Setting up PoE on non-PoE devices (cameras)

[mattyp]

Hi all,

I'm quite confused about PoE and how to use it with devices not supporting PoE! And wondered if anyone can help, I cant find a definitive explanation online. This has all been set off by the article below which suggests you can power Tapo wifi cameras with PoE even though its not officially supported and do not have ethernet ports. Basically what they're saying i think is that if you have a passive PoE switch (seem to be quite hard to find/not much choice) you can connect it to a PoE splitter which is essentially an adapter (ethernet to Tapo power adapter 2.5mm jack plug) and voltage adjuster stepping down the voltage to 9V required by the camera. So therefore the question is whether the switch needs to be of the passive type or whether an active switch and splitter both running IEEE 802.3af would allow the switch to pass power to the camera. Ordinarily, the camera not being POE compatible the active switch would not pass power as there would be no handshaking to confirm "yes its ok to power this device"?

Another query out of interest would be why they show a second scenario where an injector is used in combination with a switch and splitter, why would you need/want this setup if it involves extra hardware?

Thanks for the help

How to Power Tapo Wired Camera with PoE - Smart Home Community

What is PoE? Power over Ethernet (PoE) is a technology that allows both power and data to be transmitted simultaneously over a single Ethernet cable. There are two types of PoE: Active (Standard) PoE and Passive PoE. Tapo wired cameras do not

community.tp-link.com

 

[Dan]

Hi @mattyp

Yes, it should be possible to connect a PoE Splitter to an active 802.3af PoE switch to power a non-PoE camera.

All a PoE Splitter does is the reverse of a PoE Injector; it receives PoE and then separates it into power and data.

The examples in that article show you 2 different kinds of setups - one with a PoE switch and one without a PoE switch (the 2nd one with the PoE Injector)

So what that is showing you is data being sent to a PoE Injector, combined with power by the Injector to send it over a single cable to the PoE Splitter, and then being split back to separate power and data to connect a non-PoE device like a router or PC to the non-PoE switch.

This is not a very common scenario, you would only ever consider doing this if the non-PoE device is very far away from the non-PoE switch you need to connect it to and you don't want to be trailing separate power & data cables.

 

[Dan]

Hi @mattyp

Sorry, just need to check something.

Can you please confirm the exact model number of the cameras you are trying to power?

 

[mattyp]

Hi @mattyp

Yes, it should be possible to connect a PoE Splitter to an active 802.3af PoE switch to power a non-PoE camera.

All a PoE Splitter does is the reverse of a PoE Injector; it receives PoE and then separates it into power and data.

The examples in that article show you 2 different kinds of setups - one with a PoE switch and one without a PoE switch (the 2nd one with the PoE Injector)

So what that is showing you is data being sent to a PoE Injector, combined with power by the Injector to send it over a single cable to the PoE Splitter, and then being split back to separate power and data to connect a non-PoE device like a router or PC to the non-PoE switch.

This is not a very common scenario, you would only ever consider doing this if the non-PoE device is very far away from the non-PoE switch you need to connect it to and you don't want to be trailing separate power & data cables.

Ah ha I see, yes I think that explains it nicely thank you. So I take from this second scenario is that you could use an injector which is adding the power and the splitter instead of a switch? If you only need power and not data? The downside being if you wanted to power multiple cameras you'd need one injector per camera whereas you can use one switchto power multiple cameras in theory?

In the scenario of a poe switch combined with a splitter, does the splitter itself need power and does it draw this from the poe switch? It doesn't have a battery?

 

[mattyp]

Hi @mattyp

Sorry, just need to check something.

Can you please confirm the exact model number of the cameras you are trying to power?

I haven't bought the cameras yet actually. But I'm thinking the PTZ type. I have an indoor PTZ Tapo TC70 which I was thinking to initially test it with, this is a 9v camera.

 

[Dan]

Thanks @mattyp

If you are considering a Tapo camera, I think you will need to use Passive PoE.

I hadn't read the article closely enough before sending my first response and it wasn't clear from your original message if you were actually considering a Tapo camera or just using this as an example.

Tapo wired cameras only support Passive PoE, so I think you will have to look at sourcing a Passive PoE Switch/Injector to use the methods shown in the article you shared.

Ah ha I see, yes I think that explains it nicely thank you. So I take from this second scenario is that you could use an injector which is adding the power and the splitter instead of a switch? If you only need power and not data? The downside being if you wanted to power multiple cameras you'd need one injector per camera whereas you can use one switchto power multiple cameras in theory?

In the scenario of a poe switch combined with a splitter, does the splitter itself need power and does it draw this from the poe switch? It doesn't have a battery?

As far as I am aware, a switch would be needed in the 2nd example.

I don't believe you can just send power without data over a network cable between a PoE Injector and a PoE Splitter.

In most cases, PoE Splitters won't need their own source of power. See as an example, this Level One POS-1001 PoE Splitter model that we sell.

You will see from the datasheet that it doesn't have a separate power input to power itself; it receives all its power from the PoE input.

 

[mattyp]

Ok Dan thanks, they're obviously not widely used, passive PoE as there seems to be limited products available but its maybe a very niche market. I'll probably try and find one and combine it with the TP-Link POE10R splitters as shown in the article. Why Tapo haven't moved to POE for outdoor cameras i don't know! Thanks again for your help