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Dahua Technology rolls out new PoE switches

Image: Dahua Technology

Dahua Technology is rolling out a new generation of Power over Ethernet (PoE) transmission devices designed to provide higher power and protection, further transmission distances, and smarter management features.

These PoE 2.0 switches come in 16-port and 24-port gigabit models, both designed for field transmission applications and high-definition video.

“Our slogan for PoE 2.0 is ‘higher, further, smarter,’” said Damon Chou, solutions product manager, Dahua USA, in a statement. “This represents the features Dahua has built into the new PoE devices that make them well-suited for a wide range of applications and integrations.”

For higher power, the new switches now support IEEE 802.3bt standard which supports up to 90 Watts on the red labeled ports — suited for IoT devices that have higher power requirements. The 90W ports are backward compatible so users can connect devices that still use old PoE standard, if necessary. The 8-wire PoE transmission offers a more stable connection than previous models, according to Dahua, and has a transmission distance of approximately 820 feet (250 meters). Features for smarter management include PoE Watchdog, Intelligent PoE, and non-blocking video transmission.

PoE Watchdog is a “self-healing” function by which the switch detect signals from cameras on the network. “If it doesn’t receive any signal, it will do an automatic power cycle to restart the camera. This is a great feature that keeps installers from having to physically go on site to check whether cables are okay or whether they’re physically connected,” said Chou. Dahua said its testing shows that PoE Watchdog auto-detects and recovers 99% of faulty cameras.

Intelligent PoE is a power consumption management tool that the company says guarantees power to ports designated as top priority.

“Unlike typical switches that shut down all ports at once, this switch shuts down the largest number port first, then the next largest, until it detects the power consumption is below the PoE budget,” Chou explained. “For example, if the switch has eight PoE ports and each port is connected to a network camera, the switch disables port number eight first, then subsequent ports, until the power budget is below the threshold wattage.”

Both the 16-port switch (DH-PFS4218-16GT2GF-240) and the 24-port switch (DH-PFS4226-24GT2GF-360) have two gigabit uplink combo ports in addition to the PoE ports, and support Layer 2 PoE, PoE+, Hi-PoE, and PoE++.

PoE 2.0 switches are available now through all authorized Dahua distributors in North America.