the preamp/coupler/antennas and the TV/AVR tuners.

A few concerns:

o Any feedback on the ScreenBeam adapter choice?

o Any suggestions for sourcing the MoCA filters? The goCoax filters look good: OT-LPF-1002 | goCoax

o Can I inject the antenna preamp power at the media center end of the MoCA run (like I'm doing now), or should I place it beyond the MoCA filter at the antenna end, just below the preamp?

o I assume I can use a non-MoCA splitter beyond the MoCA filter at the media center end(?)

Thanks for any advice!

OE

 

[degrub]

DC power injector for the TV pre-amp will see some additional line loss going through two splitters, assuming they will pass DC ( i assume so) . My injector is directly off the coax from the pre-amp to minimize voltage drop before the TV signal passes to the MOCA modem AUX/TV coax connection.

which legs of the splitter are connected to what on each end ?
Looks like an additional 7-8 dB of insertion loss for the TV signal with two splitters in line.

 

[OzarkEdge]

DC power injector for the TV pre-amp will see some additional line loss going through two splitters, assuming they will pass DC ( i assume so) . My injector is directly off the coax from the pre-amp to minimize voltage drop before the TV signal passes to the MOCA modem AUX/TV coax connection.

I may move the preamp power to the preamp end since I am adding some splitter attenuation.

which legs of the splitter are connected to what on each end ?
Looks like an additional 7-8 dB of insertion loss for the TV signal with two splitters in line.

Yep.

Splitter inputs are from the TV antennas.

OE

 

[degrub]

you might have to be careful in the TV signal path with the orientation of the splitter, if i am remembering my rf correctly, as the spec indicated substantual return loss in the 5-1000 MHz range. But i may be misremembering these days.

Check the specs on the DC injector. It may already have significant filtering on the reverse path to the antenna.

 

[OzarkEdge]

you might have to be careful in the TV signal path with the orientation of the splitter, if i am remembering my rf correctly, as the spec indicated substantual return loss in the 5-1000 MHz range. But i may be misremembering these days.

Check the specs on the DC injector. It may already have significant filtering on the reverse path to the antenna.

Will do. I was wondering about splitter INs and OUTs... I guess I'll orient them for the TV signal 'flowing' to the tuners.

OE

 

[krkaufman]

ScreenBeam appears to be a retail outlet for Actiontec(?), so I'm assuming these adapters are nearly the same/good as Actiontex ECB7250s sold to ISPs, etc. (not available in the retail channel). 'Good as' including Actiontec-sourced firmware and documentation. These adapters (Actiontec) appear to use the latest MaxLinear MxL93712 chipset.

Used to be. I think it’s more that ScreenBeam was spun-off from Actuontec; last I checked, Actiontec’s ECB7250A appeared to be a rebranding of a goCoax adapter.

 

[krkaufman]

Any suggestions for sourcing the LPF filters? The goCoax filters look good: OT-LPF-1002 | goCoax

I prefer 70 dB MoCA filters for OTA scenarios, to fully snuff the MoCA signal. (edit: annoyingly, Amazon’s raised the price on these recently)

 

[OzarkEdge]

I prefer 70 dB MoCA filters for OTA scenarios, to fully snuff the MoCA signal. (edit: annoyingly, Amazon’s raised the price on these recently)

Thanks for the tip! I will consider those filters... they do have a scrunch more insertion loss.

OE

 

[OzarkEdge]

Actiontec’s ECB7250A appeared to be a rebranding of a goCoax adapter.

I'm not feeling that.

I like goCoax at face value but they just don't have enough presence for my money. I don't like white boxes... big mistake, imo, for trying to establish a beachhead market unless that market is Apple users... which doesn't equate since MoCA networking has many potential pitfalls compared to Ethernet... it's like WiFi with cables!

OE

 

[degrub]

ya should have worked with the original ethernet cable ! We became professional vampires. No Buffy, fortunately ;-)

 

[OzarkEdge]

ya should have worked with the original ethernet cable ! We became professional vampires. No Buffy, fortunately ;-)

I worked with arcnet and Netware!

OE

 

[degrub]

close enough :-D

 

[OzarkEdge]

My AiMesh now has a MoCA 2.5 wired backhaul shared with two TV antennas.

I purchased a couple ScreenBeam MoCA 2.5 starter kits ECB7250K02 (Amazon.com; beware the older ECB6250... its RJ-45 port is not 2.5GbE). Kit includes two PicoLINK MoCA 2-way splitters (MoCA compliant, bi-directional, 5-1675 Mhz 6kV, coax ports are -3.5 dB; not used).

And I purchased two PPC/Belden MoCA 70dB Filters GLP-1G70CWWS (Amazon.com; Silicon weather seal; not used).

My network segments by location (ISP coax is kept separate from MoCA+TV coax):

Deck (no power)
o demarc for electric, cable, and telephone service
o wiring hub for house coax and tel cabling
<coax from ISP> grounding block coupler, bonded to Earth Ground <coax to Study>
<coax from Living Room Media Center IN> SAT TV 8-way splitter DIRECT TV SWS8WB-P 2-2150MHz
<OUT coax to Garage Shop>
<OUT coax to Future Media Center>
<OUT> terminator x6

Study (850VA UPS)
<coax from Deck> wall plate coupler <coax> cable modem Technicolor/Spectrum D3.1 2.5G eMTA ET2251
<2.5GbE> router RT-AX88U_Pro ASUSWRT AiMesh
<LAN 1GbE> PC Win11 WiFi6 adapter (admin PC)
<LAN 1GbE> PC Win10 WiFi7 adapter
<LAN 1GbE> 8-port unmanaged switch
<1GbE> ATA OBi202 L1+L2 <4-conductor tel patch cord> wall plate tel jack (L1+L2)* (house phones)
<1GbE> PRN
<1GbE> open x5
<LAN 1GbE VLAN 52 OE Guest to Living Room Media Center>
<LAN 2.5GbE to Living Room Media Center>
*House tel wiring must be kept isolated from telephone company service line to protect the ATA from damage

Living Room Media Center (850VA UPS)
<1GbE VLAN 52 OE Guest from Study> 8-port unmanaged switch
<1GbE VLAN 52 OE Guest> AVR Sony 7.2 (5.1)
<1GbE VLAN 52 OE Guest> TV Sony Google TV
<1GbE VLAN 52 OE Guest> MP Roku Ultra
<1GbE VLAN 52 OE Guest> TVT HDHomeRun Dual
<1GbE VLAN 52 OE Guest> TVT HDHomeRun Dual
<1GbE VLAN 52 OE Guest> open
<1GbE VLAN 52 OE Guest> open
<2.5GbE from Study> MoCA 2.5 adapter master with D-Ext Band privacy enabled <coax SAT> MoCA 2-way diplexer Holland DPD2
<IN/OUT coax> wall plate coupler <coax to Deck>
<VHF/UHF coax> TV 8-way distribution amplifier 0dB gain Extreme IPA1008D-RSVF
<OUT coax> TV Sony Google TV
<OUT coax> TVT HDHomeRun Dual
<OUT coax> TVT HDHomeRun Dual
<OUT> terminator x5

Future Media Center (750VA UPS)
<coax from Deck IN/OUT> MoCA 2-way diplexer Holland DPD2
<SAT coax> MoCA 2.5 adapter slave2 <2.5GbE> TV
<VHF/UHF coax> TV

Garage Attic (no power)
TV antenna* Winegard Hi-VHF UHF Outdoor TV Antenna HD7694P <coax 36">
TV antenna* Winegard Hi-VHF UHF Outdoor TV Antenna HD7694P <coax 36">
TV 2-antenna combiner Channel Master JOINtenna CM-0500V2 <coax 24">
TV antenna preamp Channel Master PreAmp 1 CM-7779HD (30dB gain + FM/LTE/EMI filtering)
<coax to Garage Shop>
*Identical antennas and coax segments; 36" min separation on same mast

Garage Shop (750VA UPS)
<coax from Deck IN/OUT> MoCA 2-way diplexer Holland DPD2
<SAT coax> MoCA 2.5 adapter slave1 <2.5GbE> AiMesh node RT-AX86U_Pro
<LAN 1GbE VLAN 52 OE Guest> ATA OBi202 L3+L4 (shop phone)
<LAN 1GbE VLAN 52 OE Guest> open
<LAN 1GbE VLAN 52 OE Guest> open
<LAN 1GbE VLAN 52 OE Guest> open
<VHF/UHF coax> TV antenna preamp power inserter <coax from Garage Attic>

Holland DPD2 diplexer connections:
<IN/OUT coax> MoCA+TV network
<SAT coax> MoCA adapter to Ethernet (16 MoCA adapters max)
<VHF/UHF coax> TV antenna/tuner (will not connect/sync a MoCA adapter)

I logged into each MoCA adapter webUI (admin, screenbeam; default IP 192.168.144.200 requires static IP 192.168.144.1 on wired direct admin PC) to:
- update/reset the firmware (v1.18.14.1)
- secure the webUI login password
- name them master, room1, room2, room3
- enabled DHCP to simplify admin access and to make them 'visible' on the network and in the router webUI
- enable MoCA Privacy.

I then used the MPS buttons to join each slave adapter... 3s press on master; then within 2 minutes, 3s press on slave. The coax LED then goes green.

Robust, dedicated, full-duplex, 2.5Gbps max wired uplink enabled... marginal, non-dedicated, wireless uplink disabled to release all WiFi for client use only... this was a necessary AiMesh upgrade.

OE

 

[krkaufman]

And I purchased (Amazon.com) two PPC/Belden MoCA 70dB Filters GLP-1G70CWWS (Silicon Weather Seal... the one on the right). Again, well-made and documented. These are placed to block MoCA at the TV endpoints.

Well done Re: the upgrade.

Since the person for whom I’d just composed the diagrams went Buehler on me, maybe they’ll be of interest to you…

• To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
  For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

  Accept third party cookies
• To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
  For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

  Accept third party cookies

Normally, the ant/sat diplexer workaound would be sufficient to block MoCA signals from hitting the TVs, but moot in your case since you’ve already employed MoCA filters for the task — and with superior attenuation to what the diplexer would offer. So the diplexer workaround may only be useful were you a few dB shy on signal strength at a split TV.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Well done Re: the upgrade.

Since the person for whom I’d just composed the diagrams went Buehler on me, maybe they’ll be of interest to you…

• To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
  For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

  Accept third party cookies
• To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
  For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

  Accept third party cookies

Normally, the ant/sat diplexer workaound would be sufficient to block MoCA signals from hitting the TVs, but moot in your case since you’ve already employed MoCA filters for the task — and with superior attenuation to what the diplexer would offer. So the diplexer workaround may only be useful were you a few dB shy on signal strength at a split TV.

Interesting. My configuration seems standard now that I've determined it, and thanks to your 70dB filter recommendation. I did have to move the preamp power injector into the garage attic (for now anyway), so no longer on the media center UPS in the house and much hotter up there (preamp has survived up there for years). We'll see how it fairs... I've got a spare, and I may think of a way to drop it down into the garage space.

I did discover a FAM 8dB attenuator on my separate cable ISP coax at the demarc (Internet service only). I don't recall that being there when I moved in and cleaned up the demarc, but maybe it was... I'm paying more attention to coax details these days. With the typical homeowner adding coax elements/losses willy-nilly, I can't imagine 8dB attenuation being significant... but I'll leave it alone.

OE

 

[degrub]

too much RF power can drive a receiver unstable worst case, and just create noise otherwise that interferes with S/N.

 

[kelllogg9]

I prefer 70 dB MoCA filters for OTA scenarios, to fully snuff the MoCA signal. (edit: annoyingly, Amazon’s raised the price on these recently)

It seems these ones @ $3.99 (CAD) FS are far cheaper but with the same specs. Beldon Model # SNLP-1GCW

 

[krkaufman]

with the same soecs

Based on what specs? The listing’s “full description” lists specs for an older filter, and one with less stop-band attenuation.

“Bandstop provides a typical 35-45dB of rejection in the MoCA 1125-1525Mhz band.”

Even assuming current models, the “SNLP” model has lower attenuation, per specs.

 

[OzarkEdge]

It seems these ones @ $3.99 (CAD) FS are far cheaper but with the same specs. Beldon Model # SNLP-1GCW

Not the same spec... did you compare them?

OE

 

[tgl]

I purchased the ScreenBeam MoCA 2.5 starter kit ECB7250K02 (Amazon.com)

Are you still happy with these? Do you happen to know whether they will pass VLAN-tagged packets? (I don't need them to do anything intelligent with VLAN, just pass the traffic.)