A practical guide to building a high-performance home network using MoCA 2.5 technology, based on real-world implementation experience in May 2025. I have cable modem internet service, but this guide should work equally well with fiber-to-the-home or any other internet delivery technologies.
Copyright 2025 Preston Landers and licensed under MIT License.
- Buy MoCA 2.5 adapters - one per room (plus router). I had good results with goCoax MA2500D.
- Install a MoCA PoE filter at your cable service entry point.
- Replace old splitters with MoCA-compatible ones.
- Test cable continuity before assuming dead outlets.
- If internet dies when MoCA activates, add a second PoE filter at the modem.
- Overview
- Why MoCA?
- Equipment Used
- Pre-Installation Planning
- Installation Process
- Key Lessons Learned
- Troubleshooting: a real world guide
- Performance Testing
- Cost Breakdown
- Final Thoughts
This guide documents my personal process and lessons from upgrading from a slow home powerline ethernet setup (100 Mbps) to a blazing-fast five node MoCA 2.5 network with 2.4+ Gbps sustained throughput with zero packet loss. It was not a completely smooth experience due to some unexpected issues with my house wiring, but hopefully this guide lets you benefit from my experiences.
My house did not come wired for ethernet, and it was impractically expensive to run new cables through the walls. WiFi is always an option but I prefer a hardline connection for reliability and performance, especially for gaming. I had been using AC powerline adapters (TP-Link AV2000) for a while. Although it is pretty cool that they work at all, I was only seeing about 100 to 150 Mbps throughput at best, which was unsatisfactory.
In the course of attempting to set up my MoCA network, I discovered my house's existing coaxial cable infrastructure was incomplete, forcing me to diagnose and repair it before I could achieve the performance I wanted. I hope this guide will help you avoid some of those pitfalls and get the most out of your MoCA setup.
Do you get gigabit fiber to the home, but struggle with delivering all that speed to your endpoint devices such as PCs, laptops, game consoles, etc? Mesh WiFi networks are often a solution but can be expensive, and almost never deliver the kind of rock-solid low-latency connection needed for competitive gaming. MoCA uses your existing cable TV wiring to enable a very high performance local network without needing to run new ethernet cables through walls or ceilings. Even if many or most of your devices still use WiFi, you can often benefit by moving your most performance sensitive devices like PCs onto a wired network, freeing up WiFi bandwidth for other devices.
MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance) allows you to create a high-speed ethernet network using your home's existing coaxial cable infrastructure; in other words, cable TV wiring. MoCA 2.5 can theoretically deliver up to 2.5 Gbps shared bandwidth across your network. Because the bandwidth is shared, actual throughput will depend on the number of devices and their usage patterns.
- Theoretical Max: 2.5 Gbps
- Real-world Achievement: 2.35-2.41 Gbps sustained (94-96% efficiency) as
measured by
iperf3.- Obviously, your results may vary based on your specific coax infrastructure, number of nodes, the quality of the wiring, interference from neighbors, and other factors.
- Improvement over Powerline: 23x faster.
- Packet Loss: Zero retransmissions during my testing.
Prices were on Amazon US as of May 2025.
- I used goCoax MA2500D (MoCA 2.5 with 2.5 GbE ports) - ~$65 each
- You'll want one for each location or room that has a coax outlet and needs ethernet connectivity, plus one for the router location.
- You can use a small switch in each room to connect multiple devices to each MoCA adapter as needed.
- Any quality MoCA 2.5 adapter should work. Be sure to check for any available firmware updates.
- MoCA PoE Filter. I used two by "PPC a BELDON Brand" - $8 each
- This is a "Point of Entry" filter that makes sure MoCA signals do not leak outside or into your home, which is critical for security and performance.
- Important: You might need a second one for the cable modem itself, as explained below
- MoCA compatible Splitters: Make sure all cable splitters involved are MoCA
compatible, ideally with up to a 2300MHz range.
- BAMF 2-Way MoCA Splitter (5-2300MHz) - $10 - for indoor use between the
cable modem and MoCA adapter.
- You may need a 3 way splitter indoors if you also use traditional cable TV (i.e., a separate cable TV box).
- BAMF 6-Way MoCA Splitter (5-2300MHz) - $15 - for outdoor distribution box.
- BAMF 2-Way MoCA Splitter (5-2300MHz) - $10 - for indoor use between the
cable modem and MoCA adapter.
- Coax terminators for unused ports, either on splitters or wall outlets - $7 for a pack of 10.
- Coax cable tester with tone generator for cable mapping / testing.
- I used a Jonard PT-300, a simple tone generator/continuity tester, which worked fine. - ~$26.
- You may need a coax cable crimper tool / kit if you need to make custom
coax cables or replace connectors. I used a basic kit from Amazon for $30
because I only needed to terminate a few existing cables.
- You may also need to buy some additional RG6 connectors if you need to practice your crimping skills or replace many connectors.
It's important to make sure the rest of your network infrastructure is up to date to avoid any bottlenecks or performance issues:
- Quality router
- As part of this upgrade I replaced an older Netgear WAX204 with a TP-Link Archer GE800 with 10 Gbps and 2.5 Gbps ports, which has excellent performance.
- Quality 2.5 GbE switches
- Cheap switches can definitely cause performance issues, such as a high number of TCP retransmits and slightly lower throughput, even if they are rated for 2.5 Gbps.
- I have had good results with the TP-Link "TL-SG105S-M2" model 5-port 2.5 Gbps switch - ~$75.
Find your cable demarcation box (usually outside):
- Look for where cable/internet enters your house.
- This may be a small outdoor box or a wall plate inside.
- Look for the place where main incoming splits out into multiple coax cables that run to different rooms.
- Count the "home run" cables leading into your house. In the ideal case, you have a separate one leading to each outlet that you want to use.
- You may find that some outlets are shared between home run lines by an internal splitter somewhere.
- Check any existing splitters you can find along any cable paths. Older ones may not support MoCA frequencies.
Map your coax outlets:
The goal here is to understand which outlet within your home connects to which home run cable. This will help you plan where to install MoCA adapters and prevents surprises during installation. This is also an ideal time to label your home run cables if they are not already labeled.
Use a coax cable tester with a tone generator. You connect the tone generator to a cable at your central distribution box, then take the separate probe/wand to each outlet inside. When the probe makes a buzzing sound at an outlet, you've found the other end of that cable. If necessary, you can do this in reverse - connect the generator to an interior outlet, and use the probe outside.
If you get a strong, solid sound, you should have a good continuity test. See the troubleshooting section below for more details on coax cable testing.
If an outlet appears dead, the next step should be to remove the wall plate and visually confirm the cable is physically connected to the jack outlet before assuming the cable run is bad.
When I first moved into my current house, I only used one cable outlet for the cable modem and never bothered to check the rest of my outlets. Then when I went to go set up my MoCA network I thought I had 4 dead outlets in the house and only 1 other outlet working. It turns out that for whatever reason, whoever wired this house never bothered to physically connect up the wall outlets to the home run cable behind them.
My initial testing with the tone generator produced some puzzling results with most of the house looking dead, until I finally thought to open up and check behind the wall outlets. There were also two unterminated home run cables at the outdoor cable demarcation box, so I also had to add RG6 connectors there in order to hook them up to the splitter. The coax crimping tool came in handy here.
Splitters must be MoCA compatible:
- ✅ Good: 5-2300MHz or higher frequency range
- ❌ Bad: 5-1002MHz (this will kill MoCA performance)
Identify any existing filters:
Check any existing filters or splitters anywhere in your signal path, particularly at the cable demarcation box, to make sure they are MoCA frequency compatible. Cable companies or contractors often install basic filters or grounding points, so don't assume they're MoCA PoE filters.
Critical for security and performance:
Make sure to install a MoCA PoE filter at the point where the cable enters your home. This filter prevents your MoCA signals from leaking to your neighbors, or their MoCA signals from interfering with yours. It's critical that you have a PoE filter installed before any MoCA devices in your home network. It should be installed at the main cable entry point before any splitters out to your home runs.
If for some reason you are unable to install a PoE filter, it is critical that you enable MoCA encryption on your MoCA adapters to prevent any potential interference or security issues.
Signal flow: Street → PoE Filter → MoCA Splitter → Home Runs
Installing the PoE filter in between the grounding block and the main outside splitter works fine, or before the grounding block too. It must be before (in front of) any splitters to your home runs. The filter I used can be installed bi-directionally, so it doesn't matter which way you install it.
See the note below about multiple PoE filters. You may need a second PoE filter installed between the cable modem and the MoCA adapter.
Replace any non-MoCA splitters with MoCA-compatible versions:
- Outdoor box: Use appropriate multi-way splitter for your home runs.
- Indoor locations: Only where you need to split the signal.
- Most locations: MoCA adapters plug directly into wall outlets.
You'll need at least 2 MoCA adapters, one for the router location and one for each device location that needs ethernet connectivity. Your cable modem doesn't necessarily have to be installed at the same location as your MoCA adapter, but it is often convenient to do so, in which case you might need an indoor MoCA-compatible splitter and possibly a second PoE filter.
At your router location:
- Use 2-way splitter: one output to cable modem, one to MoCA adapter
- If necessary, use a 3-way splitter if you also have a cable TV box.
- Connect the MoCA adapter to a LAN port on your router or a 2.5 GbE switch.
- Connect the cable modem to the other output of the splitter, and then connect the modem to your router's WAN port.
If you experience interference or performance issues, or your internet just dies when MoCA is active, consider installing a second PoE filter between the cable modem after the split for the MoCA adapter. This can help prevent any potential interference between the MoCA network and your cable modem, because the PoE filter will block MoCA signals from reaching the modem.
When I first installed a 2-node MoCA network, I didn't have any interference issues, but when I added additional nodes, my cable modem would be knocked offline immediately as soon as the MoCA network light came on the adapter. Installing a PoE filter between the cable modem and the MoCA adapter completely resolved this issue. I theorized that the nearby MoCA adapter became too "loud" for the cable modem to handle, and the PoE filter eliminated that signal. DOCSIS 3.1 modems may be more susceptible to this issue due to frequency overlap.
Simply plug the MoCA adapter into the coax outlet in each room where you need ethernet connectivity. If you only have a single device to plug in, you can connect it directly to the MoCA adapter's ethernet port. Otherwise, you'll want to connect a small switch to the MoCA adapter to provide additional ports. It's worth investing in a quality 2.5 GbE switch for this purpose; cheaper switches can bottleneck performance or cause instability.
Many MoCA adapters including the goCoax MA2500D support MoCA encryption, which adds an extra layer of security to your network. Typically this is not turned on by default, and sometimes you have to enable it manually in the adapter's web interface. If you are concerned about security, especially if you live in a multi-unit building such as an apartment complex or don't have access to the cable splits, consider enabling this feature. In theory, a PoE filter should prevent any MoCA signals from leaking outside your home, but enabling encryption adds an extra layer of protection.
However, if you operate a MoCA network in a typical detached single-family home, and have properly installed a PoE filter at the point of entry, you probably do not need or want to enable encryption. It can slightly degrade performance and adds additional complexity to your setup.
Install 75-ohm terminators on any unused splitter outputs to prevent signal reflections. Also consider terminating any unused coax wall outlets in your home if you have any interference issues.
Cheap or outdated routers or 2.5 GbE switches can bottleneck performance - invest in quality network equipment.
Standard placement is at house entry, but sometimes placing between cable modem and nearby MoCA adapter resolves specific interference issues.
Even with perfect MoCA performance, a router with only 1GbE ports will limit:
- Internet speeds (if you have >1Gbps service)
- Traffic between MoCA network and WiFi devices
However: Direct PC-to-PC traffic over MoCA bypasses the router entirely and gets full speed.
Even if you are not swapping out your router, you may want to power cycle your cable modem, router and other equipment after the installation and let things settle down for a few minutes. In particular, turn your cable modem on first, give it time to sync up, then turn on your router. Allow a few moments for the MoCA adapters to establish connections and show the "MoCA" light before testing.
Don't skip the cable testing phase - understanding your coax infrastructure prevents hours of troubleshooting.
This likely indicates a break in the physical coax path.
First, test continuity. Use a coax cable tester with a tone generator and probe to see if a signal can travel from your central distribution point to the wall outlet in question.
If the continuity test fails (no tone):
-
CRITICAL STEP: Inspect the wall plate. Before assuming a bad cable in the wall, remove the wall plate. In many cases, the cable may simply be unconnected to the back of the jack. This is a common issue in houses where not all outlets were used by previous owners.
-
Check all splitters. Verify every splitter in the path to that outlet is MoCA-compatible. A single old 5-1002MHz splitter will kill the signal.
-
Inspect for physical damage. Check for kinked or cut cables in your attic, basement, or outdoor box.
This can happen when the powerful signal from the MoCA adapter sharing a splitter with your modem is overwhelming the modem's sensitive tuner.
Symptom: Your cable modem works perfectly, but as soon as you power on your MoCA adapters and they form a network, your modem's "online" light begins to flash or turn off, and your internet connection dies.
Diagnostic step: check that the internet connection is stable when the modem is connected directly to the wall, but fails when the MoCA adapter is introduced on the same splitter.
Solution: Install a second MoCA PoE filter directly on the cable modem's input, as described above. This will prevent MoCA signals from interfering with the cable modem's operation.
Symptom: You're getting full multi-gigabit speeds between MoCA nodes (for
example, as tested through iperf3), but internet speed
tests are much lower than your ISP plan's speed.
Diagnostic step: Instead of connecting your cable modem to your router, connect it directly to a computer. Turn off the cable modem, then back on, and allow it to come online. Then reboot your computer and run an internet speed test. If the speed is high, the bottleneck is your router.
Additional checks: Log into your router's admin panel and disable processor-intensive features. Check the QoS (Quality of Service) setting in your router; this or Port Scan / DoS protection features, can sometimes cause performance issues on cheaper / lower powered consumer routers. QoS in particular is often not really necessary for home networks. These features force the router's CPU to inspect every data packet, which can create a bottleneck on high-speed connections.
Solution: First try rebooting your router or a factory reset. Upgrade your router to one with 2.5 GbE or higher ports that is known to have good performance with multi-gigabit connections.
Symptom: Your iperf3 tests show decent speed
(e.g., 1.9 Gbps) but also show a high number of TCP Retransmits (Retr).
Cause: This is often caused by lower-quality endpoint equipment. As learned in this project, a cheap, no-name 2.5 GbE switch can introduce significant packet loss.
Solution: Invest in quality networking equipment from reputable brands. A good switch should result in near-zero retransmits during testing.
- Check all splitters are MoCA-compatible (5-2300MHz minimum).
- Verify PoE filter installation both at the outside and possibly in front of your cable modem as mentioned above.
- Test with quality Cat-5e or better ethernet cables.
- Check if your MoCA adapters have the latest firmware.
- Confirm coax continuity with cable tester.
- Check for loose or unterminated connections.
- Try different coax outlets.
- iperf3 for network throughput testing.
- This is a Linux-based tool, but there are Windows and Mac versions available, and it can be run under WSL on Windows.
- I ran the server mode on my Linux server and the client mode on my Windows PC to measure performance.
- On Linux, the server portion is generally enabled automatically when you
install the package, or you can run
iperf3 -sto start it. - On the client side, run
iperf3 -c <server_ip> -t 30to test for 30 seconds.
- speedtest.net for internet speed verification
- Check your normal internal file transfers (e.g. from a NAS server) or other normal network usage patterns to see if you notice any improvements.
- MoCA 2.5: 2.0-2.5 Gbps depending on conditions.
- Internet: Should match or exceed your ISP plan.
- Zero packet loss in a properly configured system.
Approximate costs for a 5-location setup:
- MoCA Adapters (5x): $325
- PoE Filter (2x): $16
- MoCA Splitters: $20-30
- Terminators & misc: $20
- Coax Cable Tester and Crimper: ~$60
- (You may not need these, depending on your cabling situation.)
- Total MoCA Infrastructure: ~$450-500
Also consider whether you need to upgrade your router or any switches to 2.5+ Gbps to realize the system's full potential.
MoCA 2.5 transforms home networking by leveraging existing coax infrastructure to create a high-speed backbone. With proper planning and quality components, you can achieve near-theoretical maximum performance and eliminate the instability issues common with powerline adapters and WiFi-only setups.
The investment in time and equipment pays dividends in network reliability, speed, and future-proofing your home infrastructure.
This guide is based on a real implementation that achieved 2.4 Gbps sustained throughput with zero packet loss across a 5-node MoCA network. I genuinely hope this helps some people out there. Please let me know your results!