# Tivo mini and best way to connect it to Roamio Basic?



## hostage (Jul 27, 2004)

I am thinking about buying a Tivo Mini, though I hear they don't have wifi on it as the performance might not be good enough and you should use MOCA or hard wire w/ Cat 5/6. I have read different threads about the success of using wireless bridge. I use to use my old wrt54g w/ DD-WRT firmware to connect my series 2 Tivo, until I replaced it with the Tivo Roamio (basic).

I have three floors:

Basement: Theater room w/ PS3 and future Tivo Mini. AV system is in an unfinished part of the basement. 

First Floor Family Room: I have the Tivo Roamio in the room next to the garage. I found a cable splitter in the garage, I disconnected the family room coax cable from the splitter and connected a antenna I mounted into the ceiling trusses in the garage.

Second Floor: I have the router and cable modem in the office w/ my PC and a printer directly connected to the Linksys WRTAC1900 router. I use to have the PC on wireless, though the heat exchanger from outside AC unit would cause interference. 

Ideas on how to connect them:

1) MOCA: I can easily modify the wiring in the unfinished basement to connect to the TiVo. Though can I have both a OTA signal and a MOCA on the same coax line? The coax will be isolated and will be completely disconnected from the Cable provided by the ISP. I think I would have to pay $50 for the MOCA adapter to get this solution to work and it looks fairly easy as for wiring. Would there be any problem with the mini receiving an IP address as it is only connected to the Roamio, or am I missing a component?

2) Wireless Bridge: I still have my wrt54g router, though I am unsure if it would negatively impact streaming. If that is not good enough, then I might need a not-so-expensive solution for a wireless bridge. I hear the ~$45 WUMC710 can work well in this situation, though both TiVos will be using wireless. This seems like the easiest solution, though as it is not officially supported, I am hesitant.

3a) Router Move: I move my router and cable modem to the basement and connect the Tivo mini directly to the router. The Tivo roamio will still be wireless also my PC would have to move from the interference from the AC unit. Also the Wifi signal strength would be decreased as it is in the basement. 

3b) 3A + run Cat5: I would have to try to fish it through a finished part of the basement and into the garage. This would be very difficult, as I was the one who finished the basement. 

4) Wait for TiVo mini to catch up to wireless technology and have a wireless NIC.

I consider myself very handy, but I lack the experience with the TiVo mini to figure out what the best solution for my situation is. I am wondering what you guys think?

Thanks in advance!


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

I didn't see powerline network adapters in your list, while a YMMV solution they're under $50 a pair to test and a mini works fine on them in many cases.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

A Roamio's internal wireless will not support a Mini. You will either have to go wired or use an adapter. I haven't tested the WUMC710 on a Roamio but I use one on my Mini. My Roamio uses an ASUS EA-N66R. It should work with a WUMC710. I use a Netgear R7500. Ugly, but powerful. The router is the key. It may work better on the first floor.


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

hostage said:


> I am thinking about buying a Tivo Mini, though I hear they don't have wifi on it as the performance might not be good enough and you should use MOCA or hard wire w/ Cat 5/6. I have read different threads about the success of using wireless bridge. I use to use my old wrt54g w/ DD-WRT firmware to connect my series 2 Tivo, until I replaced it with the Tivo Roamio (basic).
> 
> I have three floors:
> 
> ...


Hi,
I can't quite get a handle on your situation, but from what I understand, I would try MoCA first and wireless or power line if you can't figure out how to get it to work. Consider ordering your stuff from someplace with a friendly return policy. 
If you decide to try wireless, I would skip trying your old linksys, and think you would be better to try the WUMC710 as you really need the best speeds to stream to the mini. This means 5GHz and AC if possible, 2.4 with a max of 56Mbps is not going to get it.


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## hostage (Jul 27, 2004)

JoeKustra said:


> A Roamio's internal wireless will not support a Mini. You will either have to go wired or use an adapter. I haven't tested the WUMC710 on a Roamio but I use one on my Mini. My Roamio uses an ASUS EA-N66R. It should work with a WUMC710. I use a Netgear R7500. Ugly, but powerful. The router is the key. It may work better on the first floor.


So that sucks, I didn't think the Tivo Roamio cared how it was connecting to the mini. I was thinking as long as the mini can connect it would work and that Tivo discouraged this use by not giving the mini a wifi NIC.

If the above is true, that means that MOCA might be the next best option, if it is even possible. As I am using OTA and hijacking part of my house's coax and leaving another part untouched for the cable modem. As I am hyjacking coax, I can't use that line, from what I understand for the cable modem, so I can't have both a cable modem and the OTA/MOCA coax in the same room, unless it is in the basement, due to the ease of access.

Can I use the wifi to supply internet connection to the roamio and use moca to supply streaming to and from the mini and roamio?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

hostage said:


> So that sucks, I didn't think the Tivo Roamio cared how it was connecting to the mini. I was thinking as long as the mini can connect it would work and that Tivo discouraged this use by not giving the mini a wifi NIC.
> 
> If the above is true, that means that MOCA might be the next best option, if it is even possible. As I am using OTA and hijacking part of my house's coax and leaving another part untouched for the cable modem. As I am hyjacking coax, I can't use that line, from what I understand for the cable modem, so I can't have both a cable modem and the OTA/MOCA coax in the same room, unless it is in the basement, due to the ease of access.
> 
> Can I use the wifi to supply internet connection to the roamio and use moca to supply streaming to and from the mini and roamio?


I don't know. MoCA is very popular and well supported. My modem & router are on one floor. Mini is same floor, two rooms away, Roamio is on floor above. I don't own, so running cables is out and my power sucks. I also have been "wireless" for about 50 years. My last test with a Roamio was about a year ago, maybe it works now. I also used a TiVo wireless N adapter on my Mini for a while. The ASUS didn't work on the Mini.

Tivo boxes don't like changing IP addresses. I have a few reservations with my router. It also has two USB 3.0 ports and an eSATA port with TiVo support. I only use the USB for music. I have a Premiere, two Blu-rays, an AVR and this computer using an Netgear EX7000 also. Except for my printer everything is 5GHz and 802.11ac.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

hostage said:


> Can I use the wifi to supply internet connection to the roamio and use moca to supply streaming to and from the mini and roamio?


No, the Roamio does not support bridging of the wireless and ethernet port. If you can't plug the Roamio into the router via wired ethernet, you will need a second MoCA adapter at the router (unless your router supports MoCA on its own, which most do not). TiVo sells a 2-pack of MoCA adapters for $90:

https://www.tivo.com/shop/detail/moca-2

This is essentially the setup I have, at it works quite well. If your home isn't already wired up with cat 5/6 cable, then MoCA is usually the way to go.


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## hostage (Jul 27, 2004)

I think I am starting to get a better understanding of it. I looked up the specs on the wifi card on the Tivo and it isn't 802.11ac, so that eliminates that idea.

I am thinking of these two options, both require moving the router and cable modem into the basement:

1) Assuming that OTA and MOCA can share the same line, I think I would only need 1 MOCA adapter as the Roamio would use an Ethernet cable, while mini would use MOCA. If I understand the MOCA adapter, you plug in the cable that is coming from the Antenna and mini to the input, plug the MOCA adapter into the router via an ethernet card and then attach the cable out to the TiVo. Worst case I can move the Antenna into the attic (above 2nd floor) drop a cable down a cold air return, which runs all the way down to the basement, and connect that directly to the TiVo, though that is a few hours worth a work and a lot of nagging about dust from the wife. 
(see one attachment)

2) Use WUMC710 wireless bridge directly connected to Roamio. Connect mini directly to WRT1900AC router.


Lastly how good is the Roamio basic w/ the mini as I hear the NIC is only 10/100.

Thoughts?

Edit:

Started thinking of this a little more and correct me if I am wrong:

MOCA:

Pros: 
Supported 
Can add additional minis in any place I have a coax line

Cons: 
The age and quality of the coax cable are unknown, which could cause a problem for MOCA
The quality and location of all the splitters are unknown, which could cause a problem.

802.11AC bridge:

Pros:
Less elbow grease required
People have had success

Cons:
Not supported
Limited to one mini/bridge
Bandwidth could be a possible issue.
Both are about the same cost to me around $45


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

hostage said:


> I think I am starting to get a better understanding of it. I looked up the specs on the wifi card on the Tivo and it isn't 802.11ac, so that eliminates that idea.
> 
> Thoughts?


The Mini does well streaming or live TV with 802.11N. A video stream is usually about 20Mbps. The Roamio does have a slight (about 10%) speed drain with a Mini active. Usually it's not an issue. I have transferred programs from my Roamio to my PC at 100Mbps. A Pro or Plus can go faster. Don't expect the Mini to be as quick as the Roamio when moving around the channels.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Curious... is your Roamio basic on a Lifetime service plan or a subscription? (feeling out whether the expense of a BOLT might pay for itself, given the built-in MoCA and mobile streaming)

(edit: p.s. For example, looking at the suggested configuration in my next post, you could switch the locations of the BOLT and Mini -- avoiding the purchase of 2 MoCA adapters -- and, owing to the BOLT's built-in MoCA bridging, the suggested network switch could connect directly to the BOLT's otherwise unused Ethernet port to provide wired networking for the PS3 and Xbox. Just FYI, really, since you're likely locked-in to the Roamio.)


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Sticking as close to your original configuration as possible, for a thought experiment, you could go MoCA with just a few additions, I believe...

*2nd floor Office:*
cable modem
Linksys WRTAC1900
PC
printer
+ add MoCA adapter (to create MoCA network)

*1st floor Garage:*
+ add ANT/SAT diplexer in garage (to feed MoCA/antenna signals through to Family Room);_ (more info)_

*1st floor Family Room:*
Roamio basic
+ add MoCA adapter (to provide wired networking for Roamio)

*Basement:*
PS3
Xbox
Mini
+ add MoCA adapter & network switch (to provide wired networking for Mini _and other devices_; you could skip this MoCA adapter if you ONLY want the Mini hard-wired, but why not wire the other devices while you're at it, if the budget allows)

*Cable Box(?):*
+ add MoCA filter (to isolate MoCA signals inside the home)​
(Presumes MoCA compatibility of house wiring and unknown splitters and amplifiers; these should be checked/verified before doing the MoCA upgrade, to identify obvious incompatibilities. See this recent success story, as an example.)


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

About that diplexer mentioned above...


> *1st floor Garage:*
> add ANT/SAT diplexer in garage (to feed MoCA/antenna signals through to Family Room)


Rather than *completely* isolating the Family Room's coax from the rest of the house's coax wiring as suggested in your initial post...


hostage said:


> First Floor Family Room: I have the Tivo Roamio in the room next to the garage. I found a *cable splitter in the garage, I disconnected the family room coax cable from the splitter and connected a antenna I mounted into the ceiling trusses in the garage*.


... you can use a diplexer (see image below) to send the MoCA signal, present on the house's coax wiring, and the OTA signal, coming from your antenna, into the Family Room on a single coax line.

The splitter in the garage can be connected as before, except:

The output on the splitter that was previously fed to the Family Room should now connect to the "SAT" port on the diplexer;

The coax coming from the antenna should be connected to the "VHF/UHF" port on the diplexer;

The "IN/OUT" port on the diplexer should feed to the Family Room.

The coax cable coming into the Family Room should now have both your MoCA and OTA signals on the line (assuming you've already setup the MoCA adapter in the 2nd floor office to create the MoCA network). You should be able to test the MoCA network connectivity in the Family Room, at this point, by connecting a laptop/PC/etc to the Ethernet port of the MoCA adapter, and verifying full LAN and Internet connectivity.

Since you will have merged OTA & MoCA onto a single line in the Family Room, you'll want to wire your Roamio and its MoCA adapter according to the "Roamio 4-tuner" portion of *this diagram* from the TiVo support site. The MoCA adapter will grab its data off the coax, and pass the OTA antenna signal to the Roamio via the "STB/TV Out" port on the MoCA adapter. Alternatively, you could use another diplexer to break out the signals and feed each device individually, with the SAT output going to the MoCA adapter and the VHF/UHF output going to the Roamio; the MoCA adapter's "STB/TV Out" port wouldn't be used in this alternative configuration.

---


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## hostage (Jul 27, 2004)

krkaufman said:


> About that diplexer mentioned above...
> 
> Rather than *completely* isolating the Family Room's coax from the rest of the house's coax wiring as suggested in your initial post...
> 
> ...


That is an option I should take a look at. The Roamio I got for $300 off the summer sale including the life time subscription. I think I paid for $400 for my series 2 + lifetime. I just decommissioned my series 2 a couple months ago.

It looks like you are suggesting up to 3 MOCA adapters, I am wondering if I can just get by with one. If I locate the cable modem and router in the basement, then I can connect all my devices to the gigabit switch in the router.

I can then disconnect my whole house coax wiring from the cable companies feed and just connect one line to the cable companies feed that will run directly into the cable modem. I can then run another line from the MOCA to the rest of the house to feed it as a MOCA network and I can add additional minis as needed, I most likely won't knowing my wife lol.

The only problem I said is that I am unsure about the quality and age of the wiring and the quality of all the splitters. We have a 4 bedroom house, I think only 3 of the bed rooms have a cable drops in them. and I think we have 3 other cable lines in the house. I know the location of three splitters so I hope they are all it. I don't think the cable company would put a splitter in an unaccessible box. I know electrical junction boxes have to be readily accessible.

Lastly if I increase the height of my antenna, it should improve my signal a little.

With my PC I will just rearrange the room so I don't have the PC near the source of the interference and use WIFI.

I think I need to figure out a good way to test my lines to see if I can do this as an option. Does you see any problem with this setup?


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## snerd (Jun 6, 2008)

That connection should work. You could even eliminate the MoCA adapter if you're willing to run a Cat5e/Cat6 cable from the basement to the family room.

If you'll only ever have the one Roamio, then connecting it directly to the antenna makes sense.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

hostage said:


> It looks like you are suggesting up to 3 MOCA adapters, ...


For maximum wired connectivity with devices located per the original post, yes, 3 MoCA adapters.



hostage said:


> I am wondering if I can just get by with one. If I locate the cable modem and router in the basement, then I can connect all my devices to the gigabit switch in the router.


If moving your gear around and running that antenna line to the basement works for you, yes, you can conceivably get by with just one MoCA adapter -- but, as you say, you'll be wireless only on the 2nd floor. You could get away with 2 MoCA adapters and the network switch if you swap just the Roamio and Mini locations, leaving everything else as-is, though you'd still need to get the antenna signal to the basement.



hostage said:


> The only problem I said is that I am unsure about the quality and age of the wiring and the quality of all the splitters. We have a 4 bedroom house, I think only 3 of the bed rooms have a cable drops in them. and I think we have 3 other cable lines in the house. I know the location of three splitters so I hope they are all it. I don't think the cable company would put a splitter in an unaccessible box. I know electrical junction boxes have to be readily accessible.


As suggested by someone else, I recommend giving MoCA a hearty try. If you know how many coax outlets you have, you should be able to calculate if you've located all the splitters -- barring unused lines hidden behind walls.


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## hostage (Jul 27, 2004)

I was thinking of running a cat 5/6 cable to the family room, though it be to difficult, there is I have to go through a finished basement section to get to it. I might be able to fish a cable through a soffit where a drain pipe runs or pull the original cable line back through with another line allowing me to pull the cable line back with a cat5 cable. I will have to look, though that might be more work than it is worth and it might be. 

Putting the antenna would be fairly easy as the cold are return goes from the top of the 2nd floor all the way down next to the AV area. It also frees space up in garage rafters for storage and should in theory give me a little better signal as it is a few feet high. It might even give me LOS to the tower. The biggest problem is the wife doesn't want dust made


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Another alternative to consider, if you're ONLY going to be running MoCA on your house coax lines (i.e. running a separate coax line to the basement to feed the Roamio, and your cable Internet feed connected directly to your modem) is DECA, DirecTV's implementation of MoCA.

A few TCFers recommend it as a cheaper alternative to MoCA -- and will hopefully pop-in to review your situation and offer suggestions.

edit: p.s. See *here* and *here*, for starters, while waiting for informed feedback.

p.p.s. You'd need a DECA adapter for the Mini, as well, since the Mini's MoCA connectivity would no longer be of use. (see links above for more info)


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## hostage (Jul 27, 2004)

krkaufman said:


> Another alternative to consider, if you're ONLY going to be running MoCA on your house coax lines (i.e. running a separate coax line to the basement to feed the Roamio, and your cable Internet feed connected directly to your modem) is DECA, DirecTV's implementation of MoCA.
> 
> A few TCFers recommend it as a cheaper alternative to MoCA -- and will hopefully pop-in to review your situation and offer suggestions.
> 
> ...


I only have OTA for TV and cable internet for internet. I don't have cable TV nor Satellite TV. I plan on running a line directly to the cable modem as that should be fairly easy to do. I will take a look at the links you provided, thanks for the feedback!


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

hostage said:


> I only have OTA for TV and cable internet for internet. I don't have cable TV nor Satellite TV. I plan on running a line directly to the cable modem as that should be fairly easy to do. I will take a look at the links you provided, thanks for the feedback!


If you follow the links to mdavej's post over on AVSforum, you may find a link to his recommended DECA adapter -- the pricing for which may get your attention.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

I highly recommend DECA. At $9/node, you can do your whole house for the price of a single MOCA adapter. Just make sure the coax runs to your main Tivo and cable modem are isolated from the rest of your coax network. Works a treat. I use it not only for networking all my Minis but for networking several other PCs and routers/repeaters throughout the house as well. Dave Harper originally turned me onto this. Thanks again Dave.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

krkaufman said:


> Another alternative to consider, if you're ONLY going to be running MoCA on your house coax lines (i.e. running a separate coax line to the basement to feed the Roamio, and your cable Internet feed connected directly to your modem) is DECA, DirecTV's implementation of MoCA.
> 
> A few TCFers recommend it as a cheaper alternative to MoCA -- and will hopefully pop-in to review your situation and offer suggestions.
> 
> ...





hostage said:


> I only have OTA for TV and cable internet for internet. I don't have cable TV nor Satellite TV. I plan on running a line directly to the cable modem as that should be fairly easy to do. I will take a look at the links you provided, thanks for the feedback!





krkaufman said:


> If you follow the links to mdavej's post over on AVSforum, you may find a link to his recommended DECA adapter -- the pricing for which may get your attention.





mdavej said:


> I highly recommend DECA. At $9/node, you can do your whole house for the price of a single MOCA adapter. Just make sure the coax runs to your main Tivo and cable modem are isolated from the rest of your coax network. Works a treat. I use it not only for networking all my Minis but for networking several other PCs and routers/repeaters throughout the house as well. Dave Harper originally turned me onto this. Thanks again Dave.


Thanks guys. I'm here if you have any questions after reading those links. Sorry I have a big group in house and my time is a little limited this week.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

mdavej said:


> I highly recommend DECA. ... I use it not only for networking all my Minis ...


Just to be clear, your Minis each require a DECA adapter in order to network, or a connection to a network switch attached to a DECA adapter, etc., correct? (That is, there isn't some hidden feature in the Mini that allows its MoCA chip to talk at the DECA frequencies.)


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

Correct


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

mdavej said:


> Correct


Thanks for that feedback. I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing some super-secret trick the Minis could do.


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## hostage (Jul 27, 2004)

So if I am understanding this correctly, I will need to DECA adapters? One attached to the switch on my router and the other one connected to the the mini's NIC? The only caviot is you can't run tv signals and DECA on the same line, while you can use both MOCA and TV signals over the same coax? Is there any performance differences?

I looked at the cabling in my house. It looks like the cable company ran all new white coax wherever they could, at least to all three splitters that I could find. They even ran an underground coax (was orange, but now faded to yellow) to the family room so I think that line should get rid of my fears of wiring in the house. The only problem I noticed is that two or three of the end locations have the older black thinner coax.

Here are the splitters I found:

Near where I will put the antenna:
http://www.amazon.com/Genesys-II-3-way-Splitter/dp/B00BOREC8E

Near where the cable and power come into the house:
Digitap 6kv surge protected 5.5db each 3way splitter 5-1000mhz -120db RFI

Near Family Room:
2 way splitter 3.5db out 5-1000mhz


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

hostage said:


> So if I am understanding this correctly, I will need to DECA adapters? One attached to the switch on my router and the other one connected to the the mini's NIC? The only caviot is you can't run tv signals and DECA on the same line, while you can use both MOCA and TV signals over the same coax? Is there any performance differences?
> 
> I looked at the cabling in my house. It looks like the cable company ran all new white coax wherever they could, at least to all three splitters that I could find. They even ran an underground coax (was orange, but now faded to yellow) to the family room so I think that line should get rid of my fears of wiring in the house. The only problem I noticed is that two or three of the end locations have the older black thinner coax.
> 
> ...


As long as you remove the raw antenna or cable QAM signals from the rest of the home and only run it to your tuner device, then you are clear to insert the DeCA signal on the coax.

The 5-1000MHZ splitters should work well because DeCA is in that frequency range, which is why it interferes with cable and OTA signals.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

hostage said:


> So if I am understanding this correctly, I will need to DECA adapters?


That depends on where you want to have wired networking and where you decide to locate your devices, right?

Basically, you'll need a DECA adapter wherever you *would* have needed a MoCA adapter -- except you'll need an extra DECA adapter for the Mini, since the Mini's built-in MoCA connectivity would go unused. ... So, I would think 3 DECA adapters, to get both the 1st floor Living Room and 2nd floor Office wired, assuming you're sticking with the plan to move the modem, router and Roamio to the basement Theater area. And you could optionally add a network switch to the Office or Living Room if you want wired connectivity for multiple devices in either location.

---

As one more variation... If you could run a 2nd coax from the garage into the Living Room, so that you could send both DECA & OTA into the Living Room on separate coax lines, you could keep the modem and wireless router in the 2nd floor Office (giving you better wireless coverage) and the Roamio in the Living Room -- and you wouldn't have to do the coax run through the air return.


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## hostage (Jul 27, 2004)

krkaufman said:


> That depends on where you want to have wired networking and where you decide to locate your devices, right?
> 
> Basically, you'll need a DECA adapter wherever you *would* have needed a MoCA adapter -- except you'll need an extra DECA adapter for the Mini, since the Mini's built-in MoCA connectivity would go unused. ... So, I would think 3 DECA adapters, to get both the 1st floor Living Room and 2nd floor Office wired, assuming you're sticking with the plan to move the modem, router and Roamio to the basement Theater area. And you could optionally add a network switch to the Office or Living Room if you want wired connectivity for multiple devices in either location.
> 
> ...


That might have to be the way I do things. While I was doing a detail look into my house, I noticed the cold air return doesn't go all the way down to the bottom like I thought. It might go a different spot, that might be accessible, though I am not 100% sure. Will need someone to drop a penny down the return to see if i hear it hit a sheet metal.

Edit: I don't think I could keep the router and modem in the office, as DECA uses the same frequency as the cable modem from what I understand. I only have one cable up stairs.


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## snerd (Jun 6, 2008)

hostage said:


> Is there any performance differences?


DECA and MoCA use the same chip set for the underlying technology, DECA just uses a lower frequency band. Performance should be similar to MoCA. DECA is also more likely to work well with crappy splitters.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

hostage said:


> Edit: I don't think I could keep the router and modem in the office, as DECA uses the same frequency as the cable modem from what I understand. I only have one cable up stairs.


Ugh, not sure where I got the idea that you'd have a dedicated coax run to the modem -- leaving the rest of your coax network free of the cable signal. Need to reconsider. Apologies.

edit: p.s. Didn't notice your update/edit until stumbling across it just now, since such edits don't trigger email notifications or alter "Last Post" timestamps in the forum listings.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

hostage said:


> Edit: I don't think I could keep the router and modem in the office, as DECA uses the same frequency as the cable modem from what I understand. I only have one cable up stairs.


From my new understanding, you only have a single coax line to each location: upstairs, living room and basement.

And given that each of OTA, cable and DECA all overlap, DECA's just not going to work unless some additional cable runs were available (direct run to modem, and direct run from OTA antenna to Roamio).

Absent the additional cable runs, I'm going to fall back to my *previous MoCA recommendation*.

p.s. Thank you for catching the error; again, apologies.


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## Restlessmonkey (Oct 21, 2015)

krkaufman said:


> Ugh, not sure where I got the idea that you'd have a dedicated coax run to the modem -- leaving the rest of your coax network free of the cable signal. Need to reconsider. Apologies.
> 
> edit: p.s. Didn't notice your update/edit until stumbling across it just now, since such edits don't trigger email notifications or alter "Last Post" timestamps in the forum listings.


Thanks for the info


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## hostage (Jul 27, 2004)

Just an update, I finally made a decision! I just ordered my Tivo Mini and the two MOCA adapters for $89 from Tivo! I am leaving my router/cable modem in office and attaching one MOCA adapter there. I am putting the Mini in my basement with the AV equipment attached via MOCA on board adapter. Then I am leaving my Roamio in the family room attaching a MOCA adapter to the cable line and all I have to do wire wise is just run the antenna line through the wall from the garage where the coax line that goes from the antenna to the Roamio. I figured with a 10 day old baby, I won't have time to do anything else


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

hostage said:


> I am putting the Mini in my basement *with the AV equipment attached via MOCA on board adapter*


What does the above mean, specifically?

Note that the Mini does not have MoCA bridging capability; it can only *connect* to a MoCA network, not bridge between MoCA and Ethernet (like certain MoCA-bridging TiVo DVRs can).

p.s. If I'm correct in my assumption, above, then this is why I had recommended 3 MoCA adapters in my previous post, here.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

krkaufman said:


> What does the above mean, specifically? Note that the Mini does not have MoCA bridging capability; it can only *connect* to a MoCA network, not bridge between MoCA and Ethernet (like certain MoCA-bridging TiVo DVRs can). p.s. If I'm correct in my assumption, above, then this is why I had recommended 3 MoCA adapters in my previous post, here.


Maybe the other equipment down there will be just wifi connected?


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

HarperVision said:


> Maybe the other equipment down there will be just wifi connected?


Previous indications are that they wanted to get those devices wired, as well, and I just want to make sure they aren't expecting too much from the Mini's built-in MoCA feature.


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## hostage (Jul 27, 2004)

HarperVision said:


> Maybe the other equipment down there will be just wifi connected?


Exactly, I have been using my Wifi for my PS3 for Netflix.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

krkaufman said:


> Previous indications are that they wanted to get those devices wired, as well, and I just want to make sure they aren't expecting too much from the Mini's built-in MoCA feature.


Yes, it's great that you pointed that out in case he or others didn't know that. :up:


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## hostage (Jul 27, 2004)

Another update, I got my Tivo Mini yesterday and set it up, while I was waiting on my MOCA adapters to come in. To my surprise the WRT54G bridge I was using, works very well coupled with Wireless-N adapter on the Tivo! I did a couple short rewinds and fast forwards and it seemed fine 0_o.

Oddly enough I don't use the fast forward feature all that much as I use OTA and 95% of the shows I watch are on PBS, which doesn't have commercial brakes. I guess I use it more for recording shows when I am not around, rather for skipping commercials. It will require a little more testing, but at least I have it up for the Cowboys game on Sunday and Bills game on Monday. My wife is a HUGE Bills fan, so we can now watch it on the big screen!

Now I am starting to regret that I got the adapters  Though more FF and RR will be tested.

I am guessing TiVo advised against/didn't add a WiFi NIC as some signals can be spotty and they want their products to run at the best level. I think the WRT54G bridge has a more powerful than normal antenna/radio than your typical wifi device. More testing will be required. Though there is nothing to prevent you from using your Tivo Roamio Basic from using it's wifi, so long as your Mini can connect to the network. I would have tried this first, though SOMEONE implied that TiVo some how prevented this.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Don't mess with success. But the real test will be tomorrow after the lease expires on your IP addresses. If that fails, you can use reservations or fixed IP addresses. TiVo doesn't like to change IP addresses. So document the IP addresses of all the players. If the connection fails, see if something changed. Good luck. That wireless N adapter works on a Mini also. It's not very strong.


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