Rack-mount PoE injectors

[enjay]

Has anyone used - or even seen! - rack-mount PoE injectors such as https://www.wifi-stock.co.uk/details/extralink-passive-gigabit-poe-rack-mount-injectorshielded-panel-12-port-poe-inj-12-g-rm.html? We've got a couple of non-PoE switches which are still perfectly good, we just need more power in that location than we can sensibly do with individual PoE injectors. These seem ideal, but I'm a bit wary as I kind of think if these were any good, I'd have heard about them before now!

[DalekSec]

Used one in a job way back (7+ years) not heard of the place burning down so guessing its ok still!

[jslate1980]

Depending power requirement, we have used these before https://www.planet.com.tw/en/products/power-over-ethernet/poe-injector-hubs#802-3at-poe-plus-injector-hub.

[enjay]

Depending power requirement, we have used these before https://www.planet.com.tw/en/products/power-over-ethernet/poe-injector-hubs#802-3at-poe-plus-injector-hub.

 

Ooh, now that I like. I've heard of Planet so immediately feel a little more confident, and I like the management and notification too (partly, because it would save us having to add all our APs and CCTV to PRTG). Do you recall roughly how much they were, or where you bought them?

[jslate1980]

To recall they were not cheap. But the one I purchased was powering the door access controllers.

[jslate1980]

It was bought from here https://www.saratota.com/ and cost about £450. Edited February 17, 2023 by jslate1980

[enjay]

So, we emailed the link I posted on here to one of our suppliers, and he came back saying "how about this?" and quoted for the Planet managed unit! They're £275 for 12 ports which is a chunk more than £55 but they have some nice extra functionality, and a deferred saving by not having to buy more PRTG licences. I reckon I'll get one and give it a try.

 

There's also a saving to be had from the power schedule feature, but it would take a very long time to recover the costs by turning our APs off overnight!

[ITGURU]

Why would you not just install a rackmount POE switch?

I inherited a network with these injector switches, didn't see the point in them so pulled out and replaced for proper managed POE switches,

[Norphy]

Why would you not just install a rackmount POE switch?

I inherited a network with these injector switches, didn't see the point in them so pulled out and replaced for proper managed POE switches,

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68085[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]68086[/ATTACH]

 

But if the switch is modern and/or does what you need it to, what is more fiscally responsible:

 

1) replacing a otherwise decent switch which could cost anything from £400-£1500 plus having to dispose of the old one?

2) keep it in and spend £60 on an injector rack?

 

If you were planning to replace the switch, then sure, buy a PoE one; you’d be daft not to unless there were space or power constraints but in the OP’s particular case, I’d say that the injector rack makes more sense.

[ITGURU]

Either way your still using 2U whether it's a switch and rackmount POE injector or a switch and POE switch? In both cases you are not replacing the non poe switch.?

[enjay]

Why would you not just install a rackmount POE switch?

 

Because a rack-mount PoE switch would cost a LOT more. I need a 48-port switch in that location, but only 8 PoE ports. So, I can get one of the things in my first post for £60, one of the Planet things for £275, or a Unifi Gen-2 switch for about £1200.

[psydii]

"midspan" I think, is the term you are looking for. Just also to note that the ones in your initial post do not list 802.af .at or .bz standards compliance.

 

These do list (some) of those standards but are more expensive:

https://www.networkwebcams.co.uk/index.php?cPath=180

 

 

We still have some 14 years old non-managed Powerdsine midspans in service. Never had any problems with them, except power-cycling the attached assets in a physical process.

[enjay]

These do list (some) of those standards but are more expensive:

https://www.networkwebcams.co.uk/index.php?cPath=180

 

The price is creeping up at that point, although still less than a new switch. All the write-up of those Axis ones only talks about cameras, do they support any PoE device or is there something weird about them which means they only do cameras?

 

I actually really like the look of the Planet ones, because they include some other features too - variable power output based on requirement, automatic port-cycling on failure, notifications, etc.

Edited February 20, 2023 by enjay

[psydii]

As long as both ends support a common 802 standard for PoE then they should work.

 

If you are looking for a long term investment, be aware that the latest Wave 6a Wifi access points support the bz standard, I don't know whether this is mandatory, or whether there is loss of performance if they have to fall back to older standards.

[localzuk]

Because a rack-mount PoE switch would cost a LOT more. I need a 48-port switch in that location, but only 8 PoE ports. So, I can get one of the things in my first post for £60, one of the Planet things for £275, or a Unifi Gen-2 switch for about £1200.

If you only need 8 PoE ports, why not an 8 port PoE switch? Unifi 8 port PoE switches are about £120. HPE Aruba equivalent is about £245.

 

The device in your first post doesn't seem to list any PoE standards, but is "passive", which make me think it doesn't follow normal standards.

[enjay]

If you only need 8 PoE ports, why not an 8 port PoE switch? Unifi 8 port PoE switches are about £120. HPE Aruba equivalent is about £245.

 

The device in your first post doesn't seem to list any PoE standards, but is "passive", which make me think it doesn't follow normal standards.

 

Honestly, because it hadn't occurred to me they'd be so cheap! The device in my first post is a bit plain-and-simple, but I do like the look of the Planet thing for the alerting. A Unifi for less is definitely tempting, I'll go and double-check my count of the number of ports I need...

[Norphy]

If you only need 8 PoE ports, why not an 8 port PoE switch? Unifi 8 port PoE switches are about £120. HPE Aruba equivalent is about £245.

 

The device in your first post doesn't seem to list any PoE standards, but is "passive", which make me think it doesn't follow normal standards.

 

The possible issue I can see with that is that you either need to daisy chain the switch from an existing edge switch in the cabinet, or you need to take up an additional port or ports on your edge switch and that assumes that you have free port(s) on the core and available fibre/copper uplinks running back to the core. Neither may be a problem for the OP, admittedly.

[enjay]

The possible issue I can see with that is that you either need to daisy chain the switch from an existing edge switch in the cabinet

 

It depends what the 8 PoE devices are doing, and what the edge switch is, I suppose. Pushing a mix of CCTV and APs down a single port on the edge switch could make it groan a bit.