Phone Brick instead of Powered Switch

[egrinkin1]

Anyone ever have issues using power bricks instead of POE?

We're planning a move to a new, bigger facility and looking at the prices of the switches. There is such a significant difference if we don't provide power over ethernet.

Any suggestions, experiences or opinions you'd like to share?

Thanks,

Liz

[Rob Huffman · Accepted solution]

Hey Liz,

I would always go with the PoE switches!

Looking for power everytime you need to rollout a phone becomes a real pain :( Suddenly, you need a power bar at every desk and another large Power Cube for the user to deal with. Not to mention that these get unplugged when the user needs to plug in their Coffee Pot and in our case their "baseboard heater" (it gets cold here in the Winter :)

The other plus with PoE switches is that when you go to rollout Wireless AP's they can also use the same power in most cases. This really leverages the investment when you don't have to bring in an Electrician the install 110Vac at the AP location.

Go with the PoE, you'll be happy you did!

Just my two cent$ Liz.

Take care,

Rob

[Zin.Karzazi]

As always Rob, you explained it very well, 5 stars !!!

[egrinkin1]

Rob,

Here's more background information. We are looking to get 10 Gig to the desktop and will need about 30 switches.

Therefore the dilemma... Still feel the same way?

[Rob Huffman]

Hi Liz,

Wow! I have never really heard of 10Gig to the desktop. If that is the case we don't need to worry as this can't feed through the phones. The 7941G-GE and 7961G-GE support 1 Gig or 10/100/1000 but that is the limit.

If the price difference is "huge", there is always an exception to every rule. I still prefer PoE but not at all cost$.

Let me know,

Rob

[jlindler]

Why not a combination? Non-PoE 10 Gig switches for the desktop and PoE 10/100 or 10/100/1000 switches for the phones. Given that the phones only do a Gig at best, you will save money by not buying really expensive 10 Gig ports for devices that do not need them.

Also, let me chime in on the PoE bandwagon. They really make VoIP installation "cleaner".

[egrinkin1]

GREAT posts!

The owner of my company is into technology and investing properly for growth.

I'll pass on your opinions and thoughts to my team.

Thank you for your time and your input. Have a great weekend!

~ Liz