building my own POE switch

[geezer]

Two years ago I put together my first CCTV and I didn't know much at all, but I was sure I didn't want an NVR with POE ports, so I built my own 12 volt insertion panel. I used parts sourced locally and through AliExpress.

I can't really say why I didn't just purchase a POE switch; probably I just wanted to be sure I ended up with everything I wanted, which included wanting an interesting project to work on.

I dunno if this is interesting to others, just putting it out there.

 

[daxmatt]

looks good,,how much did it cost,does it work out cheaper

 

[geezer]

A typical 8-port POE switch with a 48v brick costs about US$85 on Ali. I believe I spent a very similar amount on this build.

One driving factor to do it myself was that my first cameras were cheapie 1080p models that did not support true POE. That wasn't important to me, as all my installations were up in the eaves where it was simple to place a 4" x 4" x 1 1/2" box to enclose the camera connectors and a data/power splitter. Now all five cams are Dahua 3MP models that support 48v but I am happy to continue sending 12v and keeping the extractors.

Maybe if I had to start over from scratch I wouldn't bother, but I like having the voltage and amperage monitoring, and the fact that if anything fails I can easily replace the bad part rather than waiting three weeks for a new unit to arrive from China.

 

[Philip Gonzales]

Sweet, very cool. I wouldn't try something like this myself but nevertheless sweet setup.

 

[tangent]

 

[Q™]

You a geek geezer.

 

[tangent]

https://www.amazon.com/BV-Tech-Port-Switch-Ports-Uplink/dp/B005GAATOG/
https://www.amazon.com/BV-Tech-Industrial-Switch-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B075FZQX14

I'd even rather use one of these over 12V passive PoE: https://www.amazon.com/WS-POE-8-48v60w-Passive-Ethernet-Injector-Cameras/dp/B0086SQDMM/

Or something like this used: D-Link DWL-P1012 PoE Midspan 12 Port | eBay

 

[geezer]

All four of those devices are nicely simple but all provide 48v. My first collection of $20 cameras only supported 12v.

Today all my cameras are POE-capable but none have PTZ so I'm not missing out on anything. The one camera that matters most is on a 45 meter outdoor CAT5e run and runs sweet as can be.

 

[daxmatt]

i like the voltage and ameter

 

[geezer]

I was advised that these cheap ($5) V/A meters might not last very long running 24x7 so there's a micro-toggle switch just to the left of the display. I just turn it on from time to time for a health check.

The 12.5 volts is steady as a rock. The 1.29 amps shown was four cameras in the daytime. The fifth was offline at the time. It only goes up by about one amp at night because two of the cameras are 24hr color (no IR).