What Is PoE and PoE Switch?

What is PoE? PoE technology was defined by the IEEE 802.3af standard in 2003. Under this standard, the PoE allows a PD (powered device) like VoIP phones to receive up to 12.95W PoE wattage, utilizing just two out of the available four twisted pairs in Ethernet cabling.

Then what is a PoE switch? PoE switch refers to an application of PoE technology. Functioning as a kind of PSE (power sourcing equipment), a PoE switch can supply power to PDs via Ethernet cables to realize network connectivity. Generally, an 802.3af switch supports max power consumption up to 15.4W per PoE port with a voltage range between 44V and 57V. And the voltage range of PDs, connected with the PoE switch, is from 37V to 57V.

What Is PoE+ and PoE+ Switch?

PoE+ technology (IEEE 802.3at standard) is an upgrade of PoE technology, which was published in 2009. PDs in the market tend to require more wattages, like wireless access points that require PoE wattage more than 12.95W to work normally. To solve that, here comes the PoE plus technology, which can support high power consumption.

Similar to a PoE network switch, the PoE plus switch also supplies power over two pairs, but it adds an additional power class that is able to deliver power up to 25.5W for a PD with a voltage range from 42.5V to 57V. The max power delivered by each port of a PoE+ switch is 30W, along with a voltage range from 50V to 57V.

What Is PoE++ and PoE++ Switch?

In the pursuit of adding more power to broader device applications, the IEEE 802.3 standard once again is required to upgrade its PoE+ technology to PoE++ (IEEE 802.3bt standard) in 2018. PoE++ can be classified into two types: Type 3 and Type 4. Type 3 enables two or all four twisted pairs in a copper cable to deliver power at a PD up to 51W. Type 4 is up to 71W at a PD over four twisted pairs in an Ethernet cable. By the way, Cisco’s proprietary technology UPoE (universal Power over Ethernet) works similarly to the PoE++ Type 3, which extends the IEEE PoE+ standard to double the power to a PD to 51 watts. In some cases, UPoE is also called as PoE++.

As an upgrade to Power over Ethernet switch and PoE plus switch, PoE++ switch can deliver up to 60W on each PoE port under the Type 3 and up to 100W under the Type 4.

PoE vs. PoE+ vs. PoE++ Switch: Which to Choose?

Based on the above mentioned introduction, a reference chart that summarizes detailed specifications among PoE vs PoE+ vs PoE++ is presented below, which may be helpful when choosing the PoE switch depends on different requirements.

Note that the presented figures are just valuable in theory. In fact, PoE series switches often oversubscribe the total power capacity of a switch with more ports. That is because many devices will use less than maximum power. For instance, if you have a switch with all PoE++ Type 4 ports, it does not mean you will use all of them at maximum load 24×7. Consequently, you need to calculate the power requirements for all the powered devices that you plan to connect to switch and select corresponding patch cables for your PoE design.

Evidently, the major differences among PoE vs. PoE+ vs. PoE++ switches lie in their working mode and power supply, which reflect on their applications. An 802.3af switch is usually used to support devices that require the power delivery less than 15.4W, such as VoIP phones, sensors, meters, wireless access points with two antennas, and simple, static surveillance cameras that can’t pan, tilt or zoom. As for the PoE+ switch, it supports devices such as more complex surveillance cameras that pan, tilt, or zoom, as well as wireless access points with six antennas, and video IP phones. With a higher power wattage, the PoE++ Type 3 switch can support devices such as video conferencing system components and building management devices. And the PoE++ Type 3 switch can support devices such as laptops and TVs.

Assumed that your data center only requires low standard power levels, you may stick to PoE switches. However, if you’d like to build a more robust and high-performance network with multiple varied devices, plus, don’t want to bother to consider the port limitations, then picking PoE+ or PoE++ switches will be the right choice. When starting to build infrastructures of higher requirements or plan for upgrades, take a look at PoE+ or PoE++ technologies may be wiser. However, not everyone needs a full upgrade. If your current PoE solution is adequate and fits your demands, it might be reasonable to remain your existing PoE network design.

Conclusion

Due to growing power requirements, the Power over Ethernet technology has been evolving with the trend. Along with that, the PoE based switch has also upgraded from PoE network switch to PoE + switch, and PoE++ switch. This article sheds light on the differences between PoE vs. PoE+ vs. PoE++ switch as well as their applications. Hope this post will give you some inspiration on choosing a suitable PoE network switch.

<p>The post PoE vs PoE+ vs PoE++ Switch: How to Choose? first appeared on NVR IPCAMERA SECURITY.</p>

There are 2 types of NVR:

• PoE (Power over Ethernet)
• Non-PoE (this model has no Ethernet ports on the back panel)

Note: If needed, a PoE camera can be setup on a Non-PoE NVR. Please note, since the Non-PoE NVR will not have PoE ports available, the PoE camera will have to be set up on the same network segment as the NVR using a PoE switch or injector. For more information on how to set up a PoE camera, click here.

Power over Ethernet models is used when cameras, that also have the PoE specification, need to be powered by being directly plugged into the NVR’s PoE ports and do not require a separate power adapter to work.

A non-PoE model has no ports for cameras to connect to on the back panel but can add cameras with the built-in scan function that finds cameras connected to the same network. A PoE model can also use this scan feature, but additionally has PoE ports to power its cameras. The scan feature allows for compatible IP cameras to be added from the network whether they are PoE or WiFi.

For the purposes of this guide, the setup procedure will be divided between both the PoE and non-PoE NVR types. Each of these sections will have both a hardware setup and software setup portion.

For more information about what is included with your NVR, click here

PoE NVR

Hardware Setup

1. Connect an Ethernet cable from your router to the back of your NVR. It will go into the Ethernet port in between the HDMI port and the PoE ports. Make sure the NVR is powered on.
2. Connect an Ethernet cable from one of the PoE ports on your NVR to your camera. This will confirm that it is powered on.
3. Connect a VGA or HDMI cable from the back panel of your NVR to a monitor or TV. Make sure that the monitor or TV is set to the correct input (e.g. VGA, HDMI 1, HDMI 2, etc.)
4. Connect the included mouse to a USB port on the front or back of your NVR.

Note: The network LEDs will start to blink on the back of the NVR when you properly connect the Ethernet cable from there to the router. Any PoE ports on the NVR do not have these LEDs. The same applies to the network LEDs that will begin to blink on the back of most cameras once they’re connected to an NVR’s PoE port.

Software Setup

     1. Please make sure NVR is turned on and then log into your NVR with your NVR’s login credentials. 

     2. Access the NVR’s main menu and go to, Camera in the Management section. In this menu click on the device Search option to search for your device on the network. 

     3. Click the Device Search button, and you can view the searched IP addresses at the top pane of the interface. Double click an IP address or check one IP address and then click the Add button to add the current device to the bottom pane of the interface. The system supports batch adding.

     4. Click the Manual Add button to add a device directly. Here you can set TCP/UPD/auto connection mode. The default setup is TCP.

Note: The manual add function is for Foscam, Dahua, Panasonic, Sony, Dynacolor, Samsung, AXIS, Arecont, ONVIF, and Custom. When the type is custom, you can input the URL address, user name, and password to connect to the network camera without selecting the network camera manufacturer. Please contact your network camera manufacturer for the URL address.

Non-PoE NVR

Hardware Setup

1. Connect an Ethernet cable from your router to the back of your NVR. It will go into the Ethernet port in between the HDMI port and the PoE ports. Make sure the NVR is powered on.
2. Connect a camera to your switch or another router port on the same network as the NVR and make sure it is powered on. The camera must be on the same network for the NVR to connect to it. 
3. Connect a VGA or HDMI cable from the back panel of your NVR to a monitor or TV. Make sure that the monitor or TV is set to the correct input (e.g. VGA, HDMI 1, HDMI 2, etc.)
4. Connect the included mouse to a USB port on the front or back of your NVR.

Note: The network LEDs will start to blink on the back of the NVR when you properly connect the Ethernet cable from there to the router. Any PoE ports on the NVR do not have these LEDs. The same applies to the network LEDs that will begin to blink on the back of most cameras once they’re connected to an NVR’s PoE port.

Software Setup

     1. Please make sure NVR is turned on and then log into your NVR with your NVR’s login credentials. 

     2. Access the NVR’s main menu and go to, Setting->Camera. In this menu click on the Device Search option to search for your device on the network. 

     3. Click the Device Search button, and you can view the searched IP addresses at the top pane of the interface. Double click an IP address or check one IP address and then click the Add button to add the current device to the bottom pane of the interface. The system supports batch adding.

     4. Click the Manual Add button to add a device directly. Here you can set TCP/UPD/auto connection mode. The default setup is TCP.

Note: The manual add function is for Foscam, Dahua, Panasonic, Sony, Dynacolor, Samsung, AXIS, Arecont, ONVIF, and Custom. When the type is custom, you can input the URL address, user name, and password to connect to the network camera without selecting the network camera manufacturer. Please contact your network camera manufacturer for the URL address.

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