I missed answering question #2. So the Ring Topology happens when you have 1 MoCA adapter connected to the switch, then to a splitter, then all coax connected to that splitter, then to the corresponding MoCA adapter (nodes). This saves you money as you will need less MoCA adapters (i.e., for 2 nodes, you only need 3; for 3 nodes, you only need 4).

What you are planning to do is to use it as an ethernet alternative, which will be a 1:1 ethernet replacement. That will be expensive indeed, but will give you dedicated lines per node/device. If both MoCA adapters in the line are MoCA 2.5, then you have the full 2.5 gbps bandwidth at your disposal, if the device has a 2.5 NIC and your switch has 2.5 ports.

Not much ping penalty. Ping will be hovering around 15ms

1. Higher MoCA standards are usually backwards compatible. If you have an older MoCA adapter, it will work. But then why not buy the latest model?

2. MoCA is actually a Ring Topology, even though your coax wiring are interconnected via Star Topology. It broadcasts signals across all “nodes”, and the node that needs the signal will accept and convert it back to digital for the device to consume. With that said, what you are missing is dedicated bandwidth in this case - if your main MoCA node connecting the router to the splitter is MoCA 2.5, then all your nodes within your topology will share 2.5 gbps bandwidth (more like a hub vs a switch).