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PoE Switch VS. PoE+ Switch, Which Will You Choose?

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Many people choose to install POE (Power over Ethernet) switches for enterprise or home use. PoE technology is time-saving and money-saving for cable installation by carrying electrical power over network cable. In the market, if you are careful enough you can find some are marked as PoE switch and some are PoE+ switch. What’s the difference between these two switch? Can we use PoE switch vs. PoE+ switch? Find answers in the following article.

IEEE802.3af (PoE) and IEEE802.3at (PoE+) Standards

To answer this question , we have to learn these IEEE802.3af (PoE) and IEEE802.3at (PoE+) standards. IEEE802.3af standard was established in 2003, upgraded to IEEE802.3at in 2009. IEEE802.3af standard supports the network devices that require up to 13 W of electrical power. But it can’t meet the power needs of many devices. Therefore, IEEE802.3at standard was promoted to offer more power for high-power PoE devices, for instance, cameras with high-power IR illuminators, IP telephones, small network printers etc. The big difference between IEEE802.3af and IEEE802.3at is the maximum amount of power they provide over Cat5 cable. The maximum amount of power for the 802.3af standard is 15.4 W and the maximum for the 802.3at standard is 30 W. PoE switch and PoE+ switch are designed based on different IEEE standards.

PoE Switch VS. PoE+ Switch: What’s the Difference?

Let’s compare these switches: S1130-8T2F and S1250-8T2F. S1130-8T2F is an 8 port PoE switch with 2 SFP ports. S1250-8T2F is an 8 ports Gigabit PoE+ managed switch with 2 SFP ports. At first glance, these two switches look the same. Actually one is PoE switch and the other is PoE+ switch.

PoE switch vs.poe+ switch

Obviously, by comparison of above two types of switches, switching capacity, RJ45 ports and SFP+ ports, all are the same, except max. power consumption. The max. power consumption of S1130-8T2F is 130W while the S1250-8T2F is 250W. Max. power consumption of PoE switch is smaller than that of PoE+ switches.

PoE Switch v PoE+ Switch? Which One Should We Choose?

Many users may encounter this problem. Should we choose PoE switch or PoE+ switch? PoE network switch is cheaper. But PoE+ switch have some advantages over PoE switch.

  • More electrical power–PoE+ switch can provide 30W, nearly half of the electrical power to powered devices more than PoE switch.
  • Smart power budgeting–PoE+ switch includes scope for power sources and powered devices to communicate with each other to negotiate an allowance of electrical power.
  • PoE+ switch can support a more complete range of network equipment, including IP cameras with heater/blowers, and multichannel wireless access points.

To help you make better decision, I’ll take two types of 24-port switches as an example: S1400-24T4F PoE switch and S1600-24T4F PoE+ switch.

S1400-24T4F S1600-24T4F
24-port-poe-switch 24-port-poe+ switch
S1400-24T4F is a 24-port Gigabit PoE managed switch with 4 SFP ports, 400W. It’s compliant with IEEE 802.3af/at. It’s a good solution for SMB or entry-level enterprise which demands industrial, surveillance, IP Phone, IP Camera or Wireless applications. S1600-24T4F is a 24-port Gigabit PoE+ managed switch with 4 ports, 600W. It’s compliant with IEEE 802.3af/at, supporting the connection to VoIP phones, wireless APs and IP surveillance cameras for intelligent switching and networks growth. S1400-24T4F and S1600-24T4F support both 802.3af/at standards. They can fully allocate IEEE802.3af powered devices, and half allocate the IEEE802.3at powered devices. There aren’t too many differences between the two switches. S1400-24T4F is cheaper and S1600-24T4F provide more electrical power. Well, to choose S1400-24T4F (PoE switch) or S1600-24T4F (PoE+ switch), the decision depends on your needs and budgets. PoE switch is still employed by many users.

Can We Connect PoE Access Point with a PoE+ Switch?

PoE+ is compatible with PoE. POE+ switches can recognize 802.3af powered devices and enable PoE to them as normal. PoE+ powered devices can also be connected to 802.3af PoE switches, and are supposed to restrict how much power they use accordingly. As the above show, S1400-24T4F PoE switch and S1600-24T4F PoE+ switch are compatible with 802.3af/at standards. So can we connect a PoE access point with a PoE+ switch? The answer is yes. PoE Switch VS. PoE+ Switch: Do you get the difference between them now? Hope this article is helpful.

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