# Moca - Comcast



## al3124 (Oct 16, 2012)

Two questions. 

First, am I reading the Tivo website correctly--that in order to enable a TIVO Premiere XL4 to run on Moca with Comcast, I just have to plug an active ethernet connection and a coax cable into my XL4? 

Second, is it the consensus that Moca is the best way to run the Tivo Premiere? Fastest connection, etc?


----------



## [email protected] (Jan 8, 2008)

The fastest connection would be to use gigabit ethernet.


----------



## danjw1 (Sep 13, 2005)

al3124 said:


> Two questions.
> 
> First, am I reading the Tivo website correctly--that in order to enable a TIVO Premiere XL4 to run on Moca with Comcast, I just have to plug an active ethernet connection and a coax cable into my XL4?
> 
> Second, is it the consensus that Moca is the best way to run the Tivo Premiere? Fastest connection, etc?


Only if your cable modem supports MoCA, I don't think they do though. I think Time Warner has some modems with MoCA. No, MoCA is slower than the 1000BaseT (gigabit) ethernet port on the XL4.


----------



## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

danjw1 said:


> Only if your cable modem supports MoCA, I don't think they do though. I think Time Warner has some modems with MoCA. No, MoCA is slower than the 1000BaseT (gigabit) ethernet port on the XL4.


You can setup a XL4 to be a moca bridge by plugging ethernet into the back. Then any other devices on the network that support moca can connect with coax using the moca bridge in the XL4.


----------



## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

al3124 said:


> Two questions.
> 
> First, am I reading the Tivo website correctly--that in order to enable a TIVO Premiere XL4 to run on Moca with Comcast, I just have to plug an active ethernet connection and a coax cable into my XL4?
> 
> Second, is it the consensus that Moca is the best way to run the Tivo Premiere? Fastest connection, etc?


XL4 has built-in MoCa option and does not need another ethernet connection, just a MoCa adapter at the router/modem end.


----------



## danjw1 (Sep 13, 2005)

rainwater said:


> You can setup a XL4 to be a moca bridge by plugging ethernet into the back. Then any other devices on the network that support moca can connect with coax using the moca bridge in the XL4.


Yes, I knew that. But I don't think that was what the OP was asking.


----------



## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

danjw1 said:


> Only if your cable modem supports MoCA, I don't think they do though. I think Time Warner has some modems with MoCA. No, MoCA is slower than the 1000BaseT (gigabit) ethernet port on the XL4.


The XL4 does not really take advantage of the GigE speeds. When I tested my ELite boxes, I think the highest peak I saw was around 130Mb/s. And with typical transfer rates between boxes, the speeds will basically be the same.


----------



## retired_guy (Aug 27, 2004)

danjw1 said:


> Only if your cable modem supports MoCA, I don't think they do though. I think Time Warner has some modems with MoCA. No, MoCA is slower than the 1000BaseT (gigabit) ethernet port on the XL4.


I've got Comcast and use MoCa. There's no support for MoCa in either my modem or router since MoCa is just an ethernet extender which plugs into my router like any other ethernet cable much as a power line adapter would. Some routers apparently do come with a MoCa adapter built into them which would make things simpler but that's relatively rare; normally one has to either get a MoCa adapter to plug into an ethernet cable on one end and coax on the other or use the MoCa adapter available on newer Premieres.

The MoCa support on the TiVo is better than a simple adapter since it also includes a bridge out to it's ethernet port which can then optionally be used to provide ethernet support for other devices. Note that the TiVo also provides support for setting a MoCa security key and other options but normally one would not want to use these options.

Note that MoCa has to be slower than using ethernet to directly connect the router and TiVo since it adds another pair of devices and some coax transmission delay to the path between the devices. But the difference is typically small enough (in the TiVo case) that it feels like one is directly connected.


----------



## AVneophyton (Mar 7, 2014)

I've got Comcast service. Coax to a splitter - one goes to cable modem that outputs ethernet, other goes to Tivo Roamio Pro box. According to the Tivo install, I should be able to plug ethernet and coax into Roamio Pro and create a Moca network. No dice. Tried it multiple times. Is there an encryption key that I need? I can't really afford to run ethernet to the other TVs and I'd like to use 2 Tivo Minis to run them.


----------



## telemark (Nov 12, 2013)

The way you described this setup, it's missing a few pieces. Where's your router?

The coax going to the 2 mini's are connected to the Comcast cable line?


----------



## AVneophyton (Mar 7, 2014)

telemark said:


> The way you described this setup, it's missing a few pieces. Where's your router?
> 
> The coax going to the 2 mini's are connected to the Comcast cable line?


Sorry I was unclear. Coax comes into house, splitter: one piece goes into wall to Roamio Pro/TV, other bits go up to other TVs; second piece goes to modem, router to wifi and one ethernet cable goes into wall to Roamio Pro/TV.

The minis are connected to the 2 coax cable that come from the first splitter.


----------



## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

Edit: Derp. I should look at posting dates more closely.


----------



## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

AVneophyton said:


> Sorry I was unclear. Coax comes into house, splitter: one piece goes into wall to Roamio Pro/TV, other bits go up to other TVs; second piece goes to modem, router to wifi and one ethernet cable goes into wall to Roamio Pro/TV.
> 
> The minis are connected to the 2 coax cable that come from the first splitter.


All splitters need to go up to 2Ghz to be MoCA compliant. Hopefully you have no amplifiers in your setup.

Attach a POE filter as the main cable enters the house before any splitters.

If your Cable Modem has connection problems when your MoCA connection is active, place a POE filter as the cable attaches to the Cable Modem.


----------



## telemark (Nov 12, 2013)

To put it another way, if you have old wiring/splitters they will cut out the moca signal. If you're able to find any splitters on the way to the mini's they might have the numbers on it. Ones that go to 1Ghz or 900Mhz should be replaced. They're not expensive it's just the effort to find them.

I think the simplest way to debug is to take a Mini into the same room as the Roamio Pro, plugging it into another input on the TV. I imagine you'd have to add a Coax Splitter.

This will at least tell you if you have wiring problems as suggested or there's something in the settings you're missing instead.


----------



## Bigg (Oct 31, 2003)

jmbach said:


> All splitters need to go up to 2Ghz to be MoCA compliant. Hopefully you have no amplifiers in your setup.
> 
> Attach a POE filter as the main cable enters the house before any splitters.
> 
> If your Cable Modem has connection problems when your MoCA connection is active, place a POE filter as the cable attaches to the Cable Modem.


Theoretically. I'm using some 860mhz splitters I found lying around, and they work fine. I have no MoCA filter, and the MoCA signal has to go up a splitter, through another one, and down another to my Minis. It works fine 99% of the time, and the other 1% it just glitches once in a while, barely noticeable.

My parents have MoCA running from one port on an amp to another. I don't think it will run through the amp, but most multi-port amps are just a one-port amp and a splitter, so it will go across the splitter just fine.

MoCA will not interfere with a cable modem. However, it is good practice to actually use a filter at your PoE, unlike I do.

And seriously, why is there so much MoCA confusion on here? It's pretty darn simple!


----------



## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

By using those splitters you limit the frequency range in half that MoCA can use. This also increases the probability of MoCA interfering with the function of a Cable Modem. This can cause random reboots to slower speeds. It depends on the frequency the Cable Modem negotiates with the cable company head end. 

Some amplifiers have a built in MoCA bypass. Your parents may have one of those or they could be like you and their Cable Modem negotiates frequency does not overlap too closely with the negotiated MoCA frequency. 

MoCA is pretty simple when it works, however when it doesn't work is when it gets more complex. The recommendations I gave pretty much avoids any hardware issues that could cause someone to have problems with their setup keeping things darn simple.


----------



## Bigg (Oct 31, 2003)

jmbach said:


> By using those splitters you limit the frequency range in half that MoCA can use. This also increases the probability of MoCA interfering with the function of a Cable Modem. This can cause random reboots to slower speeds. It depends on the frequency the Cable Modem negotiates with the cable company head end.
> 
> Some amplifiers have a built in MoCA bypass. Your parents may have one of those or they could be like you and their Cable Modem negotiates frequency does not overlap too closely with the negotiated MoCA frequency.
> 
> MoCA is pretty simple when it works, however when it doesn't work is when it gets more complex. The recommendations I gave pretty much avoids any hardware issues that could cause someone to have problems with their setup keeping things darn simple.


Pretty much all splitters will be fine at 1ghz or higher, even if they're not marked for it.

My parents' amp way predates MoCA.

I'm not doubting those are best practices, but MoCA usually works fine in less than ideal situations.


----------

