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Cake day: October 27th, 2023

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  • Most consumer modem-routers speak DOCSIS, not MoCA, so you don’t want to get one. While you could probably find a ISP modem-router on eBay with MoCA, it would be more straightforward to buy standalone MoCA adapters and a WiFi Access Point.

    You would connect one MoCA adapter between a LAN port on the Xfinity modem-router and the coax splitter. Then the other MoCA adapter between the coax splitter and WiFi Access Point.

    You may want to replace the splitter with one that can pass frequencies up to 1675 MHz. A standard 1000 MHz splitter will work though speeds may be reduced.

    Finally, it’s recommended to put a MoCA filter onto the input of the splitter to keep the MoCA signal confined to your house. If your Xfinity modem-router uses DOCSIS 3.1, a 2nd MoCA filter on the modem can ensure that the modem avoids using MoCA frequencies. Not all ISPs provision DOCSIS 3.1 to use MoCA frequencies, so the 2nd filter may not be needed.


  • I read that devices often have a minimum signal strength (~70db) before they decide to switch

    Yes, that’s correct. So long as the AP is using the same SSID and password as the router, devices should roam on their own. It’s odd that this is not happening. It shouldn’t matter, but put the router and AP on different Wi-Fi channels.




  • There’s another variable here, which is the behavior that TCP and UDP flows have on each other. There are a number of TCP congestion management algorithms that have been developed over the years. This paper, for example, shows that BBR congestion control is very unfair to CUBIC. IOW, if one PC is using BBR and another CUBIC, the first PC will hog most of the bandwidth.

    Similarly, QUIC, which is a UDP-based alternative to TCP originally developed by Google and used a lot by Chrome, is quite unfair to TCP as the images show.

    Anyway, this is a bit off topic. The main point that the network is only as fast as the slowest link is correct.





  • Sure.

    IGMP snooping blocks the transmission of multicast packets to switch ports that have no listeners. This can benefit devices connected to the switch. It can even protect the router from receiving multicast traffic provided that the transmitting devices are connected to the switch.

    If a transmitter is connected directly to the router, the router will flood it out on all other ports, including the port connected to the switch. But the switch may choose to not flood it on its other ports if there are no listeners.



  • Getting a remote user into your LAN is basically accomplished by setting up a VPN server and having your friend use a VPN client to connect.

    Tailscale and Hamachi are two popular VPN services. Tailscale has a free plan that allows something like 2 or 3 users, so you could use that.

    You can also set up a VPN by hand using WireGuard or OpenVPN. WireGuard is very popular these days. Tailscale actually uses WireGuard under the covers. It just takes care of configuring it for you. Tailscale also provides extra features to deal with NAT.

    I’ve never tried installing Tailscale on a mobile phone acting as a hotspot. It may work. Tailscale has extensive documentation on their website.

    Alternatively, your router may have a VPN server that you can use.

    Lastly, you can install a VPN server onto a computer. You’ll have to configure port forwarding on the router to allow remote address to the VPN server.

    This is just the basics. You can find plenty of guides for any of these options.



  • I don’t know the tools that can show you that though, sadly, as I’ve never faced issues like that.

    The Internet speed can be checked by going to any number of speed test websites. Using a site recommended by the ISP is often, though not necessarily, the best choice.

    As to measuring the bandwidth usage of each device, there are really only 2 options:

    1. Check if the router maintains traffic statistics per device. This is uncommon on consumer grade routers.
    2. Check traffic statistics on each device. Windows and MacOS can show instantaneous network usage as well as aggregate packets and bytes. AFAIK, Android and iOS only provide aggregate data usage, not instantaneous. No doubt the streamer is using a computer, so this may not be an issue.

    /u/MapleDrinkinCanadian, the streamer may be using a lot of upload bandwidth. Many Internet plans have less upload bandwidth than download bandwidth. You may need to upgrade to a faster Internet plan if you two are, indeed, using up all available bandwidth in either direction.


  • The coax port on the Pace is a HomePNA port. It’s similar to MoCA.

    I suspect the Pace is set up a Wi-Fi Access Point. You probably have a DSL router (possibly another Pace) located somewhere else in a setup like this:

    ISP---DSL over telephone line---Pace1---coax---Pace2

    You found Pace2. Now look for Pace1. You may have an enclosure inside or outside the house where all of the telephone and coax cables meet. Pace1 may be located near that point.




  • If you only have 3 coax drops, chances are that you only have one splitter to find (and possibly replace). Start by looking outside for the coax cable coming from the street to the house. The cable will often lead to an enclosure. The splitter may be inside it.

    The coax cable may also simply go into the house to an enclosure inside the house. It can be anywhere. The garage, a closet, hallway, laundry room, basement or attic.

    You should be able to find it.


  • In many cases, no. The link speed of your PC is dictated by the network interface in use. Gigabit Internet service with a gigabit Ethernet interface would be an example where they would match.

    In your case, you may be using a 802.11ac connection with a 40 MHz channel.

    If your router, has a setting to use 80 MHz channels, this can increase the link speed by up to 2x under ideal conditions. Actual results will depend on your environment.

    Keep in mind that overall speeds will be dictated by the speed of the slowest link. Switching to an 80 MHz channel may double your PC’s link speed to, say, 800 Mbps but access to the Internet will be capped at 600 Mbps.

    BTW, WiFi link speeds are much higher than the actual speed due to the high amount of overhead inherent in WiFi. A rule of thumb is to expect real world speeds to be 50% less than the link speed for WiFi. Ethernet is very different. Overhead is much lower, around 5%. So, even with an 800 Mbps link speed over WiFi, actual speeds will be around 400 Mbps, give or take.


  • Those QoS settings are not useful. Since this is the Advanced - QoS section, is there a basic QoS section? There may be more settings there.

    Did you check the send/receive rates on your Dad’s PC?

    The only other thing I can think of is an IP address conflict. Check you and your Dad’s PC and make sure they are not using the same IP address.