Comtrend GCA-6000 G.hn Coaxial Ethernet Adapter Kit Review

Coaxial technology infiltrates our homes, so why not send Ethernet through it too? Let's take a close look at Comtrend's GCA-6000 kit.

Comtrend GCA-6000 G.hn Coaxial Ethernet Adapter Kit
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In Loving Memory
Published
Updated
Manufactured by Comtrend
2 minutes & 15 seconds read time
TweakTown's Rating: 82%

The Bottom Line

While the packaging isn't pretty and the technology seems simple, the Comtrend GCA-6000 kit provides a solid connection with ample bandwidth for high performance applications.
Comtrend GCA-6000 G.hn Coaxial Ethernet Adapter Kit Review 99

In the last ten years, we have seen many techniques come to market to extend home networks into every nook of our homes. While wireless extenders are the most common in today's home, Powerline networking has come on quick as a method to secure more bandwidth in larger homes. Adding to this is coaxial technologies which are covered under the G.hn umbrella.

The G.hn specification for home networking enables up to 1 Gbps using "legacy" wiring including telephone wiring, power lines, and coaxial. The Comtrend GCA-6000 kit falls in the coaxial lineup and is a relatively simple device that can be setup in minutes. On one end of the device, we have dual coaxial connections while the opposite end houses a Gigabit Ethernet port.

MSRP of the Comtrend GCA-6000 Kit comes in at $99.99 with a one-year warranty.

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The packaging for the kit is nothing fancy. We have just a simple white box and sticker to denote the contents.

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The scope of delivery includes both adapters up top, power supplies, and Ethernet cables.

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The front of the device houses a series of LEDs for connectivity and security.

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On the end, we have two coaxial connections labeled in and out. To do our testing, we used the in ports on both adapters.

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The opposite end houses the sync button and gigabit Ethernet port.

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Testing showed the performance of the adapter capable of reaching 375 Mbps pretty steady with a few times where it jumped upwards of 450 Mbps.

The Comtrend GCA-6000 kit, while very much a niche solution, does offer quite good performance, especially over traditional wireless extenders. Powerline technology can provide similar performance and is more flexible, but I would put a solution such as this as a number two if you need high throughput for a pool house, garage, or second floor. Build quality is quite good, and in testing, I had little issue with the adapters apart from having them set up wrong the first time and after connecting both ends of the coaxial to the "in" port, performance more than doubled.

Performance, as seen in the above chart, was quite good. Peak numbers came in around 450 Mbps on a few occasions while a majority hovered around 375 Mbps, and like I said, on par with what powerline tech can do depending on the age of your lines.

Overall, coaxial is a solid number two for me in situations where powerline isn't capable or isn't feasible, and this kit from Comtrend has everything needed to get you started.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

Performance80%
Quality including Design and Build87%
General Features87%
Bundle and Packaging75%
Value for Money80%
Overall82%

The Bottom Line: While the packaging isn't pretty and the technology seems simple, the Comtrend GCA-6000 kit provides a solid connection with ample bandwidth for high performance applications.

In Loving Memory

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Tyler joined the TweakTown team in 2013 and reviewed 100s of new techy items. Growing up in a small farm town, tech wasn't around, unless it was in a tractor. At an early age, Tyler's parents brought home their first PC. Tyler was hooked and learned what it meant to format a HDD, spending many nights reinstalling Windows 95. Tyler's love and enthusiast nature always kept his PC nearby. Eager to get deeper into tech, he started reviewing. Sadly, Tyler lost his battle with cancer on October 17, 2024.

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