On Demand Fails after moving DVR

[speedydmg]

I moved the HD-DVR from a bedroom to a room just adjacent to where the ONT is and ran a cable off a splitter to the DVR. In other words it is now only one splitter away from the ONT.  The problem is now when I play on demand titles, they either timeout or pixelate terribly with no sound.  OD and MR-DVR work fine on all the other boxes. 

The router is where it has been for 3 years and is about 3 splitters from the ONT. It's also connected to data via Ethernet-to-ONT. The tech support call center knew nothing about bidirectional splitters or the preferred location for the router. They suggested I had bad cable even though I replaced that leg and splitter twice.  A Verizon service tech gave me some bidirectional splitters but that helped only minimally.  He suggested I may have to relocate the router or run cable to the room  from a splitter closer to the router. 

Is it documented anywhere that this is the recommendation-- putting the router at the first split from the ONT? 

It seems that MoCA is a horrible solution for data in the home video network since it runs much better upstream towards the last  branches but horrible backwards.  I suppose if I put the DVR at the last point on the cable network it would work great with On-Demand but horrible with MR-DVR to other boxes.  I tested that as true at least on the OD.

[VZ_Frank]

Did you use RG6  coaxial cable with the new run and what kinds of ends did you put on the coax?  The ends need to be compressed ends, not crimped. 

[speedydmg]

I fixed the On Demand problem and it had nothing to do with the type of cable.

The Verizon Tech who came by had replaced the splitter to the problem room which as I mentioned did not help much.  He did suggest that the router should be at one of the first splitters on the cable run.  I went into the crawl space and replaced the first splitter into the house (originally from COX) with a bi-directional three-way splitter he gave me. I  also ran a cable from that splitter directly to the room that had a problem.   All problems are now resolved and On-Demand works perfectly now, even in HD.  It was never this good before I moved it (occasional pixelation).

My conclusion is that On Demand uses a lot of bandwidth on the MoCA (15Mbps HD) and flows better in the direction of the splitters than in reverse.  Because of this you must use bi-directional splitters on the whole home video network and you should put the router closest to the ONT.   If STB Ethernet were enabled, that would be a great alternative workaround, but not so.

I'm surprised no one has ever published the limitations of MoCA on typical home video networks.  Verizon should also do a throughput test on new installs with STBs.  It would save a lot of call backs and complaints that are often the cause of the home owners wiring.  I' ve seen many posts where techs are replacing ONTs and STBs and routers for the same issues which they had done similarly for me 2 years ago with little resolve.  I just lived with it until I moved the DVR recently  which totally killed it.  Technicians and support persons should also be trained, if not already, to know that OD and MR DVR use IPTV and flow through the home network router onto the MoCA cable --Not from the ONT onto the cable.  That's why the cable is connected to the router.  This is so for my older Ethernet-based install.  I cannot speak for how it works on MoCA based ONT to router installs.  But first things first, they should always make sure all splitters are biderectional and that the router is connected to the cable at one of the first splits from the ONT.

[speedydmg · Accepted solution]

We watched a VOD HD movie last night with zero problems. 

Replacing the splitter under the house with a three-way bidirectional splitter did the trick. I also ran an RG6 50 ft cable from Home Depot from that splitter directly to the DVR in question. In effect we eliminated all old splitters, and placed ther router closer to ONT.

This worked

            ONT

             |

    bidirectional splitter under house

          |                     |                          |

Bi-d Splitter          STB           MR-DVR

 |             |

STB      Router

This did not work - No VOD at MR-DVR

            ONT

             |

    bidirectional splitter

               |                                    |

   MR-DVR             |

              Regular Splitter under house

                           |                     |

                                  Bi-d Splitter          STB

                                       |          |

                                  STB        Router