Total newbie question about MoCA

[Snorfle]

Received a the Netgear MCA1001 as a gift for Christmas, a technology with which I am completely unfamiliar. I'm not subscribed to any cable service (internet or tv). I can connect the devices to my QWest DSL modem and PS3, but the coax connections appear to be "dead" (i.e. the LEDs do not go on). I don't have any kind of RF signal tester so I have no idea if both of the coax outlets are dead.

So that leads me to my stupid question: Is the only way for a MoCA connection to work for me to also be subscribed to some kind of cable service that will "activate" the coax outlets? For some reason I had just figured that the cable connections would work intra-house like some sort of local ad-hoc network even without being fed a cable signal. Or is it more that you need a cable tech to come over and make sure all the coax outlets are live and "tied into some central box" (you can see I have no idea what I'm talking about ) but not so much a cable signal?

Please help me so I don't feel so incredibly dumb anymore.

 

[stevech]

A pair of these, placed a point A and B, where existing house TV coax exists at A and B. Then at one place, connect to the existing LAN - say, a port on the WiFi router. At the other place, connect the ethernet to PCs or a switch and multiple ethernet-based devices (PCs, TVs, game boxes).

Your internet service provider's modem (Quest?) needs to connect to your home router. But some Internet Providers' devices are a modem and a home router all in one - it would have four ethernet ports on it if it's a router/modem.

No coax activation.. the coax is merely a wire to interconnect the to MoCA devices at points A and B as above.

Most homes have TV coax in outlets that is already wired back to a splitter. If not, it's an easy DIY.

 

[Snorfle]

Thanks for the reply! The way you describe the connection is exactly how I have it but I don't see the coax LEDs on the MCA1001 turn on.

I used this as my guide (starting in section 2-6 because as you say, I have a DSL modem/router combo). The ethernet light goes on and blinks when I connect device #1 to the modem/router, but the coax from the device to the wall doesn't seem to do anything. Same with the device that connects from the coax outlet on the wall in the living room (and via cat5 cable to the ethernet port on the PS3). I don't have any cable box like they do in their diagram, since I don't have cable of course.

No coax activation.. the coax is merely a wire to interconnect the to MoCA devices at points A and B as above. Most homes have TV coax in outlets that is already wired back to a splitter. If not, it's an easy DIY.

So this is where I am, then. If the coax outlets don't need to be "activated" to just carry a signal in between rooms in a house, then either one or both of the outlets are not wired back to a splitter correctly. I'll look around in garage and outside...not really sure how to go about fixing that and/or who I could call to look at my cable since I don't subscribe to tv. Some kind of RF signal tester would at least tell me if an outlet is capable of carrying a signal, yes?

 

[stevech]

no activation that I know of.
What can happen is that the coax at points A and B pass through ports on an amplifier or coax splitter that is unidirectional. There are some splitters that are called combiners and are bi-directional, whereas commonplace splitters may be unidirectional.

You'll need to survey how the coax from A to B routes and what devices are in that pathway.

Step 1 can be to connnect the two MoCA boxes together with a piece of coax that is independent of your in home wiring, e.g., laid on the floor/desk temporarily. This permits you to confirm that the MoCA devices "can" work based on the configuration you've established.

 

[Snorfle]

I was able to cable the two devices together and the coax LEDs both went on (thanks, never even thought of that!) So it's not any problem with the Netgear MCA1001s.

I searched high and low around my townhouse for the cable drop or some kind of central location where I could trace the coax from with no success. Sounds like I may have to have an electrician or someone come out.

 

[stevech]

I was able to cable the two devices together and the coax LEDs both went on (thanks, never even thought of that!) So it's not any problem with the Netgear MCA1001s.

I searched high and low around my townhouse for the cable drop or some kind of central location where I could trace the coax from with no success. Sounds like I may have to have an electrician or someone come out.

The main TV cable entering your townhouse is most likely in the attic or basement. Ideally, there's a demarcation box for TV and another for phone on the side of the home, or in the outside-accessible wall of one of a group of townhouses/condos.

 

[Snorfle]

Update

Just wanted to cap this thread off with an update.

The low voltage tech came over, and there were a number of things wrong, 2 of which I could have fixed myself if I knew what I was doing, and 1 which I could not have:
- The coax outlets themselves weren't connected to the cables behind them at multiple points.
- There were a couple of splitters behind these outlets, as there is no cable box (just one cable going into the side of the townhouse, and everything is daisy-chained throughout...he had to keep testing individual cables to know which ones went where). I've read that splitters such as the ones that were there, that only pass the 5MHz - 900MHz range, can filter out the MoCA signal, so we removed those.
- There is bad wiring between the coax outlet in my study and the outlets in the bedroom where it is daisy chained to. So without busting into the wall there's not much we can do there, so at this point I have to use a lonnng CAT 5e cable from my DSL modem/router to MoCA device in the bedroom.

Basically, it seems like the electricians that set up this fairly new townhouse didn't really complete the wiring, and I'd bet that the coax outlet in the study never worked correctly. Bummer...

...but at least I've got the devices working!

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for the update. Sometime you need to call in the pros...