Is MoCA a viable option for home networking?

[zuulcrush]

I have recently been looking into trying to get faster networking throughout my home and laying Ethernet isn't going to be an option. What I was considering to do instead was to use a MoCA network in place of ethernet, but I never hear of anyone doing this, so I am skeptical. Is this a viable solution? Is there some drawback I don't know about that is the reason everyone uses ethernet?

[Donut417]

3 minutes ago, zuulcrush said:

I have recently been looking into trying to get faster networking throughout my home and laying Ethernet isn't going to be an option. What I was considering to do instead was to use a MoCA network in place of ethernet, but I never hear of anyone doing this, so I am skeptical. Is this a viable solution? Is there some drawback I don't know about that is the reason everyone uses ethernet?

MOCA is like WiFi its half duplex. Only one company makes Moca 2.0 adapters and thats Actiontech. Its a viable solution as the major players like Comcast use it for whole home DVR setups. I think MOCA 2.0 can do up to 800Mbps, because its half duplex you get about 400Mbps. But its a wired connection. You will need to make sure that the necessary spliters are MOCA certified. Meaning they can carry a signal both ways. Id assume this would be the case now days. You also need to add a filter to the line coming in from you cable company to keep your network traffic off their network. I did some research myself, but I was able to move both modem and router in to my room. MOCA 2.0 adapters seemed to be about $160 for a pair on non bonded. Bonded adapters allow you to split off the signal so you can still use the signal coming in for TV and such. So essentially a Coax in, a Coax out and an Ethernet out. I mean, what harm is it to try? If it dont work, then return the adapters and such. Lets just say, Id try out MOCA over WIFI any day of the week. 

 

Other imporant things:

A MOCA network can only have 16 nodes on it (Adapters). However you can just hook up a switch and use multiple devices with each adapter. Id like to say signal wise its not a finicky as your cable modem, but you need to make sure you dont have too much loss between point A and point B. MOCA will work with cable TV/Internet service. But Im not sure how it will react if you use a whole home DVR as those are MOCA based. And MOCA will not work with Satellite TV service if it runs on the same cable. For Satellite you will need special MOCA adapters. 

[zuulcrush]

Thank you for the response, it is very helpful.

[dricha36]

15 hours ago, zuulcrush said:

Thank you for the response, it is very helpful.

Just wanted to jump in here.

I have personally used MoCa for a while now, and it has been GREAT. ActionTec's MoCa 2.0 adapters perform wonderfully, and I RARELY have any disconnection problems. It's not quite as fast as gigabit ethernet for huge file transfers, but for gaming, web browsing, streaming, ect - it performs wonderfully.

As noted above, make sure to put a MoCa filter on the incoming cable line from your cable company, and make sure that all of your connections terminate into a single large splitter. When I first implemented MoCa, I had two or three daisy-chained coax splitters, which gave me awful performance. I have since switched to a single 8-way coax splitter, and get great speeds. Also know that you CANNOT use MoCa if you have satellite TV.

[zuulcrush]

Update in case anyone new reads this: At the entry entry point of the house you need to make sure that you have a 2Ghz splitter. 1 Ghz does not work with MoCA for internet.

[Donut417]

2 hours ago, zuulcrush said:

Update in case anyone new reads this: At the entry entry point of the house you need to make sure that you have a 2Ghz splitter. 1 Ghz does not work with MoCA for internet.

Thats because MOCA uses 1000Mhz to 1500Mhz on the Coax. 

[Mark77]

I know in Canada, the traditional twisted pair telecoms (in the US, they're called LECs) that are doing Fiber to the Home installations, are providing equipment that works over MoCA.  It saves their installers time (and money) by allowing them to re-use existing coax infrastructure (ironically often installed by their competitors!!!), and makes the whole installation neater. 

 

Many/most houses built in the past 30-40 years have coax run to a central point, and even twisted pair for phone lines, but not necessarily Ethernet.  So it makes a lot of sense to re-use the wires.