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Edited: Jun 18, 2021

Frontier-branded WF-803FT (FCA251) help?

Hi, I'm wondering if any support is available via this forum for the WF-803FT (FCA251) adapter?

For starters, I'm looking for details on how to access the adapter's configuration/diagnostic UI, in order to set an IP address for the device, configure MoCA privacy settings, and review MoCA statistics.

Longer term, I'm also interested in how the adapters function when set to "WAN" and "LAN" modes, but specifically:

How to configure other MoCA adapters to function as a MoCA LAN when the WF-803FT has been set to "WAN" mode to function strictly as a 2-node WAN link?
How to configure other adapters to connect to a WF-803FT when the WF-803FT has been set to "LAN" mode?

p.s. Perhaps to demonstrate why the need for insight on configuring these adapters for coexistence, the WF-803FT Quick Start Guide offers the following details on "WAN" and "LAN" operation of the WF-803FT:

WAN (1475-1675 MHz); 2x 100 MHz
LAN (1025-1350 MHz); 3x 100 MHz
FULL (1125-1675 MHz); 5x 100 MHz

If accurate, this seems a peculiar choice for the settings, as using 1025-1350 MHz for the LAN precludes any retail adapters from being added to the setup, even manually configured, to extend the LAN; and using 1475-1675 MHz for the WAN precludes the simple configuration of D-High for the LAN. (1025-1225 MHz seems the obvious choice for the MoCA WAN, since the non-standard range would only be needed for the 1 or 2 adapters involved in the MoCA WAN link, and it would leave D-High for the MoCA LAN, and the possibility of still employing a "D-High"-split MoCA filter for MoCA LAN performance improvement.) Why were these frequency ranges chosen, rather than the ranges cited in the goCoax FAQ for the frequencies frequently used by ISPs for simultaneous WAN (D-Low) and LAN (D-High) MoCA networks within the Extended Band D range?

39 comments

39 Comments

lesliebutler

Feb 14, 2022

I am sorry but, I am not technically savvy enough to make any suggestions.

Guojun Zhu

Feb 14, 2022

I bought two of this MOCA 2.5 adapters and hope to use some of the cables outlets in my house. However, even when I connect two adapters directly, I can only get about 300Mbs throughput (using iperf3). I basically do laptop->803FT->1m cable->803FT->router->cat5e->laptop(w/iperf3). I have set both to full or both to LAN. Neither gives me better than 300Mbs. (All three lights, pwr, moca, eth are on) Here is what I see when I log into the adapter's control page.

I switched to connect laptop to the router using cat5 cable and iperf3 gave 900Mbps.

Please help, thank you very much.

lesliebutler

Jan 25, 2022

I had a chat with Frontier's support desk. Here is what I was able to do with four FCA251's. On the lan side of the Netgear AC1900 Smart WiFi Router R7000,. The R7000 is connected to the ONT through a BAMF SB-2002 2 way Splitter to a FCA251 set to WAN. The other side of the splitter is connected to a FCA251 set to LAN with an CAT5 cable from a port on the R7000. In my Study room the computer is connected to the Coax network through a CAT5 cable to a FCA251 set to LAN. In a bedroom I have a tv connected by a CAT5 to a FCA251 connected to COAX outlet. In the living room the TV goes through ROKU to the another router port. So far, I have wired connections for the TV and computer and WiFi for the tablets and phones. Will keep you guys posted!

Jan 23, 2022

I have a Frontier WF-803FT but the best I can get is ~280Mbps up ~380Mbps down with two adapters connected through a 6ft coax, no splitters, filters or anything else in between. I used iperf3 and NetIO for the tests. The same setup with GbE/CAT6/CAT5e cable gets me ~900Mbps.

I set both adapters to full (FULL mode did not connect, aka MoCA light is off, until I unchecked "Preferred NC" on one of the WF-803FT).

Is there something wrong with the Frontier version WF-803FT that throttles the speed? Would changing the firmware to WF-803M fix the problem or the hardware for the Frontier version is different? I can telnet to it if somebody can tell me the right commands (couldn't make any sense out of what I saw with "help" command there).

lesliebutler

Nov 06, 2021

Ok guys, help me out. I just switched to Frontier. My network is the ONT to a WF 803FT an Ethernet cable to a Netgear AC1900 WAN port and WiFi to a Samsung smart TV and desktop computer through Netgear range extender. I have Coax ports at both locations and two additional 803’s. How do I configure the adapters to use the Coax port for the deskto?

goCoax

Nov 08, 2021

Replying to

You can configure the 803M to D-high and change the LOF to 1400MHz. That will use 1350-1675MHz. Swith 803FT to LAN mode and reboot it.

lesliebutler

Nov 08, 2021

Replying to

Please explain the terms "803M" and " LOF "

WeirdG

Nov 05, 2021

Ran an iperf3 test to see what the speeds were between my two MoCA adapters, and I'm satisfied with the results. This is my test environment:

Macbook Pro 2014 (Client) --> USB Gig-E Adapter --> Unifi US-8 Switch --> WF-803FT MoCA Adapter 2 --> WF-803FT MoCA Adapter 1 --> Unifi Dream Machine Router --> Dell PowerEdge T20 Server (Server)

Command I used:

iperf3 -c 192.168.10.208 -t 10 -w 1M -O 3

WeirdG

Jan 28, 2022

Replying to

@hw+gocoax the switches on both adapters are set to Full right? Maybe try doing a factory reset on both adapters and go through the setup process again. I'm running out of ideas, because these were pretty simple to setup for me.

hw+gocoax

Jan 28, 2022

Replying to

@Kam Yes. They are both on FULL mode. I just factory resetted both adapters. There's no setup process. The MoCA light came on and I'm still getting the same lousy speeds. Thanks for your help but at this point I'm giving up. Going to return it.

ploog

May 27, 2022

Replying to

@hw+gocoax if using iPerf3, you want to use the “—parallel #” (”-P #”) command line option to specify that the test should run ”#” parallel threads. iPerf3 will report slower results for single-threaded tests over MoCA.

WeirdG

Nov 04, 2021

This is strange... I checked the Network MoCA Version on the Frontier adapters I have, and it's showing v2.0 as others have indicated.

Lon on Youtube is using similar adapters, but the GoCoax version of his adapters show v2.5 under Network MoCA Version. https://youtu.be/XeqbkfColRg?t=274 When he went over to physical rates section, I noticed his rates were exactly the same as the Frontier adapters I'm using. https://youtu.be/XeqbkfColRg?t=355 Is it possible that there's a bug in Frontier's firmware causing it to display the incorrect Network MoCA Version?

dpsiu

Oct 25, 2021

Hi,

Please elaborate how to configure the Frontier-branded WF-803FT (FCA251) device to D-high (1350-1675MHz).

Thanks!

goCoax

Nov 08, 2021

Replying to

Configure WF-803M, not WF-803FT.

goCoax

Oct 25, 2021

Hi Dan,

First, you can configure the device to D-high and change the LOF to 1400MHz. That will use 1350-1675MHz.

Next, adding a PoE filter is the best choice. That will separate the two signals with hardware.

ploog

May 27, 2022

Replying to

Just to clarify, Dan is using a Frontier-branded WF-803FT/FCA251, so these instructions wouldn’t apply for this adapter, correct?

The “WAN” configuration toggle is the only option for configuring the WF-803FT/FCA251 to avoid DOCSIS 3.1 “initial rollout” frequencies (up through 1218 MHz)?

Dan

Oct 24, 2021

I'm regretting buy these adapters for a dirt cheap price off of ebay. After 6mo of working fine, my isp (spectrum) seems to have turned on the docsis 3.1 ofdm channel which can run into the 1218mhz range. All of a sudden once or twice a week usually in the middle of the night I find my modem offline and stuck ranging. Most Moca 2.0/2.5 can be configured to use high-d band (1350 to 1675mhz) with a minor speed drop from the normal extended d band (1125 to 1675mhz). This adapter does not appear to have this option so my only recourse is to change from FULL (1125 to 1675mhz 5x bonded) to WAN (1475 to 1675 only 2x bonded) which takes a much bigger moca network speed penalty. I'm starting to think my old moca 2.0 would be better than WAN on this adapter using high D band only...

Does anyone see any other options? The only other thing I've read is to put another moca filter right on the back of the modem to prevent the docsis3.1 modem from accessing and interfering in the 1218mhz range. This may work in the interim, but eventually if isps require docsis 3.1 won't this basically break as I'm intentionally blocking my modem from accessing anything above 1002mhz with the moca filter right on the back of it? (still maybe this is the best option today if I can get full 400mbps isp speed with docsis 3.0 today?)

Thanks,

Dan

ploog

May 27, 2022

Replying to

@Dan :: “so my only recourse is to change from FULL (1125 to 1675mhz 5x bonded) to WAN (1475 to 1675 only 2x bonded) which takes a much bigger moca network speed penalty. I'm starting to think my old moca 2.0 would be better than WAN on this adapter using high D band only..”

FWIW, Bonded MoCA 2.0 would also only bond 2 channels max, so there wouldn’t be any performance difference b/w that and the FCA251 “WAN” configuration, assuming compatible coax.

The roadblock with the frequency range adjustment for trying to operate MoCA alongside DOCSIS 3.1 “initial rollout” frequencies (up to 1218 MHz) is that you’d need a “PoE” MoCA filter customized for DOCSIS 3.1, to allow the D3.1 frequencies to pass through, while blocking the MoCA signals. MoCA filters spec’d for DOCSIS 3.1 and D-High MoCA are hard to come by.

That said, if your coax plant already had a standard MoCA filter installed at the cable point-of-entry, your modem couldn’t have been actually using DOCSIS 3.1 frequencies that overlap with the MoCA range (they would have been blocked by the “PoE” MoCA filter) … and adding an additional MoCA filter on the modem would simply have protected the modem from MoCA signals.

dpsiu

Oct 15, 2021

Please share your experience with enabling security in "FULL" mode. After I enabled security, the MoCA LED shows blue after boot, and turns blue-and-green after connect, for "LAN" and "WAN" modes. However, for "FULL" mode, the MoCA LED remains off after boot, and turns green after connect, suggesting security is NOT in effect. Thanks everyone!

Kevin G

Oct 07, 2021

Is it normal for "Full" mode to say "2.0" for "Network MoCA Version"? I am seeing the same screens even when I have my adapters connected with a short 10ft cable point to point.

ploog

Aug 08, 2021

So just dumping the web UI screens for reference. Key takeaway is that the Device Status page confirms the operating frequencies for each of the toggle switch settings, per the Quick Start documents -- including the non-standard range used for the setting labeled "LAN":

FULL (1125-1675 MHz); 5x 100 MHz (max 2000 Mbps shared)
WAN (1475-1675 MHz); 2x 100 MHz (max 800 Mbps shared)
LAN (1025-1350 MHz); 3x 100 MHz (max 1200 Mbps shared)

edit: p.s. 'First Channel' and 'Number of Channels' fields seem broken for the "WAN" configuration.

Status : Device Status --- Toggle set to "FULL"

Status : PHY Rates --- Toggle set to "FULL"

Status : Device Status --- Toggle set to "WAN"

Status : PHY Rates --- Toggle set to "WAN"