EXTENDING YOUR LOCAL NETWORK (LAN): Part 3-"MULTIMEDIA OVER COAX ALLIANCE" VERSUS POWERLINE NETWORKING VERSUS CAT 5/5e/6 CABLING
1
Web location for this presentation:
http://aztcs.org Click on “Meeting Notes” 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY You can use "Multimedia over Coax Alliance" (MoCA) and/or powerline networking and/or wireless range extenders and/or Cat 5/5e/6 cabling to extend your local network. 3
Let's start off with a demonstration of "Multimedia over Coax Alliance" (MoCA) and powerline networking for extending your local network: 4
MEASUREMENT METHODOLOGY • Internet bandwidth values were obtained by measuring the download speed at http://speedtest.net • Local network speeds were obtained by taking the download value as measured by TotuSoft's "LAN Speed Test (Lite)" v. 1.1 (http://totusoft.com/downloads/) 5
To measure the speed of a local network connection, TotuSoft's free "LAN Speed Test (Lite)" program creates and uploads a file from computer #1 to computer #2. Then it downloads the same file from computer #2 to computer #1. 6
Netgear Router 1 Gbps LAN switch
"Windows.." or Mac "OS X" computer #2 Cat 5/6 Cable
2.45 GHz Wi-Fi 5 GHz Wi-Fi
Powerline Networking kit or "Multimedia over Coax Alliance" or any other local network device under test
"Windows.." or Mac "OS X" computer #1 running the Totusoft "Lan SpeedTest" program
"Windows.." or Mac "OS X" computer #2 Cat 5/6 Cable
Then "Totusoft.." calculates download "Windows.." or Mac speed "OS X" computer #1
Powerline Networking kit or "Multimedia over Coax Alliance" under test
with Totusoft "Lan SpeedTest" program
NETWORK MEASUREMENT VALUES
• The measurement values that are shown in the following diagrams consist of Internet download speed in Megabits per second followed by a slash / followed by the local network speed in Megabits per second 10
Equipment used in our demonstration: 11
Our baseline point of reference is a Netgear R6250 Wireless router: 12
13
Our state-of-the-art Powerline AV2 networking link consists of a D-Link DHP-701AV kit: 14
15
As any manufacturer of powerline networking kits creates newer, better models, they will increase the "claimed speed" value in their description of the models: You should usually buy model with the highest available "claimed speed" after reading reviews and customer comments at Amazon.com and other Web sites: 16
17
The D-Link DHP-701AV kit contains 2 DHP-700AV Network Adapters that conform to the "HomePlug AV2" standard: 18
19
20
House Electrical Wiring 21
Our Actiontec "Actiontec Bonded MoCA 2.0 Ethernet to Coax Adapter, 2 Pack (ECB6200K02)" ran at Gigabit Ethernet speeds! 22
23
24
25
Block diagrams of our demonstration: 26
4 feet of separation between our Netgear "wireless router" and the remote "Multimedia over Coax Alliance" unit plus the remote powerline networking unit: 27
Cat 5/6 Cables LAN switch
278/404
4 feet of energized 110VAC House Electrical Wiring D-Link HomePlug AV2000
D-Link HomePlug AV2000
278/394
2.45 GHz Wi-Fi 5 GHz Wi-Fi
Netgear Router used as a baseline reference point *Internet Download Speed in Megabits per second Local Area Network Speed in Megabits per second
404 Megabits per second is a typical data communications speed for wired Gigabit Ethernet (which has a claimed speed of 1000 Megabits per second)
Cat 5/6 Cables
4 feet of energized 110VAC House Electrical Wiring D-Link HomePlug AV2000
LAN switch
Netgear Router used as a baseline reference point *Internet Download Speed in Megabits per second Local Area Network Speed in Megabits per second
278/404
Actiontec MoCA 2.0 Ethernet to Coax Adapter
D-Link HomePlug AV2000
278/394
Actiontec 278/404 MoCA 2.0 Ethernet to Coax Adapter
4 feet of RG6 Coaxial Cabling
45 feet of separation with 4 drywall walls between the Netgear wireless router and the remote "Multimedia over Coax Alliance" (MoCA) device plus the remote powerline networking unit: 30
Cat 5/6 Cables LAN switch
95 feet of energized 110VAC house electrical wiring
278/404
D-Link HomePlug AV2000
45 feet of and 4 drywall walls separation between the Netgear Router used two as a baseline powerline reference point networking units which were on *Internet Download Speed in Megabits per second / different Local Area Network Speed circuit in Megabits per second breakers
D-Link HomePlug AV2000
88/52 when the remote HomePlug AV2 transceiver was plugged directly into a wall outlet 13/13 when the remote HomePlug transceiver was plugged into a surge strip which was plugged into a wall
Powerline networking data speed declines with increasing distance while regular Cat 5/Cat 5e/Cat 6 "Ethernet" cables do not: 32
The powerline networking link in my home drops both my Internet speed and local network speed down to about 20 percent of what I get when I am connected by means of a Cat 5/5e/6 cable directly to my broadband cable modem's built-in router. 33
Powerline networking is severely slowed down by power surge strips and UPS units so never plug powerline networking units into surge strips and UPS units. 34
Cat 5/6 Cables
95 feet of energized 110VAC House Electrical Wiring
D-Link HomePlug AV2000
LAN switch
Netgear Router used as a baseline reference point *Internet Download Speed in Megabits per second / Local Area Network Speed in Megabits per second
D-Link HomePlug AV2000
88/52
278/404 Actiontec MoCA 2.0 Ethernet to Coax Adapter
Actiontec 278/404 MoCA 2.0 Ethernet to Coax Adapter
95 feet of RG6 existing Coaxial Cabling (installed by Time Warner subcontractor)
Rule of Thumb: At any given point in your local network, if a coax outlet or "pigtail" is available, it will give you faster data communications speeds relative to powerline networking through the 110VAC electrical outlets 36
If you already have an old wireless router available to use, you can put it at the end of a "Multimedia over Coax Alliance" (MoCA) kit or powerline networking kit in order in order to extend your local network: 37
Netgear Router used as a baseline reference point *Internet Download Speed in Megabits per second Local Area Network Speed in Megabits per second
278/404
95 feet of energized 110VAC House Electrical Wiring D-Link HomePlug AV2000
D-Link HomePlug AV2000
88/52
LAN switch 2.45 GHz Wi-Fi 5 GHz Wi-Fi
Any available wireless router
If you put a secondary wireless router at the end of a powerline networking kit, it is best to use a different brand of router from the brand of your main, existing wireless router in order to prevent private IP address conflicts and other interactions 39
TOPICS • Two Reliable Ways to Extend a Local Network: o "Multimedia over Coax Alliance o Powerline Networking • Wireless Extender and Powerline Hybrids 40
TWO RELIABLE WAYS TO EXTEND A LOCAL NETWORK (continued)
•
•
Wireless Range Extenders: Faster but more expensive relative to powerline networking Powerline Networking: Much slower but less expensive relative to powerline networking
41
"MULTIMEDIA OVER COAX ALLIANCE" (MoCA)
• The Multimedia Over Coax Alliance provides the "MoCA 2.0" standard.
42
"MULTIMEDIA OVER COAX ALLIANCE" (MoCA)
• Do not buy obsolete MoCA 1.x equipment: It runs at less than 50 Megabits per second and it will bottleneck your local network. 43
"MULTIMEDIA OVER COAX ALLIANCE" (MoCA) (continued)
•
"Multimedia over Coax Alliance" equipment lets you transmit an wired Ethernet signal over most of the coaxial cabling in your home. It is compatible with coaxial cabling that carries cable TV, broadband cable Internet, and/or set-top box coaxs such as cabling for TIVO 44 signals.
"MULTIMEDIA OVER COAX ALLIANCE" (MoCA) (continued)
•
"Multimedia over Coax Alliance" equipment does not affect or interfere with existing cable modems, cable TV set-top boxes, or cable TV "transport adapters", or coaxial recording devices such as TIVOs. 45
"MULTIMEDIA OVER COAX ALLIANCE" (MoCA) (continued)
•
"Multimedia over Coax Alliance" equipment is not compatible with coaxial cables that carry satellite, "DBS", or "DirectTV" signals.
46
•
"MULTIMEDIA OVER COAX ALLIANCE" (MoCA) (continued)
If your cable TV installer has not already installed one, you need to buy and install a "Point of Entry" filter at the point where the cabling that belongs to your cable TV/cable Internet provider's coaxial cable enters your home in order to isolate your MoCA signal from any MoCA signals in your neighbor's houses: 47
48
49
50
•
•
"MULTIMEDIA OVER COAX ALLIANCE" (MoCA) (continued)
Actiontec appears to be the only active manufacturer: See https://www.amazon.com/ActiontecBonded-Ethernet-AdapterECB6200K02/dp/B013J7O3X0/ref=sr_ 1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469672029&sr=8 -1&keywords=bonded+MoCA Do not buy the obsolete Netgear model MCAB1001. It will be too slow 51 for your local network.
52
53
54
55
•
"MULTIMEDIA OVER COAX ALLIANCE" (MoCA) (continued)
If your cable modem has an MoCA lamp and this lamp is lit up after your install your MoCA equipment and your cable modem runs at "MoCA 2.1" speeds, it means that you have configured your cable modem to automatically connect it's LAN network switch (="LAN side") to any MoCA devices that your cable modem discovers in the coaxial cabling 56 that is attached to the cable modem.
•
"MULTIMEDIA OVER COAX ALLIANCE" (MoCA) (continued) If your cable modem has an MoCA lamp and this lamp is lit up after your install your MoCA equipment and your cable modem runs at "MoCA 2.1" speeds (= "Gigabit Ethernet" speeds) and the "network switch" (= LAN side) of your cable modem runs at Gigabit Ethernet speeds, it means that your cable modem's network switch is connected to your "MoCA 2.1" equipment at Gigabit Ethernet speeds. It this situation, you would only need to buy and install a single MoCA ethernet to 57 coax adapter.
•
"MULTIMEDIA OVER COAX ALLIANCE" (MoCA) (continued) If your cable modem has an MoCA lamp and this lamp is lit up after your install your MoCA equipment and your cable modem runs at "MoCA 2.1" speeds (= "Gigabit Ethernet" speeds) but the "network switch" (= LAN side) of your cable modem only runs at 10 Megabits per second or 100 Megabits per second, you will have to get into the configuration screens of your cable modem in order to disable it's MoCA function to present it from bottlenecking your MoCA 2.x 58 equipment.
•
"MULTIMEDIA OVER COAX ALLIANCE" (MoCA) (continued)
If your cable modem has an MoCA lamp and this lamp is lit up after your install your MoCA equipment and your cable modem only runs at the obsolete, slow "MoCA 1.x" speeds (
