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So what's wrong with moca adapters?

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Joshing

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Whenever there's an issue with extending wifi, the standard answer seems to be to use a powerline adapter. And, then, as an after thought, a moca adapter also gets mentioned as another possible option.

But, most of the attention and suggestion seems to advocate powerline adapters.

Why don't more people trumpet moca adapters? Is there something wrong with them that I'm not aware of?

I'm comparing moca vs powerline, and it seems to me that moca would be the better option. With powerline adapters, there will be issues if it crosses circuits, if there's any afci breakers which any up-to-code home would have, electrical noise from other electronic devices, etc..

And, with moca adapters, you wouldn't have to worry about those issues so you're getting a more stable signal. So, why not just get a moca adapter?

Since I cancelled cable, can I still use the coaxial cable for the moca adapter in the room that I need to extend wifi to?
 
I think MOCA is much more stable and can offer higher maximum speeds compared to powerline. I run quite a bit of MOCA in my house but no powerline after having problems with them. I think most of the time powerline is suggested as it is easier to implement (especially for non-tech types). Now if you are not using your COAX for anything else, MOCA can be pretty simple. If your using your COAX for cable or satellite, then it can get more complicated (though the new MOCA 2.0 has helped out in this regard).

If you don't need more than 100Mbit you can save a huge amount by using DECA adapters (same throughput as MOCA 1.1). They are about $15 a pair. To use them you either have to be using satellite, or not using your COAX for anything else.
 
Whenever there's an issue with extending wifi, the standard answer seems to be to use a powerline adapter. And, then, as an after thought, a moca adapter also gets mentioned as another possible option.

But, most of the attention and suggestion seems to advocate powerline adapters.

Why don't more people trumpet moca adapters? Is there something wrong with them that I'm not aware of?

I'm comparing moca vs powerline, and it seems to me that moca would be the better option. With powerline adapters, there will be issues if it crosses circuits, if there's any afci breakers which any up-to-code home would have, electrical noise from other electronic devices, etc..

And, with moca adapters, you wouldn't have to worry about those issues so you're getting a more stable signal. So, why not just get a moca adapter?

Since I cancelled cable, can I still use the coaxial cable for the moca adapter in the room that I need to extend wifi to?

Powerline works or it doesn't if you plug the adapters directly into an outlet and there aren't to many wall warts on either branch electrical circuit to interfere with the signal. I also had issues with the disposer. when my wife turned it out my bandwidth went almost to zero. If after basic trouble shooting powerline adapters they still don't work, you return them.

Trouble shooting MOCA involves looking for and removing uneeded splitters some of which maybe hidden inside a wall, keeping the MOCA adapter on the leg of a splitter with the lowest loss, upgrading splitters where necessary to pass more than 900 Mhz, fixing/ replacing loose f-fittings and perhaps replacing old RG59 cable runs that have been damaged. This requires some level of skill and specialized tools if you need to reterminate cable(s).

When MOCA works it is second best only to Ethernet.
 
MOCA works at a higher frequency than powerline but isnt available everywhere. Most homes that have cable only have 1 point of entry which is from the street cabinet to their homes which isnt suitable for MOCA. So unless you have your house wired with cable than your only choice other than ethernet is to use powerline. This essentially is why MOCA isnt popular because unless you have existing cabling you might as well just wire your house with ethernet or use powerline. With the AV2000 you can get near gigabit ethernet speeds and latency is quite alright as i have played fps games online with a decent ISP getting 6ms latency in online fps games, 20ms or lower latency to google (less if i use my CCR router).

Powerline has improve a lot since houses will have existing electrical wiring at the very least and why wire the house for MOCA when you can use cat6 and be ready for 10Gb/s network.
 
Whenever there's an issue with extending wifi, the standard answer seems to be to use a powerline adapter. And, then, as an after thought, a moca adapter also gets mentioned as another possible option.

But, most of the attention and suggestion seems to advocate powerline adapters.

Why don't more people trumpet moca adapters? Is there something wrong with them that I'm not aware of?

I'm comparing moca vs powerline, and it seems to me that moca would be the better option. With powerline adapters, there will be issues if it crosses circuits, if there's any afci breakers which any up-to-code home would have, electrical noise from other electronic devices, etc..

And, with moca adapters, you wouldn't have to worry about those issues so you're getting a more stable signal. So, why not just get a moca adapter?

Nothing wrong with MOCA - it's a great HPNA solution - and so is PowerLine...

I think much of it comes down to market dynamics - many homes have an existing electrical grid that can support PLC's - more homes perhaps than those that have an existing CATV infrastructure.

Cable Companies and Satellite Providers - they love MOCA, and it leverages into their strengths - and as such, MOCA is much more prevalent in that vertical Carrier Premises Market, and the vendors have focused on that market for sales (and it's a pretty big market).

PLC has much wider consumer market appeal - as mentioned above, pretty much everyone has electrical outlets in their homes, and the PLC vendors have pushed hard towards that retail market.
 
MoCA left the retail market after a brief experiment. At this point it's primarily a service provider/ hospitality solution.

As others have said it's more difficult to troubleshoot and there is no vendor support.
 
If you don't need more than 100Mbit you can save a huge amount by using DECA adapters (same throughput as MOCA 1.1). They are about $15 a pair. To use them you either have to be using satellite, or not using your COAX for anything else.

That's actually a fairly good tip to share - DECA's are pretty easy to come by - DirecTV uses them for their installs, and if folks move from them over to cable, the DECA's aren't of much use - so they go cheap...

One caveat with DECA adapters however, they will interfere with CATV set top boxes, as they share the same frequency (DirecTV and Dish use different bands/frequencies than CATV)

That's why MOCA adapters have the two modes (CATV/DBS) so they can co-exist...
 
MoCA left the retail market after a brief experiment. At this point it's primarily a service provider/ hospitality solution.

As others have said it's more difficult to troubleshoot and there is no vendor support.

Does Actiontec not market MoCA products anymore?
 
Whenever there's an issue with extending wifi, the standard answer seems to be to use a powerline adapter. And, then, as an after thought, a moca adapter also gets mentioned as another possible option.

But, most of the attention and suggestion seems to advocate powerline adapters.

Why don't more people trumpet moca adapters? Is there something wrong with them that I'm not aware of?

I'm comparing moca vs powerline, and it seems to me that moca would be the better option. With powerline adapters, there will be issues if it crosses circuits, if there's any afci breakers which any up-to-code home would have, electrical noise from other electronic devices, etc..

And, with moca adapters, you wouldn't have to worry about those issues so you're getting a more stable signal. So, why not just get a moca adapter?

Since I cancelled cable, can I still use the coaxial cable for the moca adapter in the room that I need to extend wifi to?
I am using an Actiontec Adapter (ECB6200) to create a MoCA 2.0 network. It supports my 4 TiVo boxes nicely.

In addition, I am using an Actiontec WCB6200Q MoCA wireless access point (AP) for my WiFi. This enables me to locate the wireless AP at the cable outlet closest to the center of my home, providing a strong WiFi signal throughout, without the need for a wireless repeater.

Since the AP is connected at full speed to the network (via MoCA), my WiFi operates at the same speed as my incoming broadband (180 Mbps). In other words I am getting maximum speed from all my WiFi devices (e.g. 180Mbps to 802.11ac devices).

I think the major problem with MoCA vs power line is simply that MoCA is not as well known or understood. It's a bit more complicated to setup, but the benefits are substantial.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
I think the major problem with MoCA vs power line is simply that MoCA is not as well known or understood. It's a bit more complicated to setup, but the benefits are substantial.

That's the best observation - MOCA is pretty decent, but it's the story, and how it's sold - oddly enough, many CableCO gateways have MOCA inside, and it's pretty easy to leverage into that medium, but again, it's the story, and the general availability of adapters - PLC has a better shelf space in retail, and the story there is easily told...
 
Powerline works or it doesn't if you plug the adapters directly into an outlet and there aren't to many wall warts on either branch electrical circuit to interfere with the signal. I also had issues with the disposer. when my wife turned it out my bandwidth went almost to zero. If after basic trouble shooting powerline adapters they still don't work, you return them.

Trouble shooting MOCA involves looking for and removing uneeded splitters some of which maybe hidden inside a wall, keeping the MOCA adapter on the leg of a splitter with the lowest loss, upgrading splitters where necessary to pass more than 900 Mhz, fixing/ replacing loose f-fittings and perhaps replacing old RG59 cable runs that have been damaged. This requires some level of skill and specialized tools if you need to reterminate cable(s).

When MOCA works it is second best only to Ethernet.

That's a good point that consumers might have turned away from MOCA because it might be too complicated for them.

But, after trying to set up powerline adapters, I haven't found it to be a walk in the park either when you have set it up as an access point.
 

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