Allied Telesis AT-8500 Series manual Minimum Power Maximum Power Class

Chapter 1: Overview

described in Table 3. .

Table 3. IEEE 802.3af Class vs. Power Levels

		Minimum Power	Maximum Power
Class	Usage	Levels Output at	Levels Output at
		the PSE	the PD
0	Default	15.4W	0.44W to 12.95W
1	Optional	4.0W	0.44W to 3.84W
2	Optional	7.0W	3.84W to 6.49W
3	Optional	15.4W	6.49W to 12.95W

A port connected to a network node that is not a powered device (that is, a device that receives its power from another power source) functions as a regular Ethernet port, without PoE. The PoE feature remains enabled on the port but no power is delivered to the device.

Implementation A standard Ethernet twisted pair cable contains four pairs of strands for a total of eight strands. 10/100 Mbps network traffic requires only four strands (1, 2, 3, and 6), leaving four strands in the cable unused (4, 5, 7, and 8).

The PoE standard, IEEE 802.3af, describes two alternative ways for delivering power to a powered device (PD) over twisted pair cabling. Alternative A uses the same strands that carry the network traffic.

Alternative B uses the spare strands. The PoE implementation on the AT- 8524POE Layer 2+ Fast Ethernet Switch is Alternative A, where power is transmitted over strands 1, 2, 3, and 6.

PD’s that comply with the IEEE 802.3af standard typically support both power delivery methods. So long as a PD is compliant with the standard, it should be able to receive its power from the switch while using either a straight or cross-over cable. The PoE feature on the AT-8524POE Layer 2+ Fast Ethernet Switch should also work with most legacy PD’s as long as the device can be powered on pins 1, 2, 3, and 6. A legacy device is a node that was manufactured before the IEEE 802.3af standard was completed and, consequently, may not adhere to the standard. If this is the case, a straight (MDI) cable may be needed to insure that the DC polarity is correct.

28