Is There Enough Power in PoE Ports To Run 802.11n Access Points?

802.11n offers impressive improvements in rate, range, and price/ performance thanks to significantly higher processing and power consumption than older WLAN Access Points (APs). A key question in the decision to deploy 802.11n APs is whether there is enough power delivered over 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) switch ports or compliant power injectors to run these APs as 802.11n’s increased bandwidth and processing may require more then the 12.95 Watts provided in 802.3af switch ports. I interview Craig Mathias, a Principal at Farpoint Group and author of the recent report “802.11n Access Points and Power over Ethernet: Key Considerations? and Luc Roy VP of Enterprise Mobility at Siemens Enterprise Communications which is shipping an 802.11n AP that operates with 802.3af PoE. Craig tested the Siemens AP3620 802.11n APs and shares its results. If you’re planning on deploying 802.11n then you need to listen to this podcast.