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TechDavid's avatar
TechDavid
New Contributor
2 years ago

Proper Amp and/or Splitters for Cox Cable w/Docsis 3.1 MOTOROLA MB8600

Hi, I have a couple of questions about signal/frequency ranges for Cox Cable, with either gigablast or 500 down/50 up (current).

Splitters - With the Cable Modem being Docsis 3.1, I assume the splitter should at minimum be a 5-1218Mhz (1.218Ghz) splitter, ideally it would be higher and cover the MoCA 2.x range and go to 1675Mhz.

I have a main cable receiver (Arris AX013NM) and two smaller boxes a PACE PXDOANI and a Cisco CXDOANI, along with a Motorola MB6800 Docsis 3.1 modem.

At the house I have a POE Filter->Drop AMP-Spliiters.  The Drop AMP which is a 102-1218Mhz Antronix mid-split (MRAM-1-15-G2), then to a Cox supplied Andronix CMC2008VC-A 8-Way 5-1002 splitter.

One of the 8-way connection goes to the Cable Modem.  3 to the cable boxes, 1 to a tivo (which uses a Cable Card + Ethernet and not MoCA), the rest are terminated with caps.

Questions:

1. Is this the correct Amp?  A mid-split seems correct for a Docsis 3.1 modem.

    Amp options are:
       Traditional 42/54 split with a 1002Mhz top end.
       Traditional 42/54 split with a 1218Mhz top end.

2. Should the splitter be either a Antronix 1218Mhz or Andronix 1675Mhz splitter?

3. Are the PACE and Cisco boxes Moca based IP from the Receiver?

4. Would it be better to get an Andronix combined 8(Cable)+1(Voip) AMP?
     Antronix 8+1 Amps 

  • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
    WiderMouthOpen
    Esteemed Contributor
    2 years ago

    I would suggest taking the modem off the amp completely. By such I mean go demarc  > MoCA filter > 2 way 5-1000Mhz splitter > one end goes to modem and one end goes to amp > 8 way MoCA splitter(don't know which one) > TV and MoCA adapters. 

    As for which splitter, that is beyond my knowledge since I don't have any experience with MoCA. All I know is amps mess with the upstream OFDM channel on D3.1 modems. You might want to try DSLReports if you want advice on what splitter to use or if you MUST use a amp.

    • bryaninphx's avatar
      bryaninphx
      Valued Contributor
      2 years ago

      Wow, you are a busy person. Thank You so much for all your assistance and advice. You are a huge asset to these Forums.

      • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
        WiderMouthOpen
        Esteemed Contributor
        2 years ago

        Thank you! I need to keep busy to stay sane. I am just sorry I am so loud that it stops other people from posting. Also, I am not very helpful on this particular topic. All the different MoCA versions and bands and their frequency use confound me. I found this which has some good info on page 9 which seems to point to 1675Mhz as the top end of MoCA 2.5. Since MoCA is backwards compatible it's best to build for 2.5.

        As for what amp to use, I wouldn't even know where to begin. I see that OP's modem has a downstream operating range of 108 to 1002 MHz and duplex filters of 5-42 and 5-85 MHz for the upstream. So it would seem a standard 5-1000Mhz amp would do, but we have seen where it causes problems. I think an expert opinion is required.