coax light on WCB3000n extender blinks
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I have Verizon FIOS with a G1100 gateway that I am renting. I have been using a Verizon purchased WCB3000N for several years without any issues. I recently added TV support. In doing that I needed to add a MOCA splitter to add the set top box at the same location as the extender. After doing that the formerly solid coax light on the extender started blinking. If I go directly to the extender with the original coax, its solid again. I removed the splitter and connected the original coax and new coax with a connector to the extender and the light blinks. I did this with 3 different coax thinking the new cable was bad. When nothing improved I changed connector and repeated the process. Coax light still blinks. Go back to original cable and its solid again. What is going on and how do I fix it? Thanks.
Solved! Go to Correct Answer
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SOLVED!!!!
Talked to Verizon support. Finally got through to a person after many calls over months. They diagnosed the problem as a bad coax. Said I could pay $99 to run new coax or sign up for in-house wiring maintenance, $30 per month and cancellable. No brainer there. Tech arrived today. Immediately said bad extender after looking at lights and not seeing on the network with his test equipment. Swapped out WCB3000N for WCB6200Q. Problem fixed. Since it was a Verizon purchased 3000N, no charge. Even after 5 years! I was about to spend another $40 on cable and connectors with the hope it fixed the problem.
Thank you for all the input. Learned alot.
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Does it still work when the coax light is blinking? The added split may be dropping the MoCA signal to lower than needed.
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Yes. But at much slower speeds. With Okla Speedtest, I was getting about 150 down and 120 up. When its blinking its about 35 and 10 so I suspect its coming off the main router in another part of the house, thats why I got the extender. If the splitter drops the signal too low, how do I increase it? Is there an amplified MoCA splitter?
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An amp will actually block the MoCA so don't use one. Coming off the ONT will typically be a main splitter. See if you can isolate the room with the extender and use smaller splitter at the ONT. A smaller the splitter will have less loss
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Finally got a chance to go under the house to where the ONT is located. No splitter. Coming out of the ONT is an ethernet cable and a white coax cable. I followed the cables to the other end of the crawl space where they exited the foundation. On the outside there is a junction box that has a 2-way splitter. One of the outputs goes back under the house to the location of the extender. I did find a coupler midway. The ethernet cable and the other output go to the attic and there is a second splitter. The coax I am following goes into one of the outputs, the other output goes to a bedroom STB. The input side goes to the G1100 gateway as does the ethernet cable. Its about 50 feet from the ONT to the junction box and about 50 feet from the junction box to the extender. From the junction box to the attic splitter is about 65 feet and from that splitter to the gateway is about 20 feet.
I did see the MoCA light in the ONT is off. Is MoCA something that can be turned off and on? Any suggestions to fix this problem would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
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It sounds like you internet connection is on ethernet. Which is why the MoCA light isn’t on the ONT. The two MoCA types are LAN and WAN. You’re only using LAN MoCA for the extender and STB since your WAN connection is ethernet.
There definitely seems to be some sort of signal issue. I would first correct the attic splitter. The one OUT of the two port should go to the IN of the attic splitter. The OUTs should go to the G1100 and STB.
If that doesn’t help you may need to replace the splitters or coax. Is any of the coax smaller that the other? Coax that is used now is RG6, but you will find older smaller gauge RG59. Also the splitters should be good quality and should be rated for at least 1000 MHz.
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Finally got the splitter in the attic switched. The coax light on the wcb3000n was solid, for awhile. Now it is blinking again. I have noticed there are periods when it is solid then goes back to blinking. I haven't been able to see a pattern of solid vs blinking, but it happens every day at various times.
The splitters are Verizon MoCA 2.0. The one I installed just ahead of the extender is new from Verizon.
The cox that goes from the ONT to the junction is white and thicker than the older black coax. The coax that goes from the junction box to the extender is older and black. The coax that goes from the junction to the attic is older and black. Once it gets to the attic, there is a coupler that connects to the white thicker coax to the attic splitter. From that splitter to the G1100 is black coax as is the coax that goes to the STB.
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I would start replacing coax at this point. The white feed from the ONT to the first splitter should be good since Verizon ran the cable. The skinny black feed going to the extender is probably RG59 and is most likely the cause of your problem. You can get a coil of RG6 at Home Depot.
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The coax to the extender has been replaced with RG6. No change on the extender coax light, it still blinking, even after a reset. Now what?
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I'm missing something ... where did the white coax at the attic splitter come from? I thought the white coax from the ONT ran only to a splitter in the junction box?
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The white coax from the ONT goes to a splitter in the junction box. One output goes back under the house to the extender, the other goes up to the attic where a coupler connects to the white coax. That coax goes to the input side of a splitter. one output goes to the G1100, the other to a STB. Both splitters are Verizon logoed MoCA 2.0 installed by Verizon as was the white coax.
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Next I would replace the feed going the attic splitter. Also replace the fees going to the router. It’s kind if trial and error without using meter to test the levels.
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What kind of meter is required? Difficult to use?
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I mean an RF meter to check the signal levels. Would be to expensive for a one time use. I would just start replacing coax since we already know the extents works with the splitters.
There needs to be good coax from the outside splitter to the attic splitter and from attic splitter to the router.
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I may have access to an RF meter. I have a relative that used to install security systems over RG59. What do I look for?
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Well MoCA LAN used 1100-1175 MHz and if the meter doesn't test that high then set it to the highest frequency. See if you have BER errors and signal levels shouldn't be lower than -6 db.
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Thank you for the specs. Unfortunately, the RF meter I have access to measures electrical interference. Back to pulling more coax.
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I would focus on the feed going to the router from the attic splitter and the feed from the outside splitter to the attic splitter.
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SOLVED!!!!
Talked to Verizon support. Finally got through to a person after many calls over months. They diagnosed the problem as a bad coax. Said I could pay $99 to run new coax or sign up for in-house wiring maintenance, $30 per month and cancellable. No brainer there. Tech arrived today. Immediately said bad extender after looking at lights and not seeing on the network with his test equipment. Swapped out WCB3000N for WCB6200Q. Problem fixed. Since it was a Verizon purchased 3000N, no charge. Even after 5 years! I was about to spend another $40 on cable and connectors with the hope it fixed the problem.
Thank you for all the input. Learned alot.
