Question "Clean" single POE injector solution help sought

[Lil'John]

I've got an Aruba APINO215 wireless access point coming. Ideally, I want to connect it directly to one of the spare NICs on my PFsense box. My goal is physical isolation of wireless traffic to the internet.

I'm hoping to find a single POE injector solution or a network card that is POE capable. I'm trying to keep my rack "clean".

Is there something like a single POE injector in a keystone format? How about a USB network "card" that is POE 'injector' capable? How about a 10g dual NIC that is POE 'injector' capable?

Hardware list for PFSense machine:
Intel X550T2BLK - two 10G NIC card.
Motherboard: Supermicro X10 SLV-Q - dual 1G onboard

Is either of the above POE "injector" capable?

Please excuse my terminology... I'm still doing research on this.

FWIW, I do have a TP Link TL-SG3424P(managed POE switch) but I'm using it for my home network camera system and physically isolating it to my NVR server.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I've seen gigabit NICs that are POE. They slot internally into a PCI-E slot, and also require SATA power to power the POE portion.

Amazon.com: Syba 2.5 Gigabit 802.3at POE+ Ethernet PCI-e x1 Network Interface Card : Electronics

Buy Syba 2.5 Gigabit 802.3at POE+ Ethernet PCI-e x1 Network Interface Card: Network Cards - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[mxnerd]

There is no way standard NIC is POE capable. That will use too much power.

As VL has mentioned above, the following POE adapters are equipped with internal Molex/SATA power ports so they are able to supply extra power.

Some POE capable NICs from StarTech:

Amazon.com

Amazon.com: StarTech.com 4 Port Gigabit PoE (Power over Ethernet) Card - PCIe Network Card - PoE / PoE+ Up to 25W Per Port - PCIe NIC - Gigabit Ethernet Card (ST4000PEXPSE) , red : Electronics

Buy StarTech.com 4 Port Gigabit PoE (Power over Ethernet) Card - PCIe Network Card - PoE / PoE+ Up to 25W Per Port - PCIe NIC - Gigabit Ethernet Card (ST4000PEXPSE) , red: Network Cards - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Apparently standalone POE injector will be cheaper.

 

[Lil'John]

Thanks for the feedback and links.

I didn't think my current NICs in the PFSense box would support POE directly but I felt it was worth putting it there on the off chance 😉

The ~$110 card isn't a bad price... a POE switch is roughly the same price or more. And POE injectors are $50+.

I still have two 10G NICs to buy so if I could find one that is POE, I would purchase that rather than another Intel card.

 

[Lil'John]

After a bit more searching, I think I found my "clean" solution:
Black Box LPJ000A-F 1

The thing that makes it "clean" and nice is that it uses a standard PC style power cord. So no bulky power box to mount in addition to the POE.

 

[aigomorla]

Why not just use a PoE switch and consolidate all your PoE devices onto that switch.

 

[Lil'John]

Why not just use a PoE switch and consolidate all your PoE devices onto that switch.

Good question and I sort of covered it in the first post.

I have a 24 port PoE switch that I'm using for my security cameras. In an effort to physically isolate certain parts of my home network, it will only have my NVR server attached to it(VM with only access to that NIC port)

I am also going to try to physically isolate the wireless to my PFsense system. Anything wireless will only have access to internet and no access to computer assets on my network.

 

[aigomorla]

How about a 10g dual NIC that is POE 'injector' capable?

This is not possible as the 10gbe interface itself draws way too much power.
This is why 10gbe switchs are massive, as the ports heat up.
Putting PoE on a already power hungry port, is asking for problems.

If you need a single injector, there are a lot of solutions.
Ubiquiti makes small nice ones.

PoE Adapters

Ubiquiti PoE injectors that can power UniFi PoE, PoE+ or PoE++ devices with wireless mesh applications, or offload PoE switch power dependencies.

store.ui.com

They also have a POE passthrough Switch.

Switch Flex - Ubiquiti Store

Flexible five-port, Layer 2 PoE switch that can be powered with PoE++.

store.ui.com

They have managed option, but you need to use a unifi controller software.
But if you just want the passthrough switch, you wont need it.

 

[Lil'John]

<snip 10G info and remove urls>

If you need a single injector, there are a lot of solutions.
Ubiquiti makes small nice ones.

They also have a POE passthrough Switch.

They have managed option, but you need to use a unifi controller software.
But if you just want the passthrough switch, you wont need it.

Funny enough, I've got two 24 port POE switches... one of which is a Ubiquiti.

I will be drop kicking the Ubiquiti shortly because I found their customer service to be severely lacking(no out of warranty work). I'm also not amused with their decision to drop kick UniFi Video and force people to use their hardware to use their replacement NVR software.

 

[aigomorla]

Funny enough, I've got two 24 port POE switches... one of which is a Ubiquiti.

I will be drop kicking the Ubiquiti shortly because I found their customer service to be severely lacking(no out of warranty work). I'm also not amused with their decision to drop kick UniFi Video and force people to use their hardware to use their replacement NVR software.

there is also cisco meraki line, which i feel is simular to unifi line..