Tv pic keep breaking up....what went wrong?

[Simple2know74]

Hi all, I had just purchased a pair of actiontec ECB6000 moca 2.0 adapters and I am facing a issue of tv pic breaking up due to interference. Below is my setup and I need some advice of what went wrong. Please take note that my moca adapter has only single coax.


Main tv output (living room)-->5-1625 mhz 2-way splitter-->(one splitter point connect to

moca adapter)+(the other splitter point connect to cable tv box with RG59 cable)--

-->moca adapter ethernet port connect to router


The second moca adapter I am using in my bedroom and I just connect it at the bedroom tv output without splitter and link it to my android box.

I am getting excellent speed of above 350 mbps on my android box from the speed test but the living room tv pic keep breaking up due to signal interference. When I disconnect the moca adapter from the splitter the tv pic back to normal again. What went wrong with the setup any advice?

I understand from my friend that there are 2 types of cable tv box by my service provider. One type using coax cable connect from tv output to the cable tv box and the other type using hdmi cable direct from tv to cable tv box and with ethernet connection to the modem (by the service provider) without the need of the coax connection from cable tv box to tv output. Could the issue be the type of cable tv box used?

Should I get a higher frequency splitter although from what I had read the current one I am using 5-1625 mhz range should be sufficient?

 

[Robaye]

I am getting excellent speed of above 350 mbps on my android box from the speed test but the living room tv pic keep breaking up due to signal interference. When I disconnect the moca adapter from the splitter the tv pic back to normal again. What went wrong with the setup any advice?

Just a guess maybe, but wondering if a power filter/ conditioner may be worth a shot. MicroCenter and instrument stores should have them if want to try and return, if doesn't work.
One helped me with sound interference associated with my powerline networking.
https://www.sweetwater.com/c960--Furman--Power_Conditioners
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/powerline-networking-pc-sound-interference.37025/

Good luck....

 

[Simple2know74]

Just a guess maybe, but wondering if a power filter/ conditioner may be worth a shot. MicroCenter and instrument stores should have them if want to try and return, if doesn't work.
One helped me with sound interference associated with my powerline networking.
https://www.sweetwater.com/c960--Furman--Power_Conditioners
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/powerline-networking-pc-sound-interference.37025/

Good luck....

Forgive my ignorance. I am new to this. I do understand that that powerline performance is affected by different sorts of sound/power interference whereas moca adapter performance is not affected by these factors. As my country does not has the generous policy of returning the goods after purchase I just want to make sure any investment is correctly spent. Do you think the setup has anything to do with the issue?

 

[System Error Message]

all forms of electronics are affected by various sources of interference even themselves. That is why they use DC and that it is important that the PSU used to convert/produce DC product an exact and constant voltage even with loads. In the case of networking it just means distortions which can be remedied in various ways. The first thing you should do is identify the sources of interference and ensuring that the line isnt close to sources of emf such as electrical lines and other devices that can induce an emf or capacitance on the line. Unlike with powerline moca doesnt have many frequencies so a filter can be used to only allow certain frequencies. Technically moca devices should be equipped with filters as well. You should also check your moca line and cable length to ensure there is no data loss and sufficient bandwidth.

Another factor that may be rarer is that the tv's tuner might be a problem. If the source is from a satellite make sure the satellite's orientation is properly calibrated. If it is cable tv than make sure you are getting a good signal from your provider to your house.

 

[Simple2know74]

all forms of electronics are affected by various sources of interference even themselves. That is why they use DC and that it is important that the PSU used to convert/produce DC product an exact and constant voltage even with loads. In the case of networking it just means distortions which can be remedied in various ways. The first thing you should do is identify the sources of interference and ensuring that the line isnt close to sources of emf such as electrical lines and other devices that can induce an emf or capacitance on the line. Unlike with powerline moca doesnt have many frequencies so a filter can be used to only allow certain frequencies. Technically moca devices should be equipped with filters as well. You should also check your moca line and cable length to ensure there is no data loss and sufficient bandwidth.

Another factor that may be rarer is that the tv's tuner might be a problem. If the source is from a satellite make sure the satellite's orientation is properly calibrated. If it is cable tv than make sure you are getting a good signal from your provider to your house.

Thanks for explanation. Seems like a mountain to climb for a complete noob like me. I am getting a new splitter to try my luck

 

[CaptainSTX]

Since the Living Room TV is having the problem and it isn't dependent on the MOCA for delivery of the signal here is what I would try:

1. See if you can get a cable box that will use HDMI to connect from it to the TV.

2. Replace all your RG59 jumpers with RG6 jumpers.

3. Check all your coaxial fitting and be sure they are tight and secure and if possible reterminate them if you have the know how and tools. If a fitting is loose or incorrectly installed the braid on the coaxial cable won't be providing the shieding necessary. You can still have great data bandwidth over the coaxial as it is digital but the TV signal maybe be analog and if you are using coaxial cable to connect to your TV box the signal on that connection is analog.

 

[Simple2know74]

Since the Living Room TV is having the problem and it isn't dependent on the MOCA for delivery of the signal here is what I would try:

1. See if you can get a cable box that will use HDMI to connect from it to the TV.

2. Replace all your RG59 jumpers with RG6 jumpers.

3. Check all your coaxial fitting and be sure they are tight and secure and if possible reterminate them if you have the know how and tools. If a fitting is loose or incorrectly installed the braid on the coaxial cable won't be providing the shieding necessary. You can still have great data bandwidth over the coaxial as it is digital but the TV signal maybe be analog and if you are using coaxial cable to connect to your TV box the signal on that connection is analog.

Thank you for your suggestion. It make alot of sense to me. Moca adapters are not common in my country and not being sold as well, support is very limited in our local forum but one user in our local forum did suggest replacing rg59 with rg6 cables. I also did suspect changing the cable tv set top box to hdmi with ethernet connection without coaxial connection to the box might help. I will give it a try.

 

[System Error Message]

dont forget that moca uses copper and is more vulnerable to interference than ethernet rj45 because of the size of copper involved that makes it easier to become a capacitor or do induce an emf. It is very different to ethernet which uses a few pairs that help reduce the interference caused by such.

 

[sfx2000]

Hi all, I had just purchased a pair of actiontec ECB6000 moca 2.0 adapters and I am facing a issue of tv pic breaking up due to interference. Below is my setup and I need some advice of what went wrong. Please take note that my moca adapter has only single coax.

Check the settings on the MOCA adapter - there are two profiles generally available - DOCSIS (CATV) and DBS (DirecTV/Dish and similar) - MOCA leverages channels that are not in use with CATV boxes/ClearQAM/CableModems or DBS - so check the setting there and flip it if needed...

FWIW - when I moved from CATV to DBS, DirecTV dropped in their own RG6 coax for their gear outside of my incumbent RG58 that was (and still is) doing Broadband on my Cable Modem.

If you're getting bad TV picture - it's generally noise - and it's either the MOCA adapters injecting noise into the in-house cable, or too many splitters reducing the overall signal, which brings noise back into play...

My first guess is that the MOCA profile settings are not right... but since it lives in coax space along with other tech - need to look at everything...

 

[Simple2know74]

Check the settings on the MOCA adapter - there are two profiles generally available - DOCSIS (CATV) and DBS (DirecTV/Dish and similar) - MOCA leverages channels that are not in use with CATV boxes/ClearQAM/CableModems or DBS - so check the setting there and flip it if needed...

FWIW - when I moved from CATV to DBS, DirecTV dropped in their own RG6 coax for their gear outside of my incumbent RG58 that was (and still is) doing Broadband on my Cable Modem.

If you're getting bad TV picture - it's generally noise - and it's either the MOCA adapters injecting noise into the in-house cable, or too many splitters reducing the overall signal, which brings noise back into play...

My first guess is that the MOCA profile settings are not right... but since it lives in coax space along with other tech - need to look at everything...

Thank you for the suggestion. How do I change the setting? The moca adapter model which I purchased was Actiontec ECB6000. I have been searching online about the info of this model and so far from what I read there seems to be no web utility or software for this model to change the default settings.

 

[degrub]

Thank you for the suggestion. How do I change the setting? The moca adapter model which I purchased was Actiontec ECB6000. I have been searching online about the info of this model and so far from what I read there seems to be no web utility or software for this model to change the default settings.

Were they specific to your region (cable tv) or were they set for the US ?

 

[Simple2know74]

Were they specific to your region (cable tv) or were they set for the US ?

Specific to my region, Singapore. I just solved the problem by changing the splitter from 5-1625 mhz (came with the adapter) to the old one I had been using (5-1000 mhz). This is weird. I thought moca adapter operate above 1000 mhz, and tv signal below 1000 mhz in my country. How could the old splitter work? This is getting interesting.

 

[CaptainSTX]

Specific to my region, Singapore. I just solved the problem by changing the splitter from 5-1625 mhz (came with the adapter) to the old one I had been using (5-1000 mhz). This is weird. I thought moca adapter operate above 1000 mhz, and tv signal below 1000 mhz in my country. How could the old splitter work? This is getting interesting.

There are good splitters and there are cheap knock offs that really don't meet the specs printed on the device. One piece of advice you often see in regards to MOCA is you don't need the expensive gold plated splitters from Monster Cable, but don't buy the cheapest from a store that doesn't sell electronics.

The splitter that works is probably a good splitter that more than meets the label specifications.

 

[Simple2know74]

There are good splitters and there are cheap knock offs that really don't meet the specs printed on the device. One piece of advice you often see in regards to MOCA is you don't need the expensive gold plated splitters from Monster Cable, but don't buy the cheapest from a store that doesn't sell electronics.

The splitter that works is probably a good splitter that more than meets the label specifications.

Thank you for your advice. Much appreciated.

 

[degrub]

Thank you for your advice. Much appreciated.

it might have been giving too much signal loss or an impedance mismatch. Or the old splitter is filtering out the noise signal.
If you are not getting the expected data transfer rate, try another brand splitter. Since this is MOCA 2, then use one up to 2Mhz - satellite receiver tv cable type. i believe this modem will downgrade to MOCA 1.1. if it can't sync at MOCA 2 frequencies. No other signals connected to the cable or open ends ? or a not terminated connector ? You can get signal reflections without termination or pick up noise from an open cable.
Just some things to look at if the transfer rate is not reasonable.

 

[CaptainSTX]

The OP had no problem with the data transfer rate over MOCA. The problem was the picture quality on the TV hooked to the other leg of the splitter than the port the MOCA device was connected to.

A bad splitter more than likely the cause of the problem but not a MOCA specific problem.

 

[sfx2000]

The OP had no problem with the data transfer rate over MOCA. The problem was the picture quality on the TV hooked to the other leg of the splitter than the port the MOCA device was connected to.

A bad splitter more than likely the cause of the problem but not a MOCA specific problem.

After some thought - I would agree - check the cable plant inside the house - many older splitters are good only up to 1GHz...

Also check the connectors - what was good enough for old-school analog - these days, much is more important on the connector itself.. ran into that myself with replacing/retrofit'ing my RG58 stuff that was around since at least 1978 when the house was built... might have worked back in the analog cable days... not so much now considering how much one can push bandwidth down that coax..

 

[Simple2know74]

it might have been giving too much signal loss or an impedance mismatch. Or the old splitter is filtering out the noise signal.
If you are not getting the expected data transfer rate, try another brand splitter. Since this is MOCA 2, then use one up to 2Mhz - satellite receiver tv cable type. i believe this modem will downgrade to MOCA 1.1. if it can't sync at MOCA 2 frequencies. No other signals connected to the cable or open ends ? or a not terminated connector ? You can get signal reflections without termination or pick up noise from an open cable.
Just some things to look at if the transfer rate is not reasonable.

I guess you are right. The modem has downgraded my moca to 1.1 probably. Currently I am getting internet speed around 180 mbps in my room although I am on 1 Gbs service plan. Unfortunately I am not able to get a splitter up to 2 mhz locally and my online order would take about 3 weeks to arrive. Till then I can live with the current situation since it's able to work. I noticed the specs of old splitter db indicated as 20 while the one that came with the adapter db is 3.5, I wonder whether that caused the problem as well.

 

[Simple2know74]

The OP had no problem with the data transfer rate over MOCA. The problem was the picture quality on the TV hooked to the other leg of the splitter than the port the MOCA device was connected to.

A bad splitter more than likely the cause of the problem but not a MOCA specific problem.

I agree. Should be the splitter that caused the issue.

 

[degrub]

I guess you are right. The modem has downgraded my moca to 1.1 probably. Currently I am getting internet speed around 180 mbps in my room although I am on 1 Gbs service plan. Unfortunately I am not able to get a splitter up to 2 mhz locally and my online order would take about 3 weeks to arrive. Till then I can live with the current situation since it's able to work. I noticed the specs of old splitter db indicated as 20 while the one that came with the adapter db is 3.5, I wonder whether that caused the problem as well.

i am surprised they don't have them down at the electronics shopping area downtown by the performing arts building ?

are you sure there was not a decimal point between the 2 and the 0 ? 20db would be a modest filter. If that was a low loss splitter, then there may be cable problems or equivalent that the previous installer encountered.

"After some thought - I would agree - check the cable plant inside the house" - this can be important. you need to know what the rest of the connections are inside the house or flat. See if there are other splitters that are being used between the two points. There is likely a large splitter at the entry to the flat to tie all the rooms to the cable drop in. It may have high loss connections as well. If not all of the connections on this splitter are being used, see if you can get one with just the right number and matches or is lower than the db loss for each connection. Also, check for the other issues i mentioned in my earlier post.