What is Buffering?

Buffering is annoying and frustrating. It’s what happens sometimes when you stream a video online but it delays or even fully stops at certain points while you’re watching it. This occurs when the full video has not fully downloaded; only segments of it have, which are stored in a temporary memory cache on your computer. The video plays up to the point that has downloaded, and then it “buffers” until the next downloaded segment catches up with what you’re watching.

Poor Wi-Fi Can Cause Buffering

Typically a slow or unreliable Wi-Fi network in the home can be the cause of video buffering on streaming devices. One way to avoid this is to make sure your home network maintains consistent minimum speeds. Your network should have a download speed of around 25-30 Mbps to reduce or even avoid buffering.

Besides slow speeds, dead spots are common problems in home WiFi networks. Your router simply may not get the Wi-Fi signal out to the far corners of your home where you have your wireless set top box and TV.

MoCA Technology Can Reduce or Eliminate Buffering

Some people try to eliminate video buffering by installing WiFi repeaters or mesh WiFi devices.

While standard mesh WiFi can help improve the coverage in a home, it is a fully wireless system. Wireless signals like Wi-Fi are prone to interference from common things like microwave ovens, wireless speakers, certain power sources or cabling. This interference affects the reliability of your network, and therefore can reduce the quality of your video streaming. Wired networking solutions, on the other hand, tend to be more reliable, and consistently faster, which is good for reducing video buffering.   

MoCA is a wired technology that creates a faster, more reliable home network. And the good news is MoCA uses what many people already have in their home: coaxial TV wiring. MoCA Adapters or Extenders can be a great way to get a more reliable, higher speed network connection.

How Does MoCA Work?

By using MoCA adapters or MoCA Network Extenders, you can create an superfast, reliable Internet “autobahn” in your home. In other words, your Internet data will travel really fast and will be less susceptible to interference.

MoCA Adapters are an entirely wired option with devices that come in pairs. These devices communicate to each other through the coaxial wiring in your home. You simply connect one MoCA Adapter to your modem/router and another to your device that needs faster, reliable Internet (like a set top box or Blu-ray player) near a coaxial port. If your modem/router is already “MoCA enabled,” you will only need a single MoCA Adapter at the other end.

Sometimes a wired-only MoCA option will not work because your TV and set top box are not close enough to a coaxial port. In this case a MoCA Network Extender is an excellent option. With a Network Extender, you will basically set up a hybrid wired/Wi-Fi solution. You will still connect a MoCA Adapter to your modem/router. Then you connect a MoCA Network Extender to a coaxial port further in your home, closer to your set-top-box or other media device. A good chunk of the network is then wired, which makes it very fast and less subject to interference. The MoCA Network Extender then sends a Wi-Fi signal out from there to your set-top box and other devices in the home.

To connect MoCA adapters or MoCA Network Extenders, all you need to do is locate your coax cables and outlets. There’s no need for any additional or new wiring for installation. To get better WiFi, it’s that easy!