How PoE Lighting Is Smarter, Cheaper and More Flexible

Upgrading your surveillance or illumination setup can seem daunting sometimes. With the wide variety of options to choose from comes a degree of paralysis. Is it wired or wireless? Battery-powered or running off the wall? Compromising on features to have good weatherproofing? Once the domain of specialist engineers working for large companies, PoE lighting is quickly becoming a popular, smart consumer choice.

But what is PoE lighting, and how is it better than any of the other options on the market?

What Is PoE?

PoE is short for Power over Ethernet. It’s a protocol that allows some network devices to receive DC power and a network connection via a single, standard Ethernet cable. Initially, only network devices that would benefit from placement without consideration of a power outlet included PoE. For example, a wireless access point could be supplied with a single ethernet cable, allowing it to be powered from a central location.

So if you’re thinking about having a single cable running to each network device, you’ve already caught on. There are many more PoE devices on the market today, ranging from surveillance cameras and VoIP phones to wall clocks and lighting fixtures. The benefits?

A wall clock can set the time and maintain uninterrupted power all by itself, through a single cable. A wired camera can live in a challenging spot, allowing high-speed monitoring without worrying about batteries running out. Best of all, you can add dedicated PoE lighting to your cameras without worrying about cables and installation hassle.

How Is PoE Lighting Better?

Anyone who’s tried to upgrade surveillance equipment placed in a challenging, hard-to-reach location knows the hassle involved in doing so. Wiring must sometimes be replaced or adjusted to accommodate new cabling. Next, power is sometimes unavailable, so a longer and more complicated setup becomes necessary to power the new appliance. Then, you must consider that technology is always changing, so your upgrades may not be backward-compatible with the older standards you are already using.

Particularly in lighting, knowing whether your lighting solution is working correctly, or even adjusting it, is often not possible without direct physical access to the equipment.
This is where PoE lighting comes in. An illuminator receiving Power over Ethernet will use DC power from your network source. This eliminates the need for AC/DC power adapters, reducing energy usage and cleaning up the wiring. You can even have the illuminator and a PoE camera receiving power together with minimal cable use. Mounting illumination in remote locations is now easy.

Best of all, the illuminator can also be controlled via a remote telemetry input, allowing you to check on its status remotely. All of these features are definite wins for any surveillance administrator.

Where Can I Get PoE Lighting?

Iluminar makes custom, dedicated infrared and visible light illuminators for surveillance and license plate capture applications. Our products feature 850nm or 940nm semi-covert or covert wavelength options, as well as bright, white light. In addition, they’re waterproof, offer PoE power and AC/DC options, and feature pressure relief valves for rugged outdoor use. To upgrade your illumination setup, call us at (281) 438-3500, and our experts will be able to help you with any inquiry.