Wi3_feat
WiPNET uses MoCA technology in a cartridge and sleeve design so electronic system contractors can readily upgrade cartridges as new interfaces emerge.

A Best of Innovations award winner for its approach to in-home Web connectivity and networking, WiPNET at its simplest is Ethernet over coax, according to Adam Lenio of Wi3, Victor, N.Y. This means high speed Internet access to every location in a home with little more than the replacement of existing coax cable wall plates with WiPNET ports. The WiPNET ports themselves are modular with a "cartridge and sleeve" design that allows cartridges to be swapped as technology or needs change.

In-home Ethernet has been established with products like Powerline so how is WiPNET different?

Unlike Powerline, WiPNET uses a home's existing coaxial cables to create an Ethernet network. Powerline by definition, contends Lenio, is prone to instability and surges. “This means that in the real world it can never achieve the inflated networking speeds it claims to get in the lab environment,” he says. WiPNET uses MoCA technology. “Once the sleeve is installed in the wall, the homeowner can readily upgrade cartridges as new interfaces for the consumer electronics devices.”

Comparing WiPNET MoCA to Wi-Fi and Powerline Networks

 

 

Wi3 WiPNET Coax

802.11n Wi-Fi           

Homeplug AV Powerline

Max MAC Rate (Mbps)

175     

200     

100

95% Coverage (Mbps)

135

10-30  

30

Latency (ms)  

3.5

10-30  

10-30

Packet error rate

10-6

~ 1 error/hour 

1-5%

many errors/minute

10-3

~ 1 error/minute

 

Source: Wi3