Wiring a cable modem/router as a network extender/MOCA

Sep 22, 2016
10
0
1,520
So, I have recently switched to FIOS and have done quite a bit of wiring in my house as part of an extensive renovation.

I want to reuse my old cable/modem router as a wireless range extender. I just realized this router (a Motorola Surfboard 6580) does not have a WAN port, just 4 LAN ports and a coax cable where it used to get the signal from. Where I want to put the router has a wired Ethernet wall port connected to my FIOS router but no COAX cable.

A few things:
1. I am cheap. I want to reuse the router. I know I could buy a router with a WAN port.
2. Where I want to put the router has little to no existing wireless signal, so using the wire signal from the FIOS router is not optimal.
3. My setup would be FIOS Router/Modem --> Ethernet Cable --> MOCA Adapter? --> Coax Cable --> Old modem/router set up as a range extender

So would this work? Is my old modem/router smart enough to detect an incoming signal on the LAN ports meaning I wouldn't need to do anything special. Does a MOCA adapter work Ethernet --> Coax or only Coax --> Ethernet?
 
Solution
You can use it as a access point doing as abailey says.

You cant use a modem as a moca adapter.
Just becasue your data network and your telephone service both use cat5e cable in your wall does not mean that your phone can send an email.
Cable modem converts DOCSIS 3 data message to Ethernet (and vice-versa). MOCA is a completely different type of data running in a completely different spectrum. If it was the same thing then using a cable modem AND moca adapters would interfere with one another over the same coax network.

If you have an ethernet port at where you want to put the old modem/router then just run etherent from a lan port on primary router to lan port of the old modem/router and disable DHCP like abaily said. You will...
To use your old router as a wireless AP (or "range extender") you don't need to use the WAN port. Just go into its configuration and turn off its DHCP server, and if possible turn off its firewall. Then connect the ethernet cable from the wall to a LAN port on the Surfboard 6580. It should be able to act as a wireless AP then.
 
You can use it as a access point doing as abailey says.

You cant use a modem as a moca adapter.
Just becasue your data network and your telephone service both use cat5e cable in your wall does not mean that your phone can send an email.
Cable modem converts DOCSIS 3 data message to Ethernet (and vice-versa). MOCA is a completely different type of data running in a completely different spectrum. If it was the same thing then using a cable modem AND moca adapters would interfere with one another over the same coax network.

If you have an ethernet port at where you want to put the old modem/router then just run etherent from a lan port on primary router to lan port of the old modem/router and disable DHCP like abaily said. You will also need to set the modem/router's IP to be an IP in the same subnet of your primary router. So if your new primary router is 192.168.10.1 then set the old modem./router to 192.168.10.2.
 
Solution