Setting up home office

[JamesPezzella]

I’m setting up a new home office in my basement.  At first I thought I’d drop a cat5 cable from the router (a quantum gateway) and the setup a switch in the new office. There’s an unused Fios STB and coax there - so I was wondering if I could purchase a second router with a coax connection and build out a second network in the new office. What that work and if so, which router would be a good choice?

thanks!

[gs0b]

If you're okay pulling Ethernet, I suggest you do that.  Aside from the work to pull the cable, it's the lowest cost, fastest and easiest to deploy option.

Verizon routers do create a MoCA LAN on coax.  You can add a MoCA adapter to any coax jack that connects to the same coax network as the router.  The G1100 Quantum router is limited to 500Mbps over MoCA.  If you want the easiest to deploy option, get one of these two supported Verizon devices:

• https://www.verizon.com/home/accessories/fios-network-extender/
• https://www.verizon.com/home/accessories/fios-network-adapter/

Pick based on if you want an integrated WiFi access point, too.  The network extender is plug-and-play with the G1100 and will automatically configure itself to extend your existing WiFi network.

If you want to stay with coax and get gigabit speeds, you'll need to buy a pair of MoCA 2.0 bonded adapters.  One to replace the coax connection on the G1100 and another for your basement.

But if you run Ethernet, you'll open yourself up to a variety of options for access points and switches.

[JamesPezzella]

Thanks very much for your response.

I'd like to avoid having to pull cat5 - if I can.  The home currently has a G1100 with a coax connection so if I did pull cat5, I'd be limited to 500Mbps. 

I have a G1100 that I would bring from my current office and use the coax connection on that router, and then hardwire the computers in my new office.  I think I'd only use WiFi in my office to connect a printer/scanner.  The great thing about this is my office would be a separate subnet from the rest of the house. 

May I ask why you suggested a network extender - as the G1100 has wifi built in.

Thanks for the advice.

[Cang_Household]

Just to see if I understood your situation correctly. You currently have a G1100 with Coax plugged in. Is it the coax WAN to the ONT? If that's the case, is your subscription speed lower than 100Mbps?

[JamesPezzella]

I have a G1100 in my current office, on a separate FiOS account (150Mbps / Cable TV).  In my current office, the G1100 has BOTH coax and a cat5 cable going back to the ONT (when I finish composing this I'll have to disconnect one and see what happens - this was setup by Verizon 6 years or so). 

In the new office, I already have a STB that's working. I'm thinking that if I want to keep a TV in the office, I can split the coax and install a router with a coax connection (perhaps my current G1100 or something better - suggestions requested!). 

The house has a G1100 already on the 1st floor and I could run cat5 but I really don't feel like drilling and pulling / running cable - unless I absolutely have to. 

[Cang_Household]

How many G1100s do you have in total? 1 or 2?

Since you have TV service and over 100Mbps Internet, you do need both the coax and the Ethernet going to the ONT. Ethernet is for broadband data, and the coax from the ONT is for delivering Linear TV signal to the STBs, and the coax from the G1100 is for delivering network connectivity to the STBs via MoCA.

I think you'd better to keep the existing G1100, and buy another G1100 from Ebay for $37 with Verizon firmware. You can put the new G1100 in your new office and connect it through coax (with MoCA-compatible splitters in case the coax jack is already occupied) to the existing G1100. The G1100 would link with the existing G1100 through MoCA, but you are capped at 500Mbps. As gs0b suggested, if you need over 1 Gbps connection between the existing G1100 and your new office, you would need at least Bonded 2.0 MoCA adapters on both ends.

Your schematic should look like this. You just need to add the boldfaced portion.

ONT <--WAN> G1100 (existing) [MoCA LAN--MoCA LAN] G1100 (new) <LANs--> other devices

Also, after you have received another G1100, you need to change it to "bridge" mode. You can reference the newly developed G1100 Bridging Guide posted here https://forums.verizon.com/t5/G1100-Bridging-Guide/bd-p/g1100-bridging-guide .

I hope this is helpful.

[JamesPezzella]

I have 2 G1100's one in my current office, and another in the home I will be moving into. 

In both locations, the existing G1100's have both a coax and a cat5 plugged into the WAN port. 

My plan is it move the G1100 (or something better) to the new office, and hopefully connect it over coax.

[Cang_Household]

If you really want something better than 500Mbps through MoCA coax, I would wait until there is a MoCA 2.5 adapter with 2.5G Ethernet port. Currently Actiontec's ECB7250 has MoCA 2.5 at 2500Mbps and 2.5G Ethernet, but the price is high (~$100 per unit) and the Ethernet controller has compatibility issues with MacBook's NICs. I would wait until goCoax releases their MA2500D, perhaps next month (they said they are releasing it in March, but right now it is April already.)

[JamesPezzella]

I'm thinking of dumping this whole thing on Verizon. I'll have to move the FiOS account from my current location, and move it to the new. I'll probably want to bump up the bandwidth to 1Gb and negotiate a decent TV plan (my current plan - Ultimate HD is no longer available), and I'll have Verizon update the wiring in the house. 

[Cang_Household]

Verizon does not provide fishing wire service. I think even the Inside Wire Maintenance is very limited to the wires from the ONT to the router. The Inside Wire Maintenance is $20/month, I think?