Help with MOCA network setup

[Leecm0365]

I am preparing to setup up a home MOCA network. I got 4 GoCoax WF-803M adapters.

trying to rap my head around how to transition current networks to new networks using moca adapters.

current setup I have a Nighthawk router as on network (10.0.0.1) and a Belkin router on another network (192.168.2.1). Both the routers have WAN ports connected to LAN ports on Verizon router which is connected to Verizon ONT via coax cable. See pic for current network setup and planned network using moca adapters.

I just cannot see the IP settings working and think I need to change all my IP addresses on all routers to be on same subnet. Looking at planned network do yawl think I need to change IP addresses?

Updated: with new planned setup adding splitters & STBs

 

[Leecm0365]

I plan to reuse existing Verizon splitters.

 

[eibgrad]

Without getting into the nitty-gritty details of your config, why does the changeover to MoCA have* any* effect on your present network config, at least in terms of routers, IP networks, etc.? (btw, it seems overly complex, but that's another issue).

The only purpose of using MoCA is as an ethernet backbone, which is only necessary for those situations where you don't have wired ethernet as an option. Same thing for powerline adapters.

Now maybe I'm misunderstanding your design goals here, and somehow it makes sense. But at least superficially, I don't get why MoCA changes anything other than the bridging technology that ties all the rest of it together. IOW, ideally, this changeover *should* normally be transparent wrt the rest of the network.

 

[Leecm0365]

The problem I have with current network is I have a 50’ cat5 cable hanging down from loft where upstairs office is to the living room where belkin router is, I would like to hide this cable and unwilling to tearoom drywall to try and run cat5 cable in the wall. Also the family room where kids have Xbox and PlayStation uses wifi to belkin router which is not a strong wifi signal. I am hoping to reuse the coax cable already running throughout the house and with technology now with MOCA 2.0 I should be able to maintain network speed.

where I am having a problem is understanding the IP address in the GoCoax adapters, if I have IP addresses on the GoCoax adapters on different subnets will there be an issue with theMOCA network. If I put all the GoCoax adapters on the same subnets will there be an issue with the GoCoax adapters communicatingwith their respective router?

are the IP addresses in the GoCoax adapters seen on the Ethernet network?

 

[Samir]

So the IP address on the go coax are probably just like any other device on the same subnet, or might not even be on your subnet so they're pretty much invisible. For the most part, moca adapters (like powerline adapters) are literally just a plug and play 'signal bridge' if you will. They essentially can replace a 50ft cable like what you have.

 

[Leecm0365]

So shouldn’t matter what IP address I set in the GoCoax adapters, it will be transparent to my network?

 

[Samir]

So shouldn’t matter what IP address I set in the GoCoax adapters, it will be transparent to my network?

Do you have to set any IP address in the gocoax adapters? In my actiontec ones I never messed with IP at all--it just worked.

 

[Leecm0365]

Do you have to set any IP address in the gocoax adapters? In my actiontec ones I never messed with IP at all--it just worked.

perfect, gonna try it out next weekend. Thankyou.

 

[degrub]

the only time you need to set an IP address (to interact with the GoCoax or Actiontec) is if you want to adjust the configuration or look at the diagnostics in the GoCoax modem. Then you manually set the PC IP address to be on the same default subnet as the GoCoax modem. The GoCoax thread has the default address. i believe that the GoCoax documentation provides it as well.

 

[krkaufman]

the only time you need to set an IP address (to interact with the GoCoax or Actiontec) is if you want to adjust the configuration or look at the diagnostics in the GoCoax modem. Then you manually set the PC IP address to be on the same default subnet as the GoCoax modem. The GoCoax thread has the default address. i believe that the GoCoax documentation provides it as well.

From the goCoax support FAQ, >here<:

The admin / config page will not load at all, page just times out.​

You need to set your IP address manually to 192.168.254.1, subnet 255.255.255.0 because the adapter does not have DHCP server. Set your IP manually and the web admin page will load. The default IP of the device is 192.168.254.254. username is admin, password is gocoax. You can change the default password as you want.​

... which illustrates why it's good practice to update the adapters to LAN-accessible IPs, if only for easy access to their diagnostic info.

 

[Leecm0365]

So if my primary router is set to 10.0.0.1 IP network and I set the IP addresses for the GoCoax adapters to 10.0.0.200, .201, .203 & .204 and I should be able to access the GoCoax adapters from my primary network without having to directly connect laptop to adapters?

 

[L&LD]

Yes.

But, why did you skip .202?

 

[Leecm0365]

Oops, your right, just testing yawl good catch. Gonna install adapters this weekend. Thank you everyone for your help.

 

[Leecm0365]

All, Thankyou for your advice, setup went smooth no issues, network seems to be running fine.

 

[Leecm0365]

While the network to everything was up and running with no issue ran into a problem with TV guide and VOD at STBs. I was using the cable port on GoCoax to feed STB which apparently was allowing tv but not network to reach STB. Resolved by placing 2-way splitter before GoCoax adapter and ran one coax to GoCoax adapter to goto router (AP mode) and the other coax output straight to STB. All good now.

 

[krkaufman]

While the network to everything was up and running with no issue ran into a problem with TV guide and VOD at STBs. I was using the cable port on GoCoax to feed STB which apparently was allowing tv but not network to reach STB. Resolved by placing 2-way splitter before GoCoax adapter and ran one coax to GoCoax adapter to goto router (AP mode) and the other coax output straight to STB. All good now.

Yeah, any MoCA adapter with a RF pass-through port is using an internal diplexer, rather than a splitter, so MoCA signals pass to/from the MoCA chip and sub-MoCA frequencies-only pass through the "TV/STB" port.

From the goCoax support FAQ:

Does your MoCA adapter includes a filter inside the device already, such that connecting Modem/TV/etc to the second (marked TV) coaxial connector of the device will filter out MoCA frequencies?

Yes, our adapter has two internal band pass filters. One is for MoCA, between the MoCA chip and MoCA RF port. The frequency range is 1125 to 1675 MHz. Another is for TV, between MoCA RF port and the TV RF port. The frequency range is 5 to 1002 MHz

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