Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology and its applications have made significant advances over the past decades. Each evolution in PoE technology has brought higher power levels, but overheating remains a critical issue with these advancements.
This post provides readers with effective methods to address and reduce heating issues in PoE Cabling while powering PoE devices.
Before getting to the solutions it is important to analyze the problems first, so let us discuss why heating is a crucial issue in PoE systems.
What Problems Does Heating in PoE Cabling Cause?
The following problems are induced due to heat generation in PoE Cabling.
- Increase in insertion loss
- Weak signal strength
- Premature damage of cable jacket
- Reduction in transmission length
How to Minimize Overheating in PoE Cabling?
The heat generation in PoE systems is due to network infrastructure, therefore, Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) restricts heat generation up to 15°C in the PoE networks.
Taking the following precautions during the selection of PoE cables and powering PoE devices is proven helpful in minimizing heating issues in PoE systems.- Select higher-category PoE cables: According to the experiment performed by Leviton engineers, the higher the PoE cable category, the lower is the heat generation. Therefore, TIA suggests the use of cat6A PoE cables.
- Select PoE cable with a larger conductor (lower gauge number): The conductor resistance is one of the prime reasons for heat generation in PoE cables. The small-sized conductors offer higher resistance to data and power transmission, which results in internal heat generation. On the other hand, cables with large conductors offer higher heat dissipation, therefore, generated heat does not cause damage to cables or PoE devices. Cat6 or cat6A cables generate 80% lesser conductor resistance, therefore are preferred for heat reduction in PoE systems.
- Opt for all-metal-body-jacketing: In comparison to thermoplastic jacketing, the cables with all-metal connectors and jacket bodies offer higher conductivity and heat dissipation. Therefore, in order to reduce heat issues while powering PoE devices, all-metal-body-jacketing must be preferred.
- Select smaller bundle size: According to TIA, the cables with higher bundle sizes cause the higher temperature in cables. Therefore, under the TSB-184-A standard, TIA suggests unbundling the PoE or using small bundles if unbundling is not suitable.
Along with the above-listed ways to prevent heat issues, it is also important to invest in industrially approved high-quality cables. Using good quality PoE cables and PoE devices in the PoE infrastructure has its own benefits. Therefore, you should consider purchasing from trusted manufacturers like VERSITRON. The company offers superior quality PoE devices to its clients. They have been offering fiber optics and communication resources to their clients for several years.
