POE Vs WiFi for IP Camera Security devices

#1. No need to use both WiFi and PoE You can't use both WiFi and PoE on the same camera at same time. When you connect the IP camera to your router, you have to choose either WiFi or PoE. Before you decide to buy an IP camera or a whole IP camera system, you should take into account the installation environment and investigate what you need. WiFi or PoE,.which is the best? Our answer to this question is PoE is the recommended choice but WiFi is the simpler more exciting choice.

#2. How far does Wi-Fi reach? Limited WiFi transmission distance is another problem. How far does Wi-Fi reach? It's not easy to answer. When talking about WiFi coverage, we have many things to consider including power rate of WiFi device, environment (indoor or outdoor) and more. Typically, a home/office router can provide WiFi coverage of up to 10 meters indoor. When WiFi devices are working outdoor without barrier, the transmission distance will be much further. To extend the WiFi coverage or distance, you can install WiFi access points or extenders. These have a range of about 20 meters (66 feet) indoors and a larger range outdoors as long as there are not many obstacles in the way.

#3. What is PoE? PoE stands for Power over Ethernet, this isn't a new technology. Transmitting both data and power over single Ethernet cable (Cat5/6) is the main feature of PoE technology. As long as your IP camera supports PoE, you just need to connect it to a PoE NVR or PoE switch. Some cameras also support, without knowing it, POE injection with a POE injector that injects the power and data into the IP camera and turning it into a POE camera. PoE technology enable IP cameras to support plug-and-play installation, which greatly reduces the installation time, and eliminates the necessity of power cable and supply. Today, PoE has two standards including IEEE802.3af, and IEEE802.3at. IEEE802.3af can provide maximum power rate is to 15.4 W of DC power (minimum 44V DC and 350mA) to each device. In order to provide power supply for high power consumption devices, the IEEE association made another new standard - IEEE802.3at, this standard also known as PoE+ or PoE plus, provides up to 25.5 W of power. PoE technology has been widely used in:

1. IP surveillance system ( Camera + NVR)

2. VoIP Phones

3. WiFi Access Point

4. Network Routers

#4. Cons and Pros of PoE technology Let's firstly discuss the advantages of PoE. A PoE IP camera can get the power from the Ethernet cable, no need extra power cable or power supply. The maximum connection distance is 100 meters, which is ten times that of WiFi. Since data transmission is through wired cable, there is no signal interference, no signal jamming. For properly working of PoE devices, Power sourcing equipment (PSE) is essential component, it can be a network PoE switch, or an intermediary device such as PoE injector.

#5. WiFi vs PoENo best solution, only right solution. If you want to install one or two single IP cameras for home monitoring, you can choose to use WiFi IP camera. Ensuring the WiFi IP camera is installed within coverage of your WiFi router. For more than one IP camera, PoE is recommended. PoE is much reliable than WiFi in terms of data transmission. Furthermore, an IP camera system based on PoE is much easier to manage, centralized power solution becomes available e.g using uninterruptible power supply (UPS).  WiFi IP cameras are widely used for non-professional indoor home security, and PoE IP cameras are installed for outdoor surveillance system.