# Mini ... which is preferred, MoCA or Ethernet



## essential (Jan 18, 2016)

I searched the forums and Google prior to posting, sorry if this has been covered within other long threads.

I've getting a Roamio Pro this week and plan on buying two Mini's. My home has a 1Gbps network setup with Ethernet and coax already going to each room (coax currently for TWC boxes that the Tivo's will be replacing).

Does the Tivo Mini prefer or function better/faster/higher quality/less issues from a Ethernet cord or MoCA Coax connection?

I was reading an article Google spit out from 2013 that said Mini's preferred MoCA but gave no real reasons behind the statement. There were also a couple reddit posts about how it's really user choice, but one point that seemed specific said there is less error correct in MoCA (not sure what that means).

Thanks.


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## respibob (Jul 6, 2011)

I just got my Tivo Mini and set it up with a repeater bridge and it works great. Sounds like you could easily have a Moca though and that seems to be the consensus of the way to go if you can.


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## sathead (Jan 12, 2008)

I use Ethernet on both of our Mini's and with the current sw they're flawless.
All things being equal- MoCA should have a filter installed to keep your signals off the neighbors coax- so that's a few extra $$ where there is no such requirement for Ethernet installs.


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## essential (Jan 18, 2016)

Thanks for the replies.

I'm going to order a MoCA POE Filter just to have it in case I need it. 

I might try both ways but start with Ethernet.


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## phughes200 (Jul 24, 2014)

I found that hiding the flat Ethernet cable was a lot easier than coax cable. Haven't used it enough to discuss image quality but so far it has worked well.


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## MikeekiM (Jun 25, 2002)

Without any data at all, I prefer ethernet...

For me, MoCA is a convenience thing...If I don't have an ethernet connection at the television I am targeting, but I have a coax, I'll go MoCA... But if I have a choice, I'll go with ethernet everytime...


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## jim1971 (Oct 11, 2015)

Since you have two choices for wired, I would use whichever is easier to install. In most cases, an ethernet wire is the most simple. For most people, it works fine. I had problems with ethernet, and reports on the internet say I'm not alone, but it seems to work fine for most people. Since the pro supports moca internally, I wouldn't hesitate to use it for some of the devices if the connection was easier to make.


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## snerd (Jun 6, 2008)

essential said:


> Thanks for the replies.
> 
> I'm going to order a MoCA POE Filter just to have it in case I need it.
> 
> I might try both ways but start with Ethernet.


Since you seem inclined to experiment, I would encourage you to try both ways. I suspect that you'll find no significant difference in Mini performance.

MoCA is wonderful in situations where a house is wired with RG6 coax but limited CAT6 wiring. A side benefit of MoCA, if the main TiVo and all Minis are MoCA connected, is that the streaming data from the TiVo to the Minis remains confined to the MoCA network so that the rest of the LAN has more available bandwidth.

If you have any unused coax ports, they should be capped with 75-ohm terminations on the wall plate.


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## DigitalDawn (Apr 26, 2009)

I've been using ethernet for my clients and it's been pretty bulletproof. Like anything else, it helps to have very good networking gear.


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## jmerr74 (Nov 3, 2015)

snerd said:


> Since you seem inclined to experiment, I would encourage you to try both ways. I suspect that you'll find no significant difference in Mini performance.
> 
> MoCA is wonderful in situations where a house is wired with RG6 coax but limited CAT6 wiring. A side benefit of MoCA, if the main TiVo and all Minis are MoCA connected, is that the streaming data from the TiVo to the Minis remains confined to the MoCA network so that the rest of the LAN has more available bandwidth.
> 
> If you have any unused coax ports, they should be capped with 75-ohm terminations on the wall plate.


Why should they be capped? I have one uncapped and my MOCA is working great for me Roamio Basic and 3 Minis... does it make a difference? If so I will be at Home Depot tomorrow.


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## snerd (Jun 6, 2008)

jmerr74 said:


> Why should they be capped? I have one uncapped and my MOCA is working great for me Roamio Basic and 3 Minis... does it make a difference? If so I will be at Home Depot tomorrow.


A coaxial cable that is not properly terminated will act like a mirror that reflects the RF signals back up the cable. This creates standing waves in the coax, which causes the received signal to be weaker at some points on the coax while being stronger at other points. When proper termination is used, there are no reflections, thus no standing waves.

MoCA adapts to changing conditions on the coax, so it will try to compensate for un-capped ports, thus MoCA signals are less susceptible to problems from standing waves. For video signals, un-capped ports could cause reception problems for some channels, and these problems could appear to "shift" to different channels at different locations in the house. This would be more likely to cause problems with OTA systems, since the signals tend to be weaker coming from an antenna rather than a CATV provider.

If your system is working without any issues, then it may not be a big deal. I always recommend terminations on unused ports just to help ensure that all the signals on the coax are as clean as possible.


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## jay_winter (Jan 13, 2004)

snerd said:


> A coaxial cable that is not properly terminated will act like a mirror that reflects the RF signals back up the cable. This creates standing waves in the coax, which causes the received signal to be weaker at some points on the coax while being stronger at other points. When proper termination is used, there are no reflections, thus no standing waves.
> 
> MoCA adapts to changing conditions on the coax, so it will try to compensate for un-capped ports, thus MoCA signals are less susceptible to problems from standing waves. For video signals, un-capped ports could cause reception problems for some channels, and these problems could appear to "shift" to different channels at different locations in the house. This would be more likely to cause problems with OTA systems, since the signals tend to be weaker coming from an antenna rather than a CATV provider.
> 
> If your system is working without any issues, then it may not be a big deal. I always recommend terminations on unused ports just to help ensure that all the signals on the coax are as clean as possible.


The above may be a concern for analog video and OTA channels, but should not have much effect on digital cable service. I don't have any "uncapped" coax runs, but I use the same coax for both digital cable and internet (FIOS) and have had no issues with it whatsoever. For 10/100mb Internet, you would be hard-pressed to measure any difference in speed between MoCa and a straight cat5 Ethernet run to the router.


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## Series3Sub (Mar 14, 2010)

essential said:


> I searched the forums and Google prior to posting, sorry if this has been covered within other long threads.
> 
> I've getting a Roamio Pro this week and plan on buying two Mini's. My home has a 1Gbps network setup with Ethernet and coax already going to each room (coax currently for TWC boxes that the Tivo's will be replacing).
> 
> ...


It is not that the Mini prefers MoCA; it is that _*TiVo*_ prefers you to use MoCA.

This is because TiVo has no idea how robust your home network may be, and it if is not robust, you will have a negative experience. TiVo prefers WIRED networks, and MoCA is WIRED ONLY. Further, using MoCA means that all the TiVo traffic will not affect your home network if you use Ethernet cable or wireless because MoCA will be a separate network from the rest of your network usage.

In my case I use Ethernet wired because I already have it wired through the house, but I use a robust Gigbit router that prioritizes video and use the least expensive D-Link Gigabit switches throughout. The result is TiVo traffic and all my other traffic handled with absolutely no problems.

So, the choice is yours.


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## JARON46 (Jun 8, 2011)

When I first got Roamio I set it up with Moca. I had a lot of problems getting it to work. Splitter, filters. interfered with modem.

The other day mini's stopped working so I ran ethernet cable, so much easier.

It is also easier to troubleshoot if you have problems.

For me I like ethernet much better than Moca.


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## gespears (Aug 10, 2007)

JARON46 said:


> For me I like ethernet much better than Moca.


For me it was the exact opposite experience. Like a lot of things on this forum.

I can't get Cat 5e to my mini locations so I tried MoCA. I had a router/cable modem/MoCA server combo at first and all I had to do was put the Roamio and Mini's in place and they functioned perfectly, no setup, no muss, no fuss.

But that combo unit had a ton of problems so I replaced it and had to get a MoCA adapter. Once I figured out which way to connect the cables, it just worked, no muss, no fuss.

For me, MoCA could not have been easier. It has been solid for more than a year without any issues.

And also as with many other things on this forum, YMMV.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

gespears said:


> For me it was the exact opposite experience. Like a lot of things on this forum.
> 
> I can't get Cat 5e to my mini locations so I tried MoCA.


Yep. I'd have to do some major demo and construction work to get cat5 to my upstairs where all my Minis are. Moca was essentially plug and play with my existing coax. Far superior to pulling new cables, terminating them and drilling and cutting my walls open and patching and repainting. I much prefer plugging a few existing cables in.


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## mjh (Dec 19, 2002)

From a simplicity perspective, I much prefer ethernet. But there is one subtle hidden benefit of moca over ethernet: there are no blinking lights on the coax connection. The blinking lights on the ethernet connection are a bit irritating in the master bedroom.


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## tooalto (Apr 19, 2008)

I'm not sure if I should have started a new thread but my question seems to fall under this one pretty well. We have a Roamio basic which is wonderful. We'd like to add a mini in the master bedroom. Right now, we are using the built in wifi with the tivo since it's on the floor above but almost directly over the television. We've been trying to decide how to best work the mini setup. MoCa sounded great until we found out we needed 2 bridge adapters which would more than double the cost. We then did a chat with tivo support and were told that we could hardwire the television then use one adapter for the mini. Now we're thinking, since we have 2 very electrically handy men in the family, that we may just hardwire the two devices. Or are we wrong? We have a DSL from our phone company and our wifi is excellent. We'd appreciate any advice any of you can offer. I apologize if I got too wordy but I want to community to have as much info as possible.
I edited this to add that we also thought that we may replace our Roamio with a Bolt but, since it took us a year and a half to get a cable card from Comcast that actually worked, after they fried our original tivo, we hesitate to do anything that involves Comcast.


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## mdavej (Aug 13, 2015)

That will work fine. If you'd rather not run any new wires, you can get a pair of DECA adapters for $13. Works the same as Moca, except not CATV signals can be on the line. Power line Ethernet is also an option.


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