Coax

Things seem to be a little rosier in the MoCA camp, with most demos using either Entropic's reference module (pictured below) or Entropic-based designs. Entropic has been shipping its reference design modules to its partners and potential customers for field trials for some time and say results are very encouraging. But Entropic doesn't seem to be confident enough yet in its design to submit it to reviewers for testing, since I received a "we need to discuss this further" response to my request for review product.

MoCA demo with Entropic modules

I was told by multiple sources that the MoCA spec is still on track for end of Q1 blessing. But I didn't get a definite answer on when MoCA-compliant products would be available for review, although the frequently-heard Christmas 2005 timeframe was floated as a possibility for retail MoCA-based products.

I was a bit confused as to whether Panasonic was still in the MoCA camp, especially given the announcement on its powerline networking strategy. But the poster in the HD (High Definition) Networking area of the Panasonic booth (shown below) and conversations with both Panasonic and MoCA folks assured me that everyone showing coax-based networking was still in the MoCA camp.

Panasonic - MoCA Yes, HomePlug AV No

Everyone, that is, except for TMT Coaxial Networks, whose HomeRAN coax system is not MoCA compliant. Its product, which is already deployed in hotels and similar installations has a 60Mbps raw data rate with usable bandwidth in the mid-50Mbps range.

tmt HomeRAN Coax

The same HomeRAN display you see above, but with a D-Link sticker on it was in D-Link's booth, but they didn't seem interested in talking about it at all. I was also confused when an Entropic rep pointed me to D-Link as a possible source for MoCA-based consumer product, since they were instead showing the non-MoCA TMT product. (An Entropic rep later told me via email that this was due to a last minute mixup and that D-Link did indeed intend to have MoCA-based product.)