Overview

PoE (Power-over-Ethernet) describes the passing of electrical power along with data on Ethernet cabling.  There currently exist two techniques to passing electrical power over the Ethernet cable that have been standardized by IEEE 802.3, these standards are 802.3af and 802.3at.

802.3af can provide up to 15.4 watts of DC power to each device.

802.3at can provide up to 25.5 watts of DC power to each device.

Both standards support Mode A (Endspan) and Mode B (Midspan) cabling pinouts.  Zyxel uses Mode A (Endspan) wiring which uses pins 1, 2, 3 and 6 for electrical power and data transmissions.  A powered device (PD) is a device such as an access point (AP), IP phone, IP camera or PoE switch that supports PoE so that it can receive power from another device through the Ethernet port.  Devices connected to Zyxel PoE equipment must support the same IEEE standard(s) and mode in order to power the equipment.

Supported Devices

ES-2108PWR
ES-2024PWR
ES-3124PWR
ES1100-8P
ES1100-16P
ES3500-24HP
GS1100-8HP
GS1100-10HP
GS1500-24P
GS1900-8HP
GS1900-10HP
GS1900-24HP
GS1900-48HP
GS1910-24HP
GS1910-48HP
GS1920-24HP
GS1920-48HP
GS2200-8HP
GS2200-24P
GS2210-8HP
GS2210-24HP
GS2210-48HP
GS3700-24HP
GS3700-48HP
XGS3700-28HP
XGS3700-48HP

PoE Limitations

Different model switched support different power budgets.  Please research the number of devices you need to power up using PoE and what their PoE power specifications are before purchasing a switch.  The max amount of power a switch will supply on an Ethernet port using IEEE802.3af for example is 15.4W, but the powered device (PD) is only assured 13W to be available as power will dissipate in the cable.

Different devices require different amounts of power to function properly.  An IP phone for example may require less electrical power to have full function then an IP camera.  Knowing the exact amount of power the PD requires will help to determine how much of a PoE budget will be required.  Knowing what the total PoE budget required will assist to obtain the correct PoE switch.

Example:  Attempting to power 7 wireless access points which support IEEE802.3af (Mode A) using a GS1900-8HP switch.  Each AP requires a total of 10W to power up and function properly.  The GS1900-8HP only has a 70W PoE budget available to electrically power devices through the Ethernet cabling.  Because each PoE port provides 15.4W of power this means only 4 AP's can be powered up using PoE, which will use up 61.6W.  Not enough power available from the 70W PoE budget to power an extra device.  There are two options to look into at this point, get a PoE switch with a higher power budget or enable PoE consumption mode on the Zyxel switch to only deliver the power needed to power on the device per port instead of the full 15.4W as described by the IEEE802.3af standard.  With consumption mode enabled each port will only get the 10W necessary to power up the PD, allowing all 7 AP's to be powered.
Note:  Not all Zyxel switches support consumption mode.  Not all PoE switch manufacturers support consumption mode or similar technology.  This is why it is necessary to check the switch power budget, to make sure all PD's will receive PoE.

Enable/Disable PoE

Power-over-Ethernet can be turned ON/OFF per port basis within the switches configuration, this requires a managed switch, unmanaged switches have PoE enabled at all times.  This feature would allow the disabling of electrical power transmissions on ports that will be connected to non-PoE equipment (such as computers, routers, Smart TV's, STB's, etc.).

Disable PD on GS1500 Series PoE switches:

• Login to the switches WebGUI
• Go to menu Configuration → PowerOverEthernet
• Select the ports by highlighting them
• Click the PD dropdown and select "OFF"
• Click the "Apply" button to save the settings
  

Disable PD on GS1900 series PoE switches:

• Login to the switches WebGUI
• Go to menu Configuration → Port → PoE → PoE
• Select the port(s) you wish to configure by checking the box next to it
• Click the "Edit" button at the top of the port list
  
• Set the "PD State":  Enable (ON), Disable (OFF)
• Click the "Apply" button to save the setting
  

Disable PD on GS1920 Series, ES3500 Series PoE switches:

• Login to the switches WebGUI
• Go to menu Basic Setting → PoE → PoE Setup
• Uncheck the "PD" box next to the port(s) you wish to disable PoE
• Click the "Apply" button at the bottom to save the changes
  

Disable PD on ES-2024PWR, GS2200 Series:

• Login to the switches WebGUI
• Go to menu Basic Setting → PoE Setup
• Uncheck the "PD" box next to the port(s) you wish to disable PoE
• Click the "Apply" button at the bottom to save the changes
  

Disable PD on GS2210 Series, GS3700/XGS3700 Series:

• Login to the switches WebGUI
• Go to menu Basic Setting → PoE Setup → PoE Setup
• Uncheck the "PD" box next to the port(s) you wish to disable PoE
• Click the "Apply" button at the bottom to save the changes
  

Disable PD on ES-2108PWR, ES-3124PWR:

• Login to the switches WebGUI
• Go to menu Basic Setting → Port Setup
• Uncheck the "PD" box next to the port(s) you wish to disable PoE
• Click the "Apply" button at the bottom to save the changes
  

Disable PD on GS1910 Series PoE Switches:

• Login to the switches WebGUI
• Go to menu Configuration → PoE
• Click the "PoE Mode" dropdown and select "Disable" to turn OFF PoE on the port
• Click the "Apply" button at the bottom to save the changes
  

PoE Enabled Switches