Fios Network Adapter - no coax light
Waterbear907
Newbie

Hello,

When I had Verizon installed last month, I asked the technician to use the ethernet cord so I could eventually switch to my own router.  They said they couldn't feed line through walls so they just used the existing coax cabling from the ONT to the rest of the house.  The tech said that, in order to use my own router with coax, I could get a Fios Network Adapter, connect that to the coax and then run ethernet to my router and other devices.

I got the Network Adapter in the mail today, unplugged the Verizon router, and then hooked up the Adapter to the coax, power, and my own router, following the installation instructions. The instructions are very basic, however, and say that once the power and coax lights are green, the installation is complete. The power light comes on but not the coax light. There is nothing in the instructions or in the Verizon website FAQs on how to troubleshoot this.  I tried calling Verizon but with high call volumes they said it would be an hour wait.

I hope someone can help me. I hope I didn't waste money on this thing that won't work.

Thanks.

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Re: Fios Network Adapter - no coax light
Capricorn1
Community Leader
Community Leader

What Edg1 is proposing


@Edg1 wrote:

Unfortunately that is incorrect. The FiOS Network Adapter works on MoCA LAN which operates at a different frequency than MoCA WAN from the ONT.

There are two types of MoCA. MoCA WAN from the ONT and MoCA LAN which the adapter is using. You can do what you are try to do but you will need another Network adapter and have Verizon switch your connection to ethernet at the ONT. 

You need to wire like this...

ONT> ethernet > 1st FNA > coax > 2nd FNA > ethernet to your router. 


should work so long as you are not subscribed to Fios TV service. If you always planning on using Ethernet and your own router, I'm going to guess you are not a Fios TV subscriber. If you are and your coax is all connected within your house (which is pretty typical), you would have an issue with getting video on demand and guide info, which is (also) sent over the MoCA LAN frequencies to Verizon's set-top boxes. The Fios Network Adapter does a job similar to the pair of ActionTec ECB6200s that I bought to do a similar job in my house, and it costs less ($110 for a pair rather than $170 for a pair). The Verizon FNAs claim bonded MoCA, so they should be capable of ~1 Gb/s speed, too.

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Re: Fios Network Adapter - no coax light
Edg1
Community Leader
Community Leader

Unfortunately that is incorrect. The FiOS Network Adapter works on MoCA LAN which operates at a different frequency than MoCA WAN from the ONT.

There are two types of MoCA. MoCA WAN from the ONT and MoCA LAN which the adapter is using. You can do what you are try to do but you will need another Network adapter and have Verizon switch your connection to ethernet at the ONT. 

You need to wire like this...

ONT> ethernet > 1st FNA > coax > 2nd FNA > ethernet to your router. 

Re: Fios Network Adapter - no coax light
Waterbear907
Newbie

So I can't even use a G1100 instead? ONT > coax > G1100 > ethernet > router?

Or a combination ONT > coax > G1100 > coax > FNA > ethernet > router? I would prefer keeping the devices / connections to a minimum though.

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Re: Fios Network Adapter - no coax light
Edg1
Community Leader
Community Leader

You certainly can keep the G1100 in place. I thought you were trying to get rid of it. If you do plan to keep the G1100 then just connect it to your router. There is not need for the FNA. 

ONT > coax > G1100 > ethernet > your router. 

You should disable the wifi in the G1100 and set your router in AP mode. 

Re: Fios Network Adapter - no coax light
Capricorn1
Community Leader
Community Leader

What Edg1 is proposing


@Edg1 wrote:

Unfortunately that is incorrect. The FiOS Network Adapter works on MoCA LAN which operates at a different frequency than MoCA WAN from the ONT.

There are two types of MoCA. MoCA WAN from the ONT and MoCA LAN which the adapter is using. You can do what you are try to do but you will need another Network adapter and have Verizon switch your connection to ethernet at the ONT. 

You need to wire like this...

ONT> ethernet > 1st FNA > coax > 2nd FNA > ethernet to your router. 


should work so long as you are not subscribed to Fios TV service. If you always planning on using Ethernet and your own router, I'm going to guess you are not a Fios TV subscriber. If you are and your coax is all connected within your house (which is pretty typical), you would have an issue with getting video on demand and guide info, which is (also) sent over the MoCA LAN frequencies to Verizon's set-top boxes. The Fios Network Adapter does a job similar to the pair of ActionTec ECB6200s that I bought to do a similar job in my house, and it costs less ($110 for a pair rather than $170 for a pair). The Verizon FNAs claim bonded MoCA, so they should be capable of ~1 Gb/s speed, too.

Re: Fios Network Adapter - no coax light
Waterbear907
Newbie

I am not sure which model I have now, I just don't want the additional rental fee, so the plan is to send back the Verizon provided router and find a way to get my own router connected via coax or I suppose I could get a used G1100 and simply use that as the router.

Does anyone know how I can return this FNA? When I bought it, it said free returns within 30 days, but there is nothing in the order email, box, or website that specifically says how to return online store purchases.  It looks like a lot of things can be returned to the physical stores, but those references are usually on rental equipment, not purchased accessories.

Thanks again.

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Re: Fios Network Adapter - no coax light
Edg1
Community Leader
Community Leader

If you want to return your FNA you will probably have to call Verizon. If you want to use you own router then you really have two options.

  • Hire a contractor to run ethernet from the ONT to the router.
  • Or do the two FNA setup.

Like capricorn1 said if you have TV, the FNA setup won’t work. 

Re: Fios Network Adapter - no coax light
Tjbj1
Newbie

I been trying to install a Fios network extender and with each try I get no coax light! Verizon tech's have mailed me a total of 3 extenders all, same issue no coax light.. I've been thru three techs who all walked me through every conceivable check and test on their end as well as mine... Now I have 3 brand new extenders sitting in my house and still problem exist... Help!

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Re: Fios Network Adapter - no coax light
Capricorn1
Community Leader
Community Leader

Without any more details, my first guess is that your coax is not connected throughout your house. My second guess is that it is all connected, but one or more of the couplers or splitters is only passing the lower 1000 MHz frequency band and neutering the MoCA LAN signals (at 1150 MHz). My third guess (similar to the second) is that the coax run is fairly long and the upper frequencies are no longer usable.

I would guess that at least one of the tech's suggested this, but I'll propose it anyway. Get a short coax cable (borrow it from a set-top box if you have no other one) and hook it directly to the splitter that is nearest your router. (If your router doesn't have a splitter nearby, consider adding one temporarily as a test point. In that case, you will need a pair of cables - one from the splitter to the router and the other  The idea here is to eliminate the wiring in your walls as the issue. If you get the coax light on with this setup, the Fios Network Extender (FNE) is OK.

imageAdding a splitter

The next step is to move to the next closest coax connection. This could be a wall jack in a nearby room. The idea is to work your way down the coax to see where the FNE can no longer get the signal it needs. The term "next closest," can require some work to determine. The next coax connection that is physically closest to where my ONT comes in is the one in the family room down the hall from my office. However, I know that while it's the shortest distance to walk (maybe 40 feet), the coax actually goes up two floors into the attic, across the entire attic, down two floors, and partway across that room (probably 100-120 feet). Along the way, it joins with a 1 to 4 splitter in the attic to the coax drops in the rest of the house. The actual closest coax is in a room one floor up and on the other side of the house. 

Start working your way toward where you would like to place the FNE. When you find a dropout at some point along the way, the next step is to determine if the coax is just completely disconnected or just not passing the higher frequencies that the FNE needs. If you have a multimeter, you can trace the coax to see if there is continuity. There are also cable tester and trace kits in the $30-$50 range.

If you have continuity, then I would suspect there's a filter, low-frequency coupler, or splitter in the path somewhere. The MoCA signal used by the router and FNE to send Ethernet traffic over coax is above 1 GHz and below 2 GHz. (There are MoCA versions that use frequencies above 2 GHz, too.) If your coax wiring is old, it's possible that some of the splitters and couplers only pass up to 1 GHz. 

A final issue could be the run length of the coax. Coax tends to lose the upper frequencies when the length of the run gets long (or there are a lot of splitters involved). The older the cable (the lower-quality it probably was to begin with and) the more it loses capability. The cable could also be damaged by the way it was run or by heat/cold or other environmental things.