[SOLVED] Trouble setting up MoCA...

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
L

luis1991

Aug 14, 2021
14
0
10
Greetings,

My entire house has coax installed into every single room and I am trying to connect to an upstairs computer while my DSL router is downstairs.

I was doing troubleshooting and found that the MoCA light on the adapter only turns on when I connect to one specific rooms upstairs, but when I connect to the room with the computer, the light won't come on. I don't have any other cable service for TV or anything like that.

Does this mean that the the other rooms are disconnected somehow? Would this be resolved inside the box with all the cables that goes outside? I live in a townhouse community so I am not sure if I can get in or if I will be able to tell which connection is mine.
 
Last edited:
Solution
S
Okay, so let me get this straight.

Cables come in on the second floor into two different rooms and each of these rooms have 2x cables in them. In each of these boxes, one of these cables goes downstairs.

Downstairs only has one cable in each box, and one of them somehow is connected directly to the third floor, which is how the moca is working.

I think a diagram is going to help.

The next step is that we are either going to have to trace all the wires to figure out how to use them to get what you want where you want it. Or we will have to replace the splitter at the 2nd level (wherever it is) with a moca compliant one and connect all the cables and hope there aren't any more splitters.

Pros/cons of option 1:
  • have to buy...
Sort by date Sort by votes
It means that something is keeping the moca signal from getting to that other room. It could be as simple as that room is simply not hooked up, but it could also be a non-moca splitter.

You should be able to access the box and see what cables are connected and what I would suggest is that you simply swap the cable for the room that works with the room you want to work and leave it at that.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
once it comes into your house, it will then get split to the various rooms. so the fact it works in other parts of the house tells you it is not outside the house that is the issue.

if you plug in a cable box into the room with the pc, do you get cable?

most likely cause is that room simply is not hooked into the rest of the coax. try that first.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Math Geek said:
once it comes into your house, it will then get split to the various rooms. so the fact it works in other parts of the house tells you it is not outside the house that is the issue.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily--most splits on existing installations is outside in a box there. Because back in the day, all coax runs by a cable company had to be their home runs and if they used your wiring, you would be responsible for issues, not them.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
luis1991 said:
OK, I was looking outside and found two places that have coax cables, I'm just not sure which. I took a picture with "A" and "B" to point to these 2 areas:

https://imgur.com/7qWchJs
View: https://imgur.com/7qWchJs


Which do you think is the most likely area where I need to work? I'm thinking the green one?
Click to expand...
That's what I'm guessing too, but if you've got coax in both of them, just take pictures of both and post them and we should be able to figure it out. :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
still does not change what i would do first.

if the room gets cable, then it should connect via moca, unless it is somehow on a different coax run that would end up outside the main internal network behind the router.

a quick check to be sure the room even has cable is the obvious first step and not messing outside with the cable companies stuff. if you break it, no one gonna be happy with you
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I don't see any splitters anywhere inside the house. The only way cables enter and leave various rooms/walls is like this:

https://imgur.com/cJAIOyH
View: https://imgur.com/cJAIOyH


I currently don't have a cable subscription but I tried connecting to every single room upstairs with a MoCA adapter using a PS3 and only one room successfully created a wired connection. The one with my PC did not. Also, the adapter has a MoCA light that will turn on depending on whether it has a connection or not.

I'll be taking a better look during the daytime and see if I can take pictures. I might try calling AT&T but not sure if they will come for something like this
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Math Geek said:
still does not change what i would do first.

if the room gets cable, then it should connect via moca, unless it is somehow on a different coax run that would end up outside the main internal network behind the router.

a quick check to be sure the room even has cable is the obvious first step and not messing outside with the cable companies stuff. if you break it, no one gonna be happy with you
Click to expand...
The only way it's going to get moca or cable is if it is wired up outside. OP already does not have moca signal there, hence it is probably disconnected outside.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
luis1991 said:
I don't see any splitters anywhere inside the house. The only way cables enter and leave various rooms/walls is like this:

https://imgur.com/cJAIOyH
View: https://imgur.com/cJAIOyH


I currently don't have a cable subscription but I tried connecting to every single room upstairs with a MoCA adapter using a PS3 and only one room successfully created a wired connection. The one with my PC did not. Also, the adapter has a MoCA light that will turn on depending on whether it has a connection or not.

I'll be taking a better look during the daytime and see if I can take pictures. I might try calling AT&T but not sure if they will come for something like this
Click to expand...
Excellent diagnosis!

Yes, pictures will definitely help. I already think I know what is going on and you seem versed enough in logical steps so we should be able to fix this pretty quickly. :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
That coax definitely looks retrofitted, doesn't look like it was originally designed to be integrated with the house. As is the case, some of your outlets may not be connected at the splitter.

There is definitely a splitter somewhere, it may even be outside the house as I've seen this in apartments before. Find this splitter asap, it'll give you a better understanding of what's going on.

Once you find the splitter, MAKE SURE ITS RATED FOR AT LEAST 5-1800mhz. Many splitters for TV are only rated for 5-1000mhz and MOCA won't work at these frequencies. It may work on one outlet because you can latch onto the lowest channel above 1000mhz.

ALSO, because you live in a townhouse community, please use a MOCA filter where the cable comes into the splitter. This will prevent your moca from bleeding into your neighbors and prevent interference with their systems as well as keep your network secure.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
And before you even start worrying about all the splitters and crap, let's just see what you have because if you just want a point to point connection (like you described in the OP), then a simple coupler will be more than enough--no splitters and no moca filters needed. 😉
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hmmm...so I've got some questions.

Is this for the entire townhome complex?

In the first picture one of the white wires has '208' on it. Is there an address in the complex that has a 208 in it?

My initial thoughts is that this is for the entire complex as I don't think a single unit would have that many cables coming into it (unless it's huge).

It does seem like there are some wires coupled together with the white wires that are run directly inside, but then there are some white wires run directly to the distribution blocks under the green thing. And now that I'm thinking about it, the green thing probably belongs to the cable company as we have one in my parents back yard.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
This is just for my building since every building is separate (many seperate structures inside the same townhouse complex). Apt 208 is in the same building structure as mine, but upstairs. I live downstairs at 109. The second picture also has a 208 on it but it is harder to see.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
That's A splitter, but you might have a bigger mess on your hands. I've seen when satelite installers come in, they typically disconnect from the cable company and hijack the coax network in your house. I've seen them disconnect cables and leave them dangling, so some runs of cable in your house aren't connected.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SamirD
Upvote 0 Downvote
No luck since the cables go underground and there is no way to trace them. All the apartment numbers are also faded so I can't even see which one is mine.I'll see if I have any luck calling someone
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Can you see cables on the side of the building. You would think the cable from upstairs room would be very obvious if it ran down the building and went underground.

Are all these cables coming in on walls that are on the outside of the apartment. If they are in walls between rooms it is much more likely these run up into a attic or basement.

This looks like a big mess. I would be extremely careful messing in those boxes you could take a neighbors internet down.

You might consider something like this.

Electrical Wire Tracer Circuit Tester w/Tone Generator & Probe Kit, Cable Signal Locator Tester, Test Circuit Continuity, Network Telephone Line, Automotive Circuit Identify Tools w/Clips & RJ11 Plug - - Amazon.com

Electrical Wire Tracer Circuit Tester w/Tone Generator & Probe Kit, Cable Signal Locator Tester, Test Circuit Continuity, Network Telephone Line, Automotive Circuit Identify Tools w/Clips & RJ11 Plug - - Amazon.com
www.amazon.com

This is a very cheap one and I don't know how you tell quality ones from junk. What they do is put a small radio signal onto the wire. The other end acts as a radio receive and the closer you get to the cable you want the louder the sound is. Unfortunately the ones I have used you must almost directly touch the correct wire. This might be ok when you are sure where other end is but it is hidden in a bunch of wires. I have seen professional models that can detect the signal even though the drywall so you can follow the wire behind walls but I have no idea where you get them. I suspect they are so expensive it is cheaper to hire the guy who has one than to buy the tool.

In any case coax cables are bit harder since they are designed to filter signals. You would need to connect to the outside shield wire rather than the inner core wire.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yeah, I looked again today and I only found one cable that was disconnected for some reason. I connected it just to see if it would change anything and it did not. I later disconnected it and left it how I found it. I personally don't have any other ideas, I'll see if AT&T can help me.

The only thing I know is that the room with the connection is also the closest room to where the old dish is positioned outside
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
So maybe it's time to take a different approach since we don't really care about how the whole thing is wired, but just care about wiring things for the moca without messing something else up. But to do you will need to get a toning tool. The idea will be to set the toner inside on the wire you want to work and then we'll go outside and find that wire. Then we can repeat that for the wire where your source moca will be. Once you have both wires outside identified, it's as simple as putting a coax barrel connection on them and they'll be connected and work like a long cable. Moca should work perfect over this. (This is how I did my one moca setup in my own place).

Att or any isp will be reluctant at best to work on something like this without a $200 fee and with how things are set up, I would fear them making a mess and breaking a lot of other people's stuff.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom