Posted 09/02/09 at 07:00:20 PM by Gordon Mah Ung

Netgear’s MOCA (short for Multimedia over Coax Alliance) adapter is the can solution to the can’t. If you can’t get a reliable Wi-Fi signal throughout your home and you can’t make an Ethernet cable run and you can’t tap your home’s electrical grid with a HomePlug Powerline adapter, than MOCA is the can.

Using existing standard cable coax wires, the Netgear MOCA adapter lets you turn your cable TV runs into a “home entertainment network.” What the hell is that? Since the adapter is built around passing data through your cable TV, it’s no surprise that MOCA wants to push its adoption as an easy way to get Internet connectivity to your set top box, game console, or media center PC.

Setup is Joe-six-pack friendly: Just unplug the coax cable from your TV set and plug it into the Netgear MOCA adapter. Run a second coax cable from the adapter to the TV. TV signals are passed through transparently, so your American Idol viewing won’t be disturbed. And if the signal is degraded you can actually change the frequency the adapter operates on.

Continue reading this review after the jump.

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Posted 05/31/09 at 04:00:57 PM by Justin Kerr

An enterprising antique hardware collector known only as “Phreakmonkey” on You Tube has recorded and posted a video showcasing what the internet would have looked like in 1964. After detailing his lovingly preserved Livemore Data Systems “Model A” Acousitc Coupler 300 Baud Modem, he then proceeds to demonstrate how he uses it to establish a connection to the net.  

Oddly enough, my 10 Mbps cable modem choked on the streaming video a bit, but my faith in my ISP was quickly restored when I compared it to the 300 characters per second this speed demon maxed out at.

This modem is about as (un)maximum as it gets around here, but it certainly is an interesting watch for nostalgic types who enjoy taking a look back at the history of digital communication.

Hit the jump to view this bad boy in action.

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Posted 03/25/09 at 10:09:14 AM by Paul Lilly

Built by Huawei Technologies, T-Mobile is gearing up to release the "webConnect USB Laptop Stick," a USB-based modem for notebooks to tap into the company's new 3G network. The stick will come with 8GB of internal storage and include a micro SD slot.

According to Jeremy Korst, T-Mobile's director of broadband products and services, the webConnect will provide download speeds of 600Kb/s and peak at over 1Mb/s.

"For the majority of customers, use cases around web browsing, social media, MySpace, checking email - all those typical things we see our customers doing more and more while on the go, the speeds we're providing now are more than sufficient to provide that customer experience," Korst said.

Nifty as the device is, price could end up being an deterrent. The webConnect carries an MSRP of $250, which can be partially offset with a service contract. A two-year contract drops the price down to $50, or $100 with a one-year contract.

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