Power over Ethernet

Power over Ethernet describes any of several standards or ad hoc systems that pass electric power along with data on twisted-pair Ethernet cabling. This allows a single cable to provide both a data connection and enough electricity to power networked devices such as wireless access points, IP cameras and VoIP phones.

Techniques

Pin	Pair	Color
1	3	white/green
2	3	green
3	2	white/orange
4	1	blue
5	1	white/blue
6	2	orange
7	4	white/brown
8	4	brown

There are several common techniques for transmitting power over Ethernet cabling, defined within the broader Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 802.3 standard since 2003.
The three techniques are:

Alternative A, which uses the same two of the four signal pairs that 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX use for data in typical Cat 5 cabling, i.e. pairs 2 and 3.
Alternative B, which separates the data and the power conductors for 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX, making troubleshooting easier, i.e. pairs 1 and 4.
4PPoE, which uses all four twisted pairs in parallel, increasing the achievable power.

Alternative A transmits power on the same wires as data for common 10 and Ethernet variants. This is similar to the phantom power technique commonly used for powering condenser microphones. Power is transmitted on the data conductors by applying a common voltage to each pair. Because twisted-pair Ethernet uses differential signaling, this does not interfere with data transmission. The common-mode voltage is easily extracted using the center tap of the standard Ethernet pulse transformer. For gigabit Ethernet and faster, both alternatives A and B transmit power on wire pairs also used for data since all four pairs are used for data transmission at these speeds.
4PPoE provides power using all four pairs of the connectors used for twisted-pair Ethernet. This enables higher power for applications like pan–tilt–zoom cameras, high-performance wireless access points, or even charging laptop batteries.
In addition to standardizing existing practice for common-mode data pair, spare-pair, and four-pair transmission, the IEEE PoE standards provide for signaling between the power sourcing equipment and powered device. This signaling allows the presence of a conformant device to be detected by the power source and allows the device and source to negotiate the amount of power required or available while avoiding damage to non-compatible devices.

Standards development

Two- and four-pair Ethernet

The original PoE standard, IEEE 802.3af-2003, now known as Type 1, provides up to 15.4 W of DC power on each port. Only 12.95 W is guaranteed to be available at the powered device, as some power dissipates in the cable.
The first update to PoE, IEEE 802.3at-2009, introduced Type 2, also known as PoE+ or PoE plus. It provides up to 25.5 W and prohibits the use of four pairs simultaneously for power.
Both of these standards, 802.3af and 802.3at, were later incorporated into the IEEE 802.3-2012 publication.
Later Type 3 and Type 4 were introduced in IEEE 802.3bt-2018, respectively allowing up to 51 W and up to 71.3 W delivered power, optionally by using all four pairs for power. Each pair needs to handle a current of up to 600 mA or 960 mA. Additionally, power capabilities are defined for 2.5GBASE-T, 5GBASE-T and 10GBASE-T. This development opens the door to new applications and expands the use of applications such as high-performance wireless access points and surveillance cameras.
IEEE 802.3bt was incorporated into 802.3 in the 2022 revision.

Single-pair Ethernet

The IEEE 802.3bu-2016 amendment introduced single-pair ''Power over Data Lines '' for the single-pair Ethernet standards 100BASE-T1 and 1000BASE-T1 intended for automotive and industrial applications. On the two-pair and four-pair standards, the power voltage is applied between one conductor of each of two pairs, so that within each pair there is no differential voltage other than that representing the transmitted data. With single-pair Ethernet, power is transmitted in parallel to the data. PoDL initially defined ten power classes, ranging from 0.5 to 50 W.
Subsequently, PoDL was added to the single-pair variants 10BASE-T1, 2.5GBASE-T1, 5GBASE-T1, and 10GBASE-T1, and it includes a total of 15 power classes with additional intermediate voltage and power levels.

Uses

Examples of devices powered by PoE include:

VoIP phones
IP cameras, including PTZs
WAPs
IPTV decoders
Network routers
A small network switch, providing a small number of Ethernet ports from one uplink cable. Such a switch may, in turn, pass PoE to downstream devices.
Intercom and public address systems
Wall clocks, with time set using Network Time Protocol
Roof-mounted radios with integrated antennas, 4G/LTE-, 802.11- or 802.16-based systems used by wireless ISPs
Outdoor point-to-point microwave and millimeter-wave radios and some free-space optics units, usually using non-standard, proprietary PoE
Industrial control system components, including sensors, controllers, meters, etc.
Access control component,s including help points, intercoms, keyless entry, etc.
Lighting controllers and light-emitting diode lighting fixtures
Stage and theatrical devices, such as networked audio breakout and routing boxes
Remote point-of-sale kiosks
Ethernet repeaters, or extenders, which may also pass PoE through to downstream devices
PoE splitters that output the power in a different form, to power a remote device or charge a mobile phone
Terminology

Power sourcing equipment

802.3 refers to Power Sourcing Equipment, which provides power on the Ethernet cable. This device may be a network switch, in the standard Endpoint PSE or a PoE injector, Midspan PSE in the standard, an intermediary device between a switch that does not provide PoE and a PoE-powered device.

Powered device

802.3 refers to any PoE-powered piece of equipment as a Powered Device. Examples include wireless access points, VoIP phones, and IP cameras.
Many powered devices have an auxiliary power connector for an optional external power supply. Depending on the design, some, none, or all of the device's power can be supplied from the auxiliary port, with the auxiliary port also sometimes providing backup power in case PoE-supplied power fails.

Power management features and integration

Advocates of PoE expect PoE to become a global long-term DC power cabling standard and replace a multiplicity of individual AC adapters, which cannot be easily centrally managed. Critics of this approach argue that PoE is inherently less efficient than AC power due to the lower voltage, and this is made worse by the thin conductors of Ethernet. Advocates of PoE, like the Ethernet Alliance, point out that quoted losses are for worst-case scenarios in terms of cable quality, length and power consumption by powered devices. In any case, where the central PoE supply replaces several dedicated AC circuits, transformers and inverters, the power loss in cabling can be justifiable.

Integrating EEE and PoE

The integration of PoE with the IEEE 802.3az Energy-Efficient Ethernet standard potentially produces additional energy savings. Pre-standard integrations of EEE and PoE claim to achieve a savings upwards of 3 W per link. This saving is especially significant as higher-power devices come online.

Standard implementation

Standards-based Power over Ethernet is implemented following the specifications in IEEE 802.3af-2003 or the 2009 update, IEEE 802.3at. The standards require Category 5 cable or better for high power levels but allow using Category 3 cable if less power is required.
In multi-pair cases, PoE supplies power as a common-mode signal over two or more of the differential pairs in Ethernet cables. This power comes from a PoE-providing device like an Ethernet switch or a PoE injector.
This phantom power technique works with 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T, 2.5GBASE-T, 5GBASE-T, and 10GBASE-T because all twisted pair standards use differential signaling with transformer coupling. The DC supply and load connections can be made to the transformer center-taps at each end. Since each pair operates in common mode as one side of the DC supply, two pairs are needed to complete the circuit.
The powered device must operate with either pair: the spare pairs on pins 4 and 5, and 7 and 8, or the data pairs on pins 1 and 2, and 3 and 6. Polarity is defined by the standards on spare pairs. The polarity of the DC supply on data pairs may be inverted by crossover cables and hence the polarity is ambiguously implemented for data pairs, with the use of a diode bridge.
Notes:

Powering devices

Three modes, Mode A, Mode B, and 4-pair mode, are available. Mode A delivers power on T568A and T568B pairs 2 and 3the data pairs of 100BASE-TX or 10BASE-T. Mode B delivers power on pairs 1 and 4the pairs not used by 100BASE-TX or 10BASE-T. 4-pair mode delivers power using all four pairs. PoE can also be used with 1000BASE-T, 2.5GBASE-T, 5GBASE-T and 10GBASE-T Ethernet, in which case there are no spare pairs and all power is delivered using the phantom technique.
Mode A has two alternative configurations, using the same pairs but with different polarities. In Mode A, pins 1 and 2 form one side of the 48 V DC, and pins 3 and 6 form the other side. These are the same two pairs used for data transmission in 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX, allowing the provision of both power and data over only two pairs in such networks. The free polarity allows PoE to accommodate crossover cables, patch cables and auto MDI-X.
In Mode B, pins 4–5 form one side of the DC supply and pins 7–8 provide the return; these are the pairs 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX do not use. Mode B, therefore, requires that all four pairs of the connectors be wired.
The Power Sourcing Equipment, not the Powered Device, decides whether Mode A or Mode B shall be used. PDs that implement only Mode A or Mode B are disallowed by the standard. The PSE can implement Mode A, Mode B, or both. A PD indicates that it is standards-compliant by placing a 25 kΩ resistor between the powered pairs. If the PSE detects a resistance that is too high or too low, no power is applied. This protects devices that do not support PoE. An optional power class feature allows the PD to indicate its power requirements by changing the sense resistance at higher voltages.
To retain power, the PD must use at least 5–10 mA for at least 60 ms at a time. If the PD goes more than 400 ms without meeting this requirement, the PSE will consider the device disconnected and, for safety reasons, remove power.
There are two types of PSE: Endpoint and Midspan. Endpoint devices are Ethernet networking equipment that includes the power-over-Ethernet transmission circuitry. Midspan devices are power injectors that stand between a non-PoE Ethernet switch and the powered device, injecting power without affecting the data. Endpoint devices are normally used in new installations or where the switch has to be replaced for other reasons, which makes it convenient to add the PoE capability. Midspan PSE can be used e.g., to power a single piece of equipment added to a network that does not provide PoE.
IEEE 802.3at-capable devices are also referred to as Type 2. 802.3at PSE may also use [|LLDP communication] to signal 802.3at capability.

Class	Usage	current	Power range at PD	Max power from PSE	Class description
0	Default	0–5	0.44–12.94	15.4	unimplemented
1	Optional	8–13	0.44–3.84	4.00	Very Low power
2	Optional	16–21	3.84–6.49	7.00	Low power
3	Optional	25–31	6.49–12.95	15.4	Mid power
4	Valid for Type 2 devices, not allowed for 802.3af devices	35–45	12.95–25.50	30	High power
5	Valid for Type 3 devices	36–44 & 1–4	40	45
6	Valid for Type 3 devices	36–44 & 9–12	51	60
7	Valid for Type 4 devices	36–44 & 17–20	62	75
8	Valid for Type 4 devices	36–44 & 26–30	71.3	90

Class 4 can only be used by IEEE 802.3at devices, requiring valid Class 2 and Mark 2 currents for the power-up stages. An 802.3af device presenting a Class 4 current is non-compliant and, instead, will be treated as a Class 0 device.