Wired Internet via Telus MoCA Box

[mrkajz44]

I'll start this by saying I'm not overly tech savvy with internet stuff, so if this sounds really basic it's probably because it is.

The wifi in our bonus room upstairs is just okay, and that was after installing a booster on our main floor since the router is in the basement. It has been passable. However, I've started trying to play some online games on the PS4 and the lag is a bit too much to be fully enjoyable. The wifi is good for about 90% of gametime, but it can get spicy the other 10% of the time and makes the experience much less enjoyable.

I know that a wired connection is the obvious solution here, but we don't have any wired options in that room. However, I noticed that our Telus 4k box seems to use an ethernet cable. It seems that a coax cable comes from the wall and into some sort of conversion box. The ethernet cable then comes out of the conversion box into the 4k box. I was thinking of just using this ethernet cable to run a wired connection for the PS4 when I needed it as I wouldn't be using the cable box at the same time. A few questions:

1) Is this something that would even work? Again, I know very little about this stuff, but it seems like it might?

2) I'm assuming anytime the cable box is unplugged from the internet it won't work at all for things like recordings. Is that right? Can I somehow set up a wifi back-up for then it's unplugged? Missing series recordings is a problem I'd want to avoid

3) Any other ideas for fixing up this problem? I doubt I'll end up playing this game for that long - I usually log a few months on a game and then move on, so I don't want to do anything too drastic

[White Out 403]

That's a MOCA adapter.

[mrkajz44]

Okay, so I googled it a bit and it seems like I just need the one MOCA adaptor and then I can use a ethernet switch to give me multiple ethernet cables from that one adaptor? That way I can plug in to both the PS4 and the cable box at the same time - is that right?

[White Out 403]

That should work, but once you introduce a switch to a telus tv box it can cause a lot of problems, you probably want to manage switch, but even then I would stay away from it because that will make your TV connection unreliable

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

Okay, so I googled it a bit and it seems like I just need the one MOCA adaptor and then I can use a ethernet switch to give me multiple ethernet cables from that one adaptor? That way I can plug in to both the PS4 and the cable box at the same time - is that right?

You can either use a MOCA adapter or a powerline adapter for ethernet.

Pulling an ethernet cable might be even better though.

[mrkajz44]

Yeah, I don't want to put in too much effort here, so running another cable seems like overkill. I ordered an ethernet switch yesterday after browsing some forums that seemed to have the same goal I had. I'm worried about the potential issues that White Out mentioned, but there was one model that came up a few times (TP-Link TL-SG105) that others had used in the same set up with no issues. Fingers crossed.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

Yeah, I don't want to put in too much effort here, so running another cable seems like overkill. I ordered an ethernet switch yesterday after browsing some forums that seemed to have the same goal I had. I'm worried about the potential issues that White Out mentioned, but there was one model that came up a few times (TP-Link TL-SG105) that others had used in the same set up with no issues. Fingers crossed.

Yes, I believe you can use a power line or MOCA adapter from your modem to your intended location like an internet walkie talkie, then use a switch at your intended location to connect your Playstation and other devices. Because the switch isn't a router I believe it's just a basic splitting of the ethernet, I don't think you should have IP conflict issues or anything like that?

I'm not an expert on networking stuff though. Hopefully it works out fine. I haven't dealt with this stuff in a long time because I ended up upgrading and abandoning that option twice (once with me, once with parents). The Powerline/MOCA set up works relatively well until they overheat after a few months. Since they cost like $100-150 ish in components anyways, you're better off buying a mesh set up for like $250-350 and making it easier + having extra features and other additional improvements IMO.

I upgraded my internet set up and then gifted my mesh system to my parents so that we could abandon their powerline set up. The mesh system has a similar concept to powerline/MOCA but wirelessly to each other. An overly cheap set up won't have the ability to pull an ethernet line from the mesh points (a secondary modem/access point), but a more expensive one should, similar if you had used a powerline and then pulled an ethernet cable. TBH though, with a good mesh system set up, you won't need the ethernet at or near point unless the wifi card in the device is failing or is non-existent.


EDIT: I'd like to mention. A powerline/MOCA set up isn't horribly difficult, but it's not as stupid easy as a mesh set up.

[indes]

I have my optiktv box hooked up to an unmanaged switch and it works fine

[mrkajz44]

Well, I tried my set-up with the TP-Link TL-SG105 and, as White Out warned, there were issues. The TV ran fine for 20-40 minutes at a time, but then it suddenly froze up and the only fix was to restart the cable box. Not sure if I want to try this again with a different model - if I can return the original I'll probably give it a go again, but this seems like this is more difficult than it needs to be.

[mrkajz44]

Just to close the loop on this in case anyone ever searches this thread and wants a final answer...I ordered a TL-SG1005D and it's worked for several days now with no issues. I consider this problem fixed.

Shout-out to indes for helping me out in getting the right model.

[Fuzz]

Now that you have that solved can we discuss the blatant typo in the thread title?

[Fuzz]

Niiiice. The universe is pleased.