Bonded MoCA 2.0 with Gigabit plan and STBs
HelloWorld3
Enthusiast - Level 1

I recently switched to a 100/100 FIOS plan to Gigabit. While the ONT is in my garage, all of my coax and Ethernet connections are home-run to the basement. Under the 100/100 plan, the WAN connection to the ONT was delivered over my home-run coax line from the garage to the basement. A Verizon G1100 router in the basement took the MoCA WAN signal and bridged it to my Ethernet network connected to a separate switch.

Of course, 100/100 is the maximum that Verizon will deliver over coax, even though the MoCA 2.0 protocol in the G1100 supports up to 500 mbps. Still not enough to support Gigabit service, but greater than 100/100. Unfortunately, I do not have Ethernet home-run from the ONT to the basement, so began to explore the use of bonded 2.0 MoCA adapters to service the Gigabit feed from the ONT’s Ethernet WAN port to my G1100 via the existing coax run.

I purchased a pair of the Actiontec ECB6200 MoCA adapters, and figured the on-site Verizon techs could figure this out, since the network topology seemed pretty straightforward...at least, to me. Unfortunately, the techs were unfamiliar with this device, and were unable to establish a WAN link using them. Before giving up, and reverting back to my 100/100 coax-connected plan, I figured I’d give it a whirl, myself. I’m a tech professional, but was not previously familiar with the MoCA specs, so this required some exhaustive searches for information on the web, as well as some trial and error.

After ER a few attempts, I managed to establish the Ethernet bridge using the Actiontec devices, but the link was unstable and would also impact the FIOS STBs that also connect via coax. Also, the Actiontec documentation is extremely sparse. Finally, after about a week of tooling around, I got everything working and am enjoying full Gigabit service. I therefore figured I’d share, so others with similar setups can benefit...

Equipment:

Actiontec ECB6200 Bonded MoCA 2.0
G1100 Verizon FIOS router
MoCA 2.0 compliant splitter (2)
MoCA 1.1 compliant A/V splitter 6-way to connect home-run coax to set-top boxes.

Steps:

Call Verizon to switch from coax WAN to Ethernet WAN port, on ONT.

The G1100 uses MoCA frequency of 1000 MHz for WAN; 1150 MHz for LAN. The ECB6200 defaults to 1150 MHz, so must change to avoid network conflict with G1100 MoCA LAN frequency.

To change the Actiontec MoCA frequency, directly connect an Ethernet cable between computer and ECB6200.

Set Ethernet IP details on computer, as follows:

IP Address: 192.168.144.10
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Router: 192.168.144.1

Browse to 192.168.144.30
Access ECB6200 Configuration settings and change, as follows:

RF Channel: 1400
RF Band: Band D Hi
RF Switch: Hi

Submit. Power cycle, and re-access to confirm that changes took effect. Repeat for other adapter.

Use a MoCA 2.0 compliant splitter.
Connect main coax line (garage termination, in my case) to “input” port of splitter.
Connect coax from ONT to one output port.
Connect ECB6200 “Coax In” to other output port.
Connect Ethernet cable from ONT to ECB6200.

At other end of main coax line (basement, in my case):

Use another MoCA 2.0 compliant splitter, though not sure if this is necessary. 
Connect main coax line to splitter “input".
Connect splitter to ECB6200 “Coax In” port.
Connect splitter to A/V splitter in (this feeds my STBs).
Connect Ethernet cable from ECB6200 to G1100 WAN port.
Connect coax from G1100 to video splitter (creates MoCA 1.1 network bridge for STBs, which is still required).

I hope this helps others who may be facing a similar challenge!

1 Solution

Correct answers
Re: Bonded MoCA 2.0 with Gigabit plan and STBs
Capricorn1
Community Leader
Community Leader

The more I thought about this, the more clever I thought it was. I'm a graphic-oriented person, so what I think you came up with looks like this:

image

  

image

More or less anyway. You weren't sure if the second splitter needed to be MoCA 2.0 capable or not, but I'm fairly certain it does have to be. Otherwise, the upper band frequencies needed by your second ECB6200 might be "filtered" out.

View solution in original post

Re: Bonded MoCA 2.0 with Gigabit plan and STBs
Capricorn1
Community Leader
Community Leader

Very good information. Thanks for taking the time and posting this.

Where did you come across how to configure the settings on the ECB6200? I was certain they are more sophisticated than they appear, but I never ran across those instructions.

Also, what services do you have? Just FiOS Internet or Internet plus FiOS TV or ...?

Re: Bonded MoCA 2.0 with Gigabit plan and STBs
Capricorn1
Community Leader
Community Leader

The more I thought about this, the more clever I thought it was. I'm a graphic-oriented person, so what I think you came up with looks like this:

image

  

image

More or less anyway. You weren't sure if the second splitter needed to be MoCA 2.0 capable or not, but I'm fairly certain it does have to be. Otherwise, the upper band frequencies needed by your second ECB6200 might be "filtered" out.

Re: Bonded MoCA 2.0 with Gigabit plan and STBs
jw_in_ma
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thanks for this!  I had to do the same when I used the pair of ECB6200's to put my LAN on the coax (not my WAN as you did).   Although both ECB6200's showed the COAX light green, I basically lost internet until one of the awemsome folks on here pointed me to your post. I moved the ECB6200 traffic to 1400Mhz and it all just worked. Even with a VZ splitter only rated to 1000Mhz that was attached between my ONT cable modem and my router.  For those who have already added their own router to the Verizon router and are looking to to extend their VZ internet via the coax and don't need more than 75-100M speed, read my entire post here.

I'm bookmarking this in the nearly unavoidable eventuality of upgrading to gigabit service. Do you know if the older ActionTec M1424WR router VZ provides has the same limits that would require the WAN bridge as you have done to get the full 1G speeds? I kept it over the G111 because the newer modem didn't support my IP Phone in the way I needed.

For any Windows 10 users that may not know how to "set their IP network settings" by hand before, check out this handy link for several options.

Re: Bonded MoCA 2.0 with Gigabit plan and STBs
Capricorn1
Community Leader
Community Leader

It looks like we may never see the original poster again, but I still thank him or her for the info. I was curious where the information about configuring the ECB6200 came from, and while I never got a response, I was able to find the information in an April 2016 post at the HelpDeskGeek.com website. That link talks about checking and upgrading the firmware in the ECB6200 as well as how to get to the main menu on it. 

As a side note, that article talks about upgrading to version 2.11.1.10.6200.1 whereas the latest I found mentioned in the posts I found is 2.11.1.50.6200.7. The latter seems to be from around July to August of 2017.

Re: Bonded MoCA 2.0 with Gigabit plan and STBs
MoonDragn1
Enthusiast - Level 3

Is it possible to replace the G1100 router in that picture with another moca 2.0 adapter set at frequency of 1150 mhz? (Using ethernet input from the other moca adapter at 1400 mhz and the coax from the garage)

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Re: Bonded MoCA 2.0 with Gigabit plan and STBs
StanB1
Enthusiast - Level 1

Hello,

Thanks a lot for this topic, very helpful and informative. I came up upon it when

recently I got fios gigabit connection and they put the router in the garage with extender in the living room and I was trying to figure out a way to move the router in the living room.

Here is the setup as they installed it:

Garage: ONT --> Eth WAN of G1100 --> Coax of G1100 --> ...... --> Living room: Coax of WCB6200Q

Here is the setup I'm trying:

Garage: ONT --> Eth port of ECB6200 --> Coax of ECB6200 --> ....... --> Living room: Coax WAN of G1100

I tried with ECB6200 configured to 1000MHz and 1400MHz, but the router doesn't recognize it as a WAN connection.

G1100 is supposed to support Moca 2.0 same as ECB6200.

Any idea why such setup wouldn't work?

I wanted to give it a shot before ordering another ECB6200 and doing it as exactly as described in this topic.

Re: Bonded MoCA 2.0 with Gigabit plan and STBs
mtek001
Enthusiast - Level 1

If you are using the ActionTec ECB6200 MoCA adapter, make sure the MoCA frequency (RF Channel) is set to 1150 MHz also known as Channel D1 (it’s the default on ActionTec MoCA adapters). 1150 MHz is also the default channel for Verizon FIOS routers and STBs (set top boxes or cable TV boxes) as well. For more information on frequencies, go here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimedia_over_Coax_Alliance.

You can find and change the MoCA frequency by connecting the MoCA device to your computer, and then changing your “default gateway” to 192.168.144.1. Directions on how to change your default gateway can be found here: helpdeskgeek.com/networking/upgrade-actiontec-ecb6200-firmware/. You change it in your TCP/IP settings. Then you will then navigate to 192.168.144.30 using a browser (put 192.168.144.30 in the URL bar). You will an Actiontec screen in which you can change settings.
Use Configuration to change the frequency.

Make sure you are using Coaxial Splitters and other hardware that are rated for over 1150MHz frequencies. MoCA won’t work with hardware that doesn’t support its frequency.

Re: Bonded MoCA 2.0 with Gigabit plan and STBs
sonnoio
Enthusiast - Level 2

great reading capricorn1!

Not sure the original post is as good as your graphics. One question. If another extender were needed, it would need to be added to the coax net as long as is on the moca 2 split side?

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Re: Bonded MoCA 2.0 with Gigabit plan and STBs
Capricorn1
Community Leader
Community Leader

You can add up to 16 MoCA Adapters as I recall. Keep in mind that the Verizon router and any set-top boxes you have would be included in that number.

These things are a lot more clever than I originally thought. From what I can tell, they set up a sort of internal network amongst themselves. One of the adapters (usually the first one turned on) acts as the arbiter. Since all adapters see all network traffic, the network operates much like a wireless LAN, but using RF over coax. The more adapters, the greater the chance for collisions (crosstalk, talk over).

Since the adapters only listen to a specific frequency range (usually what Verizon uses for MoCA LAN unless you change it), you just have to make sure that the coax is all connected somewhere.