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cube

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Original poster
May 10, 2004
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I think Apple should put PoE+ in all their devices than can feed or be so fed.
 

daemondust

macrumors newbie
Sep 25, 2007
18
38
To what end? 802.3af can only supply 15.4W, 802.3at raises that to 25.5, but even a Mac Mini has an 84W PSU.

Going the other way, why? This is best done by a switch, or dedicated inline power injector.
 

cube

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May 10, 2004
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There are many small devices that can be so powered. Not everything is computers, monitors, and printers.

PoE splitters and 1-port injectors suck. They are so big you can just use the power brick.
 

daemondust

macrumors newbie
Sep 25, 2007
18
38
The point of PoE is to move the power supply to inside the wiring cabinet, not eliminate it.

It's great for things like 802.11 access points, VoIP phones, security cameras, sensors, etc. but there just isn't enough power for a general purpose computer.

In almost every situation a Mac should be directly off a switch, not directly connected to another end device.
 

cube

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May 10, 2004
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Why do you bring a Mac into this?

I know what I need it for.
 

cube

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May 10, 2004
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OK, maybe you mean that the Mac could power the switch or router.

I don't need that, but I imagine many people would love to be able to power their Airports that way.

I want to power the AEBS from a switch.

Some other people would like to feed the AEBS with its brick so that they can provide some power from it.
 

belvdr

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2005
5,945
1,372
OK, maybe you mean that the Mac could power the switch or router.

I don't need that, but I imagine many people would love to be able to power their Airports that way.

I want to power the AEBS from a switch.

Some other people would like to feed the AEBS with its brick so that they can provide some power from it.

Wattage aside, the voltage isn't correct either. The AEBS uses 12V while PoE delivers much higher.

I have never seen PoE-powered switches or routers.
 

daemondust

macrumors newbie
Sep 25, 2007
18
38
Voltage doesn't matter as much as you'd think, voltage can be changed. Wattage (power) is the limit here. An AEBS takes around 22W, so theoretically 802.3at could power one, but just barely.

Almost all "enterprise" access points do PoE natively. Almost all managed switches have an optional hardware bit to source PoE. 3com even makes a small switch that looks like a wall plate that's PoE powered, the NJ220.

Nothing (that I know of) consumer focused does PoE in any form, and that likely won't change since everything seems to be moving to 802.11 instead of 802.3.

Would it be nice if Apple included it? Sure. I wish more consumer focused gear did PoE. Most of the "PoE" kits you find just put 12v on the spare pair in 10/100 and pull it back out again on the other end, they don't do true PoE 802.3af or .3at.
 

belvdr

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2005
5,945
1,372
Voltage doesn't matter as much as you'd think, voltage can be changed.

How are you changing voltage without adding a piece of gear? PoE is a minimum of 37V which is 300% higher than the 12V needed.
 

cube

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Original poster
May 10, 2004
17,011
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There are inexpensive fanless switches with PoE.

There's even a fanless managed pre-at D-Link for about $200 with 78W budget.

The cheap Ciscos around that price unfortunately have a fan.
 
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