# BOLT+ MoCA & Ethernet Connections



## JWadle (May 2, 2015)

My BOLT+ is connected to my cable TV service via coax. It is also connected to the Internet via Ethernet cable.

However, my coax network that carries the cable TV signal is also enabled with Internet access via a separate MoCA 2.0 adapter near my cable modem. As a result, my BOLT+ actually has two paths to the Internet via coax/MoCA or via Ethernet.

In this case, by which path does the BOLT+ access the Internet? Is my BOLT+ considered by the TiVo software to be a MoCA or Ethernet connected device? Do I need both connections?

Thanks


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

You should be able to check how the DVR *thinks* it’s connected via the Network Settings or Network Status screens. (I expect that it should indicate an Ethernet-only connection; otherwise, you’d have competing MoCA-to-Ethernet bridges and would/should be seeing network issues.)


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## tapokata (Apr 26, 2017)

The Bolt will not auto-select a network- the user has to set it up to user either Ethernet, or in one of two MoCA modes (either "bridge" mode- where the Bolt would create the MoCA network- or "Client" mode, where it would participate and join an existing MoCA network). 

"MoCA + Ethernet" only indicates that an ethernet client is attached to the Bolt box, which is running under MoCA- and you may see that designation when running in Client mode, or if you are using the ethernet port to add an ethernet box (Roku box, etc) off of the MoCA network.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

tapokata said:


> "MoCA + Ethernet" only indicates that an ethernet client is attached to the Bolt box, which is running under MoCA- and you may see that designation when running in Client mode, or if you are using the ethernet port to add an ethernet box (Roku box, etc) off of the MoCA network.


"MoCA+Ethernet" is the status indicator for a MoCA-capable DVR configured as a MoCA bridge *or* as a MoCA client but with an active Ethernet connection to another device.


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## tapokata (Apr 26, 2017)

My bad- I meant "running in bridge Mode," - it's not something you will see running in client mode.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

JWadle said:


> Do I need both connections?


The coax connection is needed, at a minimum, for the DVR to receive the cable TV signal.

With another device acting as the MoCA bridge, the Ethernet connection is only needed if you'd prefer to connect the DVR as an Ethernet client, instead of as a MoCA client. Which network option you choose would depend on the throughput you want/require between the DVR and router, and how many Mini's you have and how they're networked.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

tapokata said:


> My bad- I meant "running in bridge Mode," - it's not something you will see running in client mode.


No, you were correct on that point, and I agreed with it (though I may not have been clear):


krkaufman said:


> ... **or* as a MoCA client* but with an active Ethernet connection to another device



The most common example is when leveraging a MoCA-client DVR to extend wired networking to other Ethernet-capable devices co-located with the DVR. (see here)


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## JWadle (May 2, 2015)

Thanks for the feedback. I determined that my BOLT+ is using the cable connection as a MoCA client for its Internet connectivity. It is ignoring the Ethernet connection it has. Apparenly MoCA is the default, if detected, since I don't remember making that choice when I installed it.

The reason I asked this question is that I have installed MoCA 2.0 adapters ahead of each of my three Minis so that they are connected via Ethernet. Along with the MoCA 2.0 capable BOLT+, this allows my network to operate as MoCA 2.0, rather than to have the Minis degrade it to MoCA 1.1. In this way, I get my full Internet speed (250Mbps) on the MoCA network, rather than being limited to MoCA 1.1's theoretical limit of 100Mbps. MoCA 2.0 has a theoretical limit of 500Mbps.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

JWadle said:


> I determined that my BOLT+ is using the cable connection as a MoCA client for its Internet connectivity. It is ignoring the Ethernet connection it has. Apparenly MoCA is the default, if detected, since I don't remember making that choice when I installed it.


Color me skeptical. Are you sure that the BOLT's Ethernet connection is live (i.e. the Ethernet link status LED is lit), and that the Ethernet connection is to the FiOS gateway? The setup you've described would normally crash the network.

edit: p.s. Alternatively, are you sure that the MoCA LAN is enabled on your FiOS gateway?


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

JWadle said:


> ... rather than being limited to MoCA 1.1's theoretical limit of 100Mbps. MoCA 2.0 has a theoretical limit of 500Mbps.


FYI... MoCA 1.1 max is near 170 Mbps; standard MoCA 2.0 400 Mbps; and extended/bonded MoCA 2.0 800 Mbps - though with 2 bonded MoCA 2.0 nodes alone on the coax capable of the "Turbo" rate of 1000 Mbps. Effective rates through a bridge can also be affected by the bridge device's Ethernet port spec and the spec of the Ethernet LAN to which the bridge is connected.



JWadle said:


> The reason I asked this question is that I have installed MoCA 2.0 adapters ahead of each of my three Minis so that they are connected via Ethernet. Along with the MoCA 2.0 capable BOLT+, this allows my network to operate as MoCA 2.0, rather than to have the Minis degrade it to MoCA 1.1. In this way, I get my full Internet speed (250Mbps) on the MoCA network...


Had you actually tested the BOLT's effective throughput to the router to be limited to sub-100 Mbps? What indicated to you that the BOLT's effective throughput wasn't 300-400 Mbps?


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