# MoCA or Ethernet



## Seeg (Apr 9, 2010)

I have the option for both MoCA and ethernet cable. Which one would be better? Using just ethernet will it slow down my internet while streaming? Power consumption issues?

Thanks for the feedback!


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

I think it's pretty much a wash either way. I chose MoCA because for me personally I wanted to keep my local LAN overhead down (it's not so much internet access as overall speed on the LAN from my numerous devices such as five full time security cameras) as well as keep power consumption down (by retiring other devices and then using MoCA for these I was able to retire some small ethernet switches in those rooms).

The way I look at it, my coax network isn't doing anything anyway, so using it for the TiVos sort of segregates them onto their own little private network, which I like.

At the end of the day, I would do whichever is "easier".


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## magnus (Nov 12, 2004)

jmpage2 said:


> I think it's pretty much a wash either way. I chose MoCA because for me personally I wanted to keep my local LAN overhead down (it's not so much internet access as overall speed on the LAN from my numerous devices such as five full time security cameras) as well as keep power consumption down (by retiring other devices and then using MoCA for these I was able to retire some small ethernet switches in those rooms).
> 
> The way I look at it, my coax network isn't doing anything anyway, so using it for the TiVos sort of segregates them onto their own little private network, which I like.
> 
> At the end of the day, I would do whichever is "easier".


Aren't these really on the same network either way? I thought that eventually Moca has to be connected to your router. I would also think they would get an IP address within the range of your DHCP router. Otherwise none of this would work with the Tivo Stream for example.


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## Loach (Jan 11, 2013)

magnus said:


> Aren't these really on the same network either way? I thought that eventually Moca has to be connected to your router. I would also think they would get an IP address within the range of your DHCP router. Otherwise none of this would work with the Tivo Stream for example.


Yes. All that's happening with MoCA is you're extending your Ethernet network into your coaxial cable. They could have called it Ethernet over Coax, but EoCA just doesn't have the same ring to it....


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

magnus said:


> Aren't these really on the same network either way? I thought that eventually Moca has to be connected to your router. I would also think they would get an IP address within the range of your DHCP router. Otherwise none of this would work with the Tivo Stream for example.


The traffic wouldn't need to go out of the MoCA network unless it's pulling content from the Internet. For communication between the TiVo Minis and the XL4, the traffic would stay on the MoCA connection.

I'm using Ethernet with mine, but all my TiVos, Minis and TiVo Desktop are on the same segment of my network. So traffic doesn't go outside of that segment unless it gets info off the internet, or another device on a different segment of my network communicates with the TiVos. Like my tablets. Then that traffic goes through my router to get to the other segment of my network.


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## mrsean (May 15, 2006)

Loach said:


> Yes. All that's happening with MoCA is you're extending your Ethernet network into your coaxial cable. They could have called it Ethernet over Coax, but EoCA just doesn't have the same ring to it....


So there's no differences between the two concerning bandwith as far as Tivo is concerned?  I too have the option of both MoCA and ethernet at the same location and I would like to keep the two LAN drops I have free but I do not want lesser network performance.


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## ellinj (Feb 26, 2002)

not an option in the OP, but has anyone tried wireless N with a bridge?


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

mrsean said:


> So there's no differences between the two concerning bandwith as far as Tivo is concerned? I too have the option of both MoCA and ethernet at the same location and I would like to keep the two LAN drops I have free but I do not want lesser network performance.


MoCA is only capable of network speeds of 180-250 Mbps or so, but that is more than enough speed to support multiple tivos streaming simultaneously.


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## Loach (Jan 11, 2013)

mrsean said:


> So there's no differences between the two concerning bandwith as far as Tivo is concerned? I too have the option of both MoCA and ethernet at the same location and I would like to keep the two LAN drops I have free but I do not want lesser network performance.


That's not what I was addressing - I was merely pointing out that MoCA is just an extension of your ethernet network. You're not going to get Gigabit ethernet speeds over MoCA, but as jmpage2 points out, MoCA is more than adequate for Tivo usage, so I'm not sure that in practice there would be much difference.


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## teklock (Sep 11, 2012)

magnus said:


> Aren't these really on the same network either way? I thought that eventually Moca has to be connected to your router. I would also think they would get an IP address within the range of your DHCP router. Otherwise none of this would work with the Tivo Stream for example.


Not if your devices are directly connected via Moca.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

ellinj said:


> not an option in the OP, but has anyone tried wireless N with a bridge?


Yes. It worked great with my Dlink DAP-1522 in Bridge mode(I was using 5Ghz wireless N at the time). It was just like I was viewing content with the mini connected to the wired portion of my network.

I expected not to have any issue with a wireless Bridge since I had tried it before with my Premiere with the same results as being on a wired connection.


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## magnus (Nov 12, 2004)

aaronwt said:


> The traffic wouldn't need to go out of the MoCA network unless it's pulling content from the Internet. For communication between the TiVo Minis and the XL4, the traffic would stay on the MoCA connection.
> 
> I'm using Ethernet with mine, but all my TiVos, Minis and TiVo Desktop are on the same segment of my network. So traffic doesn't go outside of that segment unless it gets info off the internet, or another device on a different segment of my network communicates with the TiVos. Like my tablets. Then that traffic goes through my router to get to the other segment of my network.


Ok, that makes sense and was wondering if that were the case.


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