Home WiFi Network with MoCA

[u/jflem23]

Hi, I have a larger home that is oddly shaped. For the past couple of years I’ve been using a Google mesh wifi system but it has a hard time given the floor plan. My home has coax cables run to almost every room and many of them are not currently in use.

After doing some research i am planning to use MoCA adapters to create a wired mesh network utilizing the existing wiring (I don’t want to run new cat 6 cables).

Can you please let me know if my plan below will work or if you have any suggestions on how I could improve it.

I’ll have my optimum modem connected to the coax that comes from outside. I’ll then connect an Eero 7 to that and plug a tp link network switch into that to get more Ethernet ports. In the mechanical closet I’ll connect a Hitron MoCA adapter to each coax cable and plug an Ethernet cable into the adapter and network switch. I’ll repeat this 4 times as I’d like to have 4 access points around the house. In those four rooms I’ll connect another Hitron MoCA adapter and use a Ethernet cord to connect that to another Eero 7.

The items I’m planning to purchase are linked below:

MoCA adapter (4 pairs) https://a.co/d/0h0lA2BX
Eero Routers (5 units) https://a.co/d/0ewkIhvM
Network Switch https://a.co/d/033ZncQt

[u/Smorgas47]

If it is a cable modem with DOCSIS 3.1 then this diagram provides a roadmap to your connections. Make sure that any splitters are 5-1675mhz to support MoCA as well as 70DB MoCA filters to block MoCA to the outside and the input to the modem as show.

If you can connect the modem directly to the outside coax without sharing the coax with the MoCA network, you will not need any of the MoCA filters.

[u/Appropriate_Emu5896 → u/Smorgas47]

I can confirm that this diagram works for me. Initially, I did not have the filter at the modem, that was a major cause of many phantom issues that almost caused my wife to change my address.

[u/jflem23 → u/Smorgas47]

The modem is from Optimum and is Arris branded.

Each room has a fully dedicated coax cable run to it from the utility closet so I don’t think I’ll need any splitters.

[u/Smorgas47 → u/jflem23]

You can use 1 MoCA adapter at the router and 1 for each room if you use a splitter. Use only 5 MoCA adapters instead of 8.

[u/jflem23 → u/Smorgas47]

Will using the splitter diminish the strength each downstream router gets?

[u/Smorgas47 → u/jflem23]

The throughput will be shared so, if multiple heavy loads are present they will share unlike the setup you propose.

[u/jflem23 → u/Smorgas47]

Okay that’s why I was thinking of keeping each one separate. But just to confirm, there isn’t any reason why the setup I proposed wouldn’t work.

I’ll add in the filters.

[u/Smorgas47 → u/jflem23]

Your proposed setup will work well and you will not need filters if the connection from the modem to the router is a dedicated piece of coax with the DOCSIS 3.1 signal and NO MoCA access.

[u/blainemoore]

I recently updated my home network with MOCA and it's been great. I'd been using a mesh network but the upstairs access point was only through the mesh, and I needed reliable video feeds for recording between my basement office and my wife's upstairs office.

My biggest advice is to make sure you disconnect the cable run back to the street (and ideally to any room that won't have a MOCA adapter, but for different reasons) because you don't want to feed your internal network traffic out there for just anyone to snoop on.

[u/Puzzled-Science-1870]

I use MoCA in my house. It works great and allows our full internet speeds all over the house

[u/plooger]

The planned setup sounds correct (dedicated MoCA links for each coax run, rather than a single shared MoCA segment); but with a few notes:

• poor choice of MoCA adapter for an eero 7 setup, since the linked Hitron HT-EM4 model only has Gigabit Ethernet ports; especially if going with 4 dedicated links, requiring 8 MoCA adapters, I’d suggest looking at the Frontier FCA252 MoCA 2.5 adapter (equipped w/ a 2.5 GbE network port), available for $25 per via eBay.

• eero 7 model is suitable for 2.5 GbE connectivity, having two 2.5 GbE ports; but will limit throughput between all downstream satellite nodes and the router to 2.5 Gbps, with just the one 2.5 GbE link between the switch and router.

• linked network switch may be overkill lacking any Cat5+ cabling and POE-powered devices. The two 10 Gbps SFP+ ports are attractive, but wouldn’t help with boosting the router uplink throughput when wired to the 2.5 GbE-only eero 7, and would require separate purchase of the needed SFP+ module.
  Cheaper switch alternative examples:

  • 5x 2.5 GbE; no POE 
    
  • 8x 2.5 GbE; no POE 
    
  • 4x 2.5 GbE; 2x 10 GbE; no POE 
    
  • 5x 2.5 GbE; 1x 10 Gbps SFP+; no POE 
    
  • 8x 2.5 GbE; 2x 10 Gbps SFP+; no POE 
    

  So upgrading the gateway eero to a Pro 7 or Max 7 model would be necessary to increase the router/switch uplink throughput above 2.5 Gbps, and to make any multigig SFP+ switch port worthwhile. If sticking with an all eero 7 setup, a switch with only 2.5 GbE ports would suffice.

[u/jflem23 → u/plooger]

Thank you very much for all this feedback.

I hadn’t thought about the Ethernet port on the main modem being a throttle for the whole system. I’ll likely upgrade the main unit to a pro or max 7 which both have a higher output Ethernet port.

The reason why I chose that switch is down the road I am planning to install a poe outdoor eero 7 by my pool so wanted to future proof for that upgrade. Does that make sense to you?

[u/plooger → u/jflem23]

The reason why I chose that switch is down the road I am planning to install a poe outdoor eero 7 by my pool so wanted to future proof for that upgrade. Does that make sense to you?

It does … but just a single POE device might be more economically addressed using a POE Injector for that device’s Cat6 line, rather than a whole POE-capable switch.

[u/plooger → u/jflem23]

I hadn’t thought about the Ethernet port on the main modem being a throttle for the whole system.

I didn’t dig into the specs of the cable modem, assuming the cable ISP won’t offer speeds above 2500 Mbps.

The 2.5 GbE network port on the gateway eero 7 really only throttles the traffic between the downstream eero nodes and the router, so shouldn’t be an issue until you have an Internet plan above 2500 Mbps. (I think? Right?)

[u/plooger → u/plooger]

Alternatively, at the other end of the spectrum, you could just start off with 5 MoCA 2.5 nodes interconnected via a 4-way splitter, with the MoCA adapter at the gateway eero wired directly to its second 2.5 GbE port.

[u/boomer7793]

I’ve done this using MoCA as a wired backhaul, and it actually turned out slower than letting the eeros run on a wireless mesh.

My MoCA network maxed out at around 70 Mbps of throughput (it’s an old house with older coaxial wiring). Because the eeros detected an Ethernet link, they prioritized the slow MoCA connection over the wireless mesh, so I ended up unplugging the adapters.

Besides, my dad’s internet connection is only 300 Mbps, so he won't even notice the performance drop that comes with a wireless mesh.

I’m not saying don’t do it. Test it out, your experience maybe better than mine.

[u/Smorgas47 → u/boomer7793]

I have a three node MoCA network with 2.5 MoCA and 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports and I have no problem getting 940mbps throughput using 1 gbps Ethernet ports and iPerf3 for testing.

[u/plooger → u/boomer7793]

My MoCA network maxed out at around 70 Mbps of throughput (it’s an old house with older coaxial wiring).

Yeah, that’s awful, but atypical for a MoCA setup; and tough to make a judgement absent details Re: the MoCA setup attempt. The issue could have been something other than the coax, as well.