These 3 posts are quite illuminating, but they also raise Qns for those in nations that don't use the US standards:
I have a UHF (VHF too IIRC?) antenna mounted on my house, & IIRC it's split into 2 runs: one that terminates in the TV room upstairs, & another which terminates in a TV room downstairs. This is for OTA viewing, IIRC we used it for a short time once we built this house (~13yrs ago), before switching to cable TV.
I also have a completely sep. run of coax cabling (
pretty sure it's not connected to our OTA coaxial cabling -surely that'd make no sense!?), it comes from an entry point into our house & terminates in the TV room upstairs, & then continues on to the TV room downstairs. Both terminations ultimately connect to 2 STB's supplied by our cable TV provider (Foxtel), I vaguely recall the one downstairs being a "slave" to the one upstairs, but that's by no means a
definite. I'm not 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure both terminations are part of "one & the same" loop, i.e. they're not 2 entirely separate coax runs from 1st the entry point into the house.
There's a 3rd run, which I think is split at the "MDF" (or whatever the main comms box at the entry point of the house is called), it's only very short, terminates, & the cable from that termination goes into our DOCSIS x.x MODEM.
Our standards are slightly different in Australia, e.g. the terrestrial broadcast standard we use is "DVB-T" not ATSC, I think our cable internet it somewhat similar, but our cable TV is "DVB-C".
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Any idea what frequencies we use here for UHF, if our UHF frequencies are quite a bit higher, it could prevent MoCa adapters from performing optimally (or at all), no? Perhaps we have slightly different MoCA or "MoCa-like" adapters to accommodate for that?
UPDATE: Looking here it seems that all Australasian VHF/UHF doesn't hit 900mhz or higher. And if what I've read others say is correct, generally MoCa doesn't kick-in till about 900mhz, it can go down to ~500mhz but generally it's 900mhz+, right? So on our OTA coax run at least, & assuming the MoCa standard is the same &/or relevant for my region (Australasia), a pair of 1.1 adapters should seemingly be fine!?!
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Also, from some of my other readings it sounds like if a run's split (which is probably the case for our OTA coax run -not 100% sure), it can degrade the signal markedly. But what I'm reading here is; if all splitters are rated 2k+, & I don't have too many (or one with 4+ ports) on the same run, then I should definitely be fine?
Each branch of a splitter costs you at least 3.5 db in signal loss. Fewer splitters are better and don't use 3 or 4 way splitters if possible. A 4 way splitter is electrically two 2 way splitters in series so your loss will be 7 db.
As long as the splitters are rated for 2 Ghz they will work. If they are cheap Chinese junk they might cause problems. No need to buy gold plated splitters from Monster for many dollars but you don't want to buy $0.59 bargain bin items either.
At least as important is that all the terminations are good. If you have crimped on fittings you need to replace them with compression fittings. Also if possible check all the cable coaxial cable. RG6 is best but RG 59 if it is good quality and installed correctly will work. Staples holding the cable down, and sharp bends are a no no. Check for any loose fittings and replace them if necessary.
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Whatsmore, I've no idea how our cable TV frequencies compare to the US's, again, if it's very different, perhaps it could prevent the MoCa adapters from performing optimally (or at all)?
I don't know what frequencies that they use in Australia or why they would be different than the US. Given that Australia's population is approx 26 million it seems likely that the few multi national manufacturers of cable equipment would try and sell sell a world standards product. Look at the manual for your set top boxes and/or the labels on the set top boxes to see what frequencies are tuned.
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Additionally, which of our 2 long coax runs do you think would be best for placing some MoCa (or "MoCa like") adapters, & why exactly?
The CATV runs are your best bet for MoCa. Newer cable, hopefully RG6 and less weather damage from sun and water. The cable running down from the roof could have water infiltration for many feet beyond the outside end.
If the 2nd run of coax cabling I outlined above
really is laid out the way I described, then I'm thinking it might be relatively easy to pull some cat6 cabling between these two points*.
But, I'd still like to get at least 1 pair of MoCa (or whatever's best for my region) adapters, & work out which of my 2 long coax segments is best for such devices.
Reading
this & many other sources of info, it seems MoCa's quite limited on the consumer side (albeit not totally) compared to HomePlug. I realise perf/stability differences won't be as big as what one can see with HomePlug. But nonetheless, I'm interested in knowing the marginal differences (perf/other) between the latest MoCa kits -which SNB/elsewhere have compared.
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It seems 2.0 is several months away from delivery (if ever), & even then is likely to be targeted mainly at telcos & similar orgs? If so, in your informed opinions; what's the best performing (on avg) MoCa 1.1 kit out now -or very soon? Should it be fine in Aussie conditions, & where do I find/buy it?
There isn't a lot of stand alone MoC0 equipment available. Actiontec is the only manufacturer that I am aware of. FIOS uses their hardware. TIVO also uses MoCa to network their set top boxes. MoCa works very well but if it doesn't problems can be harder to diagnose. (Splitters hidden in walls, old cable, loop through wiring etc. ) Installation is easy, but for people that don't understand how things work the installation process can be confusing. With Ethernet over power it is more likely that you will have a plug and play installation that works. Just plug an adapter in at either end and run an Ethernet connection to a router. How fast the connection is depends on distance and noise can slow it down but it will work and likely better than WiFi.
If you can't find a source (ebay, Amazon) that will ship to Australia do you know someone in the US that will reship it to you?
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Ah, this is something I should check too, zero idea if our antenna installation uses an amp.
What's a simple way to ascertain if we have one & what it is, without pulling walls down, or climbing onto our roof or ceiling cavities? (hopefully it's hidden directly behind one of the face-plates etc!) If we have one -or more- that doesn't meet those requirements, then I'll consider replacing.
No easy way to find an AMP without having some test equipment to analyze the signal levels in each direction, but an AMP requires AC power so it needs to be near an AC outlet though some AMPs can be fed using coaxial with a wall wart plugged in elsewhere. AMPs usually the size of a couple of decks of playing cards. It is probably not going to be outdoors and is to large to be hidden in the wall. In any case if it was installed 13 years ago and has been powered up for that entire time it is probably dead. Also the cable running from the antenna on the roof is probably shot and if it was only RG 59 the chances of getting it to work for MoCa
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What about the 2nd run of coax for our cable TV, is it likely to have any amps which may affect the usability of MoCa, plus like the OTA coax run, should I be looking for the overuse of splitters?
If you only have two CATV outlets you should not have needed a cable AMP. Sometimes they are installed when signal levels are low and the installer/tech/homeowner are lazy and don't want to correct the real underlying problem(s) .
Even if we ultimately end-up using Ethernet to connect these 2 points, it'd be handy to have the option to use MoCa in the future, should we decide to use it in parallel etc. Then again, it's probably more practical at that point to just run a 2nd eth cable, esp. if the first run turns out to be so simple, as I suspect (don't yet know
for sure) it'll be.
That's just for those 2 points though, there's a least one other coax termination point we might want to use, & I'm quite sure an Ethernet run there is far less trivial. HomePlug will factor-in too of course, I'll be getting at least one pair of HomePlug adapters, but that's for a
separate thread.
Thanks again.
*I've a sep. project underway for a long cat6 run from one end of the house (downstairs), to the TV room downstairs.
