More MoCA: D-Link DXN-221 & Actiontec ECB2200 Reviewed

[vnangia]

I've been watching MoCA as a possible backup if we can't get good quality network cable when we redo our house in Asia, but I'm curious about interoperability: is it possible to use one of the D-Links and one of the Netgears? Or is it basically only sold in matched pairs with no provision for needing to buy a replacement?

 

[thiggins]

MoCA is MoCA. You can mix and match adapters without a problem.
They are sold in pairs as convenience, since you will in most cases need two (unless you have a MoCA-enabled router).

 

[Johnny]

Moca w/ Satellite?

Ok, the article said ...

" the Actiontec adapter has no admin access and therefore nothing to tweak. This also means that you can't set it into "All Pass" mode if you want to jump through the hoops required to get MoCA to work on a coax system that has satellite TV on it."


So ... IS there a way to get a Dlink or Netgear MoCA working on a satellite system (DirecTv)? WiFi in my house is horrible .. Wireless N products don't work at all ... I have 4 D-Link Wireless N bridges and performance on 5ghz is about 2mb/s about 20 feet in one direction and about 56k (yes, I mean K!!!) at 20 ft the other way. Not much different in 2.4ghz either. There are a couple locations that I can not wire cat5 so looking for an option but I have Directv .. can anyone verify this is possible? I know the vendor does not support it, but I'd really like to know if it would work and what performance I can get if anyone knows this ...

 

[thiggins]

From the D-Link DXN-220 manual:

DBS Satellite Television with Terrestrial Television (Off-Air)
The Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) uses proprietary satellite channel-stacking switch or Low-Noise Block (LNB) to
distribute the resulting signal (usually 950 to 2150 MHz) in the same cable network that carries the lower-frequency
terrestrial television from an outdoor antenna. Another Diplexer then separates the signals to the receiver of the TV set
and the DBS set-top box (STB).
Most of the satellite switches are not designed to pass DXN-220 network signal and prevents it from forming a network.
It is recommended that satellite signal and DXN-220 network signal should remain on separate cable networks. If
separate wiring cannot be done, then additional components have to be installed:
1. Install Triplexer to separate UHF/VHF, DXN-220, and DBS signals.
2. Install MoCA Coupler switch before the satellite switch.

The exercise is left to the reader...

 

[eaadams]

Now that you have a couple MoCA's could you test them with multiple computers hooked up to multiple MoCA end points?

 

[thiggins]

Now that you have a couple MoCA's could you test them with multiple computers hooked up to multiple MoCA end points?

I ran tests with multiple connections, but forgot to include that data in the review. The Actiontec and D-Link performed the same as the NETGEAR, i.e. throughput peaks just shy of 140 Mbps with around 4 simultaneous connections.

I'll correct the review.

 

[DavidH]

D-Link Support today told me on the phone that the DXN-220 component of the DXN-221 kit has only _one_ coax port. That agrees with what I saw 1.5 months ago, when the Dlink.com site was still showing a picture of the back side of the DXN-220.

However your review, Tim, includes a picture of the back side of a DXN-220 that has _two_ coax ports. That agrees with D-Link's January announcement of the DXN-221 kit, which included a similar picture showing two coax ports.

Tim, it is possible that (as I suggested in a post on the Netgear MCAB1001 thread) D-Link originally designed the DXN-220 with two coax ports, but changed it to one port before they shipped in April. Are you sure the kit you reviewed was what actually is shipping? Or did you use your flux capacitor to obtain a copy of their _next_ revision to the DXN-220?

I took the liberty of mentioning your review to the D-Link sales support person I spoke to, and he suggested that you contact Alfred Loya, aloya@dlink.com. Another contact address would be productinfo@dlink.com.

David H.

 

[thiggins]

The DXN-220's I reviewed are marked hardware revision A1.

I'm checking with D-Link and will post back.

 

[Unregistered]

How concerned should I be about encryption? The Actiontec has no interface to put a password but the d-Link and Netgear do. Is this a feature that everyone should look for, or only those in certain situations, like apartment buildings?

 

[thiggins]

How concerned should I be about encryption?

Depends on your situation and is similar to powerline networking.

At any rate, I wouldn't buy the Actiontec due to it high cost and lower maximum throughput.

 

[thiggins]

D-Link Support today told me on the phone that the DXN-220 component of the DXN-221 kit has only _one_ coax port. That agrees with what I saw 1.5 months ago, when the Dlink.com site was still showing a picture of the back side of the DXN-220....

I don't know where that picture came from and can't find any evidence of it via Google image search.

But my director-level D-Link contact said that all DXN-220's have two coax connectors, just as my review units did. He did say that the support person could have been confusing "ports" and "connectors".

The DXN handles only a single coax line or "port", but has two connectors. One connector accepts the coax input from the wall, the other provides connection to a TV.

 

[Unregistered]

Depends on your situation and is similar to powerline networking.

At any rate, I wouldn't buy the Actiontec due to it high cost and lower maximum throughput.

Actually, Amazon has a 2 pack kit for $142.99, so it's really the cheaper option. The throughput difference is not a biggie for me. I'm in a single family house, so I guess I'll have to explore the security issues a liittle more.

 

[thiggins]

Remember that MoCA can't cross amplifiers. There is some more info here.

 

[eaadams]

I ran tests with multiple connections, but forgot to include that data in the review. The Actiontec and D-Link performed the same as the NETGEAR, i.e. throughput peaks just shy of 140 Mbps with around 4 simultaneous connections.

I'll correct the review.

You can have multiple connections allong the network via multiple bridges? So a network with five DXN-221's.

Or is this more of a A->B type thing not a A->B->C->A

 

[thiggins]

Yes, up yo 16 bridges are supported in MoCA 1.1. The maximum bandwidth I measured would be the total for the entire network.

 

[GeezerAl]

I have the D-Link DXN-221 kit

It works great with my home network and is faster and more reliable than wireless, but only if you use logic and not the diagrams they show you.

First of all, when I first hooked it up trying to use their diagrams, it kept disconnecting the modem from the ISP and I could never get the setup to work. Perhaps I misunderstand or misinterpreted their diagrams, but perhaps they just were too vague. Getting through to their support team is difficult at best. It is not supported at the lower levels, you have to be routed to a Senior Product Manager who specializes in this device! I never did get any support.

Here is what I finally ended up doing and it works spectacularly and reliably.

1. If you have satellite, you need to buy a Tru Spec T-3 triplexer (or equivalent). It separates out satellite, FM, and CATV frequencies. Connect the triplexer to your wall. Connect the CATV port of your triplexer to your Coax IN port on the DXN 220. If you only have a cable TV and not satellite, just hook up the DXN 220 IN to the wall using a standard CATV cable (they supply two).

2. Connect the TV OUT (ignore the TV part, it is just an out from the diplexer contained within the DXN 220) to the input of a Channel Vision C-0314 1 In 4 Out Amplified Splitter (or equivalent).

3. Connect your Cable Modem Coax connection to one of the 4 output ports on the Channel Vision.

4. Connect an Ethernet cable from the DXN 220 to one of the LAN ports on your router.

5. Connect your WAN port on the router to your Cable Modem.

6. In the other room, connect the Coax IN to the Coax connection in the wall (you can insert a splitter first if you also watch TV in the room).

7. Connect an Ethernet cable from the DXN 220 to the computer.

If the Power, LAN, Coax and 100 Mbps LED lights are on, you have a connection and there is really no need to worry about installing the software and configuring anything; it just works. If the Coax LED in front of the DXN does not glow, you do not have a good Coax connection. The only things you configure are some passwords, the frequencey (or SCAN) and Pass All if you do not need to watch TV. The defaults were fine for me.

The Channel Vision not only amplifies the signal in order to prevent yourself from being disconnected from the ISP as I was, it also allows you some flexibility in how you add devices to your network. The Channel Vision also has an internal filter to eliminate noise.

Good luck with this. I would recommend this to my clients who have problems using wireless and I know that it would work just fine.

By the way, I am using Windows 7, Build 7100 on two built-to-spec computers, one built by me and one built by AVA-Direct. (AVA's build is neater and nicer than mine.)

 

[eaadams]

The more and more I look at MoCA it reminds me of a Token ring network. Would it be more accurate to call the MoCA "bridges" Media Access Units (MAUs)?

 

[thiggins]

In all fairness, GeezerAl, D-Link and NETGEAR both state that their MoCA kits do not work with Satellite TV. I would not expect to get support from either company for an installation like yours.

Thanks for sharing the details on your installation, however. I'm sure that it will help others.

 

[eaadams]

http://www.netgear.com/Products/RoutersandGateways/RangeMaxWirelessNRoutersandGateways/WNMR834.aspx

mmm bad idea or good idea?

Where can I get one?

 

[malev]

Is it possible to attach a hub to one end of the Netgear or Dlink? I have a HTPC and a PS3 I'd like to connect.