Raspberry Pi PoE+ Injector on sale now at $25
Way back in 2018 we launched Raspberry Pi 3B+, the first Raspberry Pi with Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) support. We’ve been shipping PoE-powered devices, with the occasional hiccup, ever since. And today, we’re happy to announce the launch of the Raspberry Pi PoE+ Injector, the perfect way to add PoE support to your existing network for just $25.
Power to the people
Many of our favourite Raspberry Pi applications, from garden webcams to industrial controllers, involve putting our products in out-of-the-way locations, where they act as a bridge between the network and the physical world. But the more out-of-the-way the location, the more challenging it is to get power.
PoE offers one solution to this problem, allowing you to send power from Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE) to a Powered Device (PD) over the same four-pair cabling used to carry Ethernet data. All Raspberry Pi SBCs since 2018 have been able to function as a PD, when equipped with an optional PoE or PoE+ HAT.
At the other end of the cable, there are two common types of PSE:
- A PoE switch combines the network switching and power sourcing functions into a single device.
- A midspan injector connects to a non-PoE switch, and injects power into the cable while passing through network data in both directions.
Developed with our friends at Microchip, the new Raspberry Pi PoE+ Injector is the perfect way to power your networked Raspberry Pi projects (and other PoE devices) if you’re not lucky enough to have a PoE switch. It supports both the IEEE 802.3af (PoE, 13W) and IEEE 802.11at (PoE+, 25W) standards, and mains voltages between 100V and 240V.
You’ll need to provide your own IEC mains lead. In the unlikely event that your house is not, like mine, overrun with the things, many of our Approved Reseller partners will be happy to sell you one.
Fighting the power
There is, you may have noticed, something missing. While Raspberry Pi 5 provides a 4-pin PoE power connector, our first-party PD accessory, the snappily-named Raspberry Pi PoE+ HAT+ for Raspberry Pi 5, is missing in action. This promises to be our smallest, most efficient PD accessory, and is in the final stages of development, having absorbed a lot of Dominic’s attention and brainpower over the last couple of years. Watch this space!
While we always say we can’t wait to see what you do with any new product, we are actually pretty sure we know what you are going to do with this one. But we’re confident you’ll do it with style.
24 comments
Anders
I can only hope that a PoE HAT+ for Raspberry Pi 5 is the smallest and most efficient in that it doesn’t inhibit the use of another HAT.
If I couldn’t use AI hat because I was using PoE HAT+, for example, would be self defeating.
Helen McCall
Hello Anders.
If Dominic has spent two years on the design of the PoE+ Hat+, then I think you can rest assured that it will be a really amazing design, like usual.
Mike
“The mountain trembles!”, gasps Davina,
“No PoE could e’er be greener”.
“Such labours”, pray receive her message,
“Cannot an outcome murine presage”.
“Onward with the switch-mode story!
We close our eyes to all but glory!”
Aye, ‘appen.
Helen McCall
Warnings of mice have not been seen
Except by those on Ketamine
Hatred of all claims of glory
Down to faults in your top storey
CooliPi
Hope so. The unfortunate design decision to use GPIO as a power connector from the PoE HAT means that HATs have to compete with PoE HAT for this connection.
Łukasz
I would prefer to see first PoE hat than power injector.
And just have a hope, that PoE hat would be compatible with RPi 5, which has installed already active cooler, so do M.2 hat.
Also Anders
So now we await the PoE HAT for Pi5.
Tim
What official PoE hat?
In the official forums, the engineers are at lengths to say that there has been no official PoE hat announced.
Apparently the video we have all seen Ebon do was not an announcement or a commitment and we cannot consider the non arrival of a PoE hat as a delay or a disappointment.
I don’t believe there will ever be a new PoE hat.
Some might suggest I am cynical, but having been scolded on the subject, I am now wise…
I hope I am wrong, but will only believe there is one, if there is an announcement of it being available.
:-)
Nick
Probably the one mentioned in the above news post as being “in the final stages of development”….
Bsimmo
There has never been talk of a PoE hat for a Pi5, there has been talk about designing the Poe hat for the Pi5
https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/designing-the-poe-hat-for-raspberry-pi-5-compact-efficient-power-and-networking/
But iirc from the forum, life/illness situations got in the way.
Ondřej Caletka
I wonder whether this injector does proper 802.3af/at negotiation or whether it just permanently outputs the voltage to the powered wires. In the latter case, this might be quite harmful for non-PoE ready hardware, if you mix up the cables.
Also “IEC mains lead” is quite unclear specification as there are multiple IEC connectors. In this case, the spec states that it is IEC 60320 C14 cable that is needed.
andrum99
Per the second picture’s caption, it’s what’s colloquially known as a “kettle lead” – spec says IEC C13.
Peter Green
With IEC60320 series connectors, the “inlet” (on the device) has a standard sheet number one higher than the “connector” (on the cable). So a mains lead with a C13 connector is intended to go into a C14 inlet.
You can also use a mains lead with a C15 or C15A connector. These have the same pin layout but are rated to higher temperatures and have notches in the body to indicate this (so you can put a higher temperature connector into a lower temperature inlet but not vice-versa)
Sam Herring
I can’t wait for the Pi 5 PoE Hat to go with it!
nick
I’m not an PoE expert. Is there something special about this versus the mountain of existing PoE injectors at around the same price point? Normally there’s something unique about the pi accessories that makes their existence worth while, what am I missing?
Brik
I am a Poe “expert” and I was wondering the same thing. I am needing a Poe hat for pi5 and wouldn’t consider an injector for my application, just the Poe from a switch to keep things simple.
Griffin
It doesn’t appear so. It looks identical to the many cheap POE+ injectors that have been out for years judging by a quick Google image search on the “new” RPi injector. I’m honestly confused why this is noteworthy
Anders
The article states the partner company in MicroChip Technology Inc. The enclosure appears to be identical to those used by MicroChip products:
https://www.microchip.com/en-us/product/pd-9001-10gc
However, MicroChip appear to be wanting $45 per unit for minimum quantity 5000 units, so this RPi one would be considerably cheaper if functionally equivalent.
André
While it’s great to see the Raspberry Pi ecosystem expanding, I must admit the $25 PoE+ injector caught me a bit off guard—especially considering that options like Ubiquiti’s sleek and well-tested PoE+ injector come in around $15.
I understand the value of supporting the Foundation, and perhaps this injector is designed with long-term reliability in mind. Still, a touch more elegance in both pricing and design wouldn’t go amiss for those of us integrating these into visible setups.
hackmac27
Hmmm. This looks like a relabled Axis POE-injector.
Jerome hess
Im just thinking about poe, and cost has been the limitingvfactor. So please ignore these questions if they sound naive. 1. Is this, and the mains adaptet [plugs into thiscdevice?] The only thing id need to poe a pi? 2. How long is the lead from the device to the pi? Thanks
AndrewS
> 1. Is this, and the mains cable [plugs into this device?] the only thing id need to poe a pi?
Assuming that your Pi has the necessary PoE pins, you’d also need a suitable PoE HAT for your Pi, e.g. https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/poe-plus-hat/
> 2. How long is the lead from the device to the pi?
PoE is “Power Over Ethernet” so the answer to this question is “How long is your ethernet cable?” ;-)
Anders
Your pi would be connected using an Ethernet cable to a network switch and the injector would supply the power over the Ethernet connection somewhere along the network. Could be at the switch and dozens of metres away from the Pi. Could be at a patch panel. Could be where Ethernet socket is in the wall in the same room as pi.
JimW
How many “devices” is this injector suitably sized for?
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