Using Power over Ethernet (PoE) on Alarm.com Cameras

Hi, DIYers. Joe from Alarm Grid. And today, we're going to talk about whether or not your ADC camera supports PoE. Before we begin, let's talk about what PoE is. PoE is power over ethernet. It's a really cool feature that allows the camera to get powered through the ethernet plug. It simplifies installation for you, because all you have to do to connect the camera is plug it into a PoE port, connect the ethernet cable to the camera and then it's good to go.

Power and data go over that same cable. This makes it very easy to install as you don't have to go and look for a power source. You don't have to find somewhere to plug in the transformer and then to weatherproof it if it's outside. You don't have to run that separate wire to the camera and then still have a hardwired connection if it's using ethernet.

In a lot of instances, PoE is wonderful, and it's going to make your life very easy when installing. Now, there are a couple of different ways you can get PoE to the camera. One way that we-- we actually sell this device on the website. This is the ADC PoE I and J. This guy right here. What this is it's a device that plugs into the wall.

This port here goes out and connects to the camera. This is actually what is outputting power that's going to power the camera. On the back you have another plug, this goes back to the switch. So if you have a switch or a router that is not PoE, you have your router, you connect that to your PoE injector. And then, the injector goes out to your PoE camera, and it's going to give it power and data. So it can make installation much, much easier.

Only specific Alarm.com cameras do work with PoE. And if you look, you'll see it on the FAQ, there is a whole list of them. We have them all laid out, all the ones that are concurrently compatible with PoE. All Alarm.com cameras that work with PoE are set to work with the standard, which is the 802.3 AF for PoE.

So if you do have other PoE devices, check their specifications. But as long as they're a standard device, there's a good chance that they may be able to power your Alarm.com camera. PoE stuff such as passive PoE or PoE splitters, they may degradate the power or they may not work for your setup. You're really going to have to check the specification on those devices in particular to make sure that they can power the camera.

But rule of thumb is that if it is a standard PoE device, there's a good chance that it is going to be able to power the camera. The other thing to note is that the ethernet cable, it has to be the T58B or A standard for it to sufficiently power the camera and standard data.

So if you do double check your stuff, if you're in an older house, you may have some older ethernet cable. There's a chance that it may not work. If you do have a newer house, or you just ran the ethernet cable, there's a very good chance that it's going to be able to supply PoE to your camera.

And lastly, Alarm.com offers a very unique device called the ATCW.100. What this is it's a Wi-Fi bridge that has PoE outputs on the bridge. So what this lets you do is, let's say that you have all your routers and all your hard wired connections on one side of a house, and then you have another side of the house that doesn't have any wires going to it, but you want PoE camera over there. What this device does is you can install it.

It's going to connect to the Wi-Fi, so you'll connect to that side of the house. And then, from the actual device, PoE ports are on it, now we're going to go out and connect to different cameras. So what this lets you do is install the device, it can connect to Wi-Fi, so the device doesn't have to have a hardwired connection back to your network. And the device will actually supply the cameras with a PoE connection.

It's unique and it works great. It's a lifesaver in certain installations where you can't get that wire from one side of the house to the other. If you do have any questions about PoE, Alarm.com cameras or alarm systems in general, feel free to head to our website www.alarmgrid.com. Give us a call at 8888187721, or send us an email to support@alarmgrid.com. If enjoyed the video, feel free to subscribe. And if you want to be notified with post future videos, hit the notification button below. We'll send you an update when we do so. Thanks for watching and have a great day.