Actiontec and Airport Extreme
jasonbaum
Newbie

After a couple weeks of trying to create a robust network throughout my house, I am about to try a new approach and would greatly appreciate any feedback.

I would like to set up my MI424WR-GEN2 (802.11N) JUST for the purposes of supporting my set top boxes (STB). I would turn off the radio so the N wouldn't create a WIFI network

I would like to connect a first generation Time Capsule (TC) to a Actiontec ECB2200V (an Ethernet over Coax MoCA Network Adapter) . 

In my opinion, the TC has a number of advantages over the Actiontec which I won't elaborate on here.

My goal is to have the TC which has an 802.11N radio provide the wifi for the network along with routing, e.g., IP addressing, DHCP, DNS, etc.

Furthermore, I'd like to add Airport Extremes AEX to the network to extend the TC wifi range. I would like to connect the AEX to the MoCA adapters.

Any thoughts on if this scenario is feasible?

As you can probably tell, I know just enough about networking to totally screw up my network (reset is my favorite word) but not enough to create a robust house-wide network.

Thanks in advance!

JB

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Re: Actiontec and Airport Extreme
Anti-Phish1
Master - Level 1

It's not clear from your post how you're planning to connect the Actiontec ECB2200V.

You can't use the Actiontec ECB2200V between the ONT and your Time Capsule.

You can however switch your WAN connection from coax to cat5 and use the Time Capsule as your primary router.  YOu would then connect the LAN side of the TIme Capsule to the Actiontec ECB2200V to provide a MOCA LAN connection for your STBs (assuming you have FIOS-TV), although there is no reason to do so since you can use the Actiontec MI424-WR as a MOCA LAN bridge instead of the ECB2200V.

You can review different configurations here:

What are the tradeoffs between the various router configurations

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Re: Actiontec and Airport Extreme
jasonbaum
Newbie

Anti,

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.

1.  I didn't know you couldn't place the ECB2200V between the ONT and TC. I appreciate the heads up.

I'm going to read the tradeoffs link you provided and figure out what makes sense. My limited comprehension of this subject was faulty to say the least. I was under the impression that simply by running an ECB220V from a coax cable,  I could strengthen my network at that point with an Airport Express set to extend the TC wifi Network. 

I'll give more feedback when I've read the article.

Thanks in advance.

JB

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Re: Actiontec and Airport Extreme
tamorgen
Newbie

Good morning,

I'm also new to the FIOS community, and as the originator of the thread stated, I have an Apple Airport Extreme base station I would prefer to use instead of the Actiontec.  It seems as my setup is slightly different, as the technology in my complex is only the VDSL, which limits my upload speeds.  I didn't find  this out until the tech came out this past Monday to do the install, but the download speeds are quite speedy.  I'm showing 26 Mbps at Speakeasy and other bandwidth testing sites.  I am somewhat upset, because I specifically asked the customer support agents while ordering if I was getting DSL, and I was told no.

I read on another forum that the VDSL is standard in MDU situations (Apartment/Condo);

"That is a typical MDU install, where the fiber can not be run directly to the unit. You have TV over coax, VDSL and phone over the phone copper. Your broadband connection is not over coax, and is correct. The router needs that coax connection, as VOD, guide and widgets are delivered in IP stream to the router, and out to the STBs over the coax from there."

In any case, here is my setup as I understand it.  It sounds different than other peoples, so I want to make sure I put it all out there, so I don't get any bad advise.  From the Cat 3 outlet (telephone jack), a Zyzel VDSL modem is connected, which gives me my internet connection.  From there, a Cat 5 cable connects to the Actiontek rotuer, and I believe from there, to the cable outlet, which connects back to the TV as well.

Does this setup make any sense?  Can I disable the Actiontec wireless and simply use the Airport Extreme for my home network? Do I even really need the Actiontek connected to the cable outlet? I am never going to use VOD, as I have a CableCard in my HTPC and I do not have a Verizon STB or DVR.

Thanks for any advise.

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Re: Actiontec and Airport Extreme
Anti-Phish1
Master - Level 1

@tamorgen wrote:

Does this setup make any sense?  Can I disable the Actiontec wireless and simply use the Airport Extreme for my home network? Do I even really need the Actiontek connected to the cable outlet? I am never going to use VOD, as I have a CableCard in my HTPC and I do not have a Verizon STB or DVR.


Yes, that makes sense.  VDSL is used in MDUs where it is not practical or VZ can not get permission to run microduct to each unit.

Since you do not have any VZ STBs, you do not need the Actiontec.  You can connect your AE directly to the Zyzel modem.

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