Another Cheap Moca 2.0 non-bonded adapter

[Samir]

Thanks @Samir! I will probably report back after Memorial Day weekend after having a chance to examine everything first-hand.

Sounds good!

 

[Kevin Hoy]

Interesting. Moca is a shared medium but I didn't think the amount of nodes would affect the bandwidth of transfers.

I assumed it was because it's an old device.. my oldest FiOS router.

 

[Jawadali]

Hi Everyone,
Happy Memorial Day!

Had some time to play with the NVG468MQ today, following @KrisH 's instructions at the top of page #2 of this thread.

I was able to log into the NVG468MQ unit, change the IP Address to be out of my N7000's (main router's) DHCP range, and disable DHCP on it. I also disabled both the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz WiFi networks.

At this point, the only lights that are lit on the front of the NVG468MQ are the power (it's Green) and the broadband/"squiggle" (it's Red). I then connected one of the LAN ports to one of the LAN ports on my N7000, and it was functioning successfully as an Ethernet switch (i.e. I could get to the internet via Ethernet/LAN from my laptop)

I then went to the MoCA setting page, and enabled MoCA (it may have already been enabled). I played with the last option on the page - "Network Controller" - enabling and disabling it a few times. I also toggled the "MoCA PHY Enable" between Enable and Disable a few times. Screenshot below.

Nothing seemed to work, as the MoCA light on the front of the NVG468MQ did not turn on. This LED does turn orange/yellow when the unit is initially powered on.

I powered my little MEB1100 unit via USB (power LED came on), and connected a Coax cable between the NVG468MQ and the MEB1100. Finally, I connected an Ethernet cable from the MEB1100 to my laptop. The MoCA LED on neither unit turned on, and my laptop could not connect to the internet.

Now, I understand the MEB1100 may not support the "LAN" MoCA frequency bands. However, I just want to confirm if the MoCA LED on the NVG468MQ doesn't turn on until it successfully connects to another MoCA Adapter.

Thanks for reading this long post .

 

[Booboo22]

I then went to the MoCA setting page, and enabled MoCA (it may have already been enabled). I played with the last option on the page - "Network Controller" - enabling and disabling it a few times. I also toggled the "MoCA PHY Enable" between Enable and Disable a few times. Screenshot below.

Nothing seemed to work, as the MoCA light on the front of the NVG468MQ did not turn on. This LED does turn orange/yellow when the unit is initially powered on.

I powered my little MEB1100 unit via USB (power LED came on), and connected a Coax cable between the NVG468MQ and the MEB1100. Finally, I connected an Ethernet cable from the MEB1100 to my laptop. The MoCA LED on neither unit turned on, and my laptop could not connect to the internet.

Now, I understand the MEB1100 may not support the "LAN" MoCA frequency bands. However, I just want to confirm if the MoCA LED on the NVG468MQ doesn't turn on until it successfully connects to another MoCA Adapter.

Some input based on my experience with the Arris, which is my main router with FiOS:

• You cannot permanently disable MoCA phy, it seems to come back on via remote management from Frontier.
• You should leave Network Controller turned off, which means automatic. You should always let MoCA negotiate the controller.
• Yes, the MoCA LED will not turn on until it negotiates with another LAN MoCA adapter, *not* the WAN MoCA adapter (MEB1100)
  
• the MEB1100 is only supported as a WAN extension, so your desired configuration will not work. The laptop will not reach the Internet if connected to the MEB1100.

 

[Jawadali]

Some input based on my experience with the Arris, which is my main router with FiOS:

• You cannot permanently disable MoCA phy, it seems to come back on via remote management from Frontier.
• You should leave Network Controller turned off, which means automatic. You should always let MoCA negotiate the controller.
• Yes, the MoCA LED will not turn on until it negotiates with another LAN MoCA adapter, *not* the WAN MoCA adapter (MEB1100)
  
• the MEB1100 is only supported as a WAN extension, so your desired configuration will not work. The laptop will not reach the Internet if connected to the MEB1100.

Hi, thank you so much. This helps a ton. Based on some earlier posts in this thread, I had suspected the MEB1100 would not work as a LAN adapter. It came with the NVG468MQ, so I figured I'd try it out.

Sounds like the only way to actually test would be to get another NVG468MQ or other MoCA Adapter.

 

[Booboo22]

Hi, thank you so much. This helps a ton. Based on some earlier posts in this thread, I had suspected the MEB1100 would not work as a LAN adapter. It came with the NVG468MQ, so I figured I'd try it out.

Sounds like the only way to actually test would be to get another NVG468MQ or other MoCA Adapter.

Depends on Frontier's territory, yes the MEB1100 is used to extend the ONT WAN connection (via CoAX) to the location of the NVG468MQ. The reason it doesn't work as a LAN is that the NVG468MQ uses 2 MoCA frequency plans: (1) for the WAN and (1) for the LAN. The WAN frequency will bind the Ethernet data into the WAN section of the router, and hence it's acting as a DHCP client there.

Yes, you can get another Arris and use it as a bridge, but requires you do a few things first:

• Turn off the DHCP server on the new Arris
• Set the Arris IP address to something in the range of the other Arris, so say, 192.168.254.250.
• I highly suggest also turning off the WIFI, as I've tested this configuration and the two routers tend to conflict with each other to the point I've had them spontaneously reboot
• Don't connect anything to the WAN port of the 2nd router
• Use only the LAN ports.

The NVG468MQ is cheap on eBay, going for around $30. Alternatively, just get a MoCA 2.0 adapter from eBay. The older Verizon FiOS work just fine and are cheap. I suggest you avoid the TiVO ones, as those may use incompatible frequencies.

 

[Jawadali]

Thanks for the additional Info, @Booboo22 !

For my first Arris that I was playing with on the weekend, I have DHCP turned off, and set a static IP of 192.168.1.10. My Netgear router has an IP of 192.168.1.1, and I've configured my router's DHCP range from 192.168.1.100-254.

If I do get a second Arris unit, would it be good with a static IP of something like 192.168.1.11?
(I would go through the same steps I mentioned in Post #43 to disable DHCP first)

My proposed network is in the screenshot below. Note that my ISP is a local Cable ISP, so I am currently using a standalone modem and a Netgear N7000 router. The Arris units would strictly be MoCA Bridges.



Other sample equipment links I found on eBay:
MoCA POE filter (eBay Link)
MoCA-rated coax splitters (eBay Link)

 

[Booboo22]

Thanks for the additional Info, @Booboo22 !

If I do get a second Arris unit, would it be good with a static IP of something like 192.168.1.11?
(I would go through the same steps I mentioned in Post #43 to disable DHCP first)

Other sample equipment links I found on eBay:
MoCA POE filter (eBay Link)
MoCA-rated coax splitters (eBay Link)

Yes, just use a different static IP address, 192.168.1.11 would be fine. The MoCA POE is a good idea, and those splitters should be just fine. The network looks good!

 

[Jawadali]

Thanks!

Just need to weigh the cost/benefit of getting a second Arris unit plus the extra filters/adapters, vs getting a wireless-AC card or USB adapter for the desktop in the living room. My folks only have a 50Mbps connection currently, and the wireless-N 600 USB adapter they have currently lets them pull 35-40Mbps.

I am a "wired" guy at heart, though, so I think sooner or later I'll go the MoCA route (even if wireless-AC/WiFi-6 is an intermediate stop) .

 

[rallymax]

• the MEB1100 is only supported as a WAN extension, so your desired configuration will not work. The laptop will not reach the Internet if connected to the MEB1100.

Can a pair of MEB1100 be used on two ends of a coax run to act as bridges?

 

[Booboo22]

Can a pair of MEB1100 be used on two ends of a coax run to act as bridges?

I've never tested it but I don't see why it wouldn't work *provided* you have them on their own COAX segment; e.g. point to point with a coax run between them. They are non-managed so won't have much in terms of diagnostics.

 

[Jawadali]

Looking at other NVG468MQ units on eBay, and had the following question: if I just plan to use it as a MoCA LAN bridge, does the date of Manufacture matter?

I am working under the worst-case assumption that older units will have older firmware, and as a non-Frontier customer, I won't be able to update the firmware. It seems they are pushed automatically for customers, and aren't publicly available for download.

The first one I purchased has a mid-2019 date, but I am seeing ones with dates as far back as 2016. Not sure if it matters.

Also taking another look at the diagram in my prior post, is a second POE filter needed/recommend directly before the cable modem?

Thanks!

 

[Booboo22]

No, it doesn't seem like the MoCA firmware has been updated in quite some time on these units. At least for me, the MoCA firmware didn't change during general Arris firmware upgrades. Regarding the PoE, you only need one in the ingress to the house; so no, don't add one at the modem. Won't hurt but won't help...

 

[Jawadali]

Thanks @Booboo22!
Much appreciated.

 

[Marz89]

I created an account JUST so I could say THANK YOU to all of you that detailed the setup for this to work.

I have Frontier FIOS (no TV or anything else, just internet). I have RJ45 coming into the wall from outside box, no COAX coming in because I do not have TV service. They gave me the ARRIS NVG468MQ when I first got service with them like 3 years ago and never used it as I have my own Ubiquiti EdgeRouter 4. My WiFi is crap on my TP-Link Deco M9+ going from living room to bedroom and needed a solution.

• Frontier FIOS from the wall = 500/500 Mbps
• Living Room has a COAX male connector in the wall that I found out leads to my bedroom (probably from previous tenant that had Spectrum or some other Cable Provider). I reran that COAX in my room to the opposite end of the same room, drilled a hole between my room and my office and installed an RJ45 wall plate jack as the office does not have any COAX connections.
• ARRIS NVG468MQ = Disabled DHCP and MoCA was already enabled by default so no change needed there.
• Plugged RJ45 from Frontier at all into LAN1 on NVG468MQ and then plugged COAX from living room wall into back of NVG468MQ
• Bought a ZyXEL HLA4205 as it supports more than 500 Mbps and was cheap!
• Put the ZyXEL in my room and plugged in the COAX from there into the IN port and then ethernet cable from the back of it going into the wall jack I installed
• Plugged another ethernet into the other end of the wall jack in the office and then plugged that into my EdgeRouter 4 and DONE!

So I went from about 510 Mbps Download and Upload (Actual Speed test results even though I only pay for 500 Mbps) in the living room directly connected to Frontier RJ45 at wall, to 480 Mbps Download and 490 Mbps Upload in the office using MoCA.... HARDLY lost any speed with this setup!


Thanks again!

 

[Samir]

Glad to hear of your success with Moca! Once the wiring is in place, it's literally plug in an go as you can tell.

 

[krkaufman]

- Being an OEM device, firmware will always be tied to Frontier's deployment timelines. For example, the previous firmware lacked the STATUS/MOCA STATUS page entirely.

Searching high and low I was unable to find a MoCA statistics page for my NVG468MQ, and the above post confirmed why. (my firmware version = 9.2.0h3d58)

So is there zero hope for a non-Frontier customer getting a firmware update on one of these?

 

[krkaufman]

So is there no way to adjust the MoCA channel/frequency used by the NVG468MQ?

 

[Samir]

Doesn't seem to be. I guess you could sell yours and get another one that has the right version--or hopefully swap with someone.

 

[krkaufman]

Doesn't seem to be. I guess you could sell yours and get another one that has the right version--or hopefully swap with someone.

Thanks for the reply. I'm less concerned now about the lack of MoCA diagnostics/statistics (on my specific router) than I am about how to adjust the MoCA channel in use by the NVG468MQ.