I want to extend the wifi coverage of my backyard. For this I plan to use the wAP AX.
The problem I face is that where I can mount the wAP AX, I only have a single ethernet cable (cat5e FTP) that is today used for a security camera (poe).
The plan is to:
buy additional devices:
--> RB960PGS-PB PowerBox Pro router
--> 48V2A96W power supply
--> RBGPOE injector
mount the PowerBox Pro near the security camera and power it via poe using the existing cat5e cable and 48V2A96W power supply and injector.
connect to the PowerBox Pro both the wAP AX as well as the security camera.
The security camera is today powered by CSS610-8P-2S+ which reports the camera usage to max 7W.
The big question is whether or not the PowerBox Pro can be powered by PoE and still have sufficient budget to reliably power both the security camera and the wAP AX.
The PowerBox Pro docs say that it can provide a max of 450mA per port and max 2A in total, which, using the 48V power supply means a healthy 21.6W per port. So, at least in theory this should work as both the wAP AX and the security camera need less.
Do you guys have any experience with PowerBox Pro powered via PoE?
Well, it is your money, but you don't really need a "router" (US$ 109) to do that, you can do with a much cheaper "Poe extender" (essentially a switch). an outdoor 3/4 ports 1 GB one should be in the 20-50$ range for common ones, an IP67 metal case 3 port one (one in, two out) should be less than or around $75.
That is, if you need to use 48v (i.e you have a long stretch of cable, and optionally 802.3af/at), otherwise you can get a 24V passive one, like (say) the Nanoswitch from Ubiquity.
I have RB960PGS (indoor) powered from CRS328-24P with 48V PoE and powering two 802.3af devices (IP camera, and large NTP synced LED display clock), works fine so far. The upstream power source could be the limit, if the PoE switch port is too weak then a separate injector with larger power supply could be used instead. I have seen devices where the CRS328-24P was not reporting overloads but they were still rebooting sometimes, probably due to very short overloads and voltage drops.
The plan is to use the Mikrotik 48V2A96W stand-alone power supply and an injector to power the PowerBox Pro. Then this will be used to power the wAP AX and one security camera.
Happy to read that the setup will work.
I need a managed switch because I use VLANs. I have dedicated security (for cameras and alarm system) and IoT VLANs. I considered the PoE extender and a trunk towards it but:
this will not work for the security camera (it cannot add a VLAN tag and expects to be connected to an access port)
not sure how the PoE extender will handle this kind of traffic. Most unmanaged switches are store-and-forward so they will drop the frames.
It's a shame Mikrotik does not sell certain components separately.
the wAP AX has in the box both the PSU and the injector. In my case these would go unused.
the PowerBox Pro comes bundled with a 24V PSU and an injector. Again, I have no use for the PSU.
It would have been nice (and cheaper) to sell just the products and the power supplies and injectors to be available as extra purchases or at least have the option to buy either as a kit or stand-alone.
I'll buy the parts next week and let you guys know how this went.
Hope this helps others in my situation.
Again, many thanks for the feedback and help!
Bogdan