MoCA or Powerline?

[ohdatpro]

So, I'm trying to strengthen my Wi-Fi signal in the basement of my three-story home. The router is on the top floor, so signal strength isn't too great in the basement even with a wireless repeater. There is an open Coax cable port that could be of use for MoCA both in the basement and near the router. Would it be better to use a MoCA connection or powerline connection? Is one better than the other? I'm not well versed with either, so any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[done12many2]

1 minute ago, ohdatpro said:

So, I'm trying to strengthen my Wi-Fi signal in the basement of my three-story home. The router is on the top floor, so signal strength isn't too great in the basement even with a wireless repeater. There is an open Coax cable port that could be of use for MoCA both in the basement and near the router. Would it be better to use a MoCA connection or powerline connection? Is one better than the other? I'm not well versed with either, so any help would be appreciated, thanks!

 

MoCA isn't nearly as bad for signal degradation especially in longer runs when compared to powerline setups.  Powerlines get really picky about being on different circuits and chances are your run to the basement won't be on the same fused circuit.

[ohdatpro]

4 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

 

MoCA isn't nearly as bad for signal degradation especially in longer runs when compared to powerline setups.  Powerlines get really picky about being on different circuits and chances are your run to the basement won't be on the same fused circuit.

Gotcha! With it potentially being on a different fused circuit, does that mean signal degradation of does that mean that it won't work at all?

[done12many2]

Just now, ohdatpro said:

Gotcha! With it potentially being on a different fused circuit, does that mean signal degradation of does that mean that it won't work at all?

 

It may or may not work.  It just depends.  Powerlines work great for short runs, but when you start trying to mix long runs and different floors, things are suspect at best.  If those are you're only two choices, I'd give a nod in favor of MoCA.  Obviously cat5/6 is the best bet, but may not be an option.  Good luck.

[skywake]

MoCA Pros:

Faster speeds

Potentially longer runs

Less prone to interference

 

MoCA Cons:

Requires an existing cable run (for new runs you're better off with plain Ethernet)

More expensive (especially for 2.0 ones, which are the ones you want)

Less of a range and generally less available

 

Powerline Pros

Cheap, especially if you're ok with slower speeds

Can put them basically anywhere you want

So common you'll be able to pick from a range of like 20 options

 

Powerline Cons

They don't reach the same sorts of speeds MoCA 2.0 can (but can be faster than 1.0)

More prone to interference