What Is PoE and Power Over Ethernet Switch?

Network switches with PoE technology are widely used in business, school districts and healthcare facilities for the big benefits of their IP surveillance networks. So what is PoE, what is power over Ethernet switch, could you explain?

What is PoE?

PoE is short for power over Ethernet, which is a technology that can pass electrical power through an Ethernet cable alongside data. For example, if a digital camera is PoE-enabled, it only requires a network connection since it would receive the electrical power from the power over Ethernet cable. PoE technology actually makes hooking up network devices more convenient in any context. By doing so, the number of cables that must be configured for network installation will be greatly minimized. Therefore, PoE technology makes networking setup much simpler and less expensive.

Power over Ethernet usually starts with a Gigabit PoE switch or power over Ethernet injector, which pumps out the electrical power over the Ethernet ports and passes it to the device end via Ethernet cables. So what is power over Ethernet switch?

What Is PoE Switch?

A power over Ethernet switch is a normal rack-mounted network switch with integrated power over Ethernet functionality. It can automatically recognize the PoE devices like IP surveillance camera or wireless access point that connected to the switch, and pass power to the device accordingly. Network switches deliver power based on some standards. According to IEEE 802.3af, the delivering power can be up to 15.4 Watts on a switch port, while IEEE 802.3at rules that the one port can deliver power up to 30 Watts. To find the switch that is right for you, all you need to do is choose a switch according to your power needs.

In addition, there are managed and unmanaged options of PoE switches on the market. Unmanaged PoE switch is a plug-and-play device, which only provides power and signaling to Ethernet endpoints. On the other hand, managed PoE switch supports many advanced features, including VLANs, SNMP so as to manage and monitor the network. Considering the rapid growth of today’s technology and the future’s upgrade, I think it’s wise to choose a managed PoE switch.

Using Power Over Ethernet Switch to Upgrade Your Network

When connecting to the networking devices, PoE switches are a more cost-effective choice. As the figure below shows, users are able to connect the IP phones, wireless access points and IP cameras directly to the PoE switch. There is no need for additional wiring, power sources. Thus, in this case, it can save time and money for additional wiring, which will result in a relatively lower cost.

The following table lists some switches produced by FS.COM that I want to recommend to you. They are available in 8, 24 and 48 ports. Look at the product detail, and select one for your need.

FS P/N	S1250-8T2F	S1600-24T4F	S1600-48T4S
Description	8 10/100/1000Base-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 1 console port, and 2 Gigabit SFP slots	24 10/100/1000Base-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 1 console port, 2 combo port, and 2 Gigabit SFP slots	48 10/100/1000Base-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 1 console port, 4 10G SFP+ slots
Power Consumption Per PoE Port	Max.30W	Max.30W	Max.30W
Switching Capacity	20Gbps	52Gbps	180 Gbps
Forwarding Rate	14.88Mpps	38.69Mpps	130.94 Mpps

S1250-8T2F and S1600-24T4F are 1G switches, which are suitable for home and small business application. S1600-48T4S is a 10Gb switch, which is designed for medium business networks.

Conclusion

Power over Ethernet switch is a great choice when you want to set up a cloud phone system or wire a security camera cluster since it can save your time and money and adds flexibility to your IP network. Want to find a good network switch, please visit FS.COM, both copper switch and fiber optic switch could be found here.

How to Use a PoE Injector to Install an IP Camera?

Are you looking for a solution to easily power your IP cameras? It’s no doubt to use a PoE injector or Gigabit PoE switch to complete the installation. Once your system is established, you can view your home circumstance from your computer or smartphone from anywhere. Here focus on how to use a PoE injector to install an IP camera.

What Does a PoE Injector Do?

Power over Ethernet is commonly regarded as PoE for short. It’s a technology that can transfer both power and data over twisted pair Ethernet cables such as Cat5e, Cat6, etc. A Poe injector is a device that is commonly known as the “midspan”. It supplies power to a camera by delivering power into the Ethernet cable. Usually, a power over Ethernet injector converts the alternating current into direct current so it can be the power supplier for low voltage IP camera.

What Does an IP Camera Do?

Unlike the traditional cameras, IP cameras can send and receive data over a LAN or the Internet. It’s a separated unit with its own IP address that needs nothing but a network connection like WiFi or PoE injector switch. IP cameras capture images just like a digital camera, and compress the files for transmission over the network. So these images can be viewed anywhere in the world. Also, this camera can be controlled remotely.

How to Use a PoE Injector to Install an IP Camera

Preparation

Before the installation, we should prepare a PoE injector, IP camera and Cat5e cables. Here, we will choose the products, single port 10/100/1000M Gigabit PoE injector, 3MP indoor/outdoor dome IP camera with infrared from FS.COM as an example.

• Single port 10/100/1000M Gigabit PoE injector fully complies with IEEE 802.3af. It has two RJ45Ethernet ports, one is labeled Data In and one is labeled PoE/Data Out. With a power supply of 15.4W, this PoE injector for IP camera delivers power up to 100 meters. No configuration is required, just plug and play.

Figure 1: Example of PoE injector

• 3MP indoor/outdoor dome IP camera with infrared is a professional surveillance and security solution for houses and enterprises. It provides video resolution of 2065×1553 pixels over a digital signal using Cat5e or Cat6, and observe high quality footage with the advanced SONY starvis back-illuminated CMOS sensor.

Figure 2: Example of IP camera

Introduction

First, check the equipment, make sure the PoE injector and IP camera are in good condition. Besides, turn off the devices’ power for safe installation.

Second, plug one end of Cat5e cable into the PoE injector’s PoE/Data out port, and the other end into IP camera’s PoE port.

Third, choose a place to mount IP camera. Usually, the dome IP camera is installed on the roof corner that is adequate to capture the faces of subjects of different heights.

Fourth, use another Cat5e cable to connect PoE injector and a fiber switch.

Last, make sure all connection is correct. Then plug in power to ensure all connections are working normally.

Conclusion

The installation just requires several devices, a PoE injector, an IP camera, a non-PoE switch and some cables, or you can use a PoE switch like 24 port PoE switch to replace the PoE injector. Well, no matter which way you will choose to install your IP cameras, FS.COM is the one-stop shopping base when you need to buy these network devices.