# Best way to connect three Tivo Minis to Roamio Plus



## Marty1781 (Jan 2, 2004)

I am hoping to get some advice on the best way to connect a Roamio Plus with 3 Tivo Minis. This will all be a gift to my parents. They're specific situation is this:

- Verizon Fios Service (50 up/50 down) with both coax and cat5 run from the ONT. 
- Currently, I have the cat5 going into their router (a Linksys EA6900 router, AC wireless, etc). Then I have a short cat5 run from the Linksys to the Verizon router, which has the coax plugged into it to create a moca network for their Verizon STB. 
- The Linksys functions as the primary router and the Verizon Actiontec has been reconfigured simply for Moca duties for the Verizon STB. 
- All the rooms where the Roamio and minis will go have coax connections but no ethernet.
- They currently have 1 Verizon STB which will be replaced by the Roamio Plus

So obviously I need to use Moca to connect everything. My questions are:

1. I am somewhat concerned about Moca bandwidth and it needing to serve the Roamio and 3 Minis. Will upgrading the Verizon Actiontec router to the Rev I version (they currently have a rev D version) provide any additional bandwidth? I know the rev I has gigabit ports but will those even be utilized with this current setup? Or will their current Actiontec Rev D router be more than enough to handle the Roamio and 3 minis?

2. Alternatively, I was thinking remove the Actiontec, connect the coax to the Roamio, connect the Roamio's ethernet to a wireless AC bridge, and let the Roamio create it's own Moca network for the 3 minis. Would this work and would there by any advantages or drawbacks to it over the scenario described in #1 above? Would the Moca network created by the Roamio be more robust/faster for handling cable tv vs the Moca network created by the Verizon Actiontec router? I am thinking the only drawback here would be the use of a wireless AC adapter with the Roamio but that would only be a concern if multiple people were streaming Netflix on the Minis for example (right?) as that might put a strain on the internet access that is being mediated by the wireless AC adapter that is connected to the Roamio? Otherwise, if they just stick to watching mainly cable tv on the minis (which are connected over Moca), the wireless AC connection that connects the Roamio to the internet shouldn't be an issue...is that correct?

Thanks for any advice and/or recommendations that you can offer!


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## Ryan Nelson (Jan 31, 2011)

Marty1781 said:


> I am hoping to get some advice on the best way to connect a Roamio Plus with 3 Tivo Minis. This will all be a gift to my parents. They're specific situation is this:
> 
> - Verizon Fios Service (50 up/50 down) with both coax and cat5 run from the ONT.
> - Currently, I have the cat5 going into their router (a Linksys EA6900 router, AC wireless, etc). Then I have a short cat5 run from the Linksys to the Verizon router, which has the coax plugged into it to create a moca network for their Verizon STB.
> ...


I would try it on moca first with your current setup since that would be the simplest solution with your setup. I bet it works fine but I don't know if the verizon router moca network would work, but I bet it would since a normal actiontec (non-verizon) moca bridge works just fine.

I'm running two minis and a roamio pro on moca and they work fine and are super-fast. You can check the quality of the moca connection in the menu of the tivo roamio. Early on I used the Roamio to create a moca bridge but the actiontec route was more stable and just works better (at least when I first tried it many moons ago). I would not do wireless to the Roamio if you have coax and can run the Roamio on moca (it'll be must faster and reliable).


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

Won't know until you go. 

But hooking up the Minis to coax along with the Roamio is the way to go because. It should just work.

The Roamio can talk to the internet via wifi. But thinking I read you can't stream from wifi thru roamio to Minis on coax/Moca? I don't use wifi so not sure.

But if that's the case and you need Netflix etc then you would hook up Minis/Roamio to your MOCA router.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

trip1eX said:


> Won't know until you go.
> 
> But hooking up the Minis to coax along with the Roamio is the way to go because. It should just work.
> 
> ...


FiOS routers usually have MoCA built in, so it should just work anyway.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Verizon FIOS has MoCA already built-in so there is nothing to do but connect your Mini's to COAX. Because you have MoCA already on the line, you won't be using the Roamio as a MoCA bridge. You can connect it via Ethernet and everything will work just fine.

No need to over think this - with FIOS, you have the best of all worlds.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Other people have used the FiOS MoCA router with the Minis without issue.


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## Marty1781 (Jan 2, 2004)

aaronwt said:


> Other people have used the FiOS MoCA router with the Minis without issue.


Thanks but do you think there would be any benefit to upgrading the Verizon Actiontec router? Currently using a MI424WR Rev D to create the MoCa network and was wondering if upgrading to the Rev I would provide any additional advantages/bandwidth on the MoCa network? The rev I is suppose to have gigabit ports but not sure if there are any enhancements on the MoCa side.


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## soobaerodude (Nov 8, 2013)

I think rev. D is MoCa 1.0. You'll want to use at least a Rev. E with Minis since they are both MoCa 1.1


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

1. The rev D router should be upgraded. The newer router will have moca 1.1, which has 175 mbps of bandwidth. TV programs are between 12-18 mbps. So even if they're streaming to all 3 Minis simultaneously and watching Netflix on the Roamio, it's still more than enough bandwidth.

2. The wireless AC method may or may not work fine. But going with option 1 seems more reliable.

Select "moca" for all 4 devices. You won't need ethernet to any of the boxes.


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## Marty1781 (Jan 2, 2004)

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Seems like using a MoCa network created by the Actiontec is the way to go and that I should upgrade the Actiontec to rev I to get a MoCa 1.1 network going.

One more question, instead of upgrading the Actiontec router to the rev I version, can I just remove the current rev D version and replace is with the Actiontec ECB2500C network adapter (http://www.amazon.com/Actiontec-Eth...qid=1411627799&sr=8-2&keywords=moca+adapter)? Then I just pair that with the Linksys EA6900 router to create the MoCa 1.1 network? The Roamio and the minis would obviously not need a MoCa adapter because they have one builtin. The ECB2500C seem to be going for substantially less on Ebay than the MI424WR rev I Actiontec routers on Ebay. Thanks again for any feedback that you can offer.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

I believe that would work too. Tivo.com sells them for $50 if that helps.


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## Marty1781 (Jan 2, 2004)

Excellent! Thanks Jim!


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