Best MoCA Adapter For Your Home

While you will likely have heard of, and used, Ethernet and wifi connections, there are other options to set up a fast and consistent network in your home. One way of these options is Ethernet over coax.

Top MoCA Adapters: Quick View

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Ethernet over coax is a really convenient way to set up a wired internet connection without relaying a load of new wires. It does this by, quite simply, using the existing coaxial network in your home. This is the cabling that is often used to provide cable TV.

Ethernet over coax has some great benefits, of which we will explain about in the rest of this article...as well as listing the best MoCA adapters.

8 Best MoCA (Ethernet Over Coaxial) Adapters

1. Translite Global TL-MC84 MoCA 2.5 Adapter

• The latest MoCA 2.5 technology
• Supports up to 3Gbps speeds
• 2 LAN ports

Here's our one of two 2.5 MoCA Adapters on the list. This one comes in at number one!

Supporting up to 3Gbps theoretical speeds, this 2-pack offering from Translite is for those who want speed AND convenience.

There's also two LAN ports provided to increase your connectivity options. You could use one port for a dedicated cabled Ethernet device, and use the other one for a wifi access point, if so desired.

2. Motorola MoCA Adapter MM1002 (Best MoCA 2.0)

• MoCA 2.0 Adapter
• Up to 1 Gigabit per second speeds
• 2-pack

A MoCA 2.0 two pack adapter. That's two MM1000 adapters in this bundle.

Capable of speeds up to 1Gbps over your existing coaxial cabling. Bonded 2.0 MoCA allows for gigabit speeds across your home. You can plug in up to 16 MoCa adapters if you wish!

Great for those who don;t want to use wifi and have coax running through their home already!

3. TiVo Bridge MoCA Adapter

4. Actiontec WCB6200Q Wireless AC MoCA 2.0 Adapter

• MoCA with built-in 802.11ac wifi
• 2x LAN ports
• Up to 2Gbps throughput

Some of you may not want to bother having to source wifi router or extender/booster to plug into your MoCA adapter. So, why not buy one that has wifi built into it?!

This wireless AC MoCA adapter has two LAN ports to use as well so plenty of connectivity options.

You will need to buy another MoCA adapter for the other end (presumably for the router/modem side).

5. Actiontec Bonded MoCA Adapter (ECB6200K02)

6. Comtrend GCA-6000KIT MoCA Adapters

• 2x MoCA Adapters
• Up to 1200Mbps speeds
• Only works if coax NOT being used by TV

This is a budget option that should only be used if you have no plans to use your existing coax for TV. Otherwise, there will be conflicts and connectivity issues.

Great for video streaming and online gaming around the home, and likely more reliable than wifi.

7. goCoax MoCA 2.5 WF-803M (Best Budget MoCA 2.5 Adapter)

• Budget MoCA 2.5 Adapter
• Speeds up to 2.5Gbps
• This is only one adapter. You will need another to get the connection

Ok, so this is the budget 2.5 adapter on the list. Why so cheap? Well, it;s because it is sold as a single unit....not as a 2 pack, so you have been warned.

It can produce throughput up to 2.5Gbps over the coax in your home.

Has a single Gigabit Ethernet port that can be utilized.

8. Actiontec Adapter Kit (ECB2500C)

While many homes use a wireless network to gain internet access in rooms throughout their home, Ethernet over coax has added benefits in that it will often give you a more stable connection. Depending on your router, it could even give you a faster connection.

A simple example of when Ethernet over coax is useful would be if your TV has some smart features that require an internet connection, but you have no Ethernet connectivity in the room where your TV is and the wireless signal is too unreliable.

Instead of dragging Ethernet cables throughout your home, you would simply buy two MoCA adapters. You would then plug one into the MoCA port near your TV and one into the port near your router. After connecting both of these via Ethernet, you would be able to give your TV an internet connection!

When compared to Ethernet cabling, the speeds on offer won’t be quite as fast as some of the newer Ethernet standards, but the fact that no additional wiring is required is a real advantage.

While these adapters will work on your coax network, If it turns out you don’t have coax wiring in your house, you could always use powerline adapters instead. Instead of using the coax cables, Powerline adapters use the electrical wiring in your house to provide a network connection.

Cost Saving

It's not just the mess of having Ethernet cables running all around the home causing an unsightly mess and potentially causing a tripping hazard. 

There's a cost-saving mentality to this too.

If you're hell-bent on using cables in the home, and Powerline isn't an option, then you would have to install structured Ethernet cabling throughout the home. This is not cheap! It will cost an arm and a leg.

As a lot of homes have coax throughout their homes for cable TV, it makes a lot more sense to utilize that. All you gotta do is spend 100-200 bucks on two MoCA adapters, and away you go!

Video: MoCA Explained

How Do MoCA Adapters Work? Are They Easy To Set Up?

MoCA adapters work in a very similar way to powerline adapters, and are easy to install. Basically, you have to plug an adapter into your coax socket (instead of power outlet, as you would with a Powerline adapter) near to your modem or router, and then another adapter into the coax socket in the room, or rooms you want to connect to.

Once you have done that you simply need to connect the adapters to your network via Ethernet cable. One running between your modem/router and the first adapter, and then other Ethernet cables running between the adapters and the devices that you need to connect to in each room. You can use multiple MoCA adapters (often more than 10), depending on the manufacturer and model. 

Once your network is connected like this, data will be able to pass from your router, into the adapter, through the coax network, and back into the second adapter and into your computer, or whatever Ethernet device you are using.

The only extra thing to think about is setting up some encryption on your network. As coax networks often pass from one home to another it could be possible for your neighbor to pick up your data if they have their own MoCA adapter. Encrypting your network will make this much harder for them. The adapters usually have this functionality built in - check with the manufacturer to ensure this.

As you can see, in general setup is incredibly easy, which really is one of the plus points of using these adapters.

Difference Between MoCA 2.0 vs 2.5

What's the difference between bonded MoCA 2.0 and 2.5?

MoCA 2.0

• Throughput up to 1 gigabit per second
• Operates in the 500 to 1650 MHz frequency range
• Is backward compatible with MoCA 1.1

MoCA 2.5

• Speeds up to 2.5 gigabits per second
• Operates in the 400 to 1700 MHz frequency range
• Is backward compatible with MoCA 1.1 & 2.0

MoCA 3.0?

Not sure of release, but touted to hit data rates up to 10 gigabits per second!

FAQs

How many MoCA adapters can I connect together?

Up to 16. This is the same deal for bonded MoCA 2.0 and above. We're not sure how many home users will go beyond two adapters, or maybe three, but it's good to know you can go up to 16 should they be needed.

Multiple MoCA adapter buyers will likely be hotels and commercial property owners.

How do you connect MoCA adapters together?

The traditional way, for home users, is to:

1. Connect from a router LAN port (via Ethernet) to one MoCA adapter.
2. Then connect via coax to a wall coax outlet.
3. From another wall coax outlet (where you want to extend to), you connect via coax to the second MoCA adapter, and then... 
4. From this adapter to the network device, you use Ethernet again.

Can you connect MoCA adapters to switches, routers and access points?

As long as they are RJ-45 interfaces, then yes, they should all work fine.

Do the adapters work with cable or Satellite TV?

In most cases, yes. Be sure to check the adapter and the TV provider. For example, the Comtrend adapter in the list will not work when TV is being used!