DECA Coax Network Bridge

[Tripredacus]

This is something I read up on, experimented with and was able to get working, so I decided to post a topic about it. DECA stands for DirecTV Ethernet Coaxial Adapter. These are devices used in some DirecTV satellite TV installations to allow some DVRs to communicate using the satellite dish via ethernet, while not being connected to the internet themselves. There may be other methods, but this was how it was once installed in my house. When I cancelled the service, I only had to return one set top box, and all the extra equipment remained. So off into a bin until I was bored and decided to look into it.

What can make this worthwhile to others is that (currently) these items are cheap to purchase, and you do not actually need a satellite dish or installation. The concept is very similar to MoCA, but it is much cheaper and may be slower. What you can do with these devices is bridge two (or more) LANs using coax cable. This was useful to me because I wanted to have a physical internet connection in my upstairs without using wireless, and without drilling holes and running ethernet cable.

Here I will outline the hardware required. Model numbers may vary slightly.
- DECA Broadband adapter (ie DECABB1MR0)
- DECA Receiver (ie DCASR0-01)
- Power for DECA Receiver (ie DirecTV Satellite Power Inserter)

The DECA Broadband adapter has 1 coax connector and 1 Ethernet connector. Connect this device to a router. (It is potential that this setup can work in either direction, I have yet to test, but most information says that the Broadband adapter is connected to the internet source.) The Coax connector, you connect to your Coax cable.

For the DECA Receiver, it has 2 coax connections (one should have a cable connected and shrink tubing to bond it to the device) and an ethernet port. This device is for connecting to the other end of the coax cable. One one end there is an ethernet port and the covered cable, and on the other end is a coax connector. The bare coax connector goes to the other end of your coax cable. The covered cable connects to the Power Inserter. The ethernet port is for the network or computer you are bridging to.

The Power Inserter has two ports, Power to IRD and Power to SWM. It connects into a power outlet. The covered cable on the DECA Receiver connects to the Power to SWM port.

Final Thoughts

The DECA network is designed to work on an active satellite TV installation and are NOT designed to work on an existing cable TV installation. If you are just using your own coax cabling with no service being run on them, there won't be a problem. The DECA network is also designed to use RG6 coaxial cable, and not the lower grade that can be found in some older cable TV installations, but there are some instances where other coax cable grades will work fine.

If you are going to set something like this up in a house that has used or unused cable runs already in the walls, you may have to do "guess and test" to find which two ends to connect to. It is not immediately obvious, but not all coax outlets in a house may be connected to each other. When I did my first attempt and got no network sync, I did an inspection in the basement and found 3 different coax "networks" were run. This is because when a service tech for a TV service does work for you, they use what is already present if possible, and if they replace something, they will leave the original parts there. It can especially be a pain for anyone who has an older home or apartment where various different TV services have been used over the years.

There are other ways to power the DECA receiver than the Power Inserter. There are even USB powered versions available.

The Broadband adapter, once powered, will light a link light on the router. When you have the two ends of the DECA network able to talk to each other, you should get 3 green lights on the Broadband Adapter. They are Power, NTWK and c.Link. If there is no connection, one will be green, NTWK will be off and one will be blinking orange. The power adapter for the Broadband adapter is 12V, 1A. Using a 12V, 1.2A adapter instead will not light up the broadband adapter and it will make a buzzing sound instead.

Here is a picture of the 3 lights on the Broadband adapter:
http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss236/tpx_bst/Mobile Uploads/20170306_192940_zpsinnqa0so.jpg

For the receiver end, If it is not powered, it will not light up. If it has power but there is no communication to the Broadband adapter, you will have 1 green light and 1 blinking orange light. You will not have a link light on your switch until the connection is active. This is different than the Broadband Adapter, which will have an active link to the other end without sync to the receiver.

Here is a picture of the power inserter, the DECA Receiver, and the switch. In this image, LAN port 1 connects to a computer, LAN port 7 connects to the DECA Receiver.

Startup cost on this is pretty cheap if you don't have some of these parts already. Someone might find it handy.