Coax or Cat5 for new FiosTV?
sgstarling
Newbie

We've had Fios Internet for a couple years now.  There's a Ethernet cable going from the ONT to our Internet Router.

Now we are planning to add FIOS TV. 

How will the tech do that?  Can he run a coax from the outdoor ONT and hook up the existing Cable Coax outside the house (so we can use the internal coax running in the house)?  Or does he hook up the FIOS STB to the existing Internet Router via Cat5?

I hope he can just hook up to the existing external coax.  I already have it running to my entertainment center.

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Re: Coax or Cat5 for new FiosTV?
Hubrisnxs
Legend

he will most likely re-use your existing coax wires for your house.  so he will check them and the splitters, and if everything is suitable, he will just re-use that.  

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Re: Coax or Cat5 for new FiosTV?
sgstarling
Newbie

Cool! Hope you're right, THANKS!

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Re: Coax or Cat5 for new FiosTV?
ekem015
Specialist - Level 1

No, the STBs use coax from the ONT. No Cat5/ethernet is required; in fact, the STBs don't even have an active ethernet port. In addition, no physical connection is required from the router to the STBs. As long as there is coax from the ONT to the STBs, and either coax or ethernet from the ONT to the router, everything will work properly via MoCA.

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Re: Coax or Cat5 for new FiosTV?
Keyboards
Master - Level 3

@ekem015 wrote:
In addition, no physical connection is required from the router to the STBs. As long as there is coax from the ONT to the STBs, and either coax or ethernet from the ONT to the router, everything will work properly via MoCA.
NOTE: Emphasis added to quote above.

NOT TRUE!
There must be a coax connection somewhere from the router to the STB regardless of the type of WAN connection type from the router to the ONT.  Without this connection there is no MoCA LAN to the STB and VOD, guide, and widgets will not work.
Re: Coax or Cat5 for new FiosTV?
prisaz
Legend

If the ONT is a model 610x it will not support Moca on the coax. Thus you must have Ethernet and COAX to the router from the ONT. This is my preference anyway. It depends on your hardware. If you currently have Ethernet you have more networking options. I would say if you have ethernet, leave the ethernet in addition to connecting the coax.

If you have an ONT newer than the 610, you could go the coax only route. If you have the 610, you may also want to have it upgraded for upload speeds greater than 29mbps, or if you want digital voice.

Re: Coax or Cat5 for new FiosTV?
lasagna
Community Leader
Community Leader

Prisaz's got it. 

Your STB's for TV will require a standard Coax feed from the ONT in order to bring the TV channels to them -- just like you're used to with cable TV from the other guys.    If you already have coax in the house and it enters near where the ONT is located, then the technician will likely disconnect it from your old provider's network and connect it to the ONT.  

In addition, your STB's require an internet connection so that they can get their guide data, etc.   This is done using a technology called MoCA which essentially allows delivering ethernet over coax.   The source of internet in your house is the router which Verizon installed for your internet service.   So, the technician will also need to connect a coax (on the same coax infrastructure as the STB's) to your internet router.    MoCA is a multi-node technology and not point to point -- so as long as their is a path via coax from every STB to the router, you'll need good to go.   Worthy to note is since your router is presently not connected to coax (it's using ethernet you said), a new connection to the router will need to be made, so you'll want to make sure it's located near a cable outlet.

Lastly, the router needs to be able to get to the internet.   Today, that is being done via ethernet cable.  If you have the right model ONT, as Prisaz mentioned, the technician can reconfigure the router so that it uses the Coax (a different frequency than the MoCA LAN the STB's use) to get the internet as well -- thus removing the need to have an ethernet cable run to the router (some like it seperate, others like me like it on integrated such that if I ever desire to relocate the router, I need only make sure I have a coax connection available nearby).   Technically, there is no different between the MoCA WAN and Ethernet connection paths to the ONT, so either way is fine.   If you have a preference, you should ask the technician to honor it.  

As prisaz mentioned, there are different versions of ONT.  Some models don't support MoCA -- they do internet on ethernet, TV signals on Coax, and telephone on phone wire only.   In those scenarios your router must have both coax and ethernet run to it.   I the other models like I have, the ONT supports MoCA and the only thing which needs to be run to the router is coax.   In still other scenarios, such as apartment buildings, an entirely different techology is used employing frequency filters and vDSL to distribute internet and TV to you.   So, the specifics may vary based on exactly what you have installed. 

Re: Coax or Cat5 for new FiosTV?
prisaz
Legend

Good details Lasagna. I was a little dry on details. I suppose not everyone is as familiar. One of my bad traits. Techobable.Smiley Very Happy