Reddit reviews 2 Pack - DIRECTV Broadband Deca Ethernet to Coax Adapter - Third Generation (with 2 AC Power Supplies)

As someone who's used those, it's definitely a lot better than wifi, but not quite as good as having an actual ethernet cable. Games will be much better over that than otherwise.

One minor caveat though, the powerline adapters create noise on your house's power signal. It's not really bad for any of your electronics, especially if you're using decent surge protectors, but if you're a musician and you want to plug your guitar amp into the wall, you'll probably want to unplug the powerline adapters, otherwise they'll create very noticeable buzzing and other noise coming out of your amp. I ended up having to ditch the powerline adapter because it was messing up my audio recording gear.

If that concerns you, you might have another option available. You can run your internet through coax cable instead. My house is a rental and it's practically spiderwebbed with old coax from previous tenants' cable and satellite installations. I got these coax/ethernet adapters on Amazon and traced the old cables to make a direct connection between my room and the router. They've worked like a dream ever since. Speed and latency are even better than on the powerlines, though still not quite as good as direct ethernet to ethernet connections. One thing to note is that these won't work with coax that's in use for actually carrying a TV signal. If you want to do that, there are adapters for it, but they're a lot more expensive.

Some general thoughts.

You included a map. AMAZING.

1. You should be able to "convert" coax to ethernet. MoCA 2.0 Bonded Adapters work wonders and basically give full ethernet speed(~16x as fast as your internet). They work so long as the coax is not being used by satellite TV. If you're using satellite TV along that run, the DECA is the next best thing. DECA is 1/8th the speed but cheap kits can be had on amazon for $20 (still ~2x as fast as your internet). If you aren't doing network transfers either works. For 90% of people it's pretty much plug two adapters in and you're done. It's almost like magic. For the remaining 10%... MoCA filters, maybe fiddling with the 500 splits some cable-guy rushed into place 20 years ago, etc. Let me emphasize, it's pretty awesome, there's a reason why the reviews on the products are so awesome.
   https://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Adapter-Ethernet-Bonded-MM1000/dp/B077Y3SQXR/ (you'll likely need 2)
   https://www.amazon.com/PACK-Broadband-Ethernet-Generation-Supplies/dp/B01AYMGPIO/ (this is a paired kit)
   latency associated with MoCA is ~3ms; latency from Wifi is 3-100ms. MoCA tends to be VERY consistent.
   
   
   
2. A switch is a switch to some extent. I generally buy whatever is cheap from TP-Link or netgear. As long as it's gigabit.
   
3. The best way to improve your wifi is to probably add on another access point (or router repurposes as an AP) and set it with the same network name(SSID) and password
   https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-EAP225-V3-Wireless-Supports/dp/B0781YXFBT/
   
4. Flat ethernet cable is worse. At the same price, go for full, round ethernet... with that said, if being flat allows you to "get away" with it, it'll often work. I personally have used flat cables without issue and it often goes a long way with getting others to "approve". If your walls are white or you already have an existing cable... it disappears.
   

my own experience - they didn't work for me in certain parts of the house. Possibly because I had multiple breaker boxes. maybe a different circuits?

So I've since switch over to using these

They obviously cost a bit more than power line adapters. But in my case, they're working well. I have one connected to the cable TV junction box in the basement and then another adapter on the 2nd floor. On average, I've been getting 700-900 mbps on local network and full speed via my external ISP connection.

You can similar adapters for $20 for pair. But they're only 100 mbps. https://www.amazon.com/PACK-Broadband-Ethernet-Generation-Supplies/dp/B01AYMGPIO/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537200165&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=DirectTV+ethernet

If you can isolate your cable internet to a dedicated incoming coax and leave the rest of your house isolated you can save a ton of money and use DECA adapters from DirecTV. Buy them directly on amazon for $15 a pair (or cheaper if you exclude the power adapter, they run on USB power!) and achieve 100Mbps on every coax outlet.

DECA interferes with cable TV and cable internet though - but it is much cheaper than MOCA that operates on the same wire as cableTV.

Edit: link for the lazy

I've had great success with DECA (type of MoCA). Very cheap, basically plug and play, and a more stable connection than Powerline. However, be aware that DECA operates between the 500- 850 MHz range. Cable TV signals broadcast in ranges below 850 MHz so if you have cable TV there is likely to be interference. DECA is spectacular if you don't have cable TV.

https://www.amazon.com/PACK-Broadband-Ethernet-Generation-Supplies/dp/B01AYMGPIO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499787949&sr=8-1&keywords=directv+deca)

If you have satellite TV then you can use these DirectTV MoCA-esq things that are super cheap (like $20) and work great. At my old house I had this setup and got full speed connection very far from my router. On the other hand, if you have cable you have to buy way more expensive MoCA equipment. My new house has normal cable and sadly enough I had the same problem with wifi not reaching my room. Luckily my room had a coax connection and I bought the $100+ actiontec MoCA setup (which works great).

So since you said you have satellite, I believe the cheaper version should work, and I don't think it matters if you have DirectTV or not, it is just creating a connection similar to MoCA that runs on the frequency cable usually runs on. Not 100% sure if every satellite company is the same but it should be easy to check.

I found the thing I had bought in my previous house:

2 PACK - DIRECTV Broadband DECA Ethernet to Coax Adapter - Third Generation (with 2 AC Power Supplies) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AYMGPIO?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

Took like 5 minutes to set up with limited networking knowledge. As for having both coax ports in use, you just place a splitter in one port and have one go to this device and the other go where it normally goes. I don't remember if the package comes with one but they're cheap.

It's not the strength, it's the dropouts.

If you have cable or FIOS, a pair of MoCA adapters will extend ethernet to any room that has a cable outlet. If you have DirecTV, you can use the much cheaper DECA set.

I've used both powerline and coax adapters, and both worked fairly well.

I was initially using the TP-Link TL-WPA8630P kit. Despite having gigabit ports, you don't get anywhere near gigabit speeds. When setting up on adjacent electrical outlets, I was able to get a physical link speed of 300Mbps (as per the TP-Link utility). When placed in its required spot (one floor up and about 50 feet away) physical link speed dropped to about 130Mbps as per the app and iPerf showed 80Mbps from server to device. More than adequate for my use. However, when I added some smart plugs, the iPerf reading dropped to less than 40Mbps, which confirms that what I've heard about powerline's susceptibility to noise in the electrical system.

I then switched to coax powerline adapters (one on each end) using the MoCA 1.1 standard. iPerf recorded 130Mbps from server to device. MoCA 2.0 promises up to 1,000Mbps, and from reviews I've watched and read, lives up to the promise. If I was doing it again I would definitely go with MoCA from the get-go. For best speeds, use as straight a path as possible between the adapters and ensure that any splitters are MoCA compatible (5-2500MHz bandwidth). Also, should you ever get cable service, install a MoCA filter at the point of entry to prevent the MoCA signal from leaking out into the CATV network. Finally, MoCA doesn't play well with satellite signals, as they use the same frequencies. For that, you'd need to use DECA adapters (spec limited to 100Mbps).

In case this matters at all, I live in a country with a 240V electrical system.

Hope that helps.

Do you have Coax (cable or satellite) running in your house? If so, look into DECA. It's like MOCA, but meant to coexist with Satellite TV (mostly DirecTv). It'll clobber any cable TV signal you have on the line, but if you already have existing coax, it might be a cheap way to get a low latency 100Mbps link between floors.

If you have cable TV coax, but don't use it in that room, you might be able to isolate that line from wherever the cable comes in or wherever the service splitter is. Then use the deca on that isolated line as a point to point link.

A pair runs somewhere between $10-30 USD. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AYMGPIO/

If you have DSL, I assume you don't have cable TV. If you have coaxial jacks throughout the house going unused, you can go with MoCA, more specifically, DECA, which is DirecTVs version. It turns your coaxial jacks into ethernet cables. Normal MoCA operates at a higher frequency than cable television, but DECA operates at the same frequency, which will cause interference.

I grabbed a pair of generation 2 DECA adapters, $15 for the pair. I'm getting router speed through my PS4 now. You don't need DirecTV to use these. Just screw them in to you coaxial wall jacks, give them AC power, connect one to your router/modem, and the other to your PS4. When the lights turn green, they've paired. Took a couple of minutes to pair, but haven't had an issue since.

Here's a link to some on
Amazon

I use these: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01AYMGPIO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They're fairly cheap and work well. They're not true MoCA adapters (use a different frequency) but they're significantly cheaper.


I had to cut some of the splitters out of my coax to get them to work because my house was a spiderweb of coax and crap. But they're simple to use, screw them in on both ends, magic happens. You can add as many as you want.


Downside: All of your coax network shares 100mbit speeds, so the more you add the slower it gets and you can't have TV signal going over the coax.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01AYMGPIO/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1517492624&sr=8-7&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=moca%2Badapter&dpPl=1&dpID=51dkYc2t17L&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1

If you aren't using the cable lines anymore (for tv), directv makes some Ethernet over cable adapters as well (deca). They're cheaper than the power line adapters ($15/pair) and give speeds at 100 Mbps. This is how I get a wired connection into my den for my Amazon Fire tv. If you have a usb outlet nearby, they're even cheaper as you won't need a power brick for it.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AYMGPIO/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00DVK1ITI&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=01YFK3CXF31SZ37JHERT

Presumably a 100Mbps (max) kit.
A 100Mbps MoCA (technically DECA which means it worked with DIRECTV or nothing on the line) kit is $15ish on Amazon. Some lower end refurbed MoCA adapters are $15ish each
https://www.amazon.com/PACK-Broadband-Ethernet-Generation-Supplies/dp/B01AYMGPIO/

https://www.amazon.com/ACTIONTEC-WCB3000N01-Wireless-Instructions-Ethernet/dp/B016YJQ6EE/

The higher end powerline kits run in the same cost category as the higher end MoCA kits.


Powerline is frowned upon by IT people because it's a filthy dirty hack that doesn't work well. It should be seen as a last resort.

If you go online and get 2 old DirecTV Decas. They go coax to ethernet using Moca. Works perfect.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AYMGPIO/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_AgsTDbJS44MDC

If you want CRAZY CHEAP - https://www.amazon.com/PACK-Broadband-Ethernet-Generation-Supplies/dp/B01AYMGPIO

these are a lot slower than MoCA adapters but if you can get by with <100Mbps it's solid.

My father is using these for video cameras in an outbuilding that gets hit with lightning around once every other year. Just as good as the MoCA adapters that cost 10x as much and he only needs around 30Mbps of bandwidth for cameras + maybe watching youtube.

Would I use this to split the cable before putting the DECA unit in? It does not look like the DECAs can be in-line.

I'm assuming you're using cable for your internet then right? Where is your cable modem located. If you can connect one of these adapters to a cable splitter being used by satellite tv then simply connect the other one using a cable splitter in the room with the PS4.

DirecTV made up their own 100Mb-over-coax spec (named DECA), and you can get the adapters relatively cheaply (in the ballpark of the cost of your ethernet cable). For instance:

https://www.amazon.com/PACK-Broadband-Ethernet-Generation-Supplies/dp/B01AYMGPIO/

I use these to get to Roku devices where I have a coax port but not an ethernet port nearby.

The upside is that they are way cheaper than Moca adapters (like ~10% the price), they can be powered via USB (so you could probably plug the adapter on the computer end into your computer rather than using a power brick, and maybe do the same on the router end), and they have been very reliable for me (can't tell the difference from just plugging in an ethernet cable directly).

The downside is that it is only 100Mb, and you can't connect them to the same coax cable network as you connect things other than DirecTV equipment to (so if you have all your coax runs tied together somewhere and you have cable service, they wouldn't work).

For me, I don't care about the downsides, because Roku boxes only support 100Mb ethernet, and I don't have anything else using my coax wires. You'll have to decide if they are good enough for your needs or not.

I second this. If you have an unused coaxial in the room there is a good chance it runs down to the basement (if your router is in the utility room)


Edit: to add link for all you'd need to buy

a token ring adapter? What are you looking to do specifically?

If you're looking to run ethernet over coaxial you'll need a pair of MoCa adapters, or slower DirecTV variant DECA adapters.

Here's 200Mb DECA for $23

100Mb DECA for $16

670Mb MoCa adapter pair for $125

or if you have 2 cable runs, 1400 Mb bonded MoCa for $150

In your opinion (or what difference would it make) to have the the wiring setup like I do, which is very much like your first diagram above, or just use the line feeding the genies and put a simple 1-to2 SWM spllitter?

Thinking of getting a few 3rd gen DECAs and some a few splitters to give that a try. Most likely will still use the power connection instead of USB as I've read the UBS is finicky if they work or not and already have power for them.

Are the 3rd gen versions the same except offering USB power option?

I was looking at this, however compatibility is a concern of mine.

2 PACK - DIRECTV Broadband DECA Ethernet to Coax Adapter - Third Generation (with 2 AC Power Supplies) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AYMGPIO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_6ozRCb8YTWY44

I guess it's actually $8 each, whoops.

Also, I take it by the fact that you want the link that these are a good purchase? lol