Assistance with MoCa provided.
Assistance with MoCa provided.
Hey! You’re trying to set up Ethernet in specific spots around your house—your desk and the farthest bedroom from the router. Since drilling holes isn’t an option and powerline won’t work due to latency issues, you’re considering coax cables. The good news is this house was built about 25 years ago when coax was common. I checked the existing connections, placing coax near the router, computers, and the furthest bedroom corner. Before investing in new equipment, I tried a simple test using a 9V battery to see if sparks appeared—resulted in smooth operation. Now I’m stuck trying to locate the two missing coax cables in the garage. I shorted them at one end and tested others, but none sparked. It’s possible the cables are split or damaged somewhere, maybe even daisy-chained at outlets. The whole situation feels a bit confusing—could it be that connections aren’t consolidated in one place? Or maybe a hidden splitter is causing problems? I’ve spent three hours searching and still can’t figure it out. Any tips would be super helpful!
The coax might be located in the attic or basement. It would be split using a coax splitter. Occasionally it's mounted on the exterior wall. Splitters can fail over time. They're affordable when you need to swap them out. Sometimes folks remove the splitter if they decide not to use it.
I recall when we initially installed Docsis Cable internet in the early 2000s, the provider didn’t lay cables properly. The installer placed a splitter outside and drilled a hole from the exterior to the interior near the modem. There’s a possibility there’s a box on the side of your house where the underground cable connects to a grounding block, then continues throughout the home. A splitter could be present there. My suggestion is to head outside, locate where the cable enters, and follow its path. You might be lucky.
Also, Moca may not perform well with 25-year-old RG59 cable, which has likely been upgraded to RG6. It also tends to have higher latency, so keep that in mind.
I had done that before, and the cable entering the house is set into the foundations and stays underground until the street—no boxes in sight. Inside the house it then connects straight to a splitter without any intermediate parts. I’m starting to feel discouraged. The only clue is that the contractor probably used splitters at various spots. I haven’t checked one room yet, but there’s one above the garage where the first splitter was found. Having the upstairs coax end in this room seems like the most reasonable option left. I’ve done some research; it should work, I think I have RG6 cable, though it wasn’t straightforward since Ethernet specs aren’t listed on the cable itself. I measured the thickness (0.7cm), which matches what some online sources say is RG6. The router, computer, or access point (optional) will be connected via direct coax runs with quality splitters and good connections—this makes sense. Great to know, because I hadn’t considered it before. I’ll definitely investigate further, as this was the main reason I decided to proceed. Thanks!
Determine the total number of cable outlets by checking your setup. Common types include 2, 3, or 4 connectors.
I considered it carefully overnight and concluded MoCa wasn't worthwhile. Setting it up costs around 160€, which isn't justified. Especially since the main goal was lower latency, I'm getting 16ms over Wi-Fi and 13ms over Ethernet. Even if MoCa adds just 2-5ms, it cancels out any advantage I expected. Thanks to both of you for your support!
MoCA 2.5 needs to work faster than Wi-Fi. When comparing prices, you might save money by shopping. The savings depend on how many adapters you require.
I evaluated both Ethernet and Wi-Fi speeds, and Wi-Fi improved by 3ms. Based on some online references, Wi-Fi performs similarly to MoCa 2.5, which adds roughly 2.5 to 5ms of delay. (In my situation*) This could change depending on many external factors. However, I believe it stems from the fact that my environment is ideal for Wi-Fi quality. Only a few devices connect, the distance is just 4 meters with minimal obstacles, and there’s no network congestion since I’m outside the city. … I even think MoCa might now have higher latency than Wi-Fi. The coaxial cables in my home aren’t of top quality, and unfortunately, Belgium doesn’t offer good MoCa options, so the best price right now is around 60€ for an adapter. That brings the total to about 180€ or roughly 205USD.
I believe my conclusion isn’t accurate here… This is what I meant, though in theory you’re often correct. I also considered this before beginning my latency tests.