POE or not POE
That’s the question. Power over Ethernet (POE) technology is a system to transmit electrical power to remote devices over standard twisted-pair cable in an Ethernet network. Power is transmitted along with data.
The technology is comparable to POTS telephones, which also receive power and data (although analog) through the same cable. It works with an unmodified Ethernet cabling infrastructure.
POE is ‘organized’ by IEEE 802.3-2005 and provides 48 volts DC over two out of four available pairs on a Cat3/Cat5/Cat6 cable with a maximum current of 400 mAmp for a maximum load power of 15.4 watts.
The big advantage of POE is that you don’t need to power the remote equipment. This is perfect for IP phones or surveillance IP Cameras. The big down side is cost. IP phone are some 10% more expensive which is not really bad unfortunately, switches and routers get a hike up to 150% compared to non POE.
If your network includes many remote units where power can be difficult to setup, POE is the way to go.