# TiVo Actiontec MoCa adapters and cable modems



## flar (Mar 18, 2003)

Short version of the question - do the Actiontec adapters that TiVo sells have a built in filter for the output side to keep the MoCa signals from interfering with a cable modem, or might I need to add that independently?

I have a current MoCa setup using a pair of Motorola SBM100x devices that is mostly working except for 2 issues:

- I had a ton of C13x problems over the past few weeks, but they seem to have resolved in the past few days (hopefully)

- My cable modem (Zoom 5341) has had random reboots of late

Back in the midst of the C13x errors I decided that maybe the Roamio would be happier if I was using the official TiVo adapters made by Actiontec so I ordered a pair (pretty cheap, wish I had just gone with them originally, but I got the SBM1000s at a local BB so it was more immediate gratification). They arrived, but in my delays to get around to installing them the C13x errors have seemed to have gone away (an upgrade to 20.4.1 may have caused that).

The other reason for getting the Actiontecs was in case they played more friendly with my cable modem and might improve its stability. For that reason, I'm wondering if the Actiontecs will automatically filter the output coax to prevent the MoCa from interfering with my cable modem. The SBM1000s came with separate filters in the box and I haven't used them (yet), but when I get around to experimenting with stability I'm curious if Actiontec+filter would be overkill or not?

At this point the simple solution may be to just go with my existing SBM1000s and add their filter to my modem, but the Actiontecs would overall be a cleaner install since the SBM1000s use an external splitter which just adds more connections and visual and physical clutter to my installs - the Actiontecs would thus be less clutter and more officially supported in the long run.

As an aside: Note that one aspect of my current setup is that I'm using the Roamio to bridge the MoCa into the rest of my AV cabinet using its "MoCa + ethernet" mode. When the C13x errors were at their worst it was odd that the rest of my AV cabinet had internet service (which would be going through the Roamio) just fine, which I suppose means that the internal MoCa on the Roamio was working fine with my SBM1000s, but I digress.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I've been looking at the

ACTIONTEC Home Theater Coax Network Adapter (ECB3500T01)

since yesterday. Yesterday I put my Minis and Roamio Pro back on MoCA. So I was looking at this Actiontec MoCA adapter because it has GigE ports on it. My current Dlink MoCA adapters only have 100BT ports so the speeds to my TiVo Desktop PC are slower than they could be since they are limited by the 100mbps link. I had tried removing the Dlink and Bridging the GigE port on the Roamio Pro with MoCA, but then it was having problems seeing my TiVo Desktop PC. Part of the issue is the slower network speeds from 20.4.1. I didn't have the issue when I used MoCA last year. So I figure with the Actiontec MoCA adapter with GigE ports I can hopefully avoid the issue.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

flar said:


> Short version of the question - do the Actiontec adapters that TiVo sells have a built in filter for the output side to keep the MoCa signals from interfering with a cable modem, or might I need to add that independently?


The RF-out of the Actiontec adapter doesn't carry the moca signal, so its your choice which solution to go with.



aaronwt said:


> I've been looking at the ACTIONTEC Home Theater Coax Network Adapter (ECB3500T01)


The WCB3000N01 is an interesting extender option too that I've looked at. Only 2 gigE ports but can also extend the wireless network with 5GHz support.

Good to see Actiontec coming up with some new gear. Moca 2.0 toys aren't too far off.


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## flar (Mar 18, 2003)

Well, so far it's a good move. Since replacing the SBM1000 in my office with the Actiontec I have had no network drops (though 2 days isn't a large sample) and the modem logs show no events in any of that time and I've never seen such a low error count (about a dozen correctable errors on each stream and no uncorrectables vs. a few thousand correctables and some uncorrectable when using the Moto MoCa). The modem even seemed to sync with the cable signal faster than I recall it doing in the past.

No C13x errors on the Roamio in that same time frame either (though they may have been fixed by the new 20.4.1 software).

And there are a lot less cables hanging off the back of my desk now...


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I had switched back to Ethernet for a few days but yesterday I switched back to MoCA again when I setup my third Mini. I have the Actiontec MoCA adapter with the 4/5 GigE ports on the way. Hopefully I get it tomorrow and can set it up this weekend. I'm hoping it will help with some of my transfer rates. But they have not been as fast since the last software update. But at least this should give me a bigger pipe to my TiVo Desktop PC while using MoCA. While also allowing me to physically separate all my TiVos and my TiVo Desktop PC from the rest of my network..

I also ordered a 1.2Ghz eight way splitter to try out. I'm using the MoCA channel that is on 1150 Mhz with my 1Ghz splitters that FiOS gave me and it has worked even though it is supposed to be higher than the splitter is rated for.. But I'm curious if it will make any difference one way or another.


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## flar (Mar 18, 2003)

aaronwt said:


> I have the Actiontec MoCA adapter with the 4/5 GigE ports on the way.


That's an interesting device. I'm still using the Motorola adapter from before in my downstairs location because I needed the 4 port switch in it and the pair of Actiontecs I got from TiVo are both 1-port (the Motorola kit came with one single port and one 4-port adapter).

I just checked Actiontec's site and they also have a wifi extender MoCA adapter with just 2 ethernet ports. I wish they had included at least 4 ports on that Wifi extender then I could use it in my downstairs as well as have a second wireless network down there where the signal from my office loft is spotty. I suppose that I could hook the 2 media-intensive devices in the downstairs to the 2 ethernet ports in the Actiontec WiFi MoCA extender and then have the rest of the devices that mainly use it for firmware updates just use the nearby (stronger) WiFi. Hmmm...


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

You could also just connect a switch to one of the Ethernet ports.


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## flar (Mar 18, 2003)

aaronwt said:


> You could also just connect a switch to one of the Ethernet ports.


Yes, but for that clutter issue. I'd rather have fewer blinky boxes and wires hanging off the back of the furniture in the bedroom.

To that end, that probably argues for reducing the number of ethernet cables if most of my bedroom devices can live off of the wireless from the MoCA wireless extender. The main problem is finding a minimal set of devices that support all of the streaming services so I only need 2 wired devices.


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

Does anybody know if the Roamio supports MoCa 2.0 specifications. If it doesn't, then I am not going to wait on MoCa 2.0 adapters to come out.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

jmbach said:


> Does anybody know if the Roamio supports MoCa 2.0 specifications. If it doesn't, then I am not going to wait on MoCa 2.0 adapters to come out.


No it does not. The Roamio Pro, Roamio Plus, and TiVos Minis support MoCA 1.1.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I setup my Actiontec ECB3500T01 with the four GigE ports. This is definitely what I needed. I now have no speed issues with multiple transfers to my TiVo desktop PC from my TiVos over MoCA since I'm not limited to a 100Mbps connection any more. I was seeing speeds exceeding 225mbps when doing concurrent transfers.

I also replaced my 8-way 1Ghz splitter with a 1.2Ghz splitter. Since I had been using 1150Mhz for MoCA.

I did notice that the listed TX/RX PHY rates are a little higher. With the 1Ghz splitter the five nodes were showing rates between 235Mbps and 270Mbps. Now with the 1.2Ghz splitter the five nodes are showing rates between 265Mbps and 290Mbps.


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

FYI Extreme Broadband has come out with a MoCa compliant amplifier. The one I ordered is an 8 way active forward and reverse lossless amplifier with a built in POE filter. Model number IPA2008DL2-RSVF. I am replacing the 8 way amplifier currently at my point of entry. Had to actually email them to order the part as it is not in their online store yet. I could not find anything like this available from anybody with google. I stumbled across a YouTube instructional video that had an earlier iteration of this part. I emailed them and was able to get it. I am working on getting the cabling in my house MoCa compliant before actually enabling MoCa. Probably could have gotten away without doing this, but my OCD would not let me. ;-P


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

jmbach said:


> FYI Extreme Broadband has come out with a MoCa compliant amplifier. The one I ordered is an 8 way active forward and reverse lossless amplifier with a built in POE filter. Model number IPA2008DL2-RSVF. I am replacing the 8 way amplifier currently at my point of entry. Had to actually email them to order the part as it is not in their online store yet. I could not find anything like this available from anybody with google. I stumbled across a YouTube instructional video that had an earlier iteration of this part. I emailed them and was able to get it. I am working on getting the cabling in my house MoCa compliant before actually enabling MoCa. Probably could have gotten away without doing this, but my OCD would not let me. ;-P


FYI, there are other active return MoCA compliant amps with built in POE filter. This one, for example, which even has 1 passive return port for a cable modem:

http://www.pctstore.com/RF_amplifier_CATV_amp_9_port_amplifier_PCTVC9UN_p/pctvcf18aupin.htm


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

Good find. Not sure why I could not find it. Perhaps it is because I included "lossless" in my search terms.


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

Interesting finding. I got the Extreme Broadband MoCa amplifier in and replaced my current amplifier. I now find that I have zero correctable and uncorrectable blocks on almost all my tuners for all my TiVos. Did not expect that. Some of my tuners have been tuned for over 500000 seconds on a channel. I found only one that had 4 correctable blocks. I guess my original amplifier was having some issues. Either that or Charter did something at the same time coincidentally.


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