Small AP with PoE?

Just a minor note. The WRT54G is unique in that it has a nifty switching regulator on the power supply port that will run on any applied voltage between about 4VDC and 18VDC. The lower limit is defined by the 3.3v output dropout voltage. The upper limit by where the filter capacitors and regulator get fried. The nominal 12VDC wall wart can run the WRT54G through some very very lossy cables and still work just fine. Here's a bad photo of my BEFW11S4 (similar regulator design) running off 3.6VDC.

simple installation, I don't bother borrowing 4 wires out of the CAT5 bundle. It's too big a hassle dealing with the connector conversions. I just run a 2nd cable as an extension cord for the power with whatever cable I can find. Current favorite is 4 conductor antenna rotator cable. Also, be sure to add an inline fuse at the wall wart of idiot protection.

I'm not sure what other products have such wide range regulators. The easiest way is to just try it. Power the access point or router with an adjustable power supply, and see how low you can go before it stops working.

Take a look at the Cisco 1100 and 1200 APs

A cisco switch will inject PoE but it's pricey. I'd like to see what other people suggest.

Making one PoE adapter and prividing neat professional wiring for a bunch of PoE powered APs is two different things. The OP says he has

3 APs. In a DIY approach you works require 3 duplex power outlets which is frequently a liiting factor.

A pox on power strips.

Well, it's quite easy to lash up something that will use the unused wires in a 10/100 Ethernet drop to probably provide sufficient power to run certain things, but I'm more interested in 802.3af-compliant Power Over Ethernet, so I can expand the network in the future with cameras, APs, night-lights, weather stations, wall-jack switches, and who knows what all stuff that will be coming out in the future, and won't destroy anything that inadvertently gets plugged into the wrong port.

The problem is that 'professional' PoE mid-span injectors seem to be near $100/port, and PoE peripherals seems to be few and far between(*). Maybe I'll go with the Linksys stuff initially and upgrade incrementally as prices drop.

Thanks for the feedback!

Here's an 8 port injector. I have no idea how much it is or where to get one.

seems to be an interesting site.

FWIW, Putting "poe injector" into google comes up with lots of hits.

/* Pricing for the 24-port Midspans start at $295 in OEM quantities.

*/

That's not bad, though I don't seem to find any actual distribution, a typical problem with announcements. I've also found

has a WWWeb interface, and is only $389 for the 12-port.

Turns out Netcom has the WG102 and WG302 APs, though AFAICT the WG302 isn't actually out yet. D-Link has some gear, but I'm never buying any more D-Link products. I've also found the Ortronics Wi-Jack, but I'm almost afraid to ask for pricing. 8*)

Not as bad as Cisco, but a decent router (similar code to the 7324 / 7312):

$1200, 24 10/100 + 2 10/100/1000, layer 3 and QoS. I've played with a few of them...

-TC

which has a WWWeb interface, and is only $389 for the 12-port.

Its quite easy to make a Power over Ethernet adaptor.

To construct one, first you must understand how it works. An ethernet connection DOES NOT REQUIRE 8 PINS. Only 4 pins, or 2 copper pairs in the 8 core cable are used. On the RJ45 connector, these are pins 1, 2, 3 & 6. This should be the orange and the green pairs. When you wire everything up, power shouldn't go near your modular plugs. These are intended to be data ports only.

I constructed one a while ago for my Linksys WRT54G by cutting the power lead in half, then wiring each end to an RJ45 modular female type socket. I wired pins 4 & 5 (blue pair) to the positive rail and pins 7 &

8 (brown pair) to the negative rail. I also purchased a plastic box with a modular punchout to suit the RJ45 connector for each end, to make it tidy.

From the modular plug on each end I run a short patch lead to the access point and to a switch inside my home.

Today my WRT54G lives in a sealed enclosure on my roof where its connected to some external antennas. Power and ethernet is carried over a 15m CAT5 lead.

Some useful wiring diagrams can be found at

Might be worth having a look at google too, I'm sure someone out there has a page about it.

Regards, Peter Hosk> Does anyone make a reliable AP with PoE? I'm about to buy three or

Disassemble a commercial PoE adaptor and then tell me what you think.