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).

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]

Originally Posted by eaadams

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.

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]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

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.