Whether shopping at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Fry's or any other major consumer electronics retailer, consumers are confronted with a myriad of acronyms that promise to speed up the home entertainment network. But with so many home networking technologies available -- from Wi-Fi (802.11) and Multimedia over Coax (MoCA(R)) to Powerline, HomePlug, HomePNA, among others -- how can consumers know if they're making the right choice when it comes to building their home entertainment network? Should consumers opt for wired or wireless connectivity options? What are the critical decision-making points consumers need to know before making a home theater purchase?
(1) I Deserve More than Spotty Service: The interest in Multi-Room DVR (MR-DVR) service coupled with IPTV and over-the-top services from companies such as Netflix, Hulu and, VUDU, as well as devices such as Boxee Box, Apple TV and Google TV, has sparked consumer interest to share content in their home. But up until now, the ability to store and share whole-home digital content, while ensuring network reliability wasn't fully available. Yes, many consumers can distribute content via their in-home Wi-Fi connection, but the consistency of that wireless service isn't always optimal. Too often, in-home wireless dead zones or over-used shared Wi-Fi hot spots cause lag time and slow or choppy buffering when downloading movie files or moving content throughout the home. That's because wireless service levels are delivering 'best effort.' But if consumers are going to pay for premium content and services, as well as high definition (HD)-and 3DTVs, shouldn't the guaranteed level ofservice be better than 'best effort?'
Service providers from all three pay-TV segments think so -- and major operators like Verizon and DIRECTV, Comcast, Cox and Time Warner Cable have set forth on a mission to overcome service degradation by deploying new connected -- or wired -- home networking technologies to ensure maximum service levels with high-speed performance to guarantee consumers' quality of experience.
(2) MoCA, Way More Powerful than a Cup of Joe: Today, the de-facto home networking standard endorsed by the majority of pay-TV service operators is the wired solution known as MoCA (Multimedia over Coax alliance) -- an industry standard which uses the coax cable already in installed in nearly every U.S. home. MoCA is the only home network standard that can seamlessly network multiple streams of HD video and multimedia content around the home; creating a high-speed, ultra-performing home networking backbone to guarantee service levels for sharing HD programming from one set-top-box to another. MoCA, as the home network backbone, enables services such as MR-DVR, powering latency-free online and multi-room gaming, distributing personal content such as videos, photos, and music from your PC to your TV, or extending the Wi-Fi coverage beyond traditional in-home "hot spots."
(3) Have a Double: MoCA 2.0 Revs Up the Whole-Home Entertainment Network: In January 2011, Entropic Communications, which powers the connected home by delivering MoCA silicon found in set-top-boxes, unveiled its latest complete silicon solution, based on the MoCA 2.0 standard -- the only MoCA silicon available to offer throughput levels of more than 400 Mbps with a 500 Mbps turbo-mode for point-to-point applications; creating the fastest whole-home networking backbone on the market. With MoCA 2.0 enabled devices in their homes, consumers will enjoy a more robust, satisfying whole-home networking experience without the need to add more wires.
Setting-up Your MoCA Connected Home
Major U.S. telecom, satellite, and cable TV providers are already using MoCA technology in their services. Initially, Verizon led the charge, deploying MoCA as part of its FiOS broadband service. DIRECTV, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, BrightHouse and Comcast soon followed delivering whole-home entertainment services to subscribers and multi-room DVR packages that enable TVs in various rooms to link to a single DVR through a MoCA backbone.
Consumers can also set-up MoCA based Ethernet-to-Coax Adapters (ECA), powered by Entropic's silicon, which connect existing coax wiring (most likely anywhere a TV is connected) to stream multiple HD signals simultaneously to the farthest reaches of your home.
"We have a guest house on our property and unless we kept the garage door open, we found it difficult to keep that part of the property connected wirelessly due to interference from our tin roof and cinderblock construction," said Matthew Talbot, a MoCA user in Florida. "We found the MoCA ECA to be a great application for connecting our main house to the guest house. The best part: setting up the MoCA ECA -- it couldn't be any easier! I had it set up within 10-15 minutes, and the connectivity worked perfectly."
To learn more about getting next-generation services, including MR-DVR or Wi-Fi/broadband extension, contact your service provider and ask for MoCA 2.0. Additionally, MoCA ECA Kits are available from NETGEAR, D-Link and Actiontec, and are currently sold online and at leading retailers nationwide including Amazon.com, Best Buy, l, Fry's Electronics and Wal-Mart. For more information on MoCA, visit www.mocablog.net.
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