Wifi extender connection with coax

[JonathanP1]

I just upgrade to FiOS gigabit with the G3100 router.  I’m thinking of adding the E3200 extender in an area of my home where the signal is weak.  Nearby is a DVR with coax that goes to the ONT.  Can I split this coax and run one of the splits to an E3200 for a wired backhaul?  Also, would it be better performance-wise for a wired backhaul to be via Ethernet vs coax?

[Capricorn1]

That's exactly what you would do. The Quickstart Guide for the E3200 mentions that you could connect via wireless (which you wouldn't want since that's the weak signal you are trying to alleviate) or wired. By "wired," either a coax or Ethernet connection will work. You would use a splitter near your DVR (and the quick setup says a splitter is included).

Ethernet will generally always be better than coax if you install a fast Ethernet solution like gigabit or better. That said, the coax between the G3100 and E3200 is rated over 1Gbps if I a remembering the specs. (I don't have either one.) It's pretty likely that the coax will make you very happy. Since you have that available coax, I would start with that and maybe go with wired Ethernet if that's not good enough.

[JonathanP1]

If I wanted to connect with Ethernet to the E3200 extender, where does the other end of the Ethernet cable connect?  Can it connect to the ONT, or must it connect to a port on the G3100 router?  For an extender, my ONT is much closer and easier to get to than the location of the G3100.

[Edg1]

Has to connect to the LAN port of your G3100. If coax is available that would be fine as well. The G3100 and E3200 are MoCA 2.5 which will get up to 2.5 gbps. 

[JonathanP1 · Accepted solution]

To close the loop on this, I ended up moving my G3100 router to a more central location in my home (vs adding E3200 extender) and now the areas of my home that had a weak signal are good.  It was certainly a pain to relocate the ethernet and coax that connect from the ONT to the router but me and my 15' fishing tool got it done!

[gregoryb888]

I'm having the same exact issue:  I'd like to connect my G3100 to the E3200 with hardwire via Ethernet, but are you sure that the "LAN 1" and "LAN 2" ports on the back of the E3200 are able to receive the internet signal coming from the G3100?  (My G3100 is connected to the ONT via Ethernet using the "Wifi 6" port)  I thought that these "LAN 1" and "LAN 2" ports on the extender are only for connecting end devices (computers, tvs) and that the only way to hard wire the G3100 and the E3200 is via coax?  The latter point was confirmed by the "chat" person on the Verizon site.  Anyone have any other experience?

[Cang_Household]

It's not really "internet signal," a network, home and enterprise alike, is more about connectivity. For home network, as long as all network devices are linked together (whether through wireless, Ethernet, or coax MoCA) and has a gateway device (e.g. G3100 router) on the link, it should work.

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@gregoryb888 wrote:

I thought that these "LAN 1" and "LAN 2" ports on the extender are only for connecting end devices (computers, tvs) and that the only way to hard wire the G3100 and the E3200 is via coax?  The latter point was confirmed by the "chat" person on the Verizon site.

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I am sorry that the chat service representative did not paint a complete picture. E3200, as opposed to earlier generations of Fios Network Extender, can be backhauled on Ethernet, coax MoCA, or wireless. LAN 1 and LAN 2 are just bridged Ethernet interfaces. You can use them to link a computer, TV, IoT, another switch, another router, another access point, even another E3200, and whatever has an Ethernet port.

TL;DR

E3200 can be linked to G3100 using Ethernet, coax MoCA, or wireless.

[gregoryb888]

Oh wow, this is exactly the answer I was looking for.  I'll give it a shot and buy the E3200.  Next question with this next step:  the manual for the E3200 says that even if I hard wire or "bridge" it with the G3100, I should still be able to have the same network name and move seamlessly throughout the house.  Is this true?  Or do these devices have to be connected via Wifi for that to be true.  I should trust the manual, but I've read in other sites that the hardwired bridging might prevent me from having this same network name.

[Cang_Household]

Technically, you need to enable Self-Organizing Network (SON) feature on both the G3100 and E3200 to allow G3100 to duplicate WiFi configuration onto E3200. Enabling SON would cause wireless connectivity issues with legacy wireless devices. Unless all of your wireless devices are relatively new (that is made within the last 3 years), I would not recommend you to turn on this feature. Notwithstanding SON, you can always manually configure the E3200 to the same wireless setting as G3100. Login to E3200, then change its SSIDs and PSKs to the same as G3100.

Regarding seamless roaming, G3100 and E3200 do support 802.11r and v. But roaming is largely a wireless client decision. If your wireless devices are relative new, they should be able to roam by themselves.

[gregoryb888]

I'll give this a try:  "you can always manually configure the E3200 to the same wireless setting as G3100. Login to E3200, then change its SSIDs and PSKs to the same as G3100."  

I'll also consider this:  "Regarding seamless roaming, G3100 and E3200 do support 802.11r and v. But roaming is largely a wireless client decision. If your wireless devices are relative new, they should be able to roam by themselves."

My main concern is services like Sonos.  I have Sonos hooked up to my wifi and speakers throughout the house.  I just want to make sure that my device is always hooked up to the same wifi so that I can control Sonos, for instance.

Would the above solutions address this Sonos use case?