D-Link adapters run Ethernet over coax

D-Link this week unveiled a kit for running Ethernet over coaxial cables - the kind of cables that typically carry cable-TV signals to different rooms of your house.

The Coax Ethernet Adapter Kit consists of two adapters - each has an Ethernet port and a Coaxial F-type connector. The idea is that you would connect a router via Ethernet to the adapter, which would connect to the coax line. At another coax connection point, the second adapter would provide another Ethernet port, and you could connect a computer to it via Ethernet.

This would work in a point-to-multipoint configuration as well, with a single router connecting to multiple clients.

It all makes Wi-Fi sound very intriguing. But the idea is that you would use this in a place where a wireless LAN is not feasible, if the interference is too great - or perhaps if you're worried about wireless hackers, or if you're allergic to Wi-Fi. 

The product is certified by the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), which is promoting the idea of using coax as a standard for home networking.

D-Link's approach sounds similar to the approach taken by the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, which espouses a technology that would allow you to do much the same thing, only using the electrical power outlets in your house for the adapters and the electrical wiring for running the signals.

The difference could be that the D-Link product sidesteps much of the interference and uncertainty about bandwidth that you might expect when using the power lines for signal transmission. D-Link says its device operates in the 800MHz-to-1500MHz range, staying out of the way of cable TV transmissions.

The kit is expected to ship in the third quarter of this year, with a suggested retail price of $200.

Jeff Caruso is site editor at Network World.