# Does MoCA impact streaming apps?



## Dr_Zoidberg (Jan 4, 2004)

I have a Bolt+ with a wired connection to the Internet. Today, I set up a MoCA bridge on it for my Premiere XL, because I think the Wireless G adapter is failing on it. I've been having problems streaming off of the Premiere XL to the Bolt+, and even when I use online.tivo.com to transfer shows from it to the Bolt+, They "succeed", but the programs only play for about 10-15 minutes and then freeze up. I figured I'd give MoCA a try, and now this has happened.

With both Netflix and Prime Video, I can get to their menu system, but when I select a show to play, I see the spinning line, and then the screen goes blank, and get nothing. This setup worked last week, and I streamed a bunch of Amazon shows before.

I did purchase an Antronix MoCA POE filter, but I removed it when this happened, and restarted the Bolt+, and still nothing. It's back in, now. It permits 5-1002Mhz and blocks 1125-2000Mhz, if that matters.

I've also tried disabling MoCA, but the services still won't stream to the TiVo. I have no problem streaming to my laptop, so something's up with this configuration.

Any ideas?


----------



## tapokata (Apr 26, 2017)

Dr_Zoidberg said:


> I did purchase an Antronix MoCA POE filter, but I removed it when this happened, and restarted the Bolt+, and still nothing. It's back in, now. It permits 5-1002Mhz and blocks 1125-2000Mhz, if that matters.
> 
> Any ideas?


Where did you install the PoE filter? It typically needs to be on the input side of the first splitter where the cable enters the premises (or the down-lead from the antenna, on the input of the first splitter, if dealing with over the air).

Have you looked at network diagnostics on the Bolt+ and the Premiere XL? Your Bolt should be creating the network, and the Premiere should be configured as and showing as a client. It would be helpful if you can screen capture those diagnostic screens with a cell phone photo, and post those here- or at least note the Tx Power and Rx Power levels as shown on each node.


----------



## tapokata (Apr 26, 2017)

A full system shutdown and sequential restart might help, as well- power down your Premiere, the Bolt, and your router- and bring them back up, one at a time, in reverse order (ie, allow the router to come up first, then the Bolt+, and the Premiere last). Sometimes the IP addresses need to be cleared, and will be with this type of reset.


----------



## Dr_Zoidberg (Jan 4, 2004)

tapokata said:


> Where did you install the PoE filter? It typically needs to be on the input side of the first splitter where the cable enters the premises (or the down-lead from the antenna, on the input of the first splitter, if dealing with over the air).


The filter between the Fios adapter and the first splitter, right before the splitter.



> Have you looked at network diagnostics on the Bolt+ and the Premiere XL? Your Bolt should be creating the network, and the Premiere should be configured as and showing as a client. It would be helpful if you can screen capture those diagnostic screens with a cell phone photo, and post those here- or at least note the Tx Power and Rx Power levels as shown on each node.


I created the Bolt+ as the Bridge, and the Premiere XL was a client. First thing I did was run the connection tests from the Premiere XL, which succeeded. After I wrote out the post, I deleted the bridge on the Bolt+ and recreated it, changing the MoCA channel to 21, off the auto/default of 15. I then went back the Premiere XL, saw it's IP address was wrong, so I modified it and also set the channel to 21. There's no encryption. The Premiere XL could then see and browse the Bolt+ (which I didn't check before), but I didn't try to pull anything from the Bolt+. I did go back to my Bolt+ browse the Premiere XL and this time, I was able to stream something back from the Premiere XL.

Bolt+ shows TX Power of -25 for itself, and Tx/Rx power estimate of -25/-55 for the Premiere.

Oh, and I had restarted the Bolt+ but not the Premiere. In any case, the transfer portion is working. Now I have to get an understanding of why streaming stopped. Either that, or shift to the TV's streaming services.


----------



## tapokata (Apr 26, 2017)

-25 dB is about as good as you can expect on higher channel levels (15, the default, will give you a max of -27 dB). In any case, only a worry if that number comes closer to +5 dB: at that point, the throughput speeds start to drop off significantly... bottom line is that your coax network as configured appears to be fine.

Test the internet connections on both Tivo's by forcing a service connection- but I suspect that if you can now stream from one to the other, the streaming services should work.


----------



## Dr_Zoidberg (Jan 4, 2004)

So, late last night I restarted the Premiere XL, then tested the Netflix app on it. It worked. I tried Prime Video and it wasn't responding once I'd chosen a video, which is what I've been seeing. Fell asleep a bit later and haven't tested it again.

Cut to this morning, and the Bolt+ is now working with both Netflix and Prime Video. I didn't do anything with it. I guess the restart of the Premiere XL must've straightened things out.

Wish I knew why.


----------



## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Dr_Zoidberg said:


> The filter between the Fios adapter and the first splitter, right before the splitter.


If you're in a FiOS household you technically don't need a POE filter anywhere and the Fios network *may* already have had MoCA on it so you didn't need to have anything create a MoCA network, just flipped the Tivos over to start using it.


----------



## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

dianebrat said:


> If you're in a FiOS household you technically don't need a POE filter anywhere and the Fios network *may* already have had MoCA on it so you didn't need to have anything create a MoCA network, just flipped the Tivos over to start using it.


And connecting/configuring the BOLT as a MoCA bridge, in addition to the presumed MoCA bridge built-in to the FiOS router, would be problematic, usually with dire consequences for LAN communication.

What's the brand/model of your router?

p.s. Re:


Dr_Zoidberg said:


> I have a Bolt+ with a wired connection to the Internet. Today, I set up a MoCA bridge on it for my Premiere XL


It sounds like you don't have a Premiere XL, since that's a 2-tuner model lacking MoCA functionality; sounds like you probably have a 4-tuner Premiere XL4.


----------



## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

What ^^ they said.

POE filters are generally unnecessary in Fios setups since the moca signal can't escape the house.

If your Fios router is connected to coax it is already creating a moca network and any moca network created by the Tivo will cause interference, so disable the Tivo ethernet and just allow the Tivos to connect as moca clients.

Tivo.com transfers may or may not be a separate bug. Others have reported issues as well.


----------



## Dr_Zoidberg (Jan 4, 2004)

@krkaufman you are correct, it is an XL4. I was thinking that the regular Premiere was the 2-tuner and the XL was the 4-tuner, with MoCA. I stand(well, sit) corrected.



BigJimOutlaw said:


> What ^^ they said.
> 
> POE filters are generally unnecessary in Fios setups since the moca signal can't escape the house.
> 
> Tivo.com transfers may or may not be a separate bug. Others have reported issues as well.


Interesting, I had not read about any exceptions regarding MoCA being different for Fios, but I believe you. With the filter in place, I don't seem to have access to the router via the Verizon online tools. I'll remove it in a few and see what's what. The router itself is one I bought from eBay, on the sales rep's recommendation, so I don't rent theirs, and it's a Verizon Fios-branded G1100 Dual Band Quantum Gateway AC1750.

Behind that, I have a Synology RT2600ac wireless router, and my devices are connected through it, including the Bolt+, which is hardwared to it. The Verizon router has been just a passthru, until I start using its MoCA functionality, I guess.

This all started because the Premiere XL4's wireless G device started flaking out. MoCA was the cheapest alternative.


----------



## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Dr_Zoidberg said:


> This all started because the Premiere XL4's wireless G device started flaking out. MoCA was the cheapest alternative.


And a much better option, normally, especially in a FiOS setup.


----------



## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Dr_Zoidberg said:


> The Verizon router has been just a passthru, until I start using its MoCA functionality, I guess.


Has the G1100 been reconfigured strictly as a bridge, or have you just connected the Synology router's WAN port to a LAN port on the G1100?

If the G1100 has been configured as a bridge, I would think that it's MoCA LAN would need to be disabled. An alternative is to keep the G1100 configured as the main router, and configure the Synology as an access point.


----------



## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Dr_Zoidberg said:


> Interesting, I had not read about any exceptions regarding MoCA being different for Fios, but I believe you.


MoCA isn't "different" for a FiOS wired home, but a POE (point of entry) filter isn't needed because the coax doesn't go outside the house, it terminates at the ONT.



Dr_Zoidberg said:


> With the filter in place, I don't seem to have access to the router via the Verizon online tools. I'll remove it in a few and see what's what. The router itself is one I bought from eBay, on the sales rep's recommendation, so I don't rent theirs, and it's a Verizon Fios-branded G1100 Dual Band Quantum Gateway AC1750.[/USER]


Installing a POE filter in the wrong place or in the wrong direction will cause exactly that problem, as will having the Tivo generate a 2nd MoCA network where it's not needed.


----------



## Dr_Zoidberg (Jan 4, 2004)

dianebrat said:


> MoCA isn't "different" for a FiOS wired home, but a POE (point of entry) filter isn't needed because the coax doesn't go outside the house, it terminates at the ONT.


Sorry, by different, I meant that none of the articles or commercial sites I visited mentioned I shouldn't use a filter if I'm using Fios with an ONT.

I also made the assumption that neither the router nor the ONT were configured for MoCA at all. Now I know better.

Meanwhile, problem solved. Filter is removed, The Fios website has access to the router, and as of this morning, both TiVos are using the existing MoCA network properly. Guess I'll have to move my S2's wireless connection over to the router's wireless, so they can all talk to one another again.


----------



## Time_Lord (Jun 4, 2012)

I think it was said but let me make sure it is clear.... If you have FiOS and you are using their router and CoAX is connected to it then by default Verizon enables the router to be a MoCA bridge. In this case you would already have MoCA enabled in your home and not only do you not need to enable the MoCA bridge on your TiVO, you *MUST NOT* enable the MoCA bridge on your TiVO. Should you turn MoCA on two or more devices you will create a loop in your network with very poor and unpredictable results, eventually the network will go down due to the network loop and usually the fastest way to recover is simply power cycle your equipment, at the very least your router and any switches you have, but other equipment maybe "confused" too and will need to be restarted.

Regarding the PoE adapter, it is only needed on a cable TV (CoAX to the home) or OTA configuration, it is not needed on FiOS or any other FTTH (Fiber To The Home). Will a PoE adapter hurt if installed on a FiOS system, no but only if it is installed on the ONT, but again it won't do anything.

-TL


----------

