Power over Ethernet (PoE)

Power over Ethernet (PoE) is a system which allows both power and data to be passed along a single CAT 6 Ethernet cable.

There are 2 main types of PoE device:

• Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE)

  — this PoE system component provides electrical power over a CAT 6 Ethernet cable.

• Powered Device (PD)

  — this PoE system component is powered by the electrical power provided by the Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE).

The RNS-8 Network Switch is a PSE (Power Sourcing Equipment) device, which can supply both data and power to a maximum of 4x connected Powered Devices (PD). Each Powered Device (PD) can be PoE Class 0 to 4, and each may draw a maximum of 30 W power (i.e. a maximum total power consumption of 120 W for all 4 devices combined).

When a Powered Device (PD) is connected to one of the Network Switch’s PoE RayNet network ports, it is first checked to establish whether it is PoE-compatible, and if so, what class of device it is. If a connected Powered Device (PD) requires more power than the individual port’s maximum power output (30 W), then it will not be powered.

Before connecting a Powered Device (PD) to the network switch, ensure that the maximum power output of the port to which it is connected PoE (i.e. 30 W) will not be surpassed.

The following table lists the different classes of device, and their typical power draw:

PoE Class	Maximum power provided by Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE)	Typical power required by Powered Device (PD)(1)
Class 1 (Very low power draw)	4 W	~3.84 W
Class 2 (Low power draw)	7 W	~6.49 W
Class 3 (Medium power draw)	15.4 W	~12.95 W
Class 4 (High power draw)	30 W	~25.5 W
Class 0 (Classification unimplemented)	15.4 W	~12.95 W