# Trying to set up 2 Mini's with a WiFi extender.



## selimsnave (Mar 2, 2014)

So I just bought a Roamio, can't use it just yet because I went to my cable provider and they didn't have any working cable card. My brother is gonna buy a mini and he has a hard wired ethernet connection in his room. My mom/dad and my sister, the two rooms where I need to put the minis has no ethernet ports.

I was thinking of buying a Moca adapter http://www.amazon.com/Actiontec-Ethernet-Adapter-Service-ECB2500CK01/dp/B008EQ4BQG/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top I think that's it. Or I could buy an something like this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/universal-wi-fi-range-extender-with-4-port-ethernet-switch/1243081.p?id=1218240386270&skuId=1243081&st=pcmcat257000050023_categoryid$pcmcat161100050044&cp=1&lp=2

I don't know if either of those are fast enough to distribute the signal from my Roamio (that's connected via wifi.) I would like to go with an extender because it's cheaper, but if the moca is THAT much better its not a problem to go with it.

Right now I have Time Warner internet, 30mbs down, 5mbs up. But I plan to upgrade to the 50mbs down, 5mbs up plan.

Edit: Just found this, would it work? http://www.amazon.com/RCA-DH24SPF-T...3720093&sr=8-1&keywords=netgear+coax+ethernet

Let me know what I should do! Or even if I should get the mini's at all, it might be too much hassle.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Which Roamio do you have? The Roamio Plus/Pro has MoCa built-in and you would only need a MoCa adapter on the cable modem/router side. The Minis can use just the coax to connect.

Wireless/Wi-Fi is not recommended for mini. Splitters are needed as well.


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## selimsnave (Mar 2, 2014)

ThAbtO said:


> Which Roamio do you have? The Roamio Plus/Pro has MoCa built-in and you would only need a MoCa adapter on the cable modem/router side. The Minis can use just the coax to connect.
> 
> Wireless/Wi-Fi is not recommended for mini.


I have the regular Roamio. So that means I need to buy a moca for MY roamio, then one for every mini?


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## Bigg (Oct 31, 2003)

The mini already has MoCA built-in, so you just plug it in. My XL4 and Minis are all using the built-in MoCA, it works great.


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## selimsnave (Mar 2, 2014)

Bigg said:


> The mini already has MoCA built-in, so you just plug it in. My XL4 and Minis are all using the built-in MoCA, it works great.


So I just plug the Mini directly where I would plug into my cable? I thought I needed a moca adapter.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Plug the coax directly into the coax jack, if you have MoCa on the modem/router.


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## selimsnave (Mar 2, 2014)

ThAbtO said:


> Plug the coax directly into the coax jack, if you have MoCa on the modem/router.


Ok, I am a little confused. So I don't need a Moca for every Mini I have? Just one Moca thats hooked up to my router, and then plug in the Mini to regular coaxial.


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## d_vail (Feb 14, 2014)

selimsnave said:


> Ok, I am a little confused. So I don't need a Moca for every Mini I have? Just one Moca thats hooked up to my router, and then plug in the Mini to regular coaxial.


If your roamio doesn't have built in moca and can't connect to the router via Ethernet, then for your setup you would need a two pack of moca adapters. One would plug into coax and to router, the other by the roamio to coax and Ethernet to roamio. The minis have built in moca so only need either Ethernet connection or coax. No moca adapter needed for minis.


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## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

selimsnave said:


> Ok, I am a little confused. So I don't need a Moca for every Mini I have? Just one Moca thats hooked up to my router, and then plug in the Mini to regular coaxial.


Assuming your Roamio basic is already connected to your ethernet home network, you should only need 1 MoCA adapter, yes the Mini already has MoCA.

The wireless in the Roamio isn't fast enough to run the Mini's, you will need to hook it up your Roamio to your home network either by ethernet or by a MOCA adapter which if you can't get ethernet to it, then you will need another MoCA adapter.

Some people have head success using a wireless bridge but typically into the newer high speed AC wireless bridge which are not cheap (Moca adapters are much cheaper).

FYI last time I checked, Tivo.com had the best price for a two pack Actiontec adapter package ($89). You should also get a poe MoCA filter which is installed were the cable enters your home right before the cable splits to any addtional cable runs, this prevents the MoCA signal from escaping outside your house and it can increase the performance by filtering any interference from a outside source, Tivo.com has those too.


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## Bigg (Oct 31, 2003)

selimsnave said:


> Ok, I am a little confused. So I don't need a Moca for every Mini I have? Just one Moca thats hooked up to my router, and then plug in the Mini to regular coaxial.


Read my post. "The Mini already has MoCA built-in...".

The rest of the network configuration to the Roamio and the router has been well explained by posts above as well.


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## 2trill4925 (Aug 1, 2009)

eboydog said:


> Some people have head success using a wireless bridge but typically into the newer high speed AC wireless bridge which are not cheap (Moca adapters are much cheaper).


You can get away with using N spec equipment possibly. I run a Airport Express hardwired to a WRT600N. The Airport Express gives me a dedicated SSID with enough bandwidth for the Mini (connected by ethernet to a WGA600N). With the setup I now have a quad band router, however I sacrifice a Gigabit port. In my experience I had the worst time with DD-WRT and Tomato devices as my main router (they function okay as receivers though).

YMMV


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## Bigg (Oct 31, 2003)

If you can use MoCA or hardwired CAT-5, use it. If you absolutely, positively can't, give a wireless AC bridge a try, but it's not guaranteed to work. Would sure be interesting though.



2trill4925 said:


> You can get away with using N spec equipment possibly. I run a Airport Express hardwired to a WRT600N. The Airport Express gives me a dedicated SSID with enough bandwidth for the Mini (connected by ethernet to a WGA600N). With the setup I now have a quad band router, however I sacrifice a Gigabit port. In my experience I had the worst time with DD-WRT and Tomato devices as my main router (they function okay as receivers though).
> 
> YMMV


What? I've used Tomato on a Linksys router for years, and it's rock solid. It's a WRT-54Gv.1 from like 2004 or 2005ish, and it's still going strong. And "quad-band" is impossible. There are only two chunks of spectrum that wifi runs on. You could have two in each, but that's just two dual-band networks, not quad-band. And gigabit ports aren't worth much with 8-port switches at <$35.


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## 2trill4925 (Aug 1, 2009)

Bigg said:


> If you can use MoCA or hardwired CAT-5, use it. If you absolutely, positively can't, give a wireless AC bridge a try, but it's not guaranteed to work. Would sure be interesting though.
> 
> What? I've used Tomato on a Linksys router for years, and it's rock solid. It's a WRT-54Gv.1 from like 2004 or 2005ish, and it's still going strong. And "quad-band" is impossible. There are only two chunks of spectrum that wifi runs on. You could have two in each, but that's just two dual-band networks, not quad-band. And gigabit ports aren't worth much with 8-port switches at <$35.


I stand corrected as far as running a quad band setup.


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