Jason Palmer, CPA, CITP

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MoCA Ethernet over Coax Cable – It’s not just for TV anymore!

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Actiontec ECB2500C

Actiontec ECB2500C

Thanks to the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), a standard is emerging to enable devices such as set-top boxes, computers, and smart TV’s to communicate with each other and network over the existing Coaxial cable (Cable TV Wire) already in the walls of most homes and offices. It does not matter if the Coax wire is in use to distribute TV service from a cable company, Verizon FiOS, or Over-the-Are Free Broadcast DTV or not in use at all and just sitting there.

Some background:   Wi-Fi® enabled Internet Routers in many homes and small offices have replaced the need to run classic network data cables meeting the Cat 5e or Cat6 standard.  Unfortunately, Wi-Fi® is susceptible to interference. traffic jams and distance/range limitations.  There are only so many channels in which Wi-Fi® can operate and in densely populated areas during peak times, Wi-Fi® can experience a kind of traffic jam similar to the Long Island Expressway at rush hour.  In other cases, the WiFi signal is just not strong enough to reach to every corner of the home or office.

When running new data network cabling is not possible, making the Cable TV wire already in your home or offices do double duty may be your best option. It is MoCA to the rescue to enable you to run Ethernet over the Coax wire already in every room.

For example:  MoCA enabled devices, such as the FiOS Internet Routers, already serve up IP network addresses to the FiOS Set-top boxes over Coax.  (This is how your FiOS set-top boxes get Guide and Widget information and their Internet functionality.)  In fact, the new TiVo Premiere devices are MoCA capable and can use the Coax for their Ethernet/Internet connection instead of traditional network data cabling.

By adding a MoCA Network Adapter, to which you can connect any standard Ethernet enabled device such top computers, notebooks, smart TV’s, media streaming devices (like AppleTV or Internet Radio), and Blu-ray players, you now have a rock-solid network connection to your FiOS Internet Router.

(By standard Ethernet device, I am referring to any device that has an RJ-45 female jack and uses a standard male/mail RJ-45 Cat5e or Cat6 data patch cable to connect to a wired network.  And, a MoCA Network Adapter has a single Ethernet port and Coax Connection to bridge the two different technologies.)

You are probably thinking, “But I don’t have FiOS.  I have Cablevision, Comcast or some other CATV provider.”  Not an issue. Just add one additional MoCA Network adapter to the Coax cable that feeds your Cable Modem.  Then connect the Ethernet Port on the Adapter to one of the Jacks on your Internet Router.  You have just IP enabled your Coax to serve up Ethernet over Coax to every room in your home or office.  By adding additional MoCA Ethernet over Coax adapters anywhere you have Coax cable you can immediately get “hard wired” network stability and performance to share files between devices or access the Internet.

Privacy Note:  It is important that if you are using MoCA Network Adapters connected to Coax that is also delivering your TV, Internet or Phone Service from outside your home or office, that you use a MoCA “Point of Entry” Filter where the Coax first enters your premises.  This would usually be where the grounding block is installed.  The MoCA Point of Entry filter keeps the IP address information that is being distributed across your Coax INSIDE your home or office.  Otherwise anyone adding a MoCA Network Adapter could access your network.

Technical Note:  The most popular brand and widely available MoCA Network Adapter is from Actiontec.  It is a model ECB2500C or ECB2200V.  The models are functionally identical except the V suffix indicates a Verizon Logo on the unit.  They are available as a single unit or as a pair.  Visit the Actiontec Site here: http://bit.ly/ZqQ52y

Sales Note:  At the time of this writing, TiVo is selling the Actiontec MoCA Network Adapter for $49.99 which is significantly less than the normal price of $79. TiVo also sells the MoCA Point of Entry Filter for $8.99.  Visit the TiVo store here: http://www.tivo.com/products/tivo-accessories/index.html

Hurricane Tech – Advantage of Verizon FiOS vs Cablevision

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One of the key advantages of having Verizon’s Fiber Optic Service (FiOS) for your Telephone service is that all of the equipment from the Central Telephone Office up to your home is completely powered by Verizon.  This is a significant difference from Cablevision which relies on the Utility Company to provide electricity to power its’ equipment on the Utility Poles.

When the Power goes out, Verizon is 100% self-reliant.  Verizon takes responsibility for making sure that all of its’ FiOS transmission equipment is properly powered by using a combination of backup electrical generators and battery backup units.  Verizon trucks will periodically visit Transmission equipment locations to re-charge batteries so that equipment stays fully operational when Utility power is out.  Even if it is days before Utility power is restored, there is a high degree of probability, short of physical damage to the FiOS transmission lines, that FiOS Services will stay operational.

With Cablevision, all Services start to fail shortly after Utility power is lost as the batteries in the Transmission Equipment drain to zero.  Once the Cablevision equipment batteries run-down, Services cannot be restored until Utility Power is restored.  (This is true for most Cable Providers, not just Cablevision.)

Important Note:  In both the case of Verizon FiOS and Cablevision, there is a piece of equipment installed in your home or office that requires “electricity” to work.  In the case of Verizon FiOS, this is called an “O.N.T.” or Optical Network Terminal.  For Cablevision, this is usually a Cable Modem.  (This is true for most Cable Providers, not just Cablevision.)

As discussed in my article, “Hurricane Tech – Powering your Land Line Phone Service”, with a properly installed Backup Battery, Telephone Service will remain operational, on average, for up to eight hours provided that your respective provider: Verizon FiOS or Cablevision has their Transmission Equipment powered and functioning.  If you add a decent size Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) of approximately a 1,500watt rating, you may get almost a full twelve hours of Internet and TV Service in addition to the Telephone service.

Case in point:  During Hurricane Irene, I lost power and even though I had a Generator to power my Cable Modem, within a few hours all of my Cablevision Services failed – No Telephone, No TV, No Internet – because Cablevision relies on Utility Power for its’ Transmission equipment on the poles.  My Cable modem had power but the Transmission facilities between my home and Cablevision were dead.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, even though power was out for several days, my neighbors who had Generators had their Verizon FiOS Telephone, TV, and Internet without issue.  In my case, even when Utility Power was restored it was another week before Cablevision services returned.

Considering the connected world I live in and the fact that I am in the “Technology Consulting” business, I thought it would make sense to hedge my bets against the next natural disaster and install Verizon FiOS alongside Cablevision so that I would have both for redundancy.  I had no idea at the time of my decision how fortuitous a move that would be.

On October 18th, 2012, just two weeks before Hurricane/Tropical Storm Sandy hit, I had the Verizon FiOS Ultimate Triple Play deal installed.  In the middle of Sandy, at approximately 9:30am on Monday, October 29th, my super reliable, traditional Copper Telephone Service, that usually always survives severe storms, failed.  It was not until around 5:45pm that Utility Power failed.  Since my phone system had a battery backup unit, as did my Verizon FiOS and Cable modem, I still had Telephone Service.  I powered up the Portable Gasoline powered Generator and TV and Internet immediately returned on my Verizon FiOS set-top box and Internet Router.  As expected, my Cablevision TV and Internet service had failed.

Remarkably, even though our area was without Utility power for over eight days, Verizon FiOS remained fully operational and completely without issue.  It was not until Utility Power was restored that any Cablevision services returned (TV, Phone, Internet) and then once they did, they went out the following day again for another twelve hours.

The reason Verizon FiOS was operational was because Verizon completely controls the Power for its Transmission equipment and is 100% self-sufficient.  Again, it is important to note that I had a Generator to keep the Verizon FiOS equipment in my home, the ONT, “powered” with electricity.

The combination of an extremely robust infrastructure, as designed and built by Verizon, along with my own Disaster Recovery Preparedness, (a Generator), allowed me to stay fully “connected” to the outside world during Hurrican/Tropical Storm Sandy and beyond.  With a working Verizon FiOS Triple Play package of Phone, TV, and Internet – including WiFi, I was able to receive critical Life Safety information from News Stations as well as the Suffolk County and Huntington Township Telephone and Email Emergency Alert Communications.

Verizon FiOs – It’s the next best thing to the reliability of Copper.

Hurricane Tech – Powering your Land Line Phone Service

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In the old days, Telephone Service was provided by a pair of copper wires that were directly connected between your home or office and the Telephone Company Central Office.  It was the responsibility of the Telephone Company Central Office to provide dial-tone, line voltage, and ring voltage to that copper pair – the power that made the phone work.  As many of us remember in the days before the Internet, even if the Utility Power was out, we could still make and receive phone calls.  Telephone sets had mechanical bells completely powered by the electricity provided from the Telephone Company Central Office.

Fast forward to the modern day and the POTS line (Plain Old Telephone Service – an affectionate name for traditional copper phone line service) is fast becoming extinct.  Cable companies are moving customers away from traditional analog copper and over to digital VoIP (Voice Over IP) services provided through a Cable Modem.  Voice is now a digital data service and an ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter – usually built in to the Cable Modem) converts that digital data in to the same two wire pair that your telephone can use.

As Cable companies convince you to give up your “almost guaranteed to work in a power outage POTS lines” they quietly tell you, “If you lose Utility Power, a battery in our Cable Modem will keep your phone working for between four and six hours.”  What they fail to remind you of is that if that Battery is not periodically checked to make sure it is properly charging and still functioning, when the Utility Power goes out, so will your telephone service.

To make matters worse, almost everyone uses either cordless or corded phone that has a base station that requires electricity to operate.  Even if the Battery in the Cable Modem is providing Dial-Tone, it is of no value if your Telephone requires Utility Power to operate.

It is a catastrophe waiting to happen.  For those of you thinking, “Well I will just use my cell phone.”  In a severe storm, especially if Utility Power is off in the area, it will only be a matter of time before the Cell Towers lose power and exhaust their backup power sources and shut-down as well.  Even if the Cell Towers remain operational, your Cell Phone Battery will eventually run down.

Solution:  Proper Planning.

First – If you have your Telephone Service through a Cable Company, make sure that your Cable Modem, which usually provides your Telephone Service, has the “Power Failure Battery” installed.  If your Cable Modem provides Telephone Service and does NOT have a built in Battery Backup, ask the Cable Company to exchange out your equipment for a model that does have a Built-in Battery Backup. Note: Some Cable Companies provide a free UPS in place of a Built-in Battery Backup for the Cable Modem.

Second – If your Cable Modem already has a Built-in Battery Backup, make sure you check it at least once a month to verify that the Built-in Battery Backup is properly charging and functioning.  If you are not sure how to verify the health of the Battery, ask your Cable Company. Usually there will be a series of lights: Charging, On-Battery, and Replace Battery.

Third – Make sure you have a traditional Line Powered Telephone.  A Line Powered Telephone is one that does NOT have an electrical plug – only an RJ11 telephone “silver satin” cord that plugs in to the wall jack. It is O.K. if the phone takes batteries for functions like Caller ID.  NOTE:  Some phones that do require Utility Power A/C electricity have a “Power Failure” mode where even though the ringer may not ring, you can still pick-up the receiver and make an outbound telephone call.  This is not optimal but acceptable for being able to dial 911 for an emergency.

Fourth – As an alternative to the Built-in Battery for the Cable Modem and a Line Powered Telephone, you can purchase a decent size Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) Battery Backup Unit.  The higher the Wattage, the longer the unit will power your Cable Modem and Telephone Base Station – both of which have electrical plugs which can be connected directly to the UPS.  This may be an expensive option in that a 1500 Watt rated unit, which can power the above situation for four to six hours, can cost upwards of $200.  This also assumes that your Telephone and your Cable modem are in close proximity and can both reach the UPS to be plugged in.

In summary, if you do not have the luxury of having both Traditional POTS lines, that will work without Utility Power, and VoIP lines, then make sure you are able to provide some kind of Power (Internal Battery or UPS) to both your Cable Modem and to your Telephone to keep your VoIP service working.