# Plugging Ethernet into Roamio port kills my Internet



## mister_e_man (Aug 31, 2015)

I have VZ FIOS Internet, which works great *UNTIL* I plug in my Tivo Roamio. Then the connection instantly times out all traffic on the network. Any idea what is going on? At one time, I had a MocaNet running to connect this Tivo to two other Minis. Now the Roamio is saying it sees no network connection. And again, as soon as I plug in the Ethernet cable, the whole network grinds to an INSTANT halt.


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## MikeBear (May 21, 2015)

Did it ever work right?

Have you tried removing all power to the Tivo for 1 minute, and then power it back up and check the ethernet again?

I would also check to see if ANYTHING plugged into that same cable causes your network to halt. Could be a bad port on your router or switch.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Do you have the MoCa + Ethernet option enabled? That puts the Roamio into bridge mode and could screw up your network if that's not how you intend to use it. Set it to Ethernet only if you just want Ethernet.


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## cmshep222 (Feb 18, 2005)

Dan203 said:


> Do you have the MoCa + Ethernet option enabled? That puts the Roamio into bridge mode and could screw up your network if that's not how you intend to use it. Set it to Ethernet only if you just want Ethernet.


Dan203 is almost certainly right here. My brother has VZ FIOS...and made the same mistake with MOCA + ETHERNET. Setting to ETHERNET solved the problem.


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## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

I had a similar problem when I plugged mine in recently (it was setup on wireless previously). All network traffic from my Asus router stopped to every device. A quick reboot of the TiVo and router solved it, no issues since and that was about 5 days ago.


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

cmshep222 said:


> Dan203 is almost certainly right here. My brother has VZ FIOS...and made the same mistake with MoCA + ETHERNET. Setting to ETHERNET solved the problem.


I could see that. Unless you had switches that implement spanning tree protocol having both MOCA and Ethernet connected _to the same network_ would create a loop; and Ethernet freaks out when you create a loop. IIRC the technical term is an ARP storm; where because of the loop the switches see an infinite number of devices (listed by their ARP address) on the network and just fall over and die.

It would be fine if the Ethernet connected other devices to the network, so their data path was Router -> MoCA -> Ethernet. (Or even Router -> Ethernet -> MoCA -> other Ethernet). But once the Ethernet output is connected (however indirectly) back to the same source network the MoCA is coming from bad things happen to the network.

But this isn't just a MoCA problem. You get exactly the same issue if you connect Ethernet switches in a loop, or have 2 Ethernet cables running between the same pair of switches. (Unless if they are fancy switches configured specifically to support the extra links using spanning tree protocol or link bonding)


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## mister_e_man (Aug 31, 2015)

MikeBear said:


> Did it ever work right?
> 
> Have you tried removing all power to the Tivo for 1 minute, and then power it back up and check the ethernet again?
> 
> I would also check to see if ANYTHING plugged into that same cable causes your network to halt. Could be a bad port on your router or switch.


Yes. It used to work. It was set up as a Moca network shared out with two minis.


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## mister_e_man (Aug 31, 2015)

Dan203 said:


> Do you have the MoCa + Ethernet option enabled? That puts the Roamio into bridge mode and could screw up your network if that's not how you intend to use it. Set it to Ethernet only if you just want Ethernet.


But I don't just want Ethernet. I want a shared Mocanet, which is what used to work.


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## mister_e_man (Aug 31, 2015)

Jonathan_S said:


> I could see that. Unless you had switches that implement spanning tree protocol having both MOCA and Ethernet connected _to the same network_ would create a loop; and Ethernet freaks out when you create a loop. IIRC the technical term is an ARP storm; where because of the loop the switches see an infinite number of devices (listed by their ARP address) on the network and just fall over and die.
> 
> It would be fine if the Ethernet connected other devices to the network, so their data path was Router -> MoCA -> Ethernet. (Or even Router -> Ethernet -> MoCA -> other Ethernet). But once the Ethernet output is connected (however indirectly) back to the same source network the MoCA is coming from bad things happen to the network.
> 
> But this isn't just a MoCA problem. You get exactly the same issue if you connect Ethernet switches in a loop, or have 2 Ethernet cables running between the same pair of switches. (Unless if they are fancy switches configured specifically to support the extra links using spanning tree protocol or link bonding)


So . . . then I reset to Ethernet. And once that is running try going back to Moca?


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

mister_e_man said:


> But I don't just want Ethernet. I want a shared Mocanet, which is what used to work.


The thread starts with this...


mister_e_man said:


> I have VZ FIOS Internet, ...


... which leads me (and others) to believe that your VZ FiOS router is creating your MoCA network, so your Roamio Plus/Pro should only be using MoCA *OR* Ethernet, and leaving the Ethernet-to-Coaxial bridging to the FiOS router.

I'd be curious what happens in the following situation, if/when you might be able to test it...

Power-off your Roamio Plus/Pro (to take it out of the equation)
Test your Mini's MoCA connectivity. Can it still network via MoCA and reach the Internet?
The Mini won't be able to see the Roamio, of course, but if it can still network via MoCA then your VZ router *is* your MoCA bridge and you'll only want Ethernet *or* MoCA enabled on your Roamio.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

mister_e_man said:


> I have VZ FIOS Internet, which works great *UNTIL* I plug in my Tivo Roamio. Then the connection instantly times out all traffic on the network. ... At one time, I had a MocaNet running to connect this Tivo to two other Minis.


Curious, did something change on your network, recently, between when it use to work and now? (Router swap-out, Roamio settings reset, etc?)


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

krkaufman said:


> The thread starts with this...
> 
> ... which leads me (and others) to believe that your VZ FiOS router is creating your MoCA network, so your Roamio Plus/Pro should only be using MoCA *OR* Ethernet, and leaving the Ethernet-to-Coaxial bridging to the FiOS router.
> 
> ...


It should still work when the Ethernet port is Bridged with MoCA. What matters is where that Ethernet connection goes to from the Plus/Pro. If it loops back onto the existing network then it will cause an issue. If not then it should be fine.

I've tested my Pro in the past, bridging Ethernet to MoCA. And also bridging MoCA to Ethernet. They both worked fine as long as the network was setup properly.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

aaronwt said:


> It should still work when the Ethernet port is Bridged with MoCA. What matters is where that Ethernet connection goes to from the Plus/Pro. If it loops back onto the existing network then it will cause an issue. If not then it should be fine.


Yes, that was the context I thought we were discussing, where the OP was trying to make an Ethernet connection to his router, which was disrupting his network -- not bridging to an isolated segment.


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## mister_e_man (Aug 31, 2015)

ah. so the VZ router has its own mocanet capabilities? That might be the problem. FWIW when I set the roamio to wifi that works. Then if I set it to Ethernet that works. But if I set the roamio to serve as a mocanet server, everything goes kaflooey!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

mister_e_man said:


> ah. so the VZ router has its own mocanet capabilities? That might be the problem. FWIW when I set the roamio to wifi that works. Then if I set it to Ethernet that works. But if I set the roamio to serve as a mocanet server, everything goes kaflooey!


That seems to be the community consensus.

Simple enough... put the Roamio Plus/Pro into Ethernet-only mode, connect the cable, and then see if your Mini, connected via MoCA only, works.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

mister_e_man said:


> ah. so the VZ router has its own mocanet capabilities? That might be the problem. FWIW when I set the roamio to wifi that works. Then if I set it to Ethernet that works. But if I set the roamio to serve as a mocanet server, everything goes kaflooey!
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk





krkaufman said:


> That seems to be the community consensus.
> 
> Simple enough... put the Roamio Plus/Pro into Ethernet-only mode, connect the cable, and then see if your Mini, connected via MoCA only, works.


The Verizon FiOS router creates the MoCA network because Verizon's STBs and DVRs use MoCA.


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## dahacker (Jan 14, 2004)

mister_e_man said:


> ah. so the VZ router has its own mocanet capabilities? That might be the problem. FWIW when I set the roamio to wifi that works. Then if I set it to Ethernet that works. But if I set the roamio to serve as a mocanet server, everything goes kaflooey!
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


What model number and revision number of FIOS router are you using?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

If you want the Roamio to use the MoCa network created by the VZ router then set it to MoCa only. By having both enabled you're creating a loop between the MoCa and Ethernet networks by having two devices (i.e. TiVo and VZ router) act as bridges.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> If you want the Roamio to use the MoCa network created by the VZ router then set it to MoCa only. By having both enabled you're creating a loop between the MoCa and Ethernet networks by having two devices (i.e. TiVo and VZ router) act as bridges.


However MoCA+Ethernet on the Roamio turned on would let the Roamio ethernet port feed a switch to distribute to the rest of the items in your media center, but that's a Networking 201 as opposed to 101 item 

You just can't connect both the Coax and Ethernet to the existing home network with MoCA+Ethernet enabled on the Roamio.


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

dianebrat said:


> The Verizon FiOS router creates the MoCA network because Verizon's STBs and DVRs use MoCA.


As, be default, does their ONT (optical network terminal; where the fiber optic line ends at your house and is converted to TV, phone, and network).

In most new installs their router talks MoCA to the ONT as well as to their STBs and DVRs.

But yeah, it seems like this is the OPs problem. He was unknowingly creating a network loop by having the Romio talk MoCA and Ethernet to the FIOS router. Loops are bad (at least until you get to networking 301 which takes more capable gear than home routers or the MoCA bridge chips in a TiVo).


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

dianebrat said:


> However MoCA+Ethernet on the Roamio turned on would let the Roamio ethernet port feed a switch to distribute to the rest of the items in your media center, but that's a Networking 201 as opposed to 101 item
> 
> You just can't connect both the Coax and Ethernet to the existing home network with MoCA+Ethernet enabled on the Roamio.


Yeah, that's how I use mine. I use a real MoCa bridge upstairs and use the TiVo as a MoCa bridge down stairs so I can connect the two halves. But the Ethernet down stairs never loops back to the Ethernet upstairs. The MoCa bridge is the only thing connecting the two halves.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

dianebrat said:


> However MoCA+Ethernet on the Roamio turned on would let the Roamio ethernet port feed a switch to distribute to the rest of the items in your media center, but that's a Networking 201 as opposed to 101 item


He would only need to do that if he didn't have Ethernet at that location, which he obviously does.

Does the Roamio have a "MoCA only" mode because it seems to me that would be the preferred configuration for his setup.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Yes it does have MoCa only mode


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## Joe01880 (Feb 8, 2009)

Pardon the interruption.

So my Roamio Pro is connected via MoCa. Can I run an Ethernet cable to let's say my TV or PlayStation and get internet connectivity that way?
And.. If yes, can the Ethernet coming from the MoCa connected Roamio Pro go to an Ethernet bridge and from there to my TV, PlayStation, Roku etc... ?

Sent from my LG G4 using Tapatalk


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

Joe01880 said:


> Pardon the interruption.
> 
> So my Roamio Pro is connected via MoCa. Can I run an Ethernet cable to let's say my TV or PlayStation and get internet connectivity that way?
> And.. If yes, can the Ethernet coming from the MoCa connected Roamio Pro go to an Ethernet bridge and from there to my TV, PlayStation, Roku etc... ?
> ...


Yes
No, but on a technicality. You want to use an Ethernet switch, not bridge. I know in the past some models had issues with certain types of switches, but I don't know if that all got resolved. In general, it should work without a problem though.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

dianebrat said:


> However MoCA+Ethernet on the Roamio turned on would let the Roamio ethernet port feed a switch to distribute to the rest of the items in your media center, but that's a Networking 201 as opposed to 101 item
> 
> You just can't connect both the Coax and Ethernet to the existing home network with MoCA+Ethernet enabled on the Roamio.





Joe01880 said:


> Pardon the interruption.
> 
> So my Roamio Pro is connected via MoCa. Can I run an Ethernet cable to let's say my TV or PlayStation and get internet connectivity that way?
> And.. If yes, can the Ethernet coming from the MoCa connected Roamio Pro go to an Ethernet bridge and from there to my TV, PlayStation, Roku etc... ?


see above.. yes


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

Joe01880 said:


> Pardon the interruption.
> 
> So my Roamio Pro is connected via MoCa. Can I run an Ethernet cable to let's say my TV or PlayStation and get internet connectivity that way?
> And.. If yes, can the Ethernet coming from the MoCa connected Roamio Pro go to an Ethernet bridge and from there to my TV, PlayStation, Roku etc... ?


As others said; yes. Got a friend who wired up their basement entertainment center that way. MoCA to their Roamio, Ethernet from the Roamio to a switch, and everything else plugged into the switch.

Just be aware than if the Roamio reboots (or obviously if it gets unplugged) it'll stop bridging between MoCA and Ethernet. So when it gets a software upgrade all the Ethernet devices running through it will lose their internet connections for a few minutes.

But if you don't force a TiVo reboot, and don't normally use your internet from those devices in the middle of the night, you probably won't ever notice those rare interuptions.


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## Joe01880 (Feb 8, 2009)

Thanks for the feedback all.

Sent from my LGG4 using Tapatalk


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