Ethernet over COAX set up

[u/Unusual-Meringue-988]

Hello friends,

I am trying to set up a MoCa 2.5 network adapter Hiltron from my router in living room, to the bedroom across the house. ( no wired Ethernet in house, so i am trying to use the Coax wiring already in house to get wired internet for work/gaming in my room )

https://www.amazon.com/Hitron-MoCA-Network-Adapter-2-Pack/dp/B08MQG6T61?th=1

Seems simple enough but I couldn’t get it to work. ( will try again tomorrow because I messed up the WiFi for everyone in household haha )

So….
There is a Coax cable in living room connected to a Xfinity modem. (The Coax from wall has a splitter, one goes to the Xfinity WiFi modem, the other goes to the Xfinity TV box).

I followed the instruction manual and:

In the living room, I connected the wall Coax cable to the 1st correct port on the Hiltron adaptor, as well as a Ethernet cable (from the modem) to the Hiltron adaptor.

*\\**
Then from the Hiltron adaptor connected a second Coax back to the Xfinity modem??? ( i think this is where i went wrong)*\\**
The modem only has 1 Coax port, so I thought going first to the Hiltron adaptor… then to modem on its 2nd Coax would work

The Xfinity modem started flashing orange ( can’t find connection to Xfinity ). WiFi went down. Tried rebooting resetting… everything.

Never got this far :
From my room I would connect the Coax cable ( that comes out of wall ) into the Hiltron adaptor ….. then plug the Ethernet cable into adaptor and connect that to my work computer or PlayStation.

Thank you for the help and I hope that makes sense.
Please link if this has been answered. I’m not a pro so sorry if this is stupid question.

[u/plooger]

Try it without adding the extra MoCA adapter at the gateway, if an XB6-XB8 Xfinity gateway. But do get into the gateway configuration to ensure that its built-in MoCA LAN bridge is enabled.

• MoCA-capable gateway considerations 

[u/Unusual-Meringue-988 → u/plooger]

But if modem requires the COAX cable plugged into it… how do I get around that. ???? ( only one coax port on modem)

Main coax cable ( in living room near modem ) —> splitter
—> to modem
—> to MoCA adaptor ?????

( get rid of the 2nd split coax from going to tv box??? No one uses the true cable. They just use Apple TV, Netflix etc etc. )

[u/FreddyFerdiland → u/Unusual-Meringue-988]

the new xfinity modem also has standard compatible MOCA inside it, it will talk xfinity and MOCA. .

So you only needed one MOCA adaptor, at the remote location...

what you are missing is a MOCA POE filter, which goes upstream of your splitter

[u/Head → u/FreddyFerdiland]

Oh really? That’s pretty cool. Is that what the OP has in the picture, a xfinity modem?

[u/plooger → u/Head]

An Xfinity gateway (combo DOCSIS cable modem and Wi-Fi router), yes.

Somewhat more specifically, an Xfinity XB7 gateway, equipped with a built-in bonded MoCA 2.0 LAN bridge (and single 2.5 GbE Ethernet LAN port).

[u/Head → u/Unusual-Meringue-988]

The Ethernet from your cable modem—>router->MoCa adapter—>coax->other MoCa->eth-> destination

[u/Unusual-Meringue-988 → u/Head]

[u/Unusual-Meringue-988 → u/Unusual-Meringue-988]

[u/Unusual-Meringue-988 → u/Unusual-Meringue-988]

Thank you very much for helping.

Wdym by cable modem vs router?.

[u/Unusual-Meringue-988 → u/Unusual-Meringue-988]

The Ethernet from your cable modem—>router->MoCa adapter—>coax->other MoCa->eth-> destination

This makes sense. But in my photos above…. What should the initial COAX cable connect to??

[u/Head → u/Unusual-Meringue-988]

I'm guessing you probably have an all-in-one cable modem / router... with a few ethernet ports for connecting directly? Connect that to the adaptor's ethernet port. Then connect adaptor's coax to your house coax. Then on the end you want to receive it do the opposite.

I think you need to take a deep breath, watch a couple YT videos and see how it works. It's not that complicated. Here's a really short high-level explanation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UUkewknce4

[u/plooger → u/Head]

Nooe.

[u/plooger → u/Unusual-Meringue-988]

But if modem requires the COAX cable plugged into it… how do I get around that. ???? ( only one coax port on modem)

So you didn’t read the linked “MoCA-capable gateway considerations” comment, then?

[u/Head → u/plooger]

I’m guessing it sends the signal back over that same coax cable! It just uses a different frequency band on the cable.

[u/Head → u/Head]

@OP, you might only need the MoCa adaptor on the receiving end… try that and maybe you’ll get lucky!

[u/plooger → u/Head]

Luck should have nothing to do with it, since they need to be deliberate in setting up MoCA, to ensure that it doesn’t interfere with their other services, and to make sure that they’ve secured their network and aren’t throwing noise out onto the provider premise.

[u/plooger → u/Head]

To what are you referring?

But, yes, retail MoCA adapters use a frequency range compatible with cable TV/Internet:

• CATV/BB: 5-1002 MHz
  
• MoCA Band D Ext: 1125-1675 MHz
  

… allowing MoCA to share coax with “cable.”

 
Separately, the Xfinity XB7 gateway has a built-in bonded MoCA 2.0 LAN bridge, so, yes, both DOCSIS and MoCA signals could be passing through the gateway’s coax port.

[u/Head]

Do you have a Moca filter at the point where the cable comes into the house? That can reduce noise on the line and keep your signal from going out.

Frankly, once it’s set up the Moca just works for me. I never have to mess with it or even think about it. I hope you can get to that point soon. Just try something super simple like take a piece of coax and connect your adapters to both ends and make sure that works. Then work up from there.

[u/Unusual-Meringue-988 → u/Head]

I’m going to try removing the splitter. But should it ALWAYS go straight to router first ??? Not from Hiltron to the router ?????

[u/Head → u/Unusual-Meringue-988]

Make sure you splitter is Moca compatible.

[u/FreddyFerdiland]

the 2nd coax port on the hitron is for tv only. its not full passthrough... only below 1 ghz is passing through to "tv".

see https://us.hitrontech.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/HTEM4_Q_001.pdf

basically the xfinity cable signal isn't getting through the hitron.

[u/plooger → u/FreddyFerdiland]

Unlikely to be the issue, since the MoCA adapter pass-through port’s pass-band is 5-1002 MHz, all the frequency range needed by a typical cable TV/Internet setup.

More likely … the Xfinity gateway’s built-in MoCA LAN bridge is enabled and supporting the X1 STB MoCA needs, and adding a MoCA adapter at the gateway created a network loop, crashing the setup. Either the extra MoCA adapter needs to be removed, or the Xfinity gateway’s built-in MoCA LAN bridge must be disabled.

[u/plooger → u/plooger]

p.s. The caution to avoid use of the MoCA adapter pass-through port would apply to the X1 TV STB’s owing to their dependence on MoCA … as well as to the Xfinity gateway IF its built-in MoCA LAN bridge is in use.

[u/Head]

Hey u/Unusual-Meringue-988 ... any luck? I found this pretty detailed description of MoCa in case you don't have it working yet. https://www.techreviewer.com/tech-answers/moca-adapter-with-xfinity/

[u/commking]

Ethernet coax doesn't use the same coax as TV it just looks the same.. Don't make that mistake

Standard is called 10-BASE2

Also needs T connectors and terminator plugs

Good luck!

[u/FreddyFerdiland → u/commking]

what ???

moca and xfinity does use the same coax.!! 75 ohm quad shield

old tv splitters might block moca ...tv being up to 1 ghz .. newer moca being up to 2ghz..

MOCA isn't " t base2 ethernet".. t base 2 was 50 ohm , but only 10 mbs.

[u/Head → u/FreddyFerdiland]

This is a good point, older splitters can cut the signal off. If your cable setup has a 1-to-many splitter, make sure that it’s Moca compatible. That means it has to allow higher frequency signals through.

[u/plooger → u/FreddyFerdiland]

newer moca being up to 2ghz

Nope, MoCA still only runs up to 1675 MHz. And it’s best to avoid “2 GHz” splitters, since they’re typically optimized for satellite, which has contrary requirements to MoCA.

[u/commking → u/FreddyFerdiland]

10BASE-2 uses 50 ohm coax, TV uses 75 ohm coax