Coaxial to Ethernet Vs Wireless?

[Woji34]

So I am in a bit of a situation, basically there is no ethernet ports in my room (yep i know). I have a coaxial cable coming out of the wall that I don't use ( See question 1) and my motherboard doesn't have a built-in network card (https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty%20Z270%20Gaming%20K4/index.asp here is the motherboard) so the only way I can have internet is via ethernet or if i buy a third-party network card. I use a power line adapter as a solution but these are very unreliable, my IP keeps bam-boozling it self and it keeps changing to 169. something but simply reseting the router does the trick. the problem is that the router and the modem is in my mum's room, i don't live above her room , i live above the living room where the router used to be and it got moved to her room (i don't even know why). Anyway enough rambling.

Q1: Can i have a proper, reliable and efficient connection through coaxial cable if i use a coaxial to ethernet cable (I am not sure if this is even a thing, someone told me but i am not 100% sure, if someone could point me in the right direction then i would appreciate it) and would i get the promised speed that my ISP says i would. When i test the wifi (5GHz) from my phone, i get 150~Mbps download and 30Mbps upload, sometimes i get the odd 220~ but it doesn't matter, i sohuld be getting 250Mbps but i learned to live with it anyway. Just getting above 60 download would be nice. So the TL;DR question is : Can i have 200+ download if i were to use something that provides internet through coaxial to ethernet and into my PC.

Q2: If i were to use a NIC, which one should I use for my speeds ? My ISP informed me that i should be getting 250 Download and 30 Upload on the 5Ghz frequency (I never get 250 but it comes to 220-230 which is close enough for me). Should I even use a NIC? I game a lot and downloading games is a tedious process and with the additional 100/150 download that process could be made a little easier to deal with.

Thank you in advance.

 

[TJ Hooker]

Q1) Yes, you can get ethernet over coax (look for MOCA adapters), but I can't comment on whether they'd be better or worse than your powerline adapter.

Q2) FYI, the term "NIC" is, in my experience, exclusively used to refer to an wired ethernet adapter (which your motherboard has built it). The term you're looking for is wifi/wireless adapter. It's hard to say which would be the best for you (if any), because there are so many other factors other than just the rated speed of the adapter that affect throughput. If your router isn't up to snuff it wouldn't really matter what adapter you get.

 

[jsmithepa]

If a COAX is available then MOCA is your solution. I have no actually experience but educated knowledge tells me MOCA should be better performing than Powerline, cuz with a coax, you have the cable all to yourself, specially if you don't have TV signal running through it. Powerline, you are affected by AC, noise induced by appliances, and if both ends of that Powerline are on different phases of your household electricity, another variable.

Yup lots of jargons there, but hey either this or call a contractor$$$ right.

 

[Woji34]

Thank you both for the replies, I'll try the MOCA Adapter first and see if my speeds change. If nothing changes then I'll try the wifi/wireless adapter (thanks for clearing it up @TJ Hooker) and see if that has any effect. I do understand that the location of my router + the type of adapter i have will affect the speeds, but it can't hurt to try. Either way thank you both for the help.

 

[Woji34]

Q1) Yes, you can get ethernet over coax (look for MOCA adapters), but I can't comment on whether they'd be better or worse than your powerline adapter.

Q2) FYI, the term "NIC" is, in my experience, exclusively used to refer to an wired ethernet adapter (which your motherboard has built it). The term you're looking for is wifi/wireless adapter. It's hard to say which would be the best for you (if any), because there are so many other factors other than just the rated speed of the adapter that affect throughput. If your router isn't up to snuff it wouldn't really matter what adapter you get.

If i were to do the "MoCA adapter" method, would i need 2 or just 1? Some stores (amazon, etc.) sell them as one or two packs and i am just confused, i can't really find a detailed video that answers that question. I have 1 coaxial cable in my room which i could connect to a moca adapter if i had one, but the problem is that there isn't really a second coaxial cable in my mum's room that would connect into the router. Would 1 do fine or do i need 2?

 

[TJ Hooker]

If you don't have any coax connectors close enough to connect to the router, you can't use MOCA.

Edit: Derp, it didn't occur to me that if you have cable internet (which I'm assuming you do if you get 250 Mbps from your ISP), you must have a coax hookup somewhere near your router unless your modem is in a different room than your router somehow.

 

[bill001g]

Some over the newer fancy cable modems/routers have a moca adapters built in so you could just buy 1 and not 2.....although the cable modems with moca are more expensive. Unless you cable modem has this function you should plan on buying 2 moca units.

There are a couple ways to cable the Moca device but you should be able to share the single cable jack that the modem already connects to. It partially depends if you have cable tv as well as internet how you cable it. The vendors of the moca units have fairly good explanation on how to hook these things up.

 

[Ralston18]

Who has admin rights to the router?

Physical connectivity is one thing. Configuring your end setup to have access to the router's network and the internet is another.

Would seem to be fair question to ask why the router was moved....

 

[TJ Hooker]

@Ralston18 using MOCA would just make his PC appear as a regular ethernet LAN connected device to the router, the same as it currently is over powerline adapter. Don't see how that could be an issue.

 

[Ralston18]

Just seemed strange to me that the router was moved without the OP having or knowing some "why".

An "end-around" perhaps? And likely to be undone if so.

 

[Woji34]

No clue why, we had pets at the time and one of them chewed on the cable I think? I am not really sure why it was moved. both the modem and the router are in the same room but the problem is that when i need to reset the router, i can't access it and even with my power line adapters, i still get bad speeds. Don't get me wrong i can get by with 40 download but its insane that i should have 250 and i have 40.
@TJ The problem with that is I have no idea if there is a coax hookup in my mum's room due to the fact most walls are covered up with furniture. I asked my mum why the router and modem have to be in her room and she said that there is some "box" outside that connects to the router... But i'd assume that it just connects universally around the house via the wiring ? Makes no sense to handicap anyone who wants wifi to have it in 1 specific location. Either way i'm going to try and move it into the living room. Is there a way that would let me check if my router / modem have a moca adapter already built in ? Would i need to contact my ISP to ask them about it ?

Edit : Just checked, they don't have a coax hookup, if they do then it's probably hidden somewhere.

This sucks, well, british houses do anyway.

 

[COLGeek]

What is the modem/router physically connected to now (in your mom's room)?