MoCA possible? or ethernet?

[iOnTech]

Looking for advice on a job. I want to provide 2 proposals to a client, the cheapest (if reliable) and the better way.
This client has 2 buildings that he has an agreement with a local resort to provide temporary housing to workers of the local resort during high tourism times, mainly winter here. Occasionally he will rent it out to other clients.
Each apartment has bathroom/kitchen/living room. and bunk beds in multiple bedrooms. The buildings are log slabs with thick wooden beams inside throughout and metal roofs.
He has a main building with 7 apartments, with up to 22 people staying there at any time. There is a second building 150 feet away from the Main building that has 4 apartments with up to 33 people staying there at any time.
the client is going to provide a 1080p smart tv in every apartment so each tv can stream HULU or Netflix, youtube etc. Also he wants each apartment to have its own WAP. There is a 3rd building the Sugar shack 150ft from Main building that just needs direct burial Ethernet run to a WAP. This is only to provide wireless for entertainment while owner cooks his maple syrup. So I wont really mention it again.

So The Local cable company is gonna run fiber in a week or two. He is not providing cable tv service, just internet. 100Mbps up/down and they told him they can up the service level too I think 1 gig speed up and down, if he needs it. He has no monthly data cap. I told him right away he may need to up it, since he is gonna feed 11 smart tvs and 55 total people at any one time. He is aware of this and fine with it.

So my best solution proposal is to run direct burial cat6 between the 3 buildings. then Put a cisco VPN router in the Main building near the cable/fiber modem, with a router capable of limiting bandwidth to say 10mbps per IP address it hands out, then connect that to POE enabled cisco switches in both buildings and Run cat5e or cat6 to all 11 tvs total. Then run separate Ethernet lines to however many WAPs I need for good coverage and have the POE switches power all the WAPs. Or maybe just run ethernet to a stand up WAP behind each tv and make sure the WAP has a seperate ethernet port to plug in each smart tv by ethernet cable.

However I was thinking of trying to save labor/material costs for him since he has RG-6 3ghz coax already ran by me to all 11 TVs. ( recent dish network tv install, all coax cables in both buildings are home runs ). I was wondering if MoCA 2.0 is reliable enough yet and can handle that kind of bandwidth need? Maybe put one of these MoCA WiFi adapters behind every tv?
Actiontec 802.11ac Wireless Network Extender with Gigabit Ethernet & Bonded MoCA (WCB6200Q02) ?
A MoCA adapter at both switches to inject the signal onto coax. And the before mentioned actiontec WiFi WAPs for wireless in every apartment and the ethernet port on the devices for the ethernet connection to the smart tvs.
are MoCA networks reliable enough or should I just run Ethernet and put in something like Ubiquiti Networks Unifi 802.11ac Dual-Radio PRO Access Point (UAP-AC-PRO-US) and power them by POE switches as mentioned and ethernet to tvs?

I could really use any input or experience any of you, have on anything I have mentioned. Anyone know if MoCA will work reliably in this situation? Anyone know how to restrict bandwidth per every IP address the router hands out?

Thank you

 

[timeshifter]

Sounds like the residents of these units are only there for a short period of time. Any downtime you encounter would seem to have a much lower level of tolerance from the residents and the landlord.

I've installed a MoCA adapter setup once or twice. But only for one link from a 3rd floor to a basement, nowhere near the number of connections you're talking about. I remember one service call. They'd had a power outage and Internet wasn't working in the basement. Turns out all I had to do was power cycle the MoCA adapter. There's no way in hell that I'd want to have to support 15 or 20 of those units in an environment like you described, even if they're paying me for every phone call and service call.

I'd build a proper Ethernet network for him.

Also, I had a lot of trouble following your description of the environment. Maybe try listing the information in a table here or draw out a diagram and post it. Might help you get better ideas here.

 

[iOnTech]

Thanks for the reply.
here goes my sad diagram, the diagram is of the way the tvs are hooked up right now.
Next to every tv is a dish network receiver
every coax cable is a home run to dish splitters in basement (I ran the cables myself, 3-4 years ago)


You are right, it will turn into a disaster. After saving money he will be happy, but after running to 11 apartments plus 2 utility rooms to reset devices a couple of times. he's not gonna appreciate the cost savings anymore. I will not use MoCA in this case. Instead ill put in
Ethernet using POE switches to power my WAPs and if it loses power. At most the owner runs to 2 utility rooms to reset equipment. Or I learn to power cycle switches thru VPN for him.

 

[iOnTech]

Since I'm not gonna use MoCA.

I will put a cisco router in the utility room of building #1
connect router to cable modem
install Cisco POE switch and connect to router
run Ethernet to TVs in apts 1-7 and connect to cisco POE switch

run direct burial Ethernet from building #1 to BOTH building #2 and the sugar shack

In sugar shack connect Ethernet cable to WAP.

In building #2
install cisco POE switch
run Ethernet to TVs in apts 8-11 and connect to POE switch in utilitly room
connect Ethernet from building #1 to POE switch.

then I can just put WAPs behind some of the TVs and have the output Ethernet jack of WAP feed the smart tv.

now I have to learn how to restrict the bandwidth of every IP my router hands out to say 6-10 Mbps so no single connection hogs all the bandwidth. I was thinking restricting by MAC address but I think that would make my WAPs limit themselves to 6-10 Mbps and not each computer connecting to it.

he doesn't want Hulu to buffer and get complaints.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I've used MoCA a few times in the past...noticed on some networks with many splits and nodes, sometimes the MoCA bridges need a bounce to come back. On simple setups without splits...or even a direct end to end run, they seem fine. Based on your diagram...yeah I'd probably shy away since you have a lot of splits.

What model Cisco router you thinking? I'd be wanting one with a good amount of horsepower, if I were doing this with Ubiquiti I'd be using the USG Pro model.

 

[iOnTech]

I am not sure what cisco router yet. Not sure if the RV325 can handle what I need to do.
(would love some suggestions)
I just recently got the RV325 in my home setup. While playing with the setup last night I answered one of my questions I asked here.
How to limit each IP my router hands out to say 6-10 Mbps. found the settings I need under bandwidth management.
However when testing my speeds.
I would first NOT engage bandwidth manager and I would see 140-Mbps down and 10 Mbps up from speakeasy speedtest on my desktop.
however when engaging bandwidth manager and only limiting my laptops IP to <=10Mbps my desktop would drop from 140 without it engaged, too 88 Mbps when engaged. (this would happen every time)

I have the latest firmware
everytime it was engaged it would almost half my bandwidth for all computers vs it not engaged.
not just the IP set to limited bandwidth.
I set my WAN ISPs provided bandwidth to 140000/200000/and 300000 Kbps, with no difference.
is this normal?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Back in the first Cisco RV series...we sold/installed hundreds of those..the old RV042, RV082, RV016....loved those back then.
But more current generations.."meh". Even tried the LRT series....but.."meh".

For most business clients we use UTMs..but for those that don't have the budget, we needed a good plain NAT router...and after my increasing displeasure of the more recent RV series, luckily we found Ubiquiti and the EdgeRouters and Unifi gateways are what we use for non UTM clients now.

 

[iOnTech]

thanks for replies
Decided to go with all ubiquiti
USG-PRO-4 gateway
(2) x US-16-150W UniFi Switchs (says he may add cameras. etc hence the extra ports)
cloud key
and (7) UAP-AC-PRO-US (1-in sugar shack, 3 per other 2 buildings)
not sure if I'm over doing it with the WAPs. but its all 6 inch wood walls with all metal roof.
waiting for a go now.