MoCa Questions

[danthecan]

I was wondering if MoCa may work in a setup I'm helping a friend with. However the catch is we are in Ireland and MoCa isn't sold outside of USA (although Netgear MoCa can be gotten on eBay), no-one in UK/IE AV forums either have ever tried it out so there isn't a whole lot of info to go on. The coax cables are the same stuff as USA cables MoCa runs on so I'm hopeful it will work, the cable TV and broadband provider is UPC.

Basically the house is setup like so;
* Cable comes into house with tap that has 2 ports on it, 1 port feeds into coax system which runs around the house to multiple points.

* Cable STB's at two points in the house all other points are unused.

* 1 point has a 2 way splitter on it which feeds into the set top box and the cable modem for broadband.

Now the reason why I'm contemplating MoCa is because
1) The UPC supplied Cisco cable modem cannot be replaced and can't even be bridged normally, but the house does have coax running though it.
2) An Airport Extreme is through some hacks working off the Cisco providing wireless coverage but wouldn't you know it a feature in the house kills the wireless on mobile devices like phones or printers past a certain point (laptops can still see it).
3) Homeplugs don't work in the house either much to our dismay (tried D-Link) and not even in the same room, same plugs work fine in my own house.

So what I'm hoping is that MoCa can bridge the network from the Airport Extreme to a second Airport Extreme or Airport Express which will be setup as a wireless extension to the network so all devices will have wireless network access with just one visible.

It may just work out of the box but if I understand correctly the risk is with the splitter as that's where the primary TV with STB is but also the cable broadband as the MoCa box would have to plugged into the Airport Extreme and then into same cable point the cable TV STB and broadband are running off, would I need a special splitter, I've seen talk of diplexers but I'm not sure which ones to get.

Thanks.

 

[thiggins]

Just make sure the splitter is rated to pass at least 1.5 GHz and you should be fine.

 

[stevech]

Just make sure the splitter is rated to pass at least 1.5 GHz and you should be fine.

are the frequencies on the cable compatible? May be about the same as in No. America?

 

[danthecan]

Thanks for the info guys I checked the splitter on it and it's a regular 2 port 5-1000Mhz model.

I'll order the units and hopefully everything will work out, will report back but might take 1 or 2 weeks with shipping.

 

[danthecan]

After some delays we acquired the Netgear MoCa units and the pass-through works with the cable TV and broadband so there were no problems with that but....

We cant turn the MoCa boxes on

I'm no expert when it comes to electrics but from what I've read looking at the power pack and the manual it should support universal voltage so a simple travel adapter should work but it doesn't, nothing happens when turning the device on or off.

Manual
Power Consumption: 10 Watts
Input Range 100-240VAC 50/60Hz

Picture of Netgear power pack


Voltage conversion sites say this should work (unless I'm reading it wrong which is entirely possible) but also they say to never use any actual voltage conversion units on devices which are universal voltage in the first place as it will kill them. Also the cheap USA to UK voltage conversion units are only meant to be used in limited amounts not left on 24/7.

So in a bit of a jam now, I'm going to buy some other USA to UK travel adapters and see if they work, my only other option would be to try and find a replacement power pack that delivers the same 5v voltage to the Netgear box.

 

[thiggins]

All you should need is a plug adapter, not a voltage converter. If that is what you are using and it is not working, the adapter might not be making a good connection with the plug prongs.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

The connection is horrible on the Netgears....I just did 2x network jobs with a pair of those kits, all 4 units required plugging the adapter into the back of the unit several times. Plug it in..unplug..plug it in...unplug..firmly. After 3 or 4 times you'll see it light up.