Recently, as the IoT technology develops fast, PoE switches become more important. Many small devices, like Access points, IP Phones and other devices which can’t be powered themselves, need PoE switches to power them.
What is the meaning of PoE Switch?
A POE switch is a network switch that has Power over Ethernet injection built-in. Simply connect other network devices to the switch as normal, and the switch will detect whether they are POE-compatible and enable power automatically.
Cisco, the one of the best networking devices manufacturers, provide us many useful PoE switches.
In this article, I’m going to introduce five types of Cisco PoE switches: 8 ports, 12 ports, 16 ports, 24 ports and 48 ports.
First, I share you a tip to find if one Cisco Catalyst switch is the PoE switch.
It’s very easy. You read the part-number of Cisco switch, find if there is a letter “P” in it. If there is a “P”, it means this switch is a PoE switch. (Attention! “P” will mean different in other series switches, like nexus.)
For example, the Cisco Catalyst 2960, WS-C2960XR-48LPS-I. We read the part-number, is there a “P”? Yes, 48LPS! It means the switch WS-C2960XR-48LPS-I is a 48 Port PoE switch.
Besides, we also can find there is a yellow line under the ports (Figure 1). The yellow line means these ports provide PoE function.
Figure 1. Cisco Catalyst PoE Switch
(By the way, if there is a “PWR” in Huawei switch part number, it means the switch is a PoE switch.)
Now, let’s learn the different ports of Cisco PoE switch.
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Cisco PoE Switch – 24 ports
Table 1. Examples of Cisco 24 ports PoE Switch.
| Model | Description |
| WS-C2960X-24PS-L | Catalyst 2960-X 24 GigE PoE 370W, 4 x 1G SFP, LAN Base |
| WS-C2960X-24PD-L | Catalyst 2960-X 24 GigE PoE 370W, 2 x 10G SFP+, LAN Base |
| WS-C3850-24P-S | Cisco Catalyst C3850-24P Switch Layer 3 – 24 * 10/100/1000 Ethernet POE+ ports – IP Base – managed- stackable |
| WS-C2960L-24PS-LL | Catalyst 2960L 24 port GigE with PoE, 4 x 1G SFP, LAN Lite (Asia Pacific Part Number: WS-C2960L-24PS-AP) |
| C9300-24P-A | Catalyst 9300 24-port PoE+, Network Advantage |
| WS-C3650-24PS-S | Cisco Catalyst 3650 24 10/100/1000 Ethernet Ports – 4x1G SFP uplinks- Layer 3 – POE – IP Base IOS – managed |
| C9200L-24P-4G-E | Catalyst 9200L 24-port PoE+ 4x1G uplink Switch, Network Essentials, Need to order DNA License |
| WS-C2960XR-24PS-I | Catalyst 2960-XR 24 GigE PoE 370W, 4 x 1G SFP, IP Lite |
Learn More models from this page: PoE Switch – 24 Ports
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Cisco PoE Switch – 48 ports
Table 2. Examples of Cisco 48 ports PoE Switch.
| Model | Description |
| WS-C3850-48P-S | Cisco Catalyst C3850-48P Switch Layer 3 – 48 * 10/100/1000 Ethernet POE+ ports – IP Base – managed- stackable |
| WS-C2960L-48PS-LL | Catalyst 2960L 48 port GigE with PoE, 4 x 1G SFP, LAN Lite (Asia Pacific Part Number: WS-C2960L-48PS-AP) |
| C9300-48P-A | Catalyst 9300 48-port PoE+, Network Advantage |
| WS-C3650-48PS-S | Cisco Catalyst 3650 48 10/100/1000 Ethernet PoE ports – 4 x 1G Uplinks – Layer 3 switching – IP Base IOS – Managed |
| C9200L-48P-4X-E | Catalyst 9200L 48-port PoE+ 4x10G uplink Switch, Network Essentials, needs to order DNA License |
| WS-C2960X-48FPS-L | Catalyst 2960-X 48 GigE PoE 740W, 4 x 1G SFP, LAN Base |
| WS-C2960XR-48TS-I | Catalyst 2960-XR 48 GigE, 4 x 1G SFP, IP Lite |
| WS-C2960XR-48LPS-I | Catalyst 2960-XR 48 GigE PoE 370W, 4 x 1G SFP, IP Lite |
Learn More models from this page: PoE Switch – 48 Ports
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Cisco PoE Switch – 16 ports
Table 3. Examples of Cisco 16 ports PoE Switch.
| Model | Description |
| WS-C2960L-16PS-LL | Catalyst 2960L 16 port GigE with PoE, 2 x 1G SFP, LAN Lite |
| SF110D-16HP | Cisco SF110D-16P 16-port 10/100 PoE Desktop Switch |
In fact, there are not many 16-port PoE switches in Cisco switches family.
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Cisco PoE Switch – 12 ports
Table 4. Examples of Cisco 12 ports PoE Switch.
| Model | Description |
| WS-C3560CX-12PC-S | Cisco Catalyst 3560-CX 12-port compact Switch Layer 3, POE- 12 x 10/100/1000 Ethernet Ports, 2 SFP&2GE uplinks- Data IP Base – Managed |
| WS-C3560CX-12PD-S | Cisco Catalyst 3560-CX 12-port compact Switch Layer 3, POE- 12 x 10/100/1000 Ethernet Ports, 2 SFP+ 10G&2GE uplinks- Data IP Base – Managed |
| WS-C2960C-12PC-L | atalyst 2960C Switch 12 FE PoE, 2 x Dual Uplink, Lan Base |
Usually, there are 12 ports PoE Switch in Cisco Compact switch family.
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Cisco PoE Switch – 8 ports
Table 5. Examples of Cisco 8 ports PoE Switch.
| Model | Description |
| WS-C2960L-8PS-LL | Catalyst 2960L 8 port GigE with PoE, 2 x 1G SFP, LAN Lite |
| SF302-08P | 8 10/100 PoE ports with 62W power budget, 2 combo mini-GBIC ports |
There are not many 8 ports Cisco PoE switch, either.
Tips: Cisco PoE+ Switch and Cisco UPoE Switch
Besides the difference of ports, there is other difference among Cisco PoE switch, like PoE+ switch, UPoE switch.
The maximum power of PoE, delivered by PSE is 15.4W.
What’s new in PoE+? That is, the maximum power delivered by PSE of PoE+ is 30W.
How about UPoE?
In 2014, Cisco created another non-standard PoE implementation called Universal Power over Ethernet (UPOE). We also call it PoE++. Its maximum power is 60W.
Cisco Catalyst 9000 series switches family, there are Catalyst 9300 and 9400 can support UPoE while Catalyst 9200 only support PoE+. Catalyst 3850, 3650 and 2960X/XR provide PoE+. Besides, Catalyst 3850 also provides UPoE, like WS-C3850-24U.
Ad Time: If you want to order PoE switches, welcome to contact us (cisco@router-switch.com). You also can visit our online shop directly: Cisco Switches Portfolio
Related topics:
How to Add PoE Power Supply for Cisco 890 Series Router?
