Upgraded from GoCoax WF-803M to MA2500D - Not seeing faster speeds

[stuman1974]

I've had a pair of GoCoax WF-803M adapters on my system for about 5 years. Really happy with them and get right about at gigabit speeds on the wired connection with my Xfinity gigabit service (speed test is about 940 down and 118 up).

I recently got a newer XB8 modem that has a 2.5 Gb port on it as well as a new WiFi 7 mesh router that has 2.5 gig ports as well. So, I thought I'd "upgrade" to the GoCoax MA2500D since it has 2,5 gb ethernet ports on it vs the 1 gb on the WF-803M. I understand that both adapters are rated at 2.5 gig over the coax of course and in my house, there's probably some crappy pre-existing cable running through it. For any coax and connectors I had access to, I made sure to use high quality and RG-6.

Anyway, after changing the GoCoax boxes out, my PHY between them is maybe a little better, but no difference in speeds when testing on wired as well as 6E devices. Is this just a limitation of my internal house cabling? Or is there a setting perhaps I can use to boost? Not that gig speeds are bad at all for my use, but was just hoping to get much faster (like the 1.2gig speed test I get to my router from the cable modem) and faster within the house as well. Is the 8-9% boost in PHY rate all that is expected? Thanks!

PHY Rates with the WF-803M boxes (boxes 2 and 4...the others are TiVo Mini boxes connected via MoCA):

PHY Rates after installing the two MA2500D boxes (boxes 0 and 1):

 

[krkaufman]

Yikes, those PHY rates between MoCA 2.5 nodes are awful. They should be near 3500 Mbps. Can you detail the coax setup?

 

[stuman1974]

Thanks for the reply. I need to update my home wiring diagram (slight changes since I last drew it up in 2019). I'm guessing I have some old crappy splitter (or splitters) in the wall or attic. I have access to the entry split and wiring and so on, but that "unknown" would be the only piece I can't detail.

I did just pop one of the older WF-803M boxes (#5 below in this table) on the coax in place of my host TiVo Roamio in my basement (which I know has a direct line to the splitter that my main MA2500D is connected to behind the router...box #0 below) and indeed I got that ~3500 rate. The office box #1 which is behind the mystery splits is still just around 1350.

 

[krkaufman]

Have you pulled the wallplates to see if the hidden splitters are in the outlet box(es)?

 

[krkaufman]

I did just pop one of the older WF-803M boxes (#5 below in this table) on the coax in place of my host TiVo Roamio in my basement (which I know has a direct line to the splitter that my main MA2500D is connected to behind the router...box #0 below) and indeed I got that ~3500 rate.

It would be interesting to see what you measure for throughput were you to move your 2nd MA2500D to the host Roamio location in place of the WF-803M, to explore how the improved PHY rates affect actual throughput.

 

[stuman1974]

So, since I had the two extra "older" GoCoax adapters, I went around and connected them to the other upstairs bedrooms that are currently connected via slow MoCA to the TiVo Mino boxes (unplugged from the wall coax and plugged the GoCoax to each outlet). I also did the same in my basement where my host TiVo Roamio is conncted (disconnected the TiVo, connected a GoCoax box). I then logged into the GoCoax settings from my computers each time I moved an adapter around and compiled the average PHY rates (always pretty close, maybe +/- 20 each time).

I also updated my whole home wiring diagram. I find it interesting (and surprising) that my upstairs master bedroom had the best signal connected to all of the other rooms tested. I unfortunately do not know if there are multiple splitters in my attic, but the data almost suggests that the outer wall somehow goes up there and then feeds back down to the family room and then basement. The office and bedrooms are all upstairs and seem to be all strong to each other. Back bedroom a tick weaker connected to family room and basement. And office and front bedroom the weakest. I guess that would suggest multiple splitters? I just can't see or get to them.

In all honesty, the data is kinda fun to hopefully help lead to troubleshooting. I'm a nerd

 

[stuman1974]

Late afternoon update...

Aha! I realized I could eliminate the 3-way splitter in the wall near the entry. Years ago, I had the Roamio there, but since moved it to the basement so I could use a little faster TiVo Mini in the family room. Well, I don't need all the joining splits! Below is the simplified setup now and the signal strength in the weaker areas is indeed much improved! Speed test via 6GHz to the Office node got me the full speed on all speedtests (1180 down, 119 up). WiFi to that node is now a little faster than the wire (since my Mac Mini is "only" gigabit).

Still no idea about the attic splits, but here's the latest schematic and scores of some of the select connections I just tested. Basement test irrelevant now, but was good for initial comparison.

Updated testing 6/4/24 afternoon after removing 3-way splitter:

 

[krkaufman]

Google Sheet of this data

 

[OzarkEdge]

Yikes, those PHY rates between MoCA 2.5 nodes are awful. They should be near 3500 Mbps. Can you detail the coax setup?

May I hijack this thread briefly for your opinion of my PHY rates?... I've been wanting to know this... if there's need to discuss it, I'll start a new discussion... hoping for 'not Yikes!'

The coax link is dedicated, RG-59 coupled to RG-6, with those efficient Holland Satellite Diplexers on each end.

My master Screenbeam MoCA2.5 ECB7250 PHY rates:

OE

 

[krkaufman]

May I hijack this thread briefly for your opinion of my PHY rates?

Can't expect much better than that (3550 Mbps), I'd think.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Can't expect much better than that (3550 Mbps), I'd think.

That's what I have been hoping but wasn't sure how to read that table. Since PHY rates came up in this discussion, I thought I'd run it by you. Thanks!

OE

 

[krkaufman]

That's what I have been hoping but wasn't sure how to read that table.

A good MoCA 2.x connection would see around 700 Mbps PHY rate per channel, so a MoCA 2.5 link with 5 bonded channels would be around 3500 Mbps.

edit: p.s. You could test the max possible rate by direct-connecting a pair of adapters using a short coax cable.

 

[stuman1974]

I wound up changing from Xfinity cable for TV side to YouTube TV, and thus was able to disconnect the 3 TiVo Mini boxes that were connected to the MoCA network (on 2.0). The rates on my remaining 2 GoCoax boxes did seem to increase a bit and the GoCoax settings show it is a 2.5 network now. Not quite all the way to 3500, but much better (I'm still guessing I have a 2-way and a 3-way splitters somewhere in the walls or attic). Seems like the resulting LAN speed test is proportional to the PHY rates. I'm happy.

 

[krkaufman]

the 3 TiVo Mini boxes that were connected to the MoCA network (on 2.0)

FWIW, only the later A95 (VOX/LUX) Mini is standard MoCA 2.0; the two older A92/A93 Mini’s are MoCA 1.1.

It’d be nice to find those hidden splitters, but if you’re happy…

 

[krkaufman]

Seems like the resulting LAN speed test is proportional INSANE!?!

Are you still on Comcast? Symmetrical 2 Gbps or even 2 Gbps download seem outside what Comcast can deliver.

 

[stuman1974]

FWIW, only the later A95 (VOX/LUX) Mini is standard MoCA 2.0; the two older A92/A93 Mini’s are MoCA 1.1.

It’d be nice to find those hidden splitters, but if you’re happy…

Correct. I had 3 A95's on the MoCA connections and the rest on ethernet connections.

Agreed, I wish I knew where they were, but I'm not crawling around in that old attic

 

[stuman1974]

Are you still on Comcast? Symmetrical 2 Gbps or even 2 Gbps download seem outside what Comcast can deliver.

I have the internet only with them now. The package is called "X2" and is rated as 2000/200. I have the XB8 modem from them.

 

[krkaufman]

I had 3 A95's on the MoCA connections and the rest on ethernet connections.

Ah, ok. I was going off this section of the last(?) diagram…

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The package is called "X2" and is rated as 2000/200.

Oh, nice. I was stuck thinking it was a “Gigabit” plan.

 

[krkaufman]

Oh, p.s., I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but, once you restructured your setup, the “PoE” MoCA filter in the last(?) diagram shouldn’t be needed, at least not for keeping your MoCA signals isolated/secured.

And at some point the “PoE” MoCA filter may become an issue if/when your service level requires use of DOCSIS signals above 1002 MHz.

 

[stuman1974]

Ah, ok. I was going off this section of the last(?) diagram…

View attachment 59389​

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Oh, nice. I was stuck thinking it was a “Gigabit” plan.

Good catch! I changed those out a few years back, but forgot to in the diagram. Here is the corrected version (reflecting the TiVos all still connected as of a couple days ago). I also changed the unknown splitters. I think based on the PHY rates I got from my adapter location tests a week or so ago, this is what they are.

As for the internet speed, I had indeed been on gigabit for a couple years, and just changed to the X2 yesterday (ironically, it's $31 cheaper than the gigabit based on screwy Xfinity promotions...fine with me!).