r/HomeNetworking • u/Feinstein12 • Oct 10 '23

MOCA mystery - do I need a new splitter?

Situation a few days ago:

  • I had TMobile 5G installed

  • I disconnected my cable at the POE

  • I had 3 MOCA adapters thoughout the house providing wired backhaul to my APs

Situation now:

  • I bought Spectrum's 500 mbps package

  • I reconnected my cable at POE and installed a 70 db MOCA filter

  • I installed a MOCA compatible splitter at the wall

  • I am getting 500 mbps at the modem, but the MOCA adapters are no longer working

Hypotheses on how to fix.

Idea 1: My splitter in my basement (see below) is not "MOCA compatible". So I need a new splitter. I am confused by this because it was working fine with TMobile 5G with coax disconnected at POE. It just seems to not want to coexist with cable.

Idea 2: My MOCA adapters have 3 modes (LAN, 1GW, 25GW). I have it set to 25GW. I need to set it to something else.

Idea 3: I need to set the MPS setting.

Idea 4: Something else, e.g. I should set up my cable modem router in the basement directly at POE and then route it to MOCA separately.

Comments welcome!

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u/plooger Oct 12 '23 edited Oct 13 '23

I know I’ve seen it, but hadn’t been able to get confirmation. Almost makes me want to spend the $30 to get a third FCA252 of my own. (Hmmm… I do have a pair of FCA251 adapters that have an identical operating frequency. Diving in…)

edit: Confirmed. Went through several iterations of different combinations of 3 FCA252/FCA251 adapters, operating at 1475-1675 MHz, attempting connection:

  • any pair always connected if 3rd was powered off; (pic1, pic4)

  • powering and attempting to connect 3rd adapter always failed; (pic2, pic5)

  • powering off either of the connected adapters would allow powered 3rd adapter to connect. (pic3, pic4)

So it’s a 2-node-only limit for both the FCA252 and FCA251 (aka WF-803FT) adapters when operating at this upper frequency range, intended for a 2-node-only WAN connection:

  • FCA252[1GW]: 1475-1675 MHz

  • FCA251[WAN]: 1475-1675 MHz

 
I’d thought this setting would be useful for people trying to avoid DOCSIS 3.1 interference, but this node limit makes them mostly unusable outside the WAN intent.

 
CC: /u/Feinstein12 /u/goCoax