April 23rd, 2009
Netgear, D-Link roll out coax-Ethernet adapter kits to network your home theater
For those of you skeptical of using powerline technology to connect your network-ready home theater devices to your home network when you don’t have nearby Ethernet ports, there’s another option: using a coaxial-cable-to-Ethernet solution like Netgear’s new MoCA Coax-Ethernet Adapter Kit (MCAB1001) or D-Link’s new HD MediaBridge Starter Kit (DXN-221; pictured), both certified by the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA).
The premise is pretty much as simple as powerline networking. You plug your cable modem and your router into one of the kits’ two adapters, then plug your cable box and your Ethernet-capable devices like videogame consoles, Blu-ray players, streaming video devices, etc. into the other adapter. Then run coax cable from your adapters (included with the Netgear kit, but not the D-Link one) to the wall cable outlets, and you’re pretty much good to go.
The advantages to this solution are fairly obvious: a maximum 270Mbps throughput speed, which trumps the HomePlug AV standard, and potentially a cleaner signal than can be received via powerline or even wireless networking. Unfortunately, you will wind up spending a bit more—the MCAB 1001 costs $189.99, while the DXN-221 is available for $239.99. Still, until more devices come with built-in 802.11n support, this may be the best, least painful way to connect your networked video players to the Internet.
Sean Portnoy spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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