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deepsuntoday at 7:30 AM11 repliesview on HN

Is it also possible to power a laptop through those adapters? PoE++ can deliver up to 100W of power, more than enough for most laptops.


Replies

eqvinoxtoday at 7:42 AM

Theoretically yes, practically that hasn't been built yet. I've only seen it for 2.5Gbase-T, and only for 802.3bt Type 3 (51W).

If anyone's aware of something better, I'd be interested too :)

(Then again I wouldn't voluntarily use 5Gb-T or 10Gb-T anyway, and ≈50W is enough for most use cases.)

[ed.: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807960919319.html ("2.5GPD2CBT-20V" variant) - actually 2.5G not 1G as I wrote initially]

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da768today at 12:09 PM

Somewhat, there are a few expensive "PoE to Data + Power" adapters out there

https://www.procetpoe.com/poe-usb-converter/ (some of these are power-only)

lostlogintoday at 8:56 AM

The idea of a POE Mac mini makes me happy. It would be a nice way of power cycling it from the switch, tidier than the smart plug I have.

https://hackaday.com/2023/08/14/adding-power-over-ethernet-s...

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mjleetoday at 9:56 AM

I can’t find what you want, but you can buy PoE splitters. PoE in, ethernet and power out.

Surely a matter of time until someone does this…

JonChesterfieldtoday at 9:14 AM

I found a 5gbe one that claimed 60W, will power a phone but not the low power laptop I've got here. It probably isn't far off.

knolantoday at 10:27 AM

We used PoE hats for a bunch of Raspberry Pis once. It’s definitely a great idea.

kotaKattoday at 12:43 PM

PoE Texas sells the most compatible adapters for this use.

https://shop.poetexas.com/products/gbt-usbc-pd-usbc?variant=...

65W 802.3bt and gigabit Ethernet out on the same PD cable.

Also a crude fixed hub for data and a keyboard and mouse for docking laptops:

https://shop.poetexas.com/products/bt-usbc-a-pd?variant=3938...

gertrundetoday at 8:32 AM

I think class 4 tops out at about 71W delivered to the powered device, albeit 90W at the switch port.

Might be a struggle I suspect!

burnt-resistortoday at 8:13 AM

With 802.3bt type 4 (71W delivered, 90W consumed), absolutely achievable with the proper electronics, but would you trust a no-name, fly-by-night NIC to not fry your expensive devices? That's the biggest hurdle. Possibly a company like Apple, Anker, or similar megacorp or high-trust startup could pull if off.

userbinatortoday at 8:32 AM

Yes, but look up the prices for PoE switches and you might reconsider.

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