NetGear MCAB1001 MoCA Coax-Ethernet Adapter Kit

Pros: Comparable in cost to powerline networking now, but faster and more reliable. Can turn off the LED's on the adapters.

Cons: Administration is not typical of networked devices, but doesn't need to be done out of the box. Not easily compatible with satellite TV system.

Summary: Found out about MoCA a couple of weeks ago (2 years after introduction *smile*) when I was looking for a way to replace my marginal 5GHz. wireless-n link for my Roku box. I looked at powerline networking first, and didn't like the reviews that I saw for it, so I was glad to find this. Makes sense to me to use the double-shielded coaxial cables already in my walls for ethernet, as opposed to unshielded power lines that can have any kind of noise on them. And very inconsistent speeds as a result of using halogen light dimmers, hair dryers, etc., or your neighbor starting up their band saw.

When it came time to set this up, took my time, and it connected and worked as soon as I had both ends installed. The instructions were a bit misleading, in that they lead you to believe that the coax LED should go on at the cable modem end adapter as soon as you connect that end, but it doesn't go on until you connect the second adapter and they find each other. I thought that was probably the way that it would work, so it wasn't surprising.

If you need to do administration, like setting up security or try to make it work with a satellite TV system, you have to use Windows, and you need to install an admin app. Not a problem so far, but you can't do administration on the adapters while in operation, you have to switch them to "config" mode, etc. It looks like a hassle, but I haven't had to do anything with that yet, it works fine. In my opinion, there should be an admin GUI available at the IP address of the adapter, and that should be all that you need to do, just like most network devices I've seen.

I'm really very happy with this hardware. It couldn't be much easier for the average person to install and use. And it is nice to be able to turn off the flashing LED's on the adapter near the TV, their flashing doesn't detract from the video being streamed.

Updated on Jun 4, 2011

Have added a third adapter in a bedroom with a desktop computer where wireless-n was being used. This is working well, also, after about a week. Looks good to me, and the person who uses it is very happy with it. From the reviews that I've seen, you do get more total bandwidth with more concurrent connections, and both the Roku box and the desktop that are using this are running as fast as they can, given the incoming broadband internet speed.