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Not sure if I have MOCA or ethernet and use of ASUS RT AC3100

Initial_E

Hi all. So I'm not sure if I have MoCA or ethernet. What I mean is that I have a dedicated coax running from the ONT and an ethernet running directly out of the ONT. Do I need to use both? I recently just bought this house so I'm not sure when it was wired or updated.

From my research it seems that coax was installed pre-2016.

I own a Fios gateway and an ASUS RT-AC3100 which I would like to use. I'm reading conflicting info on how to set it up though. From what I understand I need to be operating the ASUS router in access point mode. But for wiring, I'm not sure how it goes...

My assumption is that the ethernet coming directly out of the ONT needs to be plugged into the Fios Gateway. Then another ethernet cable plugged into the LAN port on the Fios Gateway, routed to (and this is where I get confused) a LAN port on the ASUS router. Or should it be the WAN port on the ASUS router?

I'm pretty confused. Any help would be appreciated.

Accepted answers

lasagna

Do you have FioS TV Service? If so, your setup is pretty typical.

The "internet" comes into your home via the Ethernet cable from the ONT to the FioS router. The FiOS router in turn then has three "private" side LAN networks (all bridged together to look like one big private network). One is the four port switch directly on the router, the other is the wireless WiFI network (2.4ghz and 5ghz) broadcast by the router, and the other is the Coax (technically MoCA LAN).

The first two I assume you understand when you are using them. The third - the coax - is actually providing a data connection from your set-top boxes (STB). Those boxes actually get the TV signal across the coax directly from the ONT and then use another frequency (MoCA LAN -- likely 1100Mhz) outside the TV frequencies to communicate with the router so they can download their guide data, support streaming apps, etc.

So, you need all three in order for your home network to function like you expect.

In setups where you don't have an ethernet cable running from the ONT to the router, this WAN or internet side of the connection is brought in over coax using another frequency (MoCA WAN -- likely 1000Mhz). Remember Coax is broadband and transmit multiple signals simultaneously over different frequencies unlike ethernet which is a single binary signal.

Anyhow, to use your ASUS router, you really have three options.

Use it as an access point -- in which case you configure the router in that mode, give it an address which doesn't conflict but which is on the same subnet as your FiOS LAN, and then hook one of it's LAN ports to one of the FiOS gateway LAN ports (some routers switch the WAN port in access point mode to act like a LAN port in which case you can use that one as well).

Use it as a network behind a network (double NAT) and simply hook the WAN port of the ASUS router to a LAN port on the FiOS gateway. Insure that the LAN network on the ASUS router is DIFFERENT than the LAN network on the FiOS gateway. This is simple, but there are technical reasons for not doing this and if you are looking to allow inbound traffic from the internet thru the firewall, much more complicated.

Lastly, replace the FiOS gateway with the ASUS router. If you do this however, you need to get the LAN network signal back onto the coax part of your home. To do this, you would need a MoCA bridge (for instance, an Actiontec ECB6200 or similar). You would connect the coax presently running into the FiOS gatway into the Actiontec bridge and connect the ethernet port on the bridge into a LAN port on the ASUS router.

Hope that helps.

All comments

j.jones1

The coaxial (MOCA) is in the FiOS Quantum Gateway if you have tv service. If you have internet only you must have ethernet to the WAN port on the Quantum or Asus depending on if you want to keep verizons Router.

so it would be with tv, ethernet from ont to wan port on fios Quantum Gateway, MOCA from ont to FiOS Quantum Gateway Router to get TV guide and vod. You then if still wanting to use the Asus in access point mode must take an ethernet cable from the Quantum lan port, to the wan port of the Asus and enter that routers settings to place in access point mode.

now if no tv. You can take the ethernet cable from ont to your Asus WAN port and and then fire it up to get dhcp and then you are good to go. You don't need verizons router at all. Save $144 a year in rental fees. But verizon will not troubleshoot from the ont if that is the case. So it's a trade off.

Edg1

If you look at the back of the FiOS Gateway the are two LEDs down by the coax port. They are MoCA WAN and LAN. If the MoCA WAN light is on then you are on MoCA. Also if you are on ethernet the WAN(white port) will have a green link light. You could also just disconnect the coax and see if you can still route to the internet. If your internet speed is over 100 mbps then you are on ethernet. The only time you need both coax and ethernet is if you have FiOS TV.

As far as the router in AP mode, I help my neighbor set up his Asus in AP mode and used the LAN port and it worked fine.

lasagna

Do you have FioS TV Service? If so, your setup is pretty typical.

So, you need all three in order for your home network to function like you expect.

Anyhow, to use your ASUS router, you really have three options.

Hope that helps.

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