TRENDnet's Three New PoE+ Internet Switches

Normal Ethernet switches usually have a bunch of Ethernet ports and a power input, where the special adapter goes, but TRENDnet released three switches bereft of the latter.

Pretty much everything runs on electricity, this being the reason why even the smallest gizmos need to be plugged in wall sockets once in a while. Ethernet switches normally have to stay plugged in all the time, since they don't have batteries like phones, tablets, laptops, etc. There is a certain standard that removes that dependence though: PoE, short for Power Over Ethernet. TRENDnet recently put it into practice. What it did was launch three switches that get all the energy they need via the LAN cable.

PoE is based on the IEEE 802.11af specification and delivers up to 15.4 Watts per switch port. The PoE+ standard, based on the IEEE 802.11at specification, doubles the power. That means that outdoor access points, pan / tilt / zoom / IP cameras and other high-power devices can survive without a wall socket nearby.  TRENDnet used PoE+ in the making of the TPE-TG44g, PE-TG80g and TPE-T88g. The first one, made of metal, has 8 ports, four of which support PoE+ and four non-PoE ports. The switching capacity is 16 Gbps and the GREENnet technology saves up to 75% energy. Sales will start in August, for $149.99 / 118 Euro.

The second switch, PE-TG80g, has PoE+ support on all eight ports but otherwise identical specs to the ones above. The price will be $279.99 in August (221 Euro). Finally, the TPE-T88g is a 10/100 Mbps PoE+ switch, instead of Gigabit Ethernet like its two siblings. It offers PoE+ on eight out of sixteen ports, but GREENnet only saves 40% energy. The price is $279.99 / 221 Euro and the shape is that of a metal rack (the others have a desktop shape).

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