Customer Reviews

Actiontec Ethernet Over Coax MoCA Adapter - Twin Pack

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My Environment:
I want to use my PS3 to access Netflix , HULU (via PlayOn) and the shows that are recorded in my PC (a combination of HD and SD). My PC is upstairs (where the cable modem is) and my TV is downstairs where i do not have any Ethernet port and rewiring is not an option in my home.

Various Methods Used for connectivity:
Tried Wireless G and N but was never able to stream anything from my PC. Then tried various power line products from Sling, Belkin (rated as 1000 MBPS) but was not satisfied. Belkin one worked quite well but was not consistent, something was interfering and impacting the performance as the output would vary wildly at different times. Then heard about MOCA technology and was initially skeptical but wanted to try it out.

Set up using Actiontec MOCA device:
Ordered these Actiontec ones as they are cheaper than Netgear ones. Received them and all the package had was the two units, two Ethernet cables, power cards and a sheet of paper with instructions. Just plugged them in with the following set up and within few min the set up was done and configured my PS3 to use wired connection.

Coax from wall --> Input of first unit ,Output of first unit --> Cable modem.(Office) and then plugged in the ethernet cable from my router to the ethernet port of first unit
Coax from wall --> Input of second unit,Output of second unit--> STB(Living Room)and then plugged in the ethernet cable from the second unit to the PS3.
Input is labeled as Coax and output is labeled as STB/TV on the two Actiontec units

So far did not see any degradation in the TV signal or the internet connection.One thing to note is, if you want to use this set up i,e use this as a pass trough for your Coax signal, you need a couple of Coax cables(F-pin) which are not included and might be better to order along with these units, if you want to do the set up right away.

Conclusion:
I did not measure the throughput and do not know if my home has any splitters or amplifiers but could see reliable connectivity and could stream HD video (only have 1080i) flawlessly,Netflix and HULU worked quite well and would recommend it to anyone who has Coax wires all around the house. I hope that the same performance continues in the future and do not have to update this review.

It's a long review, so here's the executive summary:

Pros:
- plug and play (with my Actiontec MI424WR router)
- reliable connection (vs. WiFi)
- great bandwidth (vs. ethernet over power line or WiFi)
- can use the pair (this particular item) in a non-MoCA home to "extend" your ethernet LAN

Cons:
- not easily configurable

The review:

I bought the Actiontec MoCA adapters because I needed to extend my network into the basement where I was building a media room. Unfortunately, my house was not pre-wired for ethernet and my WiFi signal was spotty down in my media closet to use it effectively. So, since Verizon uses MoCA natively to distribute their IPTV, LAN, and WAN signals, I figured I could pick up a MoCA adapter and hardwire an AP/switch to it in the basement!

My concerns with the Actiontec product is that it is basically unconfigurable. There is no http server on the device that allows you to adjust the settings. I believe, however, that you can TFTP into the device, but I did not try that route.

Fortunately, for me, my gamble worked, and getting an ethernet connection in my basement was as simple as plugging the MoCA adapter into my coax outlet, plugging the AP/Hub into the ethernet port, and then powering everything up. The Actiontec MI424WR (default FIOS router) recognized the MoCA adapter immediately and also recognized everything attached to the MoCA adapter (and provided DHCP addresses to all devices). I have a PS3 and a Squeezebox Duet attached to a Belkin Wireless Router, which itself, is attached to the MoCA adapter.

I had to split the coax coming in before the the MoCA adapter so that I could also have a FIOS TV STB in the media room as well. From what I understand, the "TV/RF out" port on the MoCA adapter (it comes capped) does NOT pass through MoCA signals to the STB. I can safely report there has been no interference between the MoCA adapter and the STB (which also uses MoCA) using my setup (split before the MoCA adapter).

With regards to bandwidth, I have had no problems with HD streaming over my 20 mb/s FIOS WAN connection nor my 100 mb/s LAN/MoCA setup.

Finally, with regards to my particular setup, I could have done with just one MoCA adapter as a bridge (the MI424WR is my MoCA "source" if you will). If you don't have FIOS (or don't have a MoCA adapter), you can still extend your LAN using the PAIR (one as a "sender" and one as a "reciever"). I just purchased the pair to (1) have a backup device and (2) for potential future expansion of my LAN (another ethernet location upstairs, for example).

I have a 7 machine network in the house. I opted to give the MoCa technology a try after getting Windows 7 and set up three MediaCenter machines. With Win7 Homegroup there is more transparent baked in sharing of recorded TV, movies, and other media. Until the Ceton quad tuner card is released I am dealing w/ multiple AverMedia Duet 2 tuner QAM cards. Their HD playback from one machine to another was hampered however by my 802.11N network, too much interference and congestion. This shows itself as stu-stu-stuttering when trying to watch HD on the target machine playing from the host. Annoying.

I went w/ 3 Actiontec adapters, the twin pack and a third. A lot of the reviews here are integrations into an existing FIOS network which is great since they're all the same brand and coupled w/ an Actiontec router works fine. I was mildly leery to see if it would work in my Comcast triple play setup equipment. I have their [Moto?] Cable Modem/VOIP combo box. Very easy setup w/ the Actiontecs. Just connected one of them directly to the coax out from the wall, put a co-ax pass thru out from the Actiontec to the Cable Modem/VOIP box, Ethernet from Actiontec into my wireless 4 port D-Link router. Done. Then on the satellite Media Center computers you just do the same thing; on the Actiontec coax in from wall, coax out from the pass through to your tuner card on the back of the computer and then Ethernet between computer and Actiontec. Took about 30 seconds to get an IP once all the lights came on and I had connection.

Speeds have been a great improvement over my N network. Roughly 4 times. You're limited by the 10/100 ports on the Actiontec but that works out to about ~88Mb/s or 12MB/s on my system.. more than enough for multiple HD streams and pushing around the redundant backups I do to their hard drives. I also do not see any interference or degradation in picture quality on any of the channels which is nice.

You basically have a couple choices for MoCa adapters right now, these Actiontecs and the Netgears. I went w/ the Actiontecs because the twin pack was 60 bucks cheaper and you could actually buy the third one separately instead of having to buy 2 2 packs like the Netgear. I've been very pleased w/ this setup, it also has a high W.ife A.cceptance F.actor as she hated the pauses and stuttering even more than I did. Win7's built in Netflix and other Internet streaming is buttery smooth now too and it looks like it's not down sampled as much. Overall very high marks, no cons that I have seen. Highly recommended.

I was on a never ending quest for the past 10+ years looking for a way to network my mom's home, giving me 100mbps speeds without having to drill ethernet (which is not an option - my mom wouldn't allow me to do it, as I would have to drill through 2 feet of stone for one room...in other words I would have to pay someone to do it, which is not my preferred option, and Comcast certainly wouldn't do it for free, unless it involved me paying $5 more a month for a second IP). That quest is finally over with the purchase of MoCA Coax adapters.

I initially purchased 802.11b hardware back in 1999...that failed.
My house is too old and full of stone walls for the weak 900MHz 802.11b signal to penetrate.
I then purchased HPNA phoneline networking...that gave me a run of 10 years (without assistance) until I got tired of the magnetic fields, caused by light fixtures and my dad's treadmill, knocking out the network (CAT-3 phoneline is unshielded cable).
I then purchased 802.11g hardware, which was OK, but we live in a ranch house, so the signal did not reach half the house, so I coupled it with the HPNA (which was again affected by the magnetic fields) to extend the network with a second router. But this too was getting on my nerves as I was back to the network dropping.
I then purchased HPNA to Coax converters which put the HPNA on shielded coax cable. While it worked great, removing the network dropped, I learned that HPNA operates under 10MHz, thus interfering with both OnDemand and DOCSIS, causing a bit too much noise for Comcast's liking.

All the previous products (sans the 802.11b, which ran $300 in 1999, in its infancy...however I promptly returned all $300 worth when it didn't work as promised) were rather cheap solutions. I finally decided to splurge on the MoCA adapters ($146.11 shipped for the twin pack) and give it one last hail mary, promising a higher operating frequency (above CATV) and also promising ethernet speeds.

Well, as stated above, the quest IS OVER. These products work great, the network doesn't drop, the cable TV (CATV) is unaffected same for the cable internet, and I get 100mbps network speeds.

One has three products to choose from (Netgear MCAB1001, D-Link DXN-221, and ActionTec ECB2200), but all three will work the same as they are all the same chipset.According to their data sheets, they all specify a maximum throughput of 270mbps, a frequency operating range of 875MHz-1.5GHz, the same attenuation, the same MoCA specification (1.1), and purported incompatibility with Satellite TV coax-systems.

As far as differences between the three:
*The ActionTec unit has the ethernet port and power jack port on the opposite side of the coax ports. Both the D-Link and the Netgear units have them all on the same side.
*Lights on the ActionTec unit are on the top, while they are on the front side of the D-Link and Netgear units.
*The Netgear package comes with 2 RG6 cables while the others do not (they come with no coax cables).
*The ActionTec unit lacks an admin/config page (like a router configuration page). The D-Link and Netgear units offer users an admin/config page accessible through one's web browser, providing users with many features.
*The D-Link and Netgear unit provide a switching mechanism (button on the Netgear unit, a switch on the D-Link unit) which can place the unit in "Config" mode or "Coax" mode. Config mode allows you to access the admin/config webpage in your web browser. The ActionTec unit does not have this feature.
*The ActionTec units apparently were designed to communicate with the MoCA based ActionTec MI424WR router supplied by Verizon FiOS (untested by me as I don't have FiOS. Just I have read this many times on the internet from people who have tested it). The D-Link and Netgear units do not do this.
*Lastly, price. The Netgear pair (at the time of writing) is ~$180, the D-Link pair is ~$193, and the ActionTec pair ~$150 (I paid $146 on Amazon, but the price is back up to $158, but still significantly cheaper than the other two brands).

As the three units are essentially the same, so this review applies to all three, sans the facts that the ActionTec units works with the FiOS router and that the ActionTec units lack a admin/config page. However, I will make this specific to the ActionTec as I own the product now :D.

First the speed, of course. The MoCA 1.1 specification is 270mbps. Sounds great? Yes, however the ActionTec unit (like the Netgear and D-Link units) offer only a 10/100mbps ethernet port (not gigabit!!). Quite dumb in my (and the rest of the internet world's) opinion. So you are limited not by the 270mbps specification, rather by the ethernet port limits you to 100mbps. Regardless, I was still capable of pulling 88mbps through the unit (it is worth noting that I can only get 88mbps through a 10/100 switch/router...so don't take the mention of 88mbps as a knock on the unit) which was more than enough to do HD streaming over the network.

Next, setup: very simple, very quick. All I did was plug in the coax into the input port and the ethernet into the ethernet port (from my router) at one computer and the same at the other computer. Plugged in the power: the power light came on, then the ethernet light indicating a ethernet connection, and then the coax light indicating a successful connection between the two adapters.

Finally, aesthetics and other stuff. The LED's are green. A little bright, but who is cares about that? The units get hot...I wish all networking hardware would include fans for cooling (my uncle's router has a fan!). I am not too fond of having ports on opposite sides of the unit. I would prefer all the ports be on the back, like in the D-Link and Netgear units. It makes for friendlier cable arrangement under the table.

Just some other notes:
*This works perfectly find with Comcast internet and digital cable, however I believe it is necessary to use this along the line as opposed to split off from a splitter.
*In an effort to reduce the cable modem's upstream power I used a splitter so that one line would go to the cable modem and the other to the ActionTec unit (figuring the ActionTec unit would cause significant attenuation loss). The splitter was labeled as 1GHz (note the operating frequency of MoCA coax is 875MHz-1.5GHz). So between the two ActionTec units was a splitter. This caused my modem to lose the ability to synchronize with the Comcast server as I am guessing the frequencies above 1GHz were filtered by the splitter, causing the unit to use sub-1GHz frequencies, thus interfering with the modem. This is the only rational explanation I can give, even though the modem config page said the upstream is using 29.4MHz and the downstream is using 717MHz. The second I removed the splitter and used the ActionTec unit as a pass-through (there is a coax-in and to-tv port) the modem worked fine.
*I read everywhere on the internet that these units work flawlessly with the ActionTec MoCA FiOS modem provided by Verizon (not tested by me).

In sum, MoCA coax is a great product that finally provides me with the reliable 100mbps networking I have always wanted (without drilling CAT5 cable, of course). The ActionTec units are the cheapest of the bunch, so I would recommend them over the D-Link and Netgear units as the all provide the exact same features and performance as confirmed by reviews performed by SmallNetBuilder.com. Of course, if you have Verizon FiOS there is the added benefit of having the ActionTec units interact with the ActionTec FiOS modem (thereby giving you, in essence, three MoCA coax adapters for the price of two, since the router acts like its own MoCA adapter). However, if you REALLY REALLY REALLY need and want a configuration page, you will have to get the D-Link or Netgear units for that.

i purchased this item so i would not have to install additional wiring in my home which already is wired for cable. based on some other reviews i was hopeful i could actually run this over the same coax i am using for my verizon internet/tv feeds but it looks like verizon is using the same method to update its boxes and insertion of this device cut off access of the boxes back to verizon. i still could get the cable channels but the interactive features were cut off. my house is actually wired with dual coax so i just put this device with an eight way bi-directional splitter on the second cable and was able to feed wired internet to all the rooms of my house. the device works well and does not seem to slow down the internet connection in any way. so far the devices are stable and i currently have four operational at this time and i am adding two more. they are a bit pricey side but clearly cheaper than opening up the walls.

Works just as advertised. I have FIOS in my house with the FIOS router hardwired into my work computer downstairs and the MOCA on the 2nd level connecting my iMAC. Note that the FIOS routers are ActionTec and have MoCA inside already so no need to MoCa bridge the router. All I had to do was plug co-ax from wall into MoCa, plug in and turn on MoCa, and then connect Ethernet from MoCa to iMac. Yes, that easy.

Pre-MoCa, I SpeedTested at 6/9 up/down mBps on the FIOS wireless router and post-MoCa I tested at 40/30.

First off, the product works but not well.
My issue was not getting it to work (it is very straightforward and easy). My issue is terrible speeds. I have this going into a gigabit router and the other end going into a PS3 on the other side of the house and it is slow. I have better success using the wireless in the PS3 than using this. When I start my media server loaded on my pc (PS3 Media Server) which is also hard wired directly into my gigabit router I only connect to the PS3 at 51Mbps. This unit says it will work up to 270mbps and this isn't even close. I realize the PS3 only has a 100mbps NIC card but I was expecting it to get the 100mbps.
I can still stream standard definition video but my 20GB-30GB 1080p video files will not work at all.
I got this specifically for lossless 1080p streaming and it is a no go. After reading the reviews I was convinced this would work great for me.
Back to putting all of my lossless 1080p videos on USB hard drives and plugging them into my WDTV Live (which works great).
Either my unit is defective (which I doubt since it does work) or the specs are extremely exaggerated. Color me unimpressed and very disappointed.

I have bought many, many things on Amazon and this is the first time I felt compelled to write a review. I, like others, have tried other wireless solutions and powerline products, with lackluster results. I don't even have the cable wiring built into my home, it is wired around the outside of the house. But is still works like a charm. The setup took very little time and worked after a quick power cycle of the various attached products. I put each adapter in front of the cable modem in one room and the cable box in the room with the TV. I don't notice any slowdown or degredation in the Internet speed or HD cable feed.

Give it a try if you have gotten frustrated with other products to get internet and network coverage in hard to reach places in your house.

I tried every configuration suggestion mentioned here and in every other Forum that I could find, but these devices did NOT work with FIOS -- until I got help from a member at the Verizon FIOS forum, "lasagna".

[...]

He was correct -- with an Actiontec MI424WR Router, you ONLY need ONE of these ECB2200 units because the Actiontec acts as its own MoCA device. That should hold true if your "other brand" existing Router is also MoCA enabled.

Here are the correct Installation Procedures that worked for me...
1) Disconnect all the ECB units you may have already tried connecting.
2) You will NOT need one installed at the Router.
3) If you are hoping to connect a device on another floor that is already connected by Wireless, you will need to DISABLE the wireless connection on that device. You can turn off the Wireless feature in the Actiontec, as well, within its configuration page (typically by pointing your browser to 192.168.1.1).
4) Turn off your Router after turning off the wireless feature.
5) Take the ECB2200 downstairs to your FIOS STB.
6) You WILL need a Splitter. People recommend the high-frequency kind (you can buy the $10 or $8 version at Best Buy; Radio Shack did not have them). Even though the TV may seem to come on without the Splitter, you MUST have the Splitter to retain the Video on Demand and Guide features.
7) Connect the wall Coax jack to the IN port on the Splitter.
8) Connect one leg of the OUT ports on the Splitter to the Coax Network connector on the ECB.
9) LEAVE THE TERMINATOR ON THE STB/TV Port on the ECB. If you removed it, put it back on.
10) Connect the Ethernet Cable to the ECB and your PS3 or other device.
11) Plug in the ECB Power Cord.
12) Go upstairs and turn on your Router. It may take about 3 or 4 minutes to configure itself and find all the connected devices -- your computer, the Internet, the ECB, etc.

Go back to your ECB / PS3 hook-up and observe the following...
a) The Power Light on the ECB should have come on right away when you connected it.
b) The Coax Light will come on about 10 seconds later and may flicker (this is normal and indicates traffic on the Coax).
c) The Ethernet Light may not come on at all. In my case, it came on for a few seconds, then turned off.
d) Turn on your TV and the PS3. Go into the configuration screens for the PS3 and find the Settings folder. Then look for the Network connections folder. Choose the Easy method. Choose WIRED Connection. Let it locate that connection -- and the Ethernet Light on the ECB should come on during this process. Once it says you're connected, choose the Test Connection option. It should come back successful.

If the PS3 suggests you connect an Ethernet Cable, look to see if you did that. If yes, and still no luck, it might be a bad Cable. In my experience of trying EVERYTHING over the past two weeks -- including Tech Support calls to Actiontec (what a waste of time!!) and Verizon FIOS, this is the only method that worked.

Verizon's Techs DID try to help make suggestions, but were not familiar with the ECB2200 concept. One guy did suggest I go look for the old Verizon NIM100 units, instead. They do have instructions on their website for configuring those.

Also, yes, you can probably get this working for less money by buying another Actiontec MI424WR Router on eBay for about $40. Every one I looked at did not include the Power Supply, so be careful. And the configuration is a bit more complicated, but you do gain additional Ethernet Ports near your TV, if that is needed.

Good luck FIOS users!

I love these adapters. I bought one of these twin packs and a single pack so I could have a total of three, and set them all up in different rooms to create a sort of mesh network. There was zero configuration that I had to worry about. Just plug them in and they worked. Devices plugged into one node can see all of the devices plugged in at the other end of the other two nodes. I have one in my office with the Media Center and all the storage, and another in my bedroom and another in my living room. They can all see each other just fine.

The bedroom and living room both have little switches (bought separately) attached to the ethernet port so that I can plug in my Xbox 360, my WDTV Live, my Squeezebox, and my Mac Mini. All of these run great through MoCa, and I am streaming HD from the office to the two rooms with TVs all the time with no problems. This includes Recorded HDTV from my Ceton tuner in the Media Center, and other HD content. The only thing it seems the stutter a bit on is very high bit rate movies (like 30GB or more for a single movie). Those are rare for me, and for my daily use these adapters absolutely rock.

I tried PowerLine adapters before these and I could never get them to work reliably. It was always iffy about whether or not they would be able to see each other and connections kept dropping. This is not the case for me with MoCa. I am in an apartment so just running CAT6 is not an option for me. If you have a cable box then these adapters get inserted in between the cable box and the wall. The adapters just pass through the connection to the cable box with zero degradation of signal.