POE Switch

M

mwolfod

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Apr 27, 2011
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I'm going to add some POE Security cameras to my home and office.

I'm inclined to just replace my current Switch with one that incorporates POE capability-as opposed to adding a separate POE capable Switch. First question: Is that a bad idea?

Secondly, I've noticed that the POE Switches I've looked at rate the ports at only 10/100. My current, rather pedestrian Netgear Switch has Gigabit capability on ALL the ports (10/100/1000). I don't understand the downgrade in regular Network Speed/Bandwidth with these more expensive POE Switches.

Related to the above: These POE Switches do often have two Gigabit ports for "Server" usage, but what good is that, if my Clients are bottlenecked at 100?


Probably REAL basic stuff for you guys, but I appreciate your informed replies.

Thanks.
 
Well answer the reason for "faster" server ports. Generally a server needs to respond to multiple clients at the same time. While each client may only talk at 100Mbps if you have 10 talking to a server and the server can only handle 100Mbps then the clients will not be able to communicate at their full speed.

There are many POE switches that are Gigabit capable. You may be running into an issue of cost. POE switches tend to move you up to a higher tier of equipment (enterprise or small business) which will cost a bit more than consumer grade gear.
You do not post what you currently have or how many ports you need so can not assist to much in suggestions. However if you only need 1 or 2 POE ports then just get some injectors.
 
I went the route of adding a POE switch to my existing setup, left my Cisco switch in place and just ran my POE equipment off a different switch, everything works fine
 
m1abram said:
Well answer the reason for "faster" server ports. Generally a server needs to respond to multiple clients at the same time. While each client may only talk at 100Mbps if you have 10 talking to a server and the server can only handle 100Mbps then the clients will not be able to communicate at their full speed.

There are many POE switches that are Gigabit capable. You may be running into an issue of cost. POE switches tend to move you up to a higher tier of equipment (enterprise or small business) which will cost a bit more than consumer grade gear.
You do not post what you currently have or how many ports you need so can not assist to much in suggestions. However if you only need 1 or 2 POE ports then just get some injectors.
Click to expand...

Ah yes then, that would explain it. I suppose I'm looking at the lower end of POE capable Switches.

24 Ports is probably my bottom limit. I have that capacity (not fully utilized) on my current Switch, but with 4-8 anticipated POE devices being added, I don't want to go below 24.

Yes specific recommendations would be more than welcome.

Thanks.
 
k1pp3r said:
I went the route of adding a POE switch to my existing setup, left my Cisco switch in place and just ran my POE equipment off a different switch, everything works fine
Click to expand...

I've never used more than 1 Switch on my Networks.

I can just plug the second Switch into my Router and all those 2nd Switch Ports will be on the same Network as my other 1st Switch's Ports? Or do I need to link the Switches directly?

Sorry for the REAL simplistic questions.


Thanks.
 
You can plug the second switch into either the router or switch. I would just get an 8 port poe switch as long as your cameras aren't going to saturate the uplink.
 
Keep you current switch, get a cheap 8 port 10/100 POE switch for your POE devices.
 
AcidBurn said:
You can plug the second switch into either the router or switch. I would just get an 8 port poe switch as long as your cameras aren't going to saturate the uplink.
Click to expand...


Yes, this is what I believe I will do. I thought it would be more efficient to combine everything in one Switch, but it appears that separate devices for separate purposes might be the better way to go.

Brand/Model recommendations would be appreciated.

I've had good luck with NetGear.

Thanks for all the help.
 
Cisco SG200P series is probably the best GbE PoE switch for the money. Netgear smart switches are just dumb switches with a Fisher-Price interface.
 
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The SG200-08P would be a good choice if you just need 4 poe ports, just make sure that the switch can provide the amount of watts per camera that you need. The sg200-08p has 32w, so 8 watts max per port if your using all four.
 
Unless he intends to run different classes of PoE devices (such as adding phones) there's no need to get a managed switch, just setup the port on the main switch as a VLAN access port.

Alternately if he does want to keep the management capabilities he could just get something like this which is still cheaper than the SG200-08P and would let him manage the ports from his current switch.

But if it were me I'd probably get something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833156229. A third the price of the SG200-08P, and about half the price of the SF100-8P and the injector I linked above, and still 8W/port with 4 ports. If you need more power that injector I linked does like 16W but cameras should be fine with 8W.
 
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If all you want is cheap and dumb, TP-Link's TL-SF1008P 4-Port PoE switch fits the bill. I'm not a Cisco nut, but I still stand by my recommendation of the SG200P series as the best for the money, by actually delivering in a useable manner all the features promised.
A dumb (unmanaged) PoE switch is only a temporary fix for most situations and will severly limit you going forward. You can't monitor power consumption, remote power cycle devices, monitor failure, nor a whole bunch of other useful features from a dumb PoE switch.
If budget and use case will only support a dumb switch, fine. If you will be expanding and/or need some of the managed features, find the coin.
 
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You can also check out this site www.panoptictechnology.com. They have a few different poe switches that we have used in our installs with no issue. They also offer the full 15w on all ports a problem I kept running into with dlink and trendnet.
 
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