Author: Qi

PoE vs PoE+ vs PoE++ Switches: What’s the Difference & Which One to Choose?

Power Over Ethernet (PoE) is a technology that is used in almost all industrial segments for business networks. Power Over Ethernet is ideal for companies needing advanced networking capabilities. The technology enables data and power transmission to carry over a single networking cable.

PoE is gaining popularity due in part to its ease and efficiency, and for the reduction of equipment dependency. PoE operates through PoE switches, which have become an industry-wide standard of power delivery configuration. There are three variations of this system being used today——PoE switches, PoE+ switches, and PoE++ switches. Additionally, these switches can be used with any type of powered device including IP Camera, Access point, VoIP phones, Bluetooth accessories and more. Interested in learning more? This post breaks down most popular three difference PoE standard.

What Are PoE and PoE Switch?

PoE: Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology was released by the IEEE 802.3af standard in 2003, making it possible for PDs such as VoIP phones to receive power from PoE adapters and the power is up to 12.95W. The IEEE 802.3af also makes a standard that PoE operates over standard Cat 3 Ethernet cables in 2003 by using two of the four twisted pairs of cables.

PoE Switch: PoE switches are power over Ethernet enabled, which means that these devices have an option to transmit electrical current via network cables. If you have a lot of switches in your network, it is more than possible that it contains a switch type called PoE pass-through switch. These devices can essentially send what’s known as PoE and transmit electrical energy using Ethernet cables such as those found in cat5e/cat6. Most 802.3af switches can deliver up to 15.4 watts of capacity onto the electric field running through the aforementioned wires (44v-57v).

When To Use PoE?

PoE used for many applications where it isn’t possible to use USBs or AC power. PoE allows power over Ethernet cable which is much more cost effective and efficient than traditional systems. This can be useful in areas where a device is difficult to reach such as over 100 feet away from the nearest outlet. The standard PoE can reach 328ft, You can have up to 1500ft PoE extension after you add the PoE extenders to the link.

What Is PoE+?

As we mentioned above, PoE+ is was first developed and published in 2009 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE 802.3af standard. In many cases, power devices within the network require more PoE wattage up to 12.95, and PoE+ is the best solution that supports a higher power consumption requirement. The PoE+ can supply up to 25.5W to your edge devices.

What Is PoE++?

In the pursuit of enhancing wider scale operations for equipment applications, the IEEE 802.3 standard is once again required to upgrade its PoE+ technology to PoE++ in 2018. PoE++ is classified into two different types: PoE++ type 3 and PoE++ type 4. The new standard, makes use of a total 4 pairs of wire instead of just two likes from Ethernet cable in Type 3 setups.

This boosts power deliver up to 71W at a PD over four twisted cables for the Type 3 variant and up to 90W for Type 4 setups making sure that network devices stay operational regardless of location within a buildings complex wiring arrangement. Cisco’s proprietary technology UPoE (Universal Power Over Ethernet) works similarly to the PoE++ Type 3, extending support listed in the IEEE standard with an increase rated power output 45 watts across all four cables as opposed to 24 watts available per port without any upgrade options or proprietary features implemented on existing IEEE 802.3 PoE++ switch configurations.

PoE vs PoE+ vs PoE++: Reference Chart & Comparison

Based on our introductory discussion, we have taken the liberty of creating a switch comparison chart by including important information that you may want to consider when deciding on PoE, PoE+, and PoE++. We’ve included necessary details that may be pertinent to your specific contemplated implementation needs and reasons why there are various choices available to you when deciding on which is most advantageous for your purposes.

The following chart details the similarities and differences between PoE, PoE+, and PoE++:

Note that the presented figures are only valuable if the switch is oversubscribed at maximum capacity in practice which rarely happens/ However note that many devices will usually not use full power, for instance if you have a PoE++ switch with Type 4 ports it does not mean all of these ports are going to be powered up at maximum 71W. Consequently, you need to calculate the power requirements for all the items connected via patch cables that you plan to connect to the switch and select corresponding patch cables for your system design.

PoE vs PoE+ vs PoE++: Which One Should You Choose?

In the previous sections we’ve seen there are several differences between PoE++, PoE+, and PoE switches. We can now see that the power these devices use varies significantly and that this energy will influence their applications.

PoE, PoE+ and PoE++ are all network switches types. The major differences among these switches lie in the maximum power supply delivered by each port and their working mode, which reflect on their applications. At the same time, these switch types vary in terms of their power supply mechanisms and applications. A PoE switch is designed for Ethernet devices that require power under 15.4W such as access points, VoIP phones and sensors.

Meanwhile, the purpose of using a POE+ switch is to provide power under 25.5W to devices such as wireless access gadgets with 8 antennas or cameras with more advanced features including zoom functions, panning and tilting. In addition to this, a higher-powered Poe+ Type 3 switch is necessary for supplying up to 30W to devices such as laptops and TVs by transferring power via DC from your network system to them over cable rather than an additional power source.

One critical thing that we’d like to remind you is that when it comes to your data center, plants and construction materials should be chosen thoughtfully for maximum results. For example, if you assume your network only requires low standard power levels, you may just stick with PoE switching devices. However, if you’re planning to create a more robust and higher-performance network with multiple assorted devices or need to consider the limitations of some ports, then PoE+ or PoE++ switches might be the wisest investment.

When considering any upgrades for your infrastructure, PoE+ or PoE++ switch technologies may help. Although not every company needs a full upgrade, if your current solution is adequate and fits the demands of your business – which may take less time & money – it might make sense to stay with the current PoE network design.

The Bottom Line

Hopefully this article gives you a good understanding for how one company describes PoE and why we chose to follow the IEEE standards when it comes down to getting specifications from vendors. How much power your devices need is crucial when you’re trying to decide whether or not to invest in PoE (Power over Ethernet) technology. In fact, a growing number of households and businesses are starting to find it necessary to invest in PoE switches instead of non-PoE switches because the latter tend to have trouble transferring power simultaneously. However, in order to figure out the differences between PoE vs PoE+ vs PoE++ and how they affect your home or business, it’s best if you know what each PoE technology entails.

Understanding the Actual Power Budget of PoE Switch

One of the factors that affect power consumption on PoE switches is the power budget. Different PoE switch models have different power budgets. Some managed PoE switches for large enterprise networks can supply up to 400W, but for a home network, it’s better to use a basic unmanaged PoE switch with a lower power budget.

What Is PoE Budget?

When considering power usage for a hardware installation, you will need to make sure the PoE Switch or Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE) can meet the power requirements of Powered Devices (PDs) such as IP cameras, Voice over IP (VoIP), and Wireless Access Points (WAPs).

All PoE switches have a limited Budget——the total amount of power they can provide in watts to PDs at the same time.

The Actual Power Budget – The Power over Ethernet (PoE) switch sends both the data and power to the remote IP device, so you can remove the AC outlet that is used to power the device. As we all know, electric devices only take the power they need. For example, an access point only draws 5W even when a 100W power adapter is being used.

The following table lists the power consumption rates of some common network devices and how much power they need to operate.

How to Choose the PoE Switch to Meet the Power Demanding?

IEEE has a set of standards for PoE (Power over Ethernet). There are three types of pluggable connectors we can use when working with Ethernet cables: IEEE 802.3af, IEEE802.3at, and IEEE802.3bt. The output power on IEEE802.3af is 15.4W, on IEEE802.3at the output is 30W and on IEEE802.3bt the maximum output is 90W.

However, these are not the actual power budget! This is the maximum power that PoE switches inject into the network cable. The remaining budget for PoE switches is 12W for PoE, 25.5W for PoE+ switches and 71W for PoE++ switch (type 4 class 8). This difference in output is due to power loss over the course of the cables. Eventually, the heat created by this loss will be dissipated.

The new IEEE 802.3bt standard is the latest standard that employs all 4 twisted pairs to send the power. This new standard will make a difference for power hungry applications like access control, POS, interactive displays, cellular base stations, etc.

How to calculate the power in a PoE system?

We often need to calculate how many devices can be plugged into a PoE switch. To better illustrate this calculation, I would first like to introduce two important components to understand when we calculate power consumption on a PoE switch:

Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE)-this is equipment that delivers power over Ethernet. It is typically a PoE switch or PoE injector that comes with a predetermined Total PoE Budget.

Powered devices (PDs)- these are pieces of hardware that need power and connect to a PoE switch, such as IP cameras, WAPs, and VoIPs. They also come with a variety of demands, ranging from 6W to 65W even higher.

As a rule of thumb, the total sum of these demands cannot exceed the power budget from the PoE switch. So, how many devices can you link to a PoE switch? It all depends on two different factors: the maximum power output from your PoE switch, and the max power requirements from all your devices.

One way to measure a PoE switch’s power is the PoE Budget, which is the total amount of power that is available for the switch to distribute across PoE-compatible devices. For instance, a 16-port 802.3 PoE+ switch has a 200W PoE Budget. With this much power, the max power requirement for all your devices cannot exceed 200W.

One thing we always missing is the power loss inline. The actual power you receive for all those edge devices will be less than 200W. As we mentioned above, the power will be lost and converted to heat, we can’t ignore those power losses.

This conservative method is subtracting the power from the total power budget for each device. If the IEEE802af device is attached to the PoE, it takes 14.4W, and it will take 30W with PoE+ edge devices. Eventually, this method will reserve 20-30% additional power, but more is always better than less right? You have kept some power margin in the system.

How Can I Reduce the Power Consumption of a PoE Switch?

Using Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE)-PoE switch with Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) is a technology defined as IEEE 802.3az to reduce switch power consumption during periods of low network traffic and aims to reduce power consumption by more than 50%. It also has a green function which not only saves the link load power and saves the power used for transmission, but also detects link status and adjusts the power according to cable length. Note that your device port and connecting device must support 802.3az for this PoE switch to imply the Energy Efficient Ethernet, otherwise, the switch will work as a regular PoE switch.

Do I Need a Managed PoE Switch to Set up a Home or Business Network?

Using a managed PoE switch can be a great way to get the most out of your network. A managed PoE switch gives you more control over your network by allowing you to configure settings and create different rules. This type of switch can come in handy if you want to optimize your network for specific applications or prioritize certain devices.

What Is a Managed PoE Switch?

A Managed PoE switch allows network administrators to use a graphic user interface or command line to manage and configure local area network settings. A managed PoE switch is designed for simple and straightforward configuration of network devices as well as monitoring common network tasks. Compared with an unmanaged switch, a managed switch offers enhanced features that make troubleshooting, monitoring and controlling the performance of the local area network more streamlined and efficient. The added features can help professional network administrators maintain the integrity of their local area networks efficiently without any major setbacks.

Features of Managed Switches for Your Business Network

Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) Snooping

IGMP Snooping is a method of reducing unnecessary multicast traffic. It works by controlling the multicast traffic on a managed switch and filtering the traffic downstream.


Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs)

In order to reduce unnecessary traffic, network administrators can group devices together with Virtual Local Area Networks. Virtual Local Area Networks allow for additional security measures to be applied to network communications, and some have the ability to improve management capacity.

Quality of Service (QoS)

The Quality of Service (QoS) feature on a managed PoE switch allows you to prioritize different types of network traffic, and manage the available bandwidth in your network. It does this by giving devices with more packets of data more bandwidth. A typical use for this is prioritizing traffic between two devices that frequently exchange data.

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

Managed PoE Switches are available with a suite of management tools and features. One of those is the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), which will allow network managers to monitor network performance and the health of their network. One great use for SNMP is to notice any potential problems and address them before they have an adverse impact on your network.

Redundancy

The idea of redundancy is to provide a backup network option if a device or traffic routing fails. The backup devices are used to quickly switch over to the redundant side of the switch if the main site fails. Redundancy is a way to safeguard your network by providing an alternate data path in case a connection or cables fail. Managed switches use Spanning Tree Protocol or STP to provide redundant paths in the network. This prevents loops that are created by multiple active paths between switches and allow one active path at a time. With STP, there is a lesser chance of downtime and redundancy also proves more profitable for a business.

The goal is to save what you were doing when the failure occurred, then quickly get things up and running again. Redundancy is also useful for making copies of the configuration files for a switch. Businesses that cannot afford downtime would make an extra configuration backup so that when one of their switches dies, they are able to quickly set it up without starting from scratch.

Port Mirroring

Managed switches have a useful feature called port mirroring, which helps diagnose network problems. When you configure port mirroring, copies of traffic are sent to a single port on the same switch. This allows you to use a network analyzer and diagnosis and fix problems without disrupting the network, reducing downtime.

Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)

Spanning Tree Protocol is a way to reduce loops on a network. A loop occurs when there are multiple paths on the network and packets can keep looping around, causing some devices to come to a grinding halt. Spanning Tree Protocol is important for large enterprise networks, but it’s not as big of a concern for home networks.

Security Access

Managed switches are a great way to add security features to your network. First, features like 802.1X Port-Based Network Access Control (PNAC) and PoE (Power over Ethernet) port control provide you with the capability to control which devices can gain access and where they can access the network point it connects to. For instance, most switches come with management software, which allows you to define each port as “static” or “dynamic”——static ports let you specify a unique and fixed MAC address, so you only allow one address to connect freely; dynamic ports offer more flexibility by allowing multiple devices while ensuring that each device uses a temporary MAC address so as not to conflict with any other addresses in the network.

Remote Access Management

Managed switches give you control over your LAN and any traffic flowing through it. They also provide advanced features to help you control the data flow. Managed switches have all of the features of an unmanaged switch and come with the added benefit of being able to configure, monitor, and manage your network from the outside. This ensures that only the appropriate people have access, and it allows you to control the data flow more.

Port Aggregation

Port aggregation is a way to combine multiple Ethernet links together, making them act as a single logical link. The benefit of being able to combine ports comes from being able to assign more data across a dedicated connection resulting in an overall increase in performance. Port aggregation also provides redundancy; if one link fails, the remaining ports in the channel continue to communicate uninterrupted until a faulty link can be replaced.

When and Where to Use a Managed Switch?

If you want to have more control over your network at home, it’s ideal to choose a managed PoE switch. It makes the best choice of all for homeowners——especially if you’re looking for a product that offers privacy security from malicious third parties.

Managed PoE network switches are made for businesses that need to manage the flow of data and information. Managed PoE switches also enable users to access more control over the traffic compared to unmanaged switches; allowing them to remotely monitor and troubleshoot their system’s external links and internal connections.

Practical Tips to Improve your WiFi Signal

Confronting awful WiFi signal coverage is annoying right? When you are walking into the stairs, the WiFi suddenly disappeared. If you have tried the common solutions like upgrade firmware and play with antenna to improve your WiFi signal, but they didn’t make good result. Here are some practical tips to offer. First of all, let’s figure out what causes the poor WiFi connectivity.

The WiFi employs 2.4Ghz or 5.8Ghz to transmit the signal in the air which is easier to weaken by the obstructions such as the walls. One wall will weaken WiFi signal to 80%, and two walls will go down to 50% left. Some people think 5.8Ghz WiFi router can improve WiFi signal, which may not always true. If the WiFi is weaken by obstructions, the 5.8Ghz WiFi router only makes it worse. Although the 5.8Ghz WiFi router is capable of carrying higher volume data, meanwhile it compromises the penetrating capacity, which means its transmission distance is shorten than the 2.4Ghz WiFi router. An instinct way to bypass the obstructions is relocating the WiFi router. However, sometimes you will have no condition to move the router. Because WiFi router has to set closed to the network entrance. The first practical tip is that you can use a repeater to receive the WiFi signal from the main router and transmit forward to the destination. Look at the image below. There are 4 walls between the WiFi router and the bedroom which causes the dark zone. Now if we place a repeater at the living room will reduce the obstructions to 2 walls. The key is to find the path for the WiFi signal to bypass the obstructions, usually it is the L shape. The repeater should be placed at the turning point of the L.

There are two ways to repeat the WiFi signal. If you already have an old WiFi router in hand, now this is a chance to re-use it. What you should do is to connect your old router to the main router through WiFi. Actually it is not complicated as you think.

  • Re-use your Existed WiFi Router

Firstly, power up the old router and make the connection by using a laptop or Mobil phone, then login the router in the web browser. If you don’t remember the IP address or the login account, usually you can find the information at the bottom of the router. Find the reset button and depress for more than 10 seconds after the router is powered up. This operation can restore the factory setting which allows you to login with default account. In the Wifi setting page, you can see the WDS option unchecked. Mark the checkbox and it will present the network search option in the page. Use this search option to connect this router to your main WiFi network. There are two more steps to go through. Turn off the DHCP and change the IP address of this router in case that it may have IP conflict with your main router. Once you have done these setting properly, the WiFi router will work as WiFi repeater.

  • Pick WiFi Repeater

If you feel too much bother to tweak the setting in the router, you can simply buy a WiFi repeater. WiFi repeater (aka WiFi extender) works much similiar as your old router here. But the setting is simpler. The DHCP and IP address conflict issues are avoided by the default setting as the product is designed for WiFi repeating purpose. Simply plug the repeater to the AC outlet, it will create internal WiFi which allows you to access by using the mobile phone or tablet. After you login the repeater, you can connect the repeater to your main WiFi network, and the repeater will start forwarding the WiFi which works exactly the same as the above WiFi router.

  • Move Antenna Outside

The WiFi signal is being transmitted through the antenna. While there are thick walls that weaken the signal, move the antenna to another side to bypass the walls which could improve the WiFi signal. This solution doesn’t always work, because some of the WiFi signal could be consumed while transmitting along with the extension cable. It’s too weak for the remained signal to spread out. People mentioned to turn to high power antenna, I don’t recommend it, as the antenna needs to match the original power design of your router. Replace with high power antenna while the router can’t provide enough power which makes the case worse.

WiFi router and repeater try to bypass the obstructions by changing the direction. It only reduces the obstructions but not eliminates it. The seconds practical solution is to mix wire and WiFi connection. Use the wire cable to transmit network signal to the dark zones and create WiFi signal from there. There are several ways to make it.

  • Powerline Adaptor

The power line adaptor takes used or existed AC power line to transmit network data. The network signal is converted before being injected to the power line with adaptor and picked up at other AC outlet by another adaptor. After that, it will generate new WiFi signal. If you have WiFi birdhouse camera in the garden, it relies on the WiFi connectivity. Use the power line adaptor can easily extend the WiFi signal closed to the camera as long as the AC outlet is nearby. Two important things about the power line solution. The adaptor only works in the same electric meter. Both transmitter adaptor and receiver adaptor need to stay in the same meter. And the second thing is that power line requires qualification cables in the building. If the building is very old with poor cabling job, the power adaptor may have problem to transmit the data.

  • PoE WiFi access point

PoE WiFi access point receives network signal by using the Ethernet cable and generates new WiFi dignal in the field. The connection between PoE WiFi access point and the main router is cable link, which can provide reliable high speed up to 1000 gigabytes. Moreover, multiple WiFi access points can be deployed to improve the WiFi signal to coverage different areas. The advantages of PoE WiFi access point is both power and data can be transmitted to the access point by using signal Ethernet cable. Wherever the cable is, the power source follows. The power is added to cable at the router by using the PoE injector.

  • Long distance WiFi PoE extender

As we know that the cat5/cat6 cable connection is limited to 100 meters. If the WiFi signal needs to be extended over 100 meters, such as from the lake to the house, you may need the PoE extender to repeat the network signal. The PoE extender can repeat the network signal up to 500 meters. The PoE WiFi access point will be installed at the end of 500 meters and create the WiFi signal to cover the area. It’s of great convenience that the PoE extender doesn’t require power source closed to each repeater. The power is added to the cable inline by PoE injector. The power adaptors are eliminated in the daisy chain setup.

The last but not least, sometimes the poor WiFi is not caused by the obstructions, but jamed with neighbor’s WiFi, because there are too many WiFi working in the field. I saw people has more than 25 WiFi hot spots picking up in his phone, the WiFi signal is so craw so it gets jam. Sometimes you experience the poor WiFi connection occasionally such as at night or at weekend. Properly the WiFi is too crowded. People use WiFi more often in these time frames. You can simply check the WiFi hot spot with mobile phone. If in such case, except for bringing your WiFi more closely, you can switch the WiFi channel in your WiFi router to avoid the jam.

  • Channel switch

What is WiFi channel?

Think of the walkie-talkie which has different channels to communicate with each other. The WiFi router has around 13 channels, it is set to auto selection in default. What you can do is to login your WiFi router and manually switch the channel to test whether the situation improved. It is important to choose the moment to make the change when WiFi connectivity became worse. Only this moment you can know which channel is being jam. Reboot the router after you switch to new channel, your mobile device will make the WiFi connection to the new channel.

The above is the all the possible solutions that I offer for help. If you do have any new idea or all above tips still can’t improve your WiFi network, please leave a message in the comment section. Here is the article about how to set up home network with PoE switch.

DIY Home Network System

Network is basic but important medium to our work and life by far. E-mail is usually the way that we use to communicate with others in business, and we also rely on WiFi to chat with friends, or watch funny videos online. Therefore, the network should provide sufficient resources (bandwidth) for every family member. Besides, the IP camera system could be added to the network as home security system though which may take up parts of network resources as well.

This article would go through the factors you should know while building a home network system and how you can get a reliable network by using PoE products.

What is PoE? Power over Ethernet (PoE) is a technology that allows single Ethernet cable to transmit both data and power which saves connecting cables and installation time. The PoE products can repeat network and power up to 500 meters.

Factors need to be considered:

  •      Network connections

Before building a network, it is essential to think of whether the network you will need in the next few years. You may think that the children are still in young age, they have not so much need of network. But few years later, they need to rely on digital devices in study and social activities. The design of network should be made by the prediction of living situations in a few years later.

  •      Distance/ House space

As we all know, Ethernet signal can be affected by distance. The maximum distance of cat5e/cat6 cable without a repeater is 100 meters. You need to calculate the farthest distance from the network router. The network extender is needed if the distance is more than 100 meters. The WiFi signal is easy to be weakened by some obstacles such as walls. So review the blueprint and find the best spot to put up the WiFi router in order to optimize the WiFi coverage.

  •      IP cameras security system

Obviously, IP cameras security system has become more popular these days. The cameras are able to watch the front door, backyard and other special places. Both wireless and wired cameras need to be connected to home network which will take up the network resource to transmit the video.

Now let’s start to DIY home network system. It divides into WiFi and wired network. These two methods can be effectively mixed and matched basing on the demands, offering comprehensive coverage and stability network connection with PoE products.

  •      WiFi

The power line adaptor or WiFi booster can be chose to enhance or expand the WiFi signal. WiFi connectivity is less reliable and it can get influenced by different reasons, even just neighbor’s WiFi signal is in the field.

Power line adaptor can expand the network signal in short distance within the same electric meter. And it usually works in pair. You can find it in online shops such as Amazon or Ebay. Connect one adaptor to the AC outlet closed to the main router. Then plug another to any AC outlet where you want to extend the WiFi signal.

WiFi booster, also called WiFi repeater, is not router. How does it enhance the WiFi signal? After installing the booster in the field, it will receive the signal from WiFi router and forward to other direction. Then your devices like mobile phone, tablet can have WiFi connectivity in some blind spots.

  •      Wired

It is common and safe way to use cable solutions to build network system. PoE delivers stable network signal in long distance.

To expand WiFi signal, PoE injector is needed. And what is PoE injector? PoE injector adds power to Ethernet cable and transmits along with data to the remote device. The WiFi router can be setup in the place where the power doesn’t present. The below is the video to demonstrate how to power PoE router.

Besides, while network distance is beyond 100 meters, PoE extender can help in convenient way. Thanks to PoE technology, because one PoE extender can extend 100 meters of the network coverage. In other word, it is easy to extend the network from main router to backyard by using PoE WiFi access point.

The switch is the core devices for home network system. Choosing the right PoE switch can simplify your network design.

PoE IP Camera VS Analog Camera

To start with the topic, let’s make clear the definition between PoE IP camera and analog camera. PoE IP camera, also called IP camera, is a digital video camera. It receives data over the Internet through Ethernet cable. Every IP camera has its own IP address in order to connect to network to transfer images. Analog camera captures analog video image and transfers it with coax cable. The analog camera needs to convert the video to analog so that video can be received by analog devices.

Actually the comparison of IP camera and analog camera is the comparison of the traditional and new technology.

4 main differences of these two cameras will be discussed in the following.

  • Video Quality.

Undoubtedly, IP camera has higher video quality than analog camera. It offers wide or narrow field of view and better zoom-in capability. Since it uses digital signal to transmit the video, it can recognize the faces and numbers clearly. Compared with IP camera, analog camera has a overall lower video quality. Zoom-in capability doesn’t exist in the camera and the site range is limited. Not to mention the facial and number recognition.

  • Distance

IP camera has 100 meters distance limitation with Ethernet cable. Because the IP camera sends digital image, the clarity of the image will be 100% percent maintained and sent back to NVR. Analog camera can be set up to 300 meters over coax cable. Although analog connection is longer, the clarity will lose as the distance increases.

  • Cost

 Building up IP camera system is expensive. The cost of IP cameras is higher than analog cameras.

  • PoE capability

 IP camera can be powered by twisted Ethernet cable instead of running the electrical wire. But analog camera is not PoE-supported.

Except for the different features below, PoE IP camera and analog camera are powered and connected to different devices. IP camera needs to be linked to Network Video Recorder(NVR) to record videos down. There is a product called PoE NVR which can provide both power and network solutions to cameras. To build the NVR system Cat 5e/Cat 6 Ethernet cable should be applied to transmit data. Besides, IP camera is not necessary to link directly to the NVR. As the camera is on the same network that connects to the NVR, the videos can be recorded down. However, analog camera can only be connected to Digital Video Recorder(DVR). Analog cameras connect to the DVR via the coaxial cable. In the DVR system, power will not be sent directly to cameras. So, if you choose to use the DVR system, you have to solve the problem of power.

Generally speaking, IP camera and analog camera has its own pros and cons. Hope this article would give you some tips on choosing the camera system. Click here to learn more about the differences between DVR and PoE NVR.   Click here to know how to Set up Home IP Camera System with Power over Ethernet.

DVR VS PoE NVR

DVR and NVR is the critical part of camera security system. People choose either DVR or NVR as recording equipment. This article would like to go through basic knowledge about what’s difference between DVR and NVR.

  • What is DVR?

DVR, digital video recorder, is kind of electronic device that records video in digital format and usually used with analog cameras. It digitalizes the analog video and saves to the hard disks as footage. Due to DVR only accepts analog signal, it couldn’t be connected to different type cameras but analog cameras. The connection way is point-to-point. Every camera needs two cables, one connects DVR and another connects to power source. It brings some limitations when security system needs to be upgraded.

  • What is PoE NVR? 

PoE NVR, is network video recorder integrated with PoE technology. As we know, NVR provides video storage as well as remotely viewing. In the IP camera system, the video is being encoded and processed at the ip cameras, NVR simply receive the Digitalize data, write to the hard drive and decode it before output to a monitor. In addition, NVR accept video stream from both wired or WiFi security cameras while DVR only works with wired analog video.

PoE allowing data and power are being transported over single cable after IP cameras is connected to PoE NVR, it doesn’t require extra power cord to supply the power. All you need just one cat5e cable connecting the cameras to PoE NVR.

The following are some major differences between DVR and PoE NVR.

  •      Video Signal

As mentioned above, DVR accepts analog signal while PoE NVR accepts IP video signal. The difference would affect image quality. IP camera provides HD videos and images, showing clearly faces, motions as well as the detail, which enhance security. The traditional analog couldn’t offer better image detail. However, the new analog camera system appears including AHD, TVT these years which can deliver HD video. It improves the image quality dramatically. Still the image detail are not good as IP camera comparing with same resolution, because the analog video transporting over cable will always involve in data loss.

  •      Connecting way

DVR requires cameras point-to-point connection directly with coaxial BNC cable. This cable does not deliver power or offer audio connections. Extra cable is needed for power source. As the analog video is pretty much the raw data, it is easier to get interference during the transporting. While the audio is needed, RCA connection has to be added.

PoE NVR uses one cable to supply the camera with data and power. The power adaptor or AC outlet are eliminated closed to each cameras. Furthermore, PoE provides the capacity to repeat the network connection up to 500M. Power line and WiFi offer the flexible way to connect IP cameras . No matter wired or WiFi cameras, PoE NVR can simply take them into the system.

  •      System upgrade

Unlike DVR, the PoE NVR or NVR doesn’t process the data. The data is being handled before transporting to NVR recorder. PoE IP camera system takes all the advantages of network technologies. It provides much more flexibility while setting up the surveillance system. For example, users want to expand the monitoring area and add more cameras to the field. This could be the headache for the DVR because the connection ports are fixed. The PoE NVR accepts the cameras either from the PoE port or the network. Even it doesn’t have extra ports for new cameras. Simply add PoE switch can expand the cameras connection easily. Click to learn more how to use external PoE switch to build ip camera system.

4 Factors Should Know Before Choosing PoE Cable

Ethernet Cable are being used to linked the different network devices. PoE (power over Ethernet), is a technology that can transport data and power over single Ethernet cable. PoE devices take the twisted pair in category cables to send the power. While buying PoE products, you may find IEEE802.3 standard always stand up. The IEEE 802.3 specifics how the power should transported in Ethernet cable and what is the maximum power budget. The IEEE802.3af supply 15.4 watts and IEEE802.3at (also name PoE+) supply 30 watts, which fit for lower power consumption devices like IP cameras, access points, VoIP. IEEE802.3 bt is the next generation PoE power which can offer 95 watts power . It benefits high power demanding equipments such as Televisions and interactive displays, Point of Sales (POS) and information kiosks. Therefore, different network devices may need different power and the suitable cable should be picked to match the requirements.

Considering 4 factors before picks the cable for PoE.

  •   Speed

There’re many cables with different speed on the market, including Cat3, Cat5, Cat6, Cat7 and so on.

From the table, it is clear to know cables’ speeds are different. Nowadays, most of home and business network have 100Mbps even 1000Mbps network. Cat5e should be the minimum choice today. If cables are being using in large computer communication or data transmission, Cat6 and Cat7 should be considered as well.

  •   Conductor Size and Material

As we know, conductor’s resistance brings bad effect on power transmissions. The electric currently pass through cable and convert to the heat because of the inline resistance. While the conductor size is small, the resistance is larger and the heat will be higher as well. Usually the cat6 and cat7 cable has the larger dimension than cat5 and cat4. If there is too much power loss cable inline, the remote powered devices may don’t have enough voltage to start up. Pick the bigger size conductor if possible.

Moreover, what made of the conductor does matter. Some manufacturers try to cut off cable costs by using copper-clad (or dipped) aluminum wires to replace pure copper core, which leads to higher resistance. It is going to accelerate the power loss inline. Check the cable’s material. It must be fit into the standard specification. Generally, pure copper is always the best.

  •   Plenum-Rated/Temperature

Other than the core of the cable, the outer skin needs to be checked. The plenum rated is relative to fire requirement. Check the fire code especially when the cables are been deployed to the public facilities such as Hospital, hotel, city hall. Air and water causes negative impact to cables in outdoor application. The cables are easy to get damage somehow while it is exposure directly. Choose the Cable with UV resistance can greatly reduce contact with air and provides better waterproof rate.

Common temperature ratings for cables are 60°C, 75°C and 90°C. If the temperature rises up in the environment, the electrical performance will become worse. Estimate the operating temperature before picking the cable.

  •   Installation

No matter what the cable category and construction structure, while large bundle of cable stick together, it will make heat accumulated which could cause safety issue. Be careful this could turn into problems while installing the cables in the dense place.

Cable speed, conductor size, material, plenum-rated, temperature and installation need to be overseen before choosing the cable. In addition, price is also a factor. If the cable are being selling too lower price, it may need to double confirm the quality. We mentioned the long distance power transport will make the voltage drop. Different voltage can be applied to power over Ethernet (PoE) cable.

 Click here show you Long distance IP Camera setup with PoE network extender.

Best PoE switch for IP cameras

IP camera security system is a type of surveillance system which can transport video in real-time and record the footage to SD card or hard drive. It is common practice to set up the ip camera system by using a PoE switch. The PoE switch has integrated with PoE technology which allows both power and data to be transported through single Ethernet cable. The power adaptor doesn’t need present closed to the camera anymore. The PoE saves the installation cost and makes the setup easily. How to choose PoE switch? This article will go through the things you need to know before buying a PoE switch.

· Speed
There have 2 major kinds of PoE switch for ip camera system in the market, 100M and 1000M gigabit. Few 10G PoE switch are available as well. The speed is about how fast the data can be processed and transported between the devices. Actually, 100M PoE switch is good enough for IP cameras. The data rate of 8 megapixel camera is only about 20 Mbps per channel. Usually, there are uplink ports which will be connected to NVR or main network. It is better to have gigabits capacity on those ports, as all the data are gathering there. If the budget is not tight, pick the full Gigabit, but make not much difference. The 100M PoE switch can meet the bandwidth demands from ip cameras system for home or small-medium business.

· Power budget
Th PoE switch not only supply the network communicating but also the power to remote ip camera. While connecting all the cameras to PoE switch, it is necessary to confirm each of IP cameras has received enough power. The IEEE802.3 af/at specific the maximum power output in single port. IEEE802.af standard supply 12W and and IEEE802.3at (PoE+) supply 25.5W. The camera with infrared usually takes less than 12W. 25.5W will be enough for PTZ camera. However, it may need high power when heat is built in to the camera. The 95W IEEE802.3 bt standard products are ready now.

· Ports and SFP
Choosing different number ports of PoE switch depends on quantity of IP cameras in the system. It is always good to reserve some ports for future usage. There are 6, 8, 12, 24 ports on the market. You can expand the ports by adding new PoE switch. While one PoE switch is not enough for all the ip cameras, add a new switch and connect to the first one will increase the ports easily.

Some of the PoE switch has two empty slots next to the uplink port. It is the slot for SFP module. What is SFP? SFP, small form-factor Pluggable, is a compact, hot-pluggable optical module transceiver used for both telecommunication and data through fiber optical cable. The advantage of fiber optical is fast speed, low latency and long distance. With SFP, two switches can be linked together in several kilometers. The maximum fiber network distance is 80KM. If there is long distance between two switches, SFP fiber optical is the right solution to go. The maximum cable network distance is 100 meter. Even using network extender, it can be extended to 500 meters only.

· VLAN
VLAN is quit essential for IP cameras system. A virtual LAN (VLAN) isolates the RJ45 ports next to each other at the data link layer. Generally speaking, the camera connecting to the PoE ports can’t see each other with VLAN enable. They are blocked by the VLAN. All the PoE ports only have path to the uplink. It can guarantee the cameras operating independently without interference. If someone try to take advantage of one camera to get other, it can’t be done when VLAN is enable.

· Manageability
There are 3 types of PoE switch on the market, fully managed, smart managed and unmanaged. Both Fully managed and smart managed PoE switch allow users to adjust and control every port’s power and network traffic, VLAN etc. Smart managed PoE switch reserve the partial functions of fully managed, like visual smart managed PoE switch which has LCD display built in. The users can monitor all connecting status in real-time and configure switch by using button around the LCD screen.

Not only the PoE switch, but also PoE NVR can be used to set up IP camera system. Click to find out the differences between external PoE switch and PoE NVR in IP camera security system.

4 common Ways to Extend Ethernet – short and long distance

With the development of the Internet, people rely on the network for their works and keep communicating with each other. This requires good network connection in office and home. In this article, we will introduce 4 common ways to extend Ethernet to avoid network blind spot.

  • Power line

The first way is using power line. It is new fashion devices to extend network signal within limited space. Power-line adaptors convert the network signal and add to the AC power line in home or office. The power line solution takes advantage of existed power cable to transmit the data simultaneously as the AC electric power. This solution has one constrains. It only works within the same power meter. If there are different power meters for each floor in the building, the power line solution couldn’t cross pass between two floors.

The power line adaptors usually work in pair, including transmitter and receiver. Plug the receiver into AC outlet closed to main network. Then more than one transmitter can be added in different rooms to pick up the network signal. Some of the power line transmitters support WiFi which can generate WiFi signal in those areas.

  • WiFi booster

The WiFi booster is the most common way to extend WiFi signal. WiFi booster, also name WiFi extender, repeats the WiFi signal from your router. In most of the case, the WiFi signal is being weakly by the walls. The WiFi booster can be installed on the right spots to pick up the signal and forward to destination. Usually, it is the L sharp path to avoid blocking from the multiple walls. The WiFi booster is installed in the turning point of L.

The WiFi signal not only can be weaken by the walls, but also can be jam by each others while there are too many access points picking up from the neighbors’. One of the possible solutions is switching the WiFi channel to avoid the signal crush. Usually the WiFi router supports manual pick the communicating channel.

  • Network Extender for up to 500 meters

According to IEEE802 standard, the network distance is limited to 100meters far. While the network installation spot is beyond 100meters, the network extender may help. The extender can repeat network up to 500meters with daisy chain setup. However, the convenient Network extender requires power source. Image there’re 2 network extenders for 300 meter. The power adapter has to be presented in each of these two extenders which bring new trouble. PoE network extender can deal with this power source issues.

What is PoE network extender? It is integrated with power over Ethernet technology which allows transporting data and power in one cable. So the power adapter can be removed. If users want 300 meters network, just connect 2 PoE extenders. The PoE extender can even power the remote ip devices if it is IEEE802.3 complaint.

The power will be add to the Ethernet cable by using PoE injector or switch closed to the main router. The PoE extender is simple plug and play products. No program required.

  • Optical Fiber – repeat long distance network.

The advantages is fiber optical is high speed, low latency, and long distance. The fiber optical can easily transmit communicating network up to 20 kilometers. Fiber optical refers to the medium and the technology associated with the transmission of information as light pulses along a glass or plastic fiber strand. It needs straight line to transport the light and only data can be sent through. Because of fiber optical characteristics, there’s almost no loss and the speed is extremely fast.

It is fit for network communicating from building to building, even from city to city. In fact, the long distance network basically employs fiber optical technology today. If users want to setup network distance over 500 meters or above, fiber optical is a good way to go,

Generally speaking, PoE solutions and Fiber optical are suitable for long distance network extension. If network extending requires in short distance or limited space, Power line and WiFi booster can meet demand. Watch the video below see how to extend the network by using the power line adaptor.