Table of Contents
PoE Ethernet switch (SWI-STY08)
The switch connects the cameras of one recording room to the Mac mini of that room and powers the cameras over the Ethernet cable (PoE). There is one switch per Mac mini. It is the small box with all the Ethernet cables, usually placed on top of the Mac mini. It is unmanaged: it has no configuration, no login and no IP address of its own. It simply passes data between the ports and supplies power.
Image: 
take a photo of the switch and upload it to the media manager as methods:materials:poe-switch.jpg.
Specifications
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Supplier part number | SWI-STY08 (Mega PC Inc., Montreal) |
| Manufacturer and model on the case | (read off the label) |
| Ports | 8 x RJ45, 10/100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet), 3 with PoE |
| Uplink port | (some units have a ninth port without PoE for the computer) |
| PoE standard | 2 IEEE 802.3af and 802.3at (PoE and PoE+), up to 30 W per port |
| Total PoE budget | 130 W |
| Power supply | external adapter, 52 V DC, 2.5 A |
| Management | unmanaged |
| Fan | fanless |
The cameras (Dahua IPC-HDBW2320RN-ZS, see camera page) draw about 5 to 7 W each with the IR LEDs on, so the budget of 130 W is far from exhausted even with all 8 ports in use.
Connections
| Port | Connected to |
|---|---|
| PoE 1-3 | Camera, can be plugged into any of these |
| | Mac mini (Ethernet port) |
| DC in | Power adapter, plugged into the power strip of the Mac mini |
Indicator lights
| Light | Meaning |
|---|---|
| PWR (power) | The switch has power. If it is off, check the adapter and the power strip. |
| LINK or LNK/ACT, per port | A device is connected on that port and the link is up. Blinking means data traffic. If the camera port shows no light, the cable or the camera is the problem. |
| PoE, per port | The switch is supplying power on that port. On for cameras, off for the Mac mini (the Mac draws no PoE). |
Normal operation
- Leave the switch powered whenever the Mac mini is in use. The cameras take about one minute to boot after power is restored.
- The switch is on the same power strip as the Mac mini. Switching off the power strip at the end of a session (see the open field guide) also powers down the switch and the cameras.
- Nothing on the switch needs to be set or changed.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No lights at all | No power | Check that the adapter is plugged into the switch and the power strip, and that the strip is on. |
| PWR on, no LINK light on the camera port | Bad cable or camera without power | Reseat both ends of the cable. Try another port. Try another cable. |
| LINK on, PoE light off on a camera port | Switch not delivering power on that port | Try another port. If several ports fail, the switch may be faulty. |
| Cameras stop responding after running for a long time | Switch has hung | Unplug the power adapter from the switch, wait 10 seconds, plug it in again. This is step 3 of the camera troubleshooting in the open field guide. |
| Only one of several cameras reachable | Not a switch problem, cameras share an IP address | See fixed IP address on the camera page. |
Replacement
If the switch fails, any unmanaged PoE switch with 802.3af/at ports replaces it without further setup, since no configuration is stored in it. Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) is sufficient for these cameras. Make sure the replacement provides PoE on at least as many ports as there are cameras, and plug the cables back according to the table above. ```
I referred to the open field guide as `methods:materials:open-field-recording`. Replace that with the actual page name you gave it.