Channel Master, a manufacturer of TV antennas and connectors, is now selling adapters designed to connect TV sets to the Internet over in-home coaxial cable at throughput rates up to 170 Mbps.
The adapters -- available with either one or four Ethernet ports -- use Entropic Communications' home-networking chips based on the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) specification. Users connect one adapter to their broadband router and another to the coaxial cable near their TV.
Channel Master sells the single-port unit (CM-6001) for $124.99 and the four-port CM-6004 for $179.99. Amazon.com lists them at $81.88 and $104.09, respectively.
Other retailers lined up to distribute the adapters include Fry's Electronics, Ace Hardware, True Value, Crutchfield, Walmart.com, CircuitCity.com and CompUSA.com.
Channel Master also sells powerline-based Ethernet home-networking adapters, which it pitches as marketed for connected TVs. Founded in 1949, the Mesa, Ariz.-based company makes antennas, set-top boxes, home-networking accessories and digital media devices.
More than 500 million Internet-connected TVs will have shipped by 2015, according to an updated forecast from DisplaySearch released this week. Currently, 62% of consumers either have not connected their TVs to broadband or not have the capability to do so, according to a survey released this week by research firm Knowledge Networks.
Entropic said its MoCA-based solutions are currently deployed in more than 7 million U.S. households, through providers including Comcast, Cox Communications, DirecTV and Verizon FiOS.
