[Asterisk-Users] POE Switches and QOS

[asteriskstuff at ziplip.com]

3com have some goods POE kit and some very nice managed wall jacks that supply POE and are fully managed.

Here's an auction that the seller just closed:-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=40990&item=5708757277&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Last time I spoke to him he had 5 boxes of 20 units and was willing to sell them at around $575 with a bit of arm twisting.

The links on 3com are :-

For the NJ200 (US Version)

http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/detail.jsp?pathtype=purchase&tab=features&sku=3CNJ200-CRM-20

and the NJ205 (Euro Version)

http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/detail.jsp?tab=features&pathtype=purchase&sku=3CNJ205-20

You can wall mount the Euro version so the ports are facing down so the unit looks very discrete.

POE gets delivered on port 4 and as they are fully managed switches you can individually manage them and configure VLans (if you want to) allocating QOS priority to the port.

The 3C17205 switch has full spanning tree and power management (i.e. you can kill the power on a specific port by logging onto the switch).

As to loading for the switch you can read the specs here:-

http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/detail.jsp?pathtype=purchase&tab=features&sku=3C17205-US

I may be telling people on here how to suck eggs but make sure whichever POE kit you get is 802.3af complient...a LOT of people are pushing products as POE but not using the proper standard (i.e. only using 5V or 12v up the wire which means voltage drop off is a problem over the cable length run).

I've got no links to 3com just a happy customer...and POE stuff is starting to take off with 802.3af cameras and AP's starting to appear.....makes managing a network a lot easier.

P