Question Can I use a splitter and router setup as an access point instead of a MoCA adapter ?

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linya

Sep 14, 2024
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I have a gateway (router and modem) from my ISP that is located upstairs in the office. The home is really old and the downstairs has really bad connection via wifi. Luckily there is another coax cable from the office upstairs going downstairs to the room I would like to setup another source of wireless. I currently have a wireless mesh system but it cuts out every once in a while and doesn't perform super well. I was thinking to use a MoCA adapter downstairs since the gateway supports MoCA and connect the ethernet to the mesh system as a wired backhaul hoping to increase strength quite a bit but I also have a extra router laying around.
I was running this plan through chatgpt (lmao) and it said I could just use a splitter at the ISP line in and run one line to the gateway and the one going downstairs to the router and set it up as an access point (by disabling DHCP) since the router has coax port. Would this work? Would the splitter reduce the signal too much or would this not work entirely and I would then need to purchase a MoCA adapter (which are pretty expensive for some reason).
 
If similar to the following setup, then no, it will not work.

Question - I need help with my home network setup ?

I need some recommendations on what to change. This is my current setup. My internet is "fiber" but not really. They advertise as fiber but it is converted to coax from the box outside. Inside the main network cabinet there is coax that is split. One side of the coax goes to a Arris modem/Wi-Fi...
forums.tomshardware.com forums.tomshardware.com
 
lantis3 said:
If similar to the following setup, then no, it will not work.

Question - I need help with my home network setup ?

I need some recommendations on what to change. This is my current setup. My internet is "fiber" but not really. They advertise as fiber but it is converted to coax from the box outside. Inside the main network cabinet there is coax that is split. One side of the coax goes to a Arris modem/Wi-Fi...
forums.tomshardware.com forums.tomshardware.com
Click to expand...
It seems like that OP had a working setup with a coax split into two networks but I understand it may be a fluke. If so how exactly do I use the MoCA enabled gateway? It is my understanding that you only need one MoCA adapter if you have a MoCA enabled gateway.

Here is my current setup. There are two separate coax traces, one from the ISP line in and one going to a satelite that is no longer in use that goes downstairs. My plan was to undo the connection to satelilite and use that coax as internet to downstairs. How exactly do I do this with a MoCA enabled gateway? The gateway has only one coax port for line in. Wouldn't I then need a MoCA adapter going from ethernet from the gateway to the coax? But I thought I don't need a MoCA adapter on the gateway end if it is MoCA enabled. Do I need some kind of splitter?
 
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The link I provided already pointed out that OP's setup is incorrect and he did have issues.

If your downstair's router is also a cable gateway (no RJ45 WAN port, but with a coaxial connector as WAN) , you can't use a signal splitter since your ISP will not give you 2 IPv4/IPv6, also mentioned in the link. You will have to use a Moca adapter connect to one of that router's LAN port, and use that router as AP (with DHCP server disabled). Or that router is also Moca enabled?

As usual, list all of your modem/gateway models so I/we can lookup the specs.

Bed time here though.
 
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lantis3 said:
The link I provided already pointed out that OP's setup is incorrect and he did have issues.

If your downstair's router is also a cable gateway (no RJ45 WAN port, but with a coaxial connector as WAN) , you can't use a signal splitter since your ISP will not give you 2 IPv4/IPv6, also mentioned in the link. You will have to use a Moca adapter connect to one of that router's LAN port, and use that router as AP (with DHCP server disabled). Or that router is also Moca enabled?

As usual, list all of your modem/gateway models so I/we can lookup the specs.

Bed time here though.
Click to expand...
Oops I messed up, the 2nd router I have is actually not a cable gateway, it only has a RJ45 port labeled internet (assuming this is WAN) and 4 other LAN ports. I also have an extra modem with a coax and I confused them for each other. So I'm assuming there is no way to have the modem act as simply a switch to convert from coax to ethernet.

The main gateway I have is Technicolor CGM4981
The extra router I have is netgear ax1800
The extra modem I have is arris cm8200 (I don't think its MoCA enabled)

I'm assuming I have to use a splitter somewhere to use only one MoCA adapter.
 
You are going to need two moca boxes one for each end.

Do you know how the wire runs to the remote room. In particular does it connect to the same wire the internet modem is connected to. Is it possible to separate the connection going to the remote room from the coax going outside your house to the ISP. The reason for this question is there are possible issue with moca interfering with docsis 3.1. The older 3.0 you didn't have to worry as much. It has been a while since I hands on did moca so I maybe they have a solution.

So with some poor forum art this is how you would connect it. I am unsure if you have 2 routers so I will assume you use only technicolor modem/router

----------coax from isp---modem/router---ethernet---moca box1---coax to remote room --moca box 2--AP/pc

It the coax is shared you need to do


--------1-----modem/router----------------2

1-------moca box 1-----ethernet---2

Note assume the two number 1 are connected via coax and number 2 are connected via ethernet. Forum eats blanks so it is hard to align. The remote room is just a moca box and AP like the first.

I suspect you can get it to work with some effort.
 
After checking the specs, none of your routers are moca capable.

If using existing coaxial cable, as mentioned by @bill001g , you will need two moca adapters. One side connected the coax, one side connected to any LAN ports of the two routers with ethernet cable for both adapters.

And you also need a coax connector to connect left and right sections of the cable at the satellite spot.

You can buy a long outdoor waterproof and burial grade ethernet cable instead to replace the whole coax stuff, it will be much cheaper. You probably need a drill to make existing hole bigger though.

You can use female to female wallplates like the following if you want, you will need 2 extra shorter ethernet cables though.
https://www.amazon.com/Listed-VCE-2-Pack-Female-Plate/dp/B0C7Z4G86N?th=1
https://www.amazon.com/BUPLDET-Port-Ethernet-Plate-Female/dp/B0D5GNK1F1
 
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lantis3 said:
After checking the specs, none of your routers are moca capable.
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Really? The main gateway lets me enable moca on the gateway admin panel and it shows that there is a channel for moca. In response to @bill001g , they are completely seperate from each other. That is why I was wondering if I could pick up a splitter to connect them quite easily. The reason I am avoiding replacing the existing stuff with ethernet is because I didn't want to deal with the exterior walls and drilling, but if I have to pick up two coax adapters instead of just one I just might have to.
 
Well, I searched again and it looks like CGM4981 does have moca capability, but I wonder how it's going to work because it's on the WAN side, not the LAN side. How it's going to communicate with LAN side moca adapter if you acquired one for the downstairs?
 
I suspect life might be easier to just buy 2 moca adapters. Things like gocoax 2.5 cost about $120 for 2.

If you want to try just 1 adapters the way it would work is you put a simple t connector in the line to the modem and connect the coax to the remote room.

I can't find the manual for the modem/router you listed but there are models that do support moca. The key things here is which version of moca. I suspect if you buy a 2.5 version it also supports the variations of 2.0 also so it "should" talk the technicolor. A quick search showed people on reddit having issues but it seem you must configure the channels it uses. That maybe to avoid interference with the docsis 3.1.

So maybe buy 1 moca unit and if it doesn't work just buy a second. The pricing on moca units is strange they are mostly sold in pairs extra single units seem to cost a bit more than 1/2 the sets of units.
 
bill001g said:
If you want to try just 1 adapters the way it would work is you put a simple t connector in the line to the modem and connect the coax to the remote room.
Click to expand...
This leads me back to my first question. If I can simply use a T connector or a splitter to split the ISP signal, why can't I just do away with the moca adapter entirely? I can hook up the coax to the modem since the two coax paths are now getting the same signal. From my understanding I would be converting coax to ethernet. Would the modem in the remote room have to also be moca compatible for this to work?
 
It's not necessarily that I insist it will work, it is more so a technical question as to why coax must be converted into ethernet via a moca adapter for this to work. Since unless my understanding is incorrect, the coax will be split into identical signals.
 
Coax signal splitter only split analog signal, with 3db attenuation.

You will need to convert analog signal (modulation) into digital (0 and 1) so that routers/computers that they can consume, and that require moca adapter, either built-in in a modem gateway or an external one.

The word "modem" stands for "modulator-demodulator". A modem's purpose is to convert digital information to analog signals (modulation), and to convert analog signals back into useful digital information (demodulation).

Same applied for MoCA adapter.
 
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Ty for your responses @lantis3 . @bill001g , is there any reason you recommend a t-connector instead of something like a moca certified splitter? That is what I see recommended everywhere. My plan is to now purchase one moca adapter to connect to the AP and a splitter and I guess it just magically converts that ISP signal to useable internet. I am assuming the coax straight to the other modem wouldn't work.
 
No. As I said, you will create 2 LAN networks that won't talk to each other unless that's what you intend to do, assuming if it works with internet at all. Different ISP might have different policies. Call your ISP first.
 
The problem with just using a splitter and a second modem is the ISP will likely not allow it. If they do they want a second monthly fee. Really that is all the ISP does is put splitters in the cable and connect all your neighbors to the same cable.

Partially it prevent you from doing crazy stuff like running the second cable to your neighbors house and splitting the 1 ISP bill if they allow multiple modems on the same plan.

The other is each modem needs its own public IP address. Those are in very short supply so even if you were willing to pay for a second account they do not generally allow it because they have limited IP available for each neighborhood. I know they would not sell multiple accounts to houses even when multiple families live in the house.

The way you modem/router is work is there are actually 2 internal connection to the coax. The first one connect to the modem like and other cable modem. The moca one connects to the LAN side of the router with a "virtual" ethernet cable. It then converts that to moca and connects the other side of the moca chip the same coax that the internet connects to. In effect they have a moca adapter inside the modem/router and splitter on the coax cable connecting both.
 
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