HDHomeRun + WMC + 802.11n/ac or Powerline

[Datsallfolks]

Greetings fellow geeks!

Soo I have couple of questions.
My set up now

Fios coax cable --. HDHomeRun Prime --> Single PC (through ethernet)

What I want to achieve is
Fios coax cable --> HDHomeRun Prime --> either 802.11ac router or Powerline adapter --> powerline receivers in 3 bedrooms

I am moving into a 4 story townhouse soon and not sure if even 802.11ac router's wireless signals will be enough to transmit tv streams to xboxes in 3 bedrooms.

Can anyone confirm this?

So my alternate plan is to set up

coax cable --> splitter --> cable modem and HDHomeRun Prime ---> powerline adapter ---> xbox 1 and xbox2 and xbox3

Do you think one powerline adapter will have enough signals and will not degrade if all 3 streams are running simultaneously?

Any other setup recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[RealBeast]

I would not buy an ac router yet -- they are not yet prime time and will probably not be compatible with future devices, like happened with real early N routers. Get a good single or dual band N, depending on your adapters. When you do your wireless setup use N only and WPA2 personal with AES encryption to get full N speeds.

I use powerline to attach wireless APs (actually cheap N routers set up as wireless APs) to my router to get a better signal throughout my house. They usually do 40-80Mbps, as you can see from these benchmarks: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/powerline-charts/view

I seriously doubt that any consumer router without extra access points will cover a four story townhouse. What I would do is have them install the Internet connection near the XBOXs if they are grouped together so that you can hardwire with CAT5e as many as possible and then use the wireless bandwidth for the remaining and other uses.

 

[bill001g]

First issue is what type of wireless do your xbox run.

All the "magic" features of 802.11ac require all you xbox also have AC cards as well as mimo antenna.

I suspect you no matter the router you will be limited to 54m by the xbox

Besides the fact that all routers on the market are not actually certified standard since there is no standard for another year.

Running powerline adapters just like wireless is going to depend on your particular house. Some work well other don't work at all. Power line adapters also have more issues when you try to run them other than 2 in point to point mode. Because you have 3 or 4 or more devices trying to use the bandwidth they have issues. This is going to be you are going to have to try it type things. It should have more total bandwidth than the wireless.

Now if you have coax cable in all the rooms you also have the option to try MOCA devices. Like your other options there are downsides to these.. Some conflict with other systems like directtv or some other mulitroom viewing things.

The only solution that will guarantee you good performance is ethernet which for many people is not a option.

 

[Datsallfolks]

I would not buy an ac router yet -- they are not yet prime time and will probably not be compatible with future devices, like happened with real early N routers. Get a good single or dual band N, depending on your adapters. When you do your wireless setup use N only and WPA2 personal with AES encryption to get full N speeds.

I use powerline to attach wireless APs (actually cheap N routers set up as wireless APs) to my router to get a better signal throughout my house. They usually do 40-80Mbps, as you can see from these benchmarks: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/powerline-charts/view

I seriously doubt that any consumer router without extra access points will cover a four story townhouse. What I would do is have them install the Internet connection near the XBOXs if they are grouped together so that you can hardwire with CAT5e as many as possible and then use the wireless bandwidth for the remaining and other uses.

"use N only and WPA2 personal with AES encryption to get full N speeds."

Good information, will keep in mind!

So will it be enough if I bridge two dual band wireless N routers via ethernet(one router on 1st floor and other on 3rd floor) and connect HDHomeRun prime router1. Do you think I will be able to stream 1080i in 3 bedrooms? (one bedroom is on 1st floor and other two are on 3rd floor)

Not sure how much would it cost to have entire house wired with Cat5e cbale ..I will get a quote from my builder...

 

[Datsallfolks]

First issue is what type of wireless do your xbox run.

All the "magic" features of 802.11ac require all you xbox also have AC cards as well as mimo antenna.

I suspect you no matter the router you will be limited to 54m by the xbox

Besides the fact that all routers on the market are not actually certified standard since there is no standard for another year.

Running powerline adapters just like wireless is going to depend on your particular house. Some work well other don't work at all. Power line adapters also have more issues when you try to run them other than 2 in point to point mode. Because you have 3 or 4 or more devices trying to use the bandwidth they have issues. This is going to be you are going to have to try it type things. It should have more total bandwidth than the wireless.

Now if you have coax cable in all the rooms you also have the option to try MOCA devices. Like your other options there are downsides to these.. Some conflict with other systems like directtv or some other mulitroom viewing things.

The only solution that will guarantee you good performance is ethernet which for many people is not a option.

I was thinking on buying compatible ac receiver for xbox ..

So it seems one powerline adapter to 3 receiver wouldnt be a good idea .. Signals would be degraded as well right?

I do have coax cable in all rooms, will MOCA devices get me good bandwith and will it pose same problem as powerline when dealing with one adapter to 3 receivers?

 

[RealBeast]

"use N only and WPA2 personal with AES encryption to get full N speeds."

Good information, will keep in mind!

So will it be enough if I bridge two dual band wireless N routers via ethernet(one router on 1st floor and other on 3rd floor) and connect HDHomeRun prime router1. Do you think I will be able to stream 1080i in 3 bedrooms? (one bedroom is on 1st floor and other two are on 3rd floor)

Not sure how much would it cost to have entire house wired with Cat5e cbale ..I will get a quote from my builder...

If they haven't put the drywall up yet it will be inexpensive, if they already have then it will cost a lot more depending on how finished the walls are now.

You won't get that good of a signal from a wireless bridge that is a few floors above the router, depending on local factors like construction materials and room layout.

Either MOCA or powerline will work better as a single point to point as bill001g said, when you have 3 or more they don't work as reliably. Even a single CAT5 cable run if you can take it out through a wall and up the side of building and back in would work really well to place a wireless AP on the third floor.

 

[Datsallfolks]

If they haven't put the drywall up yet it will be inexpensive, if they already have then it will cost a lot more depending on how finished the walls are now.

You won't get that good of a signal from a wireless bridge that is a few floors above the router, depending on local factors like construction materials and room layout.

Either MOCA or powerline will work better as a single point to point as bill001g said, when you have 3 or more they don't work as reliably. Even a single CAT5 cable run if you can take it out through a wall and up the side of building and back in would work really well to place a wireless AP on the third floor.

They put the drywall in yesterday and said it would cost me a lot more now

But I have appointment with the electrical guy on saturday to go over options.

After doing research I think MoCA will work but not sure how exactly.
The coax points are all over the house so -->

Fios --> Diplexer--> 1. Cable modem 2. HDHomerun

1. Cable Modem --> Wireless Router
2. HDHomerun -->??


Where does the ethernet output from HDHomerun go with respect to MoCA Adapter?

 

[RealBeast]

If they could do even a single run from the first to third floor it would be great, don't know the cost though.

The HDHomeRun RJ45 output jack would go to the MOCA input jack, but I do not know if there is an interference issue between these using the particular cable type that you have installed, as you are using the cable for both a TV signal and Internet with MOCA.

 

[Datsallfolks]

But MoCA adapter would only take coax as input right?

Where do HDHomeRun unit fit in this layout -->

http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/electronics/detail-page/B001N85NMI-2-lg.jpg

 

[RealBeast]

Think of the MOCA as just a CAT5 cable, it will come off your router or switch to the MOCA adapter that connects to a MOCA adapter, which then attaches to a device or switch or wireless AP. All a MOCA adapter does is take the place of a CAT5e cable run.

 

[Datsallfolks]

I see.. So the coax cable-out from MOCA adapter can be split and one goes to cable modem and other goes to hdhomerun unit. And both of these will be connected to wireless router through ethernet(cable modem thru WAN and Hdhomerun thru LAN port). And the wireless router will have a feedback to MoCA adapter through ethernet.

 

[RealBeast]

Yes, you can split the output of the MOCA to attach the HDHR and modem with a low loss splitter, and then both the modem and HDHR unit will attach to an LAN port of the router.

Once you get it going, if your MOCA performance is inadequate you can try a Point of Entry (POE) filter, which reflects the MOCA signal back and doesn't allow it to "leak" from your coax upstream. I've never had to use one, but they are available and are supposed to improve performance.

Note that MOCA adapters work pretty well if properly installed, which means that any and all cable splitters in the coax cable path must be 2GHz or higher, as the MOCA unit uses the bandwidth from 850-1550 MHz.

 

[Datsallfolks]

Great info! I learnt a lot

Since Verizon Fios already has MOCA enabled network, I suppose there is no need to attach MoCA adapter at the source.
I wonder how the feedback from HDHR goes back into coax line.

I assume the setup would be -
ONT to splitter to one end goes to cable modem and the other one to HDHR. Both modem and HDHR connects to Wireless router through ethernet.

That would set up a wireless streaming scenario, but how do the feeds from HDHR go back to coax network?

 

[RealBeast]

That would set up a wireless streaming scenario, but how do the feeds from HDHR go back to coax network?

I don't know that you can, HDHomeRun is meant to supply TV to your computers and wireless tablets, not to your TV sets.

 

[Datsallfolks]

I don't know that you can, HDHomeRun is meant to supply TV to your computers and wireless tablets, not to your TV sets.

I guess I'll pose this question on silicondust's forum.. or maybe this guys knows

http://blog.mattwoodward.com/2012/03/silicondust-hdhomerun-prime-and-moca.html

Thanks though!!

 

[SeaTech98107]

Greetings fellow geeks!

Soo I have couple of questions.
My set up now

Fios coax cable --. HDHomeRun Prime --> Single PC (through ethernet)

What I want to achieve is
Fios coax cable --> HDHomeRun Prime --> either 802.11ac router or Powerline adapter --> powerline receivers in 3 bedrooms

I am moving into a 4 story townhouse soon and not sure if even 802.11ac router's wireless signals will be enough to transmit tv streams to xboxes in 3 bedrooms.

Can anyone confirm this?

So my alternate plan is to set up

coax cable --> splitter --> cable modem and HDHomeRun Prime ---> powerline adapter ---> xbox 1 and xbox2 and xbox3

Do you think one powerline adapter will have enough signals and will not degrade if all 3 streams are running simultaneously?

Any other setup recommendations?

Thanks!

I realize this post is over a year old but I'm here to say, there is nothing wrong with wireless AC. I bought a D-Link Wireless AC 750 router and more than doubled my speed and range than that of the old wireless N equipment. I would add a wireless AC bridge in addition to wireless AC powerline receivers. Since your xbox would be now be ethernet wired to one of the powerline receivers, it wouldn't be slowed up by the 802-11 G or N speed of the xbox