PoE Cable Engineered Around the Power

Power over Ethernet is specified badly more often than any other part of a network, and almost always the same way: someone picks a category, assumes the power will follow, and discovers on commissioning that devices at the end of the longest runs will not stay up. Category is a data specification. Power is a DC resistance and thermal problem, and it is decided by the conductor.

Wider Cable manufactures Ethernet cable from bare copper through to the finished, tested reel, and has since 2005. Because the conductor is ours, PoE construction is something we can specify to your load rather than approximate with a category.

The three things that actually govern a PoE run

• Voltage drop. The powered device needs a minimum voltage at its input. What arrives is the source voltage minus the drop across the loop, and that drop is set by DC loop resistance — conductor gauge and length — not by bandwidth.
• Conductor heating. Current through copper generates heat. The power that does not reach the device is dissipated in the cable, which raises its temperature along the entire run.
• Bundle temperature. This is the one that catches people out. Cables in the middle of a tightly packed bundle cannot shed heat. The bundle warms, insertion loss rises across every cable in it, and the usable channel length falls for all of them at once — including the ones carrying no power.

IEEE 802.3af (Type 1) delivers 15.4 W at the port and 802.3at (PoE+, Type 2) delivers 30 W. PoE and PoE+ are supported across our Ethernet range. If you are deploying at a higher power budget, tell us the load, the run length and the bundle size and we will confirm the construction rather than assume a category covers it.

What we need to specify it properly

1. Power budget per port and the device class at the far end.
2. Longest run in the system — not the average, the worst one.
3. Bundle size and containment, including how tightly cables are packed and whether the route is enclosed.
4. Ambient temperature along the route, including any hot section such as a roof void.
5. Environment — indoor, outdoor, buried, or in plant.
6. Data requirement — category and shielding needed independently of the power.

The construction levers we pull

Where custom PoE gets specified

• Wireless estates with high access-point density and long horizontal runs.
• CCTV and access control, especially exterior positions with no local power.
• PoE lighting and building services, where many powered devices share containment.
• Digital signage and kiosks drawing power over the data run.
• OEM products that ship with a PoE cable as part of the box.

Certification and testing

Every cable is Fluke-tested before it ships. Across the range we hold UL, c(UL), ETL, CPR, RoHS, REACH, CE, SGS, ISO and TÜV, attached to the constructions that genuinely carry them. For EU projects, confirm the reaction-to-fire class your specification requires at quotation.

Related: Outdoor PoE cables · Custom Ethernet cables · Cat6A patch cables · Custom cable service

Common questions

Does a higher category mean better PoE performance?

Not by itself. Power is governed by DC loop resistance and heat, which come from the conductor. A heavier-gauge Cat6 can outperform a thin Cat6A on a long powered run.

Why does bundle size matter so much?

Because heat cannot escape from the middle of a tight bundle. The temperature rise raises insertion loss across every cable in it, shortening the usable run for the whole bundle — not just the powered cables.

Do you support PoE and PoE+?

Yes, across our Ethernet range. For higher power budgets, send the load, run length and bundle size and we will confirm the construction we would supply.

Can you supply PoE cable for outdoor runs?

Yes — see outdoor PoE cables for the c(UL) CMX/CMR construction, and send the run length and power budget with the enquiry.