Power over Ethernet Cabling Requirements

The 802.3af and 802.3at standards currently support PoE and PoE+ on 10/100/1000-Mbps Ethernet ports operating over standard Category 5 unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable or better. If your network uses cabling categories less than Category 5, you cannot implement PoE without first upgrading your cables to Category 5 UTP cable or better. PoH has the following cabling requirements based on distance:

  • Cat 5e: 25 meters
  • Cat 6/6a: 55 meters
  • Cat 7: 100 meters

Parent topic: Power over Ethernet Overview