Why choose Ethernet over Coax Extender (EOC) to run on coaxial or 2-Wire cable?

In today’s environment, the use of network equipment is becoming more and more popular, but there may be some existing lines in old buildings, such as coaxial cable, phone lines, and power cables. Is there any way without rewiring to use these existing lines to transmit the Ethernet signal of the equipment?

Technology Background

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) is an international standards consortium that publishes specifications for networking over coaxial cable. The current development technology of Ethernet over Coax (EoC), Ethernet over 2 wire, IP over Coax, or IP over 2 wire is a family and their technologies based on this specification, which supports the transmission of Ethernet data via coax and any other 2-Wire (such as telephone wire, power cable, or UTP cable).
There are several technologies that can be applied to realize Ethernet or IP communication by reusing coax cables. For example, the ITU-T G.hn standard provides high-speed (up to 1 Gigabit/s) local area networking over existing home wires, including coaxial cable, power lines, and phone lines. It defines an Application Protocol Convergence (APC) layer for encapsulation standard 802.3 Ethernet frames into G.hn MAC Service Data Units (MSDUs).
Thanks to the advancement of IC technology, today it is possible to integrate the IEEE802.3at/af standards into a single chip. At present, the transmission technology of Ethernet over coax (EoC) extender can transmit power at the same time, that is, a single cable can transmit power in addition to Ethernet data. The power can supply to remote devices, such technical application makes wiring construction and maintenance simple and fast.

Technical advantages

There are already many systems applications on the market that benefit from Ethernet / IP over Coax (or 2-Wire) technology. The Network cameras (IP cameras), Intercom, and IP phones are the main application fields. In addition to the advantages of Ethernet / IP over Coax (or 2-Wire) technology that uses a single cable to transmit Ethernet data and power, the long-distance/high-speed transmission is another advantage. The system engineer can use different types of copper cables establish multi-node high-speed network connections to save labor and cable costs, including:(Extended reading: Learn more field application of Ethernet over 2-Wire (EOC) products)。

1. New extended network connection via existing cable
Upgrade the analog surveillance video, Intercom, and telephone to 100/1000Mbps digital equipment, including buildings, factories, hotels, Pipe and tunnel inspection, deep-sea exploration, rail, radar systems, and other niche applications.
For example, to upgrade from an analog surveillance camera to an IP digital network camera, the main obstacle is the need to remove the old wiring and layout a new cable. The cost of new twisted-pair cables or optical fibers used for network equipment may be very high, and the transmission distance of twisted-pair cables for Ethernet has a limit of 100 meters. In fact, the existing copper cable is an excellent transmission medium. The coaxial cable supports higher bandwidth, better anti-interference, and low signal attenuation, which means that it can transmit more data over longer distances. By using the existing wiring infrastructure, multiple 100/1000Mbps network nodes can be easily established through a copper cable at a distance of more than 1KM.

2. Easy to install and maintain
The IP over 2-wire Ethernet extender / Ethernet over coax converter (EoC) is also very easy to install and use. No professional knowledge is required. When two EoC extenders are connected, the system will automatically establish a 100/1,000Mbps Ethernet or IP network. Need to set up an IP address or MAC number. Since the EoC extenders all use low-power technology, they can be connected to the low-voltage power supply which has been installed for the old system.

3. Instantly check the network signal, link, and power status through the LED indicator, you can quickly check the health status of devices.

4. 128-bit AES encrypted communication can provide protection for transient data transmission. This encryption method is very suitable for the transmission of confidential data, such as the military.

Problems that the system may encounter

Although the Ethernet over Coax Extender (EOC) has many advantages, the system still inevitably causes signal and power degradation due to long-distance transmission. The following two charts can be used for readers to refer to the power and data attenuation due to transmission distance on different transmission media.(Extended reading: Learn more technology of Ethernet over 2-Wire (EOC) products)。

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