Bitdefender Box 2 with MOCA adapters

USBoxUser

I am going to be purchasing some Motorola MOCA adapters to put downstream from my Bitdefender Box 2. I have read some articles that devices connected to MOCA adapters will not be protected by the Box 2. Is this correct?

USBoxUser

Anyone out there? There? There?

Getafix

I am answering since you haven't got any answers but I am not 100% sure that what I am saying is all correct.

If you have Internet->Router->Coax->Moca->Box 2 or even Ineternet->Router->(Box2 on Ether and Coax Moca in parallel) then yes, the box will not "protect" the devices behind the moca.  For the Box to protect devices, they must reside in the network the box creates.  Let's say your router has an IP address such as 192.168.1.254 and your box sits behind that, the box creates a network like 172.24.1.xxx.  The "stuff" behind the moca will have addresses such as 192.168.1.xxx, since the router, and not the box, will be responsible for DHCP for these behind-moca devices.

Anyway, what I describe above is how it works in my house - I have fiber-router-moca-box. My PVR sits at the moca level, so on the 192.168.1.xxx network (protected by the firewall on my router anyway).  My PCs and WiFi are all in the 172.24.1.xxx range "behind" the box.  If I pug a PC into another Moca, it gets a 192.168.1.xxx IP and bitdefender reports it as protected outside the network (protected because it has the bitdefender application installed).

Maybe you can put a MOCA (probably through a switch) behind the box, and use paired MOCAs to get access where you need it, and that will then be behind the box, and protected.  I haven't tried that.  My MOCAs are all paired to the one built into the router.  I have never messed with MOCA frequencies and pairing but I think that should be possible.  If you are going off and buying your own MOCAs you probably know if that's possible better than me

digitalgriffin

Maybe I'm missing something, but a MOCA device is just a device which switches Ethernet->coax (and vice versa) so you can use the coax connections in your house to run your ethernet.  These devices really don't need protection as they just convert electrical signals and don't interpret or inspect any incoming data.   I'm not even sure they have a MAC address.  So as long as your MOCA devices are on the LAN AFTER the BitDefender box you should be fine.

Stiltjack

Don't know about MOCA, but protecting a mesh network (in my case BT Whole Home) sounds similar. If you leave the mesh units connected to the ISP-supplied router, you end up with two networks - the original 192.168.1.xxx one and the 172.24.1.xxx network created by the box. The first will be unprotected. If you connect the mesh units to the port on the back of the box you get a single protected network, with the box supplying all the addresses.