How do I resolve this Time Capsule network issue?

[ddublu]

I was using FiOS 75mb internet service up until today when I had their Gigabit service installed. The ONLY thing that changed in my entire network/home setup was the wiring of the ethernet to my media cabinet and plugging it into the G1100 Quantum router.

I have the G1100 in a first floor media cabinet and have a WCB3000 (Actiontec) in a second floor bedroom. I have wireless disabled on it and a 3TB Time Capsule plugged into it. The intent has been to help get a better signal to my 3rd floor (office) and it has seemingly worked, until today's changes. I had an SSID for the main router (call it DW) and an SSID for the Time Capsule (DW-TC). For the most part, staying connected to the DW-TC network was fine..I was getting 60-70mb up and down, even on the 3rd floor.

After today, the DW network downstairs gives me roughly 500-700mb up and down but the Time Capsule network still hangs around the 50-60mb range. What am I missing?

 

[HDFan]

WCB3000 (Actiontec) in a second floor bedroom. I have wireless disabled on it and a 3TB Time Capsule plugged into it.

The WCB3000 is hardwired to the G1100 Fios Gateway? So the connection to the Time capsule is ethernet all of the way? Where are you getting the

the 50-60mb range

number?

MBps? Mbps?

 

[ddublu]

The WCB3000 is hardwired to the G1100 Fios Gateway? So the connection to the Time capsule is ethernet all of the way? Where are you getting the



number?

MBps? Mbps?

Sorry...the WCB3000 is connected to my coax on the 2nd floor and connected to the Time Capsule via ethernet. (right beside each other) This network is the one that is suffering. I am wondering if there needs to be some type of update to an IP address or something after the internet service change.

I am getting really good speeds on the 5ghz band of the non-TC network when I am downstairs near the G1100 but the whole reason I added that second setup on the second floor was to bring similar speeds to my third floor office.

The speed results are in Mbps.

Does that help clarify?

 

[techwarrior]

The WCB3000 is MOCA 1.0/1.1 so it likely maxes out at 100-150Mbps in ideal conditions. If the cable run is long, older wiring, or lots of splits, could be less. It has Ethernet ports, so connect a Mac\PC via Ethernet to the WCB3000 (or the TC) and run a speed test. My guess is it will yield something to the tune of 50-60Mbps, that is your bottleneck.

Upgrade the MOCA adapter to bonded 2.0 and your TC upstairs should yield excellent results. MOCA 2.5 adapters don't seem to be out yet, but that standard claims 2+Gbps.

Alternately, look at Powerline Ethernet, the newer models of these adapters are claiming speeds nearing 1Gbps and are half the price of MOCA from a quick search. Netgear and TP Link offer adapters they claim can reach 1200Mbps, but really more likely to see 400-800Mbps, but at under $60 or so.

 

[ddublu]

The WCB3000 is MOCA 1.0/1.1 so it likely maxes out at 100-150Mbps in ideal conditions. If the cable run is long, older wiring, or lots of splits, could be less. It has Ethernet ports, so connect a Mac\PC via Ethernet to the WCB3000 (or the TC) and run a speed test. My guess is it will yield something to the tune of 50-60Mbps, that is your bottleneck.

Upgrade the MOCA adapter to bonded 2.0 and your TC upstairs should yield excellent results. MOCA 2.5 adapters don't seem to be out yet, but that standard claims 2+Gbps.

Alternately, look at Powerline Ethernet, the newer models of these adapters are claiming speeds nearing 1Gbps and are half the price of MOCA from a quick search. Netgear and TP Link offer adapters they claim can reach 1200Mbps, but really more likely to see 400-800Mbps, but at under $60 or so.

Is the MOCA adapter just something that goes between the WCB and the TC?

 

[ddublu]

The WCB3000 is MOCA 1.0/1.1 so it likely maxes out at 100-150Mbps in ideal conditions. If the cable run is long, older wiring, or lots of splits, could be less. It has Ethernet ports, so connect a Mac\PC via Ethernet to the WCB3000 (or the TC) and run a speed test. My guess is it will yield something to the tune of 50-60Mbps, that is your bottleneck.

Upgrade the MOCA adapter to bonded 2.0 and your TC upstairs should yield excellent results. MOCA 2.5 adapters don't seem to be out yet, but that standard claims 2+Gbps.

Alternately, look at Powerline Ethernet, the newer models of these adapters are claiming speeds nearing 1Gbps and are half the price of MOCA from a quick search. Netgear and TP Link offer adapters they claim can reach 1200Mbps, but really more likely to see 400-800Mbps, but at under $60 or so.

Bingo! I swapped the WCB with the EC6200 (MOCA 2.0) and it works like a champ. Thanks!

 

[techwarrior]

Is the MOCA adapter just something that goes between the WCB and the TC?

No, in your previous post, you said: "the WCB3000 is connected to my coax on the 2nd floor". That means the WCB3000 is using MOCA (Media over Coax) to get the data connection from the router to the 2nd floor. If you look on the back of the Router, it should have a COAX cable plugged into the MOCA2.0 port on the back of it, this is feeding data over the COAX cables in your home to the WCB3000 upstairs. But the WCB only supports MOCA1 or 1.1.

Max throughput on MOCA 1.1 is 175Mbps under ideal conditions, but signal strength diminishes with distance and splitters\connectors. So you are likely getting sub 100Mbps between the WCB and Router.

So, you have three choices.

1. Upgrade the WCB3000 to a MOCA adapter that supports 2.0 and you should see speeds increase to the range of 500-1000Mbps. Connect it just as the WCB is currently connected.
2. Replace the MOCA link with Ethernet. Since the router and Time Capsule have 1Gbps ethernet ports, Cat5e or Cat6 Ethernet cables will create a 1Gbps link between the Router and Time Capsule (no other devices needed, so remove the WCB).
3. If running Ethernet is not feasible, consider Powerline Ethernet adapters. Zyxel and TPLink adapters linked here to help you understand. Price is probably about 50% of #1.

You should be looking to balance cost and speed here. Your FIOS link to the web is 1000Mbps (1Gbps). Your Time Capsule should support up to 1300Mbps if it is current model (802.11ac). But connections via Time Capsule will be slowed on the leg to the router (currently MOCA1). The Zyxel unit claims speeds up to 1800Mbps, the TPLink 1200Mbps. Realistically, speeds will be less than this, I get 200-300 Mbps on similar TPLink adapters for example. Powerline speeds drop with distance, and if the path crosses circuit breakers.

Clearly, if you really need 1Gbps speeds for devices connected to the Time Capsule, your best bet is to find a way to string Ethernet cable to the upstairs Time Capsule.

Finally, consider the need for speed upstairs, it is worth the cost. Keep in mind, HD Video streaming is probably the most data intensive other than large file downloads. HD video requires no more than 15-20Mbps. So, unless you have computers that will connect to the Time Capsule upstairs that need fast download speeds, you may be OK with what you have.
[doublepost=1508373992][/doublepost]Didn't see your update till after hitting post. Glad you were able to resolve it.

 

[belvdr]

Alternately, look at Powerline Ethernet, the newer models of these adapters are claiming speeds nearing 1Gbps and are half the price of MOCA from a quick search. Netgear and TP Link offer adapters they claim can reach 1200Mbps, but really more likely to see 400-800Mbps, but at under $60 or so.

Faster units exist today. The Powerline adapters I have are rated at 2 Gbps. I’m able to get close to that on a single circuit.

 

[snoleppard]

Faster units exist today. The Powerline adapters I have are rated at 2 Gbps. I’m able to get close to that on a single circuit.

2 Gbps is the Phy rate, but I'm not aware of any reviews that come anywhere close for the MAC rate (the actual throughput). Some cite 80 Mbps results. Many houses would need RFI filters to clean line noise on powerline adapters to get close to even 1 Gbps. I have two breaker boxes, so there aren't a lot of outlet pairs where powerline would work.

There are some bonded MoCA 2.0 adapters out now that hit 1 Gbps at the MAC rate (1.4 Gbps as the Phy rate), so it's a good time to upgrade while you can still pawn off older MoCA units on eBay. Yitong's adapters cost under $60 and apparently have encryption which Actiontec's models lack, while still being transparent to the networked devices.

 

[belvdr]

2 Gbps is the Phy rate, but I'm not aware of any reviews that come anywhere close for the MAC rate (the actual throughput). Some cite 80 Mbps results. Many houses would need RFI filters to clean line noise on powerline adapters to get close to even 1 Gbps. I have two breaker boxes, so there aren't a lot of outlet pairs where powerline would work.

I understand that. Each of my units has two gigabit ports but I don't have the gear to test the full bandwidth. I can get 1800 Mb PHY and roughly gigabit speeds when staying on the same bus without crossing any GFCI or AFCI protectors. Crossing a GFCI outlet but on the same circuit, my PHY rate is roughly 550Mb. I'm able to push about 500Mb across it using iperf.

 

[ddublu]

sorry to bump this but after having this setup since this post, the TC network has now fallen back to below 80mb up and down. I’ve pulled power on TC and Verizon modem with no change. The MOCA adapter appears to be working. What should I try next?