I live in a house that has CAT 5 cable in the walls running to wall plates in various rooms.
Would it be possible to remove the existing regular switch, replace it with a powered POE switch, and then plug in a POE device into one of the wall plates?
Also, for the non-POE devices already plugged into wall plates, would they be okay?
I’m trying to wrap my head around the interoperability of POE and non-POE and struggling.
Yes. There won’t be a problem, assuming that the devices in question are indeed ethernet devices and not just using cat5 wiring. That said you will need to be aware about what kind of PoE device you are plugging in. There are several evolutions of the PoE standard.
802.3af 802.3at 802.3btSo make sure that if the devices requires 802.3at, the switch is rated to provide that.
Good answer.
Just chipping in to point out that there are a LOT of products listed as “POE” that don’t comply with any official standard, and are just designed as a single pair for lower end devices. So to echo your advice, do check for standards before buying.
The idea was to swap in a Ubiquity POE switch so i could power a Ubiquity AP and some POE cameras throughout the house
Sounds good; known branded equipment is more likely to be compliant - but do check, it’s usually pretty clearly marked on packaging and listings.
Yes, the switch should detect that its not a POE device and not send power. I’m not sure how it would work if the port is wired incorrectly though, so worth checking if you have access to a detector. Electricians are notoriously bad at wiring Ethernet correctly.
Bear in mind, the POE switch will generate more heat, so if its in a closet with no airflow, it might overheat.
Grilled a Brother printer mainboard thinking that, so don’t be too sure of that autodetect.
Check out MoCA adapters. You need one for each wall plate you want to convert and one for the modem side. Check out this site for a diagram and more info.
