[xnappo]

So... You have tried 802.11g and power line adapters. You are thinking about investing in 802.11n, but have heard even that may not do HD streaming reliably all the time. Yes... You want to run cat5, but it is just not possible due to xyz.

The solution you might be looking for is MoCA. MoCA is a standard that allows you to piggyback ethernet over your coax outlets. MoCA operates ~1GHz, so it won't interfere with cable operation. It may interfere with satellite depending on how you are routing your satellite signal – so make sure you know whether you are using the 1GHz space before going further.

Now – how much does this cost? Well, Netgear recently released the MCAB1001. It runs ~$175.

Too rich for your blood? Well good, because now I am going to tell you how to get up and running for ~$50.

The good news is that Verizon has been using this technology for years now. There is a glut of old Verizon equipment for very cheap prices on eBay. The first batch of Verizon installs used a device called the Motorola NIM100 for MoCA, and a separate router. These used to be cheap, but are now somewhat hard to find – as the word about using these for MoCA without Verizon has been out for a while.

The next batch of Verizon installs used an Actiontec MI424WR combination MoCA/wireless router. Unfortunately for Verizon, the wireless part of the router was not very good, so many customers complained and upgraded to their newer models – plus of course there is the usual customer turnover.

So – in short – you can pick up a pair of Actiontec MI424WRs on eBay for ~$45. You can use any of the models – Rev A, C or D. Rev A is uglier, but just as functional. You should get close to 100baseT speeds.

Once you have the routers, you need to configure them to just be a MoCA bridge. To do this:

1.Connect a LAN port of the Actiontec to one of your PCs.
2.Browse to 192.168.1.1
3.Enter 'admin' as the user and try 'password' or 'password1' for the password. If neither works, hold down the reset button on the back for 10 seconds, wait for the reboot, and try again.
4.First we will turn off the wireless – click the wireless button on the top, and disable it. You may need to go to the 'Basic security settings' to do this depending on your firmware version.
5.Next, go to 'My Network'->'Network Connections'. Go through each connection EXCEPT 'Network (Home/Office)' and disable them by clicking the little 'edit' icon and hitting disable.
6.Now – click on the 'edit' icon for 'Network (Home/Office)' and click 'Settings'
7.For 'Internet Protocol' select 'Use the following IP address'. For the IP address, you want to put something you are not currently using (like 192.168.1.18). For subnet mask, you probably want 255.255.255.0.
8.Under 'Bridge' select 'Coax' and 'Ethernet' and 'STP' for both. Uncheck 'Wireless' and 'Broadband'.
9.For 'DNS server', select 'No DNS server', for 'IP Address distribution' select 'Disabled'
10.Next, connect a LAN port of your main router to a LAN port of the Actiontec (NOT the WAN port).
11.Hit apply, and the router will reboot. To access the router from here on out you will need to browse to the address you selected in step 7.
12.Now, try to get to the internet. Your PC should bridge through the Actiontec to your main router and out.
13.If this all works, duplicate on the second router (assigning a different IP address of course).
14.Once you have both done, connect a coax cable directly between the two Actiontecs. At this point, one Actiontec should have a LAN port connected to your main router, and the other should have a LAN port connected to your PC.
15.Verify you can still get to the internet – now you have demonstrated connectivity through the coax ports.
16.Finally, move the Actiontecs to their final destinations, using splitters as needed to maintain cable modem/STB connectivity, and you should be good to go!

Hope you find this useful,
xnappo

[EDIT] Here is an example connection diagram:

[kricker]

If this actually works, it would be pretty sweet for 2 story homes that do not have cat-5 already pre-wired. Have you stressed tested a setup to see what the actual transfer speeds are thru the co-ax connection?

[TomJensen]

Thanks to xnappo for the good install write-up (which was also posted on SmallNetBuilder). A few things to add:

First, a caveat which wasn't made entirely clear in the write-up is that the house needs to be wired for coax for this to work, specifically, RG6 coaxial cable with F-type connector.

The model has been around for a while, but only since last fall has the MoCA 1.1 specs been ratified (faster throughput to 175Mb/s, number of supported devices increase from 7 to 15). This suggests that to have 1.1 support, you need to get the latest revision.

Per this review of the router,

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/30022/51/

Ethernet perf is 92 Mb/s, which is par, but they didn't test MoCA (Multimedia over Cable Alliance) perf. MoCA 1.1 specs states 175Mb/s, and it's reasonable to say that MoCA perf should be better than Ethernet perf, depending on coax topology, eg how many splitters are in the line.

Specs sheet is here:

http://www.actiontec.com/products/datash...asheet.pdf

Other MoCA-certified routers are listed here:

http://www.mocalliance.org/en/industry/c...oducts.asp

MoCA FAQ:

http://www.mocalliance.org/en/aboutus/faq.asp

Lastly, a word about the unit's poor wireless performance: When people bitch about a router's wireless, it usually isn't about the router (which has the radio module), but most likely the antenna. Consumer-level routers invariably use integrated ants, like the current Linksys WRT54G2, or the 2-dbi rubber duck ants, like this Actiontec unit. When you have poor wifi reception, the answer isn't to get another router, but to get a better antenna.

From the diagram of the rear of the unit, the ant looks to be detachable, and is using a RP-SMA female connector (Cisco routers use RP-TNC). You can get a RP-SMA to N-male cable, and a ISP-grade omni or sector antenna, to greatly boost your signal strength. These ants are available on eBay as surplus or used for very good prices.

I would avoid buying consumer-level "antenna boosters" with integrated pigtails, as those long skinny cables have high attenuation and will lose whatever signal gain you may get. Also, a basic understanding of antenna radiation pattern is needed. There are many instances where the cheapo 2-dbi rubber ducky is better than a 20-dbi 5' omni antenna.

I'm mentioning this, because the Actiontec is great not only for your HTPC, but also to extend wireless range without resorting to a wireless repeater. Most households can always use better wifi coverage.

[TomJensen]

More comments:

Rev A through D seems to be what's available on eBay. Current rev is E, which supports MoCA 1.1. Given the dateline, I'm assuming that A-D only supports 1.0, which has throughput of "up to 110Mb/s", or realistically, around Ethernet speed, which still should be good enough for two concurrent BD 1080p streams (or more, if you're watching MKVs with downsampled 1080p). Since MoCA 1.1 involve MAC layer changes, per here,

http://www.videsignline.com/206801239

then it's not likely a firmware upgrade to an A-D rev will add 1.1 support.

xnappo's setup walkthrough is good for getting you through the firmware setup. For those who want to know more about the physical setting up of the unit as a bridge, read here:

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/verizonfio...Networking

[xnappo]

If this actually works, it would be pretty sweet for 2 story homes that do not have cat-5 already pre-wired. Have you stressed tested a setup to see what the actual transfer speeds are thru the co-ax connection?

Thanks to Tom for the additional info.

Using iperf, I get 70Mbit/sec consistently from both my Vista and XP box to my Linux XBMC box (MoCA).

It is important to note I have NO gigabit ethernet on my LAN, and my router is not the best(WRT160nV2). Between the Vista and XP box, iPerf reports 62Mbit/sec - so in my setup MoCA is faster than my 100baseT. I am sure this could be tweaked, I just haven't looked into it.

[EDIT] On further reflection, though my testing was realistic for my real-use case, there was a lot of pressure on my WRT160nV2 causing it to definitely be the bottleneck(probably shouldn't use rdesktop from a wireless laptop to connect to both Windows machines to run iperf ). I will try to run a cleaner test when I get a chance.

xnappo

[xnappo]

Lastly, a word about the unit's poor wireless performance: When people bitch about a router's wireless, it usually isn't about the router (which has the radio module), but most likely the antenna. Consumer-level routers invariably use integrated ants, like the current Linksys WRT54G2, or the 2-dbi rubber duck ants, like this Actiontec unit. When you have poor wifi reception, the answer isn't to get another router, but to get a better antenna.

I agree this is usually true, but I do NOT suggest using this as a router. What I was referring to was this comment from the Verizon users FAQ(sounds like it may be more than just wireless):

The MI424-WR is a pretty decent router (is powerful, has lots of features, and is quite flexible), however the major issue with it at the moment is the puny NAT table (only 1kb in size). The NAT table is easily overflowed just by running a single bittorrent or in some cases, playing games. When the NAT table is overflowed, you will get the "No IP for NAT - connections may fail" error logged in your MI424-WR's security log. During this time, you will unable to browse, ping, or connect to anything until you wait about 3 minutes. This problem seems to be widespread with this router, regardless of which firmware release is used. No one has been able to produce a workaround for this issue and neither Actiontec or Verizon has acknowledged this issue officially. This problem makes your FiOS connection next to useless. While your overall throughput may drop when using a store bought consumer grade router, your actual usability may increase. I personally would take this trade off over NAT errors any day.

Note that this does NOT effect the performance when using it as a MoCA bridge.

xnappo