Speed test results: MoCA D-Link DXN-220

[stevech]

As I fiddle with a new HTPC arrangement, I did a quick test of MoCA speeds.
The MoCA devices: A pair of D-Link DXN-220's - in use 24/7 for a year or so.
One in my garage "head end", connected to my gigE LAN (the 220's of course are 10/100).

The other '220 is at the HDTV, connected to a gigE switch which leads to the HDTV, BlueRay DVD, and for this test, a mini-ITX PC as follows:
PC, Gigabit mini-ITX motherboard with AMD E350, DDR3, running unRAID (Linux). When directly connected to my LAN, this PC delivers 70MBytes/sec with large files under SMB (CIFS) file sharing, unRAID to/from Win 7. With MoCA, the speed you get is unlikely to vary over time, unlike HomePlug AV which is vulnerable to noise and varying conditions on the power lines.

Via this MoCA, the speed was 6MBytes/sec writing to unRAID disk and 7MB/sec reading. This is about 40-50Mbps net yield after all overheads.

I compared this to the HomePlug AV results posted here as a sticky - it achieved 40Mbps only at certain AC outlets, depending on which branch circuit of breaker panel were used, which mains phase, what else is plugged in, etc. That's the gist of the convenience of HomePlug AV - trading that for speed.

I think both MoCA and HomePlug AV have newer/faster products/standards (more $) than what I tried here.

The 7MB/sec with MoCA I measured is more than adequate for streaming 1080i (and probably 1080p too) HDTV.

 

[RogerSC]

I'm also using MoCA, and am happy with it. I have heard that there is a new generation of MoCA coming that doubles or triples the current speed. While I don't need that speed right now, it's good to know that it is being worked on.

I saw the year "2012" attached to the articles on this, so this year maybe, we'll see.

 

[thiggins]

From what I saw @ CES, MoCA 2.0 units you can buy are at least a year away. As with MoCA 1.0, consumer networking companies are on the fence as to whether to productize these.

 

[RogerSC]

Interesting, thanks for the update. Given the current state of things here in the sticks, I suspect that next year will be plenty soon enough for a speed up for me *smile*.