Do All Network Switches Povide PoE

What is Power over Ethernet—Power over Ethernet (PoE) is technology that passes electric power over twisted-pair Ethernet cable to powered devices (PD), such as wireless access points, IP cameras, and VoIP phones in addition to the data that cable usually carries. It enables one RJ45 cable to provide both data connection and electric power to PDs instead of having a separate cable for each.

For example, a digital security camera normally requires two connections to be made when it is installed:

A network connection, in order to be able to communicate with video recording and display equipment

A power connection, to deliver the electrical power the camera needs to operate.

PoE switches can be widely used in various places, from home to office, indoors to outdoors. It can transmit power and data for different devices at the same time.

How to upgrade to POE—A midspan (or POE injector) is used to add POE capability to regular non-POE network links.  Midspans can be used to upgrade existing LAN installations to POE, and provide a versatile solution where fewer POE ports are required. Upgrading each network connection to POE is as simple as patching it through the midspan, and as with POE switches, power injection is controlled and automatic.

Midspans are available as multi-port rack-mounted units or low-cost single-port injectors.

It is also possible to upgrade powered devices, such as IP cameras, to POE by using a POE splitter. The POE splitter is patched into the camera’s network connection, and taps off the POE power, which it converts into a lower voltage suitable for the camera.