Perle Releases PoE compliant Industrial Ethernet Switches

NASHVILLE, TN—January 22, 2015 —Perle Systems, a global manufacturer of advanced secure device networking hardware, today announced the launch of fully compliant IEEE802.3 af/at Power over Ethernet (PoE) DIN Rail Ethernet Switches.

IEEE 802.3af/at, the regulatory body for PoE and PoE+, stipulates that the power line must be isolated from the Ethernet line to fully comply with the standard. However, not all manufacturers of PoE Industrial Ethernet Switches fully comply with the standard guidelines.

“It costs more money to manufacture a product that isolates the power and Ethernet lines,” says John Feeney, Chief Operating Officer at Perle System. “When we [Perle] purchased competitive products for inspection we found that most of them who claim to have IEEE 802.3[af/at] cut this corner.  It is an underhanded tactic that will cause short circuited equipment, downtime and repair costs.”

Perle advises that if a user cannot physically examine a PoE Industrial Ethernet Switch to ensure the power and Ethernet lines are isolated, they should investigate MTBF rates.

John explains, “MTBF rates give insight about the quality of and design of the product. If the MTBF rates are high, you can have confidence that you will get a quality product made with quality components.  If the MTBF rates are low, or unpublished, proceed with caution.”

Industrial-grade Ethernet Switches with PoE are designed withstand extreme temperatures, surges, vibrations, and shocks found in industrial automation, government, military, oil, gas, mining and outdoor applications. Classified as Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE) they use standard UTP cables that carry Ethernet data, to provide up to 30 watts of power to Powered Devices (PDs) such as wireless access points, Voice over IP phones and IP cameras.