MoCA issues after tenant/suite split

[BikeHelmet]

Howdy all,

I have been using MoCA in my home for a few years. (TL-MC84 adapters.) A year or so ago I got an 8 way splitter and installed it in the demarc, hooking up 8 rooms together. I then stuck adapters in the rooms that I needed. I have both VDSL2 and Cable (failover with a Merlin router) - last month a new tenant moved into the suite downstairs, and now I get periodic disconnects. I caught one, and the MoCA adapter in my living room was "Disconnected" for about 20 seconds, then linked back up. It had a bunch of RX Bad on it.

Does that mean that the main adapter near the TC4400 modem might be having issues? Maybe having a 2 way splitter to the modem and MoCA adapter after that 8 way splitter is a bad idea? I checked the demarc, and when my ISP rewired the second modem in, they just disconnected one for downstairs and hooked a new line from the pole. I now have one less spot populated on the 8 way splitter..

Ethernet TX:	Tx Good: 4279428 Tx Bad: 0 Tx Dropped: 0
Ethernet RX:	Rx Good: 16142627 Rx Bad: 277 Rx Dropped: 0
GPIO:	0x0000027d

Insights/guesses appreciated. If I need to check my filters or replace cable runs or whatever, let me know where I should start.

Cheers,

 

[krkaufman]

Maybe having a 2 way splitter to the modem and MoCA adapter after that 8 way splitter is a bad idea?

You’d want to check your modem diagnostics to assess whether the signal strength is within the recommended range. That said, the typical approach is to use an initial 2-way splitter to get the modem connected with as little path loss as possible, then a secondary splitter to service the remaining outlets. (And if operating a MoCA network, a 70+ dB “PoE” MoCA filter would be installed on the input port of the top-level 2-way splitter, and the secondary splitter would ideally be right-sized and MoCA-optimized.)

And if a splitter can’t be down-sized and has unused ports, a 75-ohm terminator should be used to cap any open ports.

Another possibility to consider is signal interference. You might look into replacing your “PoE” MoCA filter with a 70+ dB model, making sure the downstairs tenant’s connection is outside the scope of your coax.

 

[BikeHelmet]

Okay, I'm not really sure how to read the specs on these, but I think they don't meet the recommendations?

https://www.amazon.ca/Filter-MoCA-Cable-coaxial-networks/dp/B00KO5KHSQ/?tag=smallncom-20

https://www.amazon.ca/GLP-1G70CWWS-Filter-Eliminate-Multi-Room-Interference/dp/B08HJ4F4D4/?tag=smallncom-20

Can you point me in the right direction? I know that some filters are already on both incoming lines - whatever Shaw originally installed. I will get pictures later today.

https://www.amazon.ca/Pieces-Type-Terminator-Coaxial-Satellite/dp/B00JJYDU4Q/?tag=smallncom-20

So stick these on every disconnected port on the splitter, and any wall outlets without anything plugged into them?

I'll see if I can get line stats too.

 

[sfx2000]

they just disconnected one for downstairs and hooked a new line from the pole.

So they did a new pull over to the demarc - that's interesting...

WIth CoxHSI here in San Diego - they would just have the one run over to the demarc, and split it there - the CPE (TV and/or Broadband) are provisioned at the MAC/SN level with two home runs - one to the primary, and another to the secondary...

I would look at signal levels for your CM, along with the MACA units...

Remember that a 2:1 split is a 3dB loss of signal...

 

[BikeHelmet]

It's working a lot better with the new splitter in place. I haven't measured the stats, but I was starting to get a lot of dropout notices from my router just before installing it, and they've pretty much stopped. Games are also working better. Huge improvement from a very simple part swap.