Power over Ethernet (PoE) describes any of several standards or ad hoc systems that pass electric power along with data on twisted-pair Ethernet cabling. This allows a single cable to provide both a data connection and enough electricity to power networked devices such as wireless access points (WAPs), IP cameras and VoIP phones.
Techniques
There are several common techniques for transmitting power over Ethernet cabling, defined within the broader Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 standard since 2003.
The three techniques are:
Alternative A, which uses the same two of the four signal pairs that 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX use for data in typical Cat 5 cabling.
Alternative B, which separates the data and the power conductors for 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX, making troubleshooting easier.
4PPoE, which uses all four twisted pairs in parallel, increasing the achievable power.
Alternative A transmits power on the same wires as data for common 10 and 100 Mbit/s Ethernet variants. This is similar...