Fre uently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of using POE?
Using POE to ower network devices leads to more straightforward
installation, as devices can be installed and relocated without having
to install new ower cable. POE is limited to safe levels of voltage
and current and is a universal standard, whereas there is a wide
variation in ower standards worldwide.
POE allows all devices to be owered from a central, controlled
source, which may be an Uninterru tible Power Su ly (UPS).
Power management can be more so histicated, and remote devices
can be sim ly owered down or reset if necessary.
OUTREACH brings all these benefits to installations beyond 100m
(328ft) at full 100Base-T ca acity.
What are POE power classes?
Powered devices can advertise the amount of ower they require
when they are enabled by a ower source, as one of three classes
as follows:
Class 1 0 - 3.8 Watts
Class 2 3.8 – 6.5 Watts
Class 3 6.5 – 13 Watts
For exam le, a 5 Watt network video camera would request Class 2
ower, so its POE ower source would allocate 6.5 Watts (7 Watts
including losses) of its power budget to the camera.
Power classification is o tional; devices that do not advertise a class
are laced in Class 0 and allocated the full 13 Watts (around 15
Watts including losses). Some low cost devices may not im lement
ower classification; if they only draw 1 Watt the POE source would
have to allocate full-class ower to them.
OUTREACH is a Class 0 device as it may draw the full range of
ower. A 30 Watt POE switch should therefore be able to enable 2
OUTREACHes from its ower budget.
What is Power PromiseTM?
Power Promise is Veracity's unique, atent- ending technology which
gives OUTREACH the ca ability to detect the ower characteristics of
all POE devices and cables in the link. Only Power Promise
technology enables OUTREACH to decide whether to enable POE to
owered devices.
Installers can sim ly connect OUTREACH to their POE equi ment
without any setting-u or calculations required, and the Power
Promise technology will ensure the ower delivered does not violate
the POE s ecification, which could in turn result in overloaded ower
su lies or incorrect o eration of owered devices.
Why are Ethernet connections limited to 100 metres / 330 feet?
This limit for cable length originated for revious Ethernet standards.
100Base-T Ethernet equi ment must be sensitive enough to o erate
correctly over this distance, but in full-du lex mode there is no
technical reason to revent correct o eration over longer distances.
OUTREACH uses class-leading Ethernet circuitry, and OUTREACH-to-
OUTREACH connections may ty ically exceed 130 metres (430 feet).
Although o eration over 100m/330ft is not guaranteed, this does
allow some overhead for longer cable runs in actual installations.
Cable length to other devices will de end on the device's own
Ethernet erformance.
The POE s ecification also limits cable lengths to 100m/330ft,
however OUTREACH's Power Promise technology allows installations
to run beyond this safely.
Do I need to configure OUTREACH for use on my network?
No, OUTREACH is a trans arent Layer 1/2 device and requires no
MAC or IP address. It introduces virtually no delay and other
network devices will be unaware there is anything other than a cable
between them.
OUTREACH is com atible with both atch and crossover cables.
Can OUTSOURCE be used as a conventional POE injector
(midspan)?
Yes, OUTSOURCE is a fully IEEE-com liant single channel POE
mids an. It can be used to rovide ower for any com atible POE
owered devices.
Where should you install OUTSOURCE?
OUTSOURCE can be installed anywhere before the first OUTREACH in
the chain, although normally it will be connected via a atch cable to
a network switch with the longer cable running to the OUTREACH.
Note that OUTSOURCE is a assive device, it does not extend the
signal so the total cable length on either side should not exceed
100m/330ft.
OUTSOURCE can safely be connected after a conventional POE
switch. The switch will not enable ower to the OUTSOURCE and the
OUTSOURCE will only enable ower to the OUTREACH.
How can I extend both power and Ethernet to e uipment that is
not IEEE 802.3af POE compatible?
OUTBREAK is a POE s litter that divides its POE network connection
into a non-POE Ethernet signal and a 12 Volt 1 Am auxiliary su ly.
It can be used to ower devices that are not POE com atible, devices
which are com atible with older POE standards, or devices that are
POE com atible but which require a shared 12V su ly for other
equi ment.
Note that OUTBREAK is a maximum POE class device so must be
used in conjunction with an OUTSOURCE.
Can I use OUTREACH on cable types other than Cat5 or above?
Yes, OUTREACH will function correctly although this is not
recommended. The Power Promise technology will account for extra
ower losses, but network range or erformance will suffer if the
cable does not meet the s ecifications for 100Base-T Ethernet.
I have a CCTV installation which uses video baluns to transmit
analogue video over twisted pair – can OUTREACH help me
upgrade this to a digital link?
Yes – the cable should be 4- air Cat5 or better for best erformance.
Cut the cable every 100 metres and install an OUTREACH to re eat
the signal and forward POE to your IP camera.
Troubleshooting
OUTREACH not receiving power / all LEDs off
Confirm that the OUTREACH has been installed in the correct
orientation, and allow 4 seconds for each POE source and
OUTREACH in the chain to enable its POE out ut.
Check the cable for correct, secure wiring. The POE source will
usually dis lay an error indicator for some faults. If it indicates that
its ower budget has been exceeded then other POE devices must
be disconnected or an OUTSOURCE or additional POE switch must
be installed.
Some POE switches are not IEEE com liant by default. If
conventional IEEE POE cannot be enabled, the link will have to be
u graded with an OUTSOURCE.
No Ethernet connection / Link LED off
Check the cable condition and allow time for all owered devices to
be enabled. A reliable Ethernet link is not guaranteed over
individual cable segments exceeding 100m (328ft) in length,
although ower may still be carried.
All connected devices must be 100Base-T Full Du lex ca able and
referably have Auto-Negotiation enabled (default for most basic
10/100 POE switches).
Not forwarding power / POE Enabled LED off or blinking
The POE Enabled LED will flash in a re eating attern to indicate the
ty e of fault detected. 9 flashes in a row means that there is not
enough ower available to enable the connected device, given the
cable length and device ower class. Usually the link can be sim ly
u graded with an OUTSOURCE to remedy this.
If the LED is off or emitting any other attern then there is a cable
fault or the owered device is not IEEE 802.3af POE com liant.
The OUTREACH is functioning but the Power Good LED is blinking
OUTREACH will only enable ower to POE devices if it is guaranteed
to meet the characteristics of the IEEE POE s ecification. The Power
Good LED will blink if the characteristics for the ower delivered are
close to, but still within, the s ecified limits.
OUTREACH is intended for use with POE equi ment from re utable
manufacturers, which will have been tested over the full range of
the POE s ecification. If there is any doubt over the o eration of
the installed equi ment, the link can be u graded with an
OUTSOURCE.
Maximum range is less than expected
Check the cable for faults. The cable should be Cat5 or higher
s ecification and 24AWG or heavier duty (lower AWG).
Range varies de ending on the characteristics of the cable and POE
ower source used. Also the owered device may be requesting a
higher than necessary ower class. In both cases the link can be
sim ly u graded with an OUTSOURCE to increase maximum range.
