Power & Cabling · 16 port
16-Port PoE Switch — PS162
Sixteen PoE ports with a 250 W class budget and two gigabit uplinks — the size that fits one office floor, one clinic or one mid-size retail site, with a few ports left over.
- 16 PoE ports
- 250 W class budget
- Two gigabit uplinks
- Spare ports for access points
Why sixteen is the most common choice
Sixteen ports matches a floor of a commercial building almost exactly, and that is not a coincidence — a lift lobby, two stair doors and a corridor run per floor lands most office floors between twelve and sixteen positions. It also leaves two or three spare ports, which is where the wireless access point and the door controller usually end up.
The 250 W budget is the other reason. It covers fourteen to sixteen fixed cameras with real headroom, or a mix that includes one or two PTZ domes, without pushing the switch close to its limit.
What 250 W actually covers
At a planning figure of roughly 6 W per fixed 5 MP camera in normal operation, sixteen cameras sit around 100 W, which is less than half the budget. The headroom is deliberate: cameras draw more when the illuminator is on, a PTZ draws several times a fixed camera, and the start-up surge on a cold morning is the peak the switch has to survive.
The practical rule is to keep the sum of the steady-state draws below roughly 80 percent of the budget, and to count any PTZ, heater or access point at its rated maximum rather than its average.
One per floor, or one per building?
One switch per floor, in the floor communications room, keeps every cable run inside the 100 m limit without extending anything, and it confines a fault to a single floor. That is almost always the right structure in a multi-storey building.
One switch for the whole building only works when the building is small enough that every run stays under 100 m, which in practice means a two- or three-storey building with a central communications room. If you are choosing between the two, count the cable metres rather than the floors.
Model
PS162
standard16 PoE ports, 2 gigabit uplinks, 250 W class budget, extend mode.
- PoE ports
- 16
- Uplink
- 2 × gigabit RJ45
- Budget
- 250 W class
Unmanaged and plug and play. Extend mode is set by a front-panel DIP switch on selected ports.
Technical specifications
PS162 technical specifications
| Downlink Ports | 16* 10/100Mbps RJ45 Auto-adaptive PoE Ports |
|---|---|
| Uplink Ports | 2 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ports* (For NVR or Core Router) |
| Management Switch | One-key DIP Switch: Supports Extend / VLAN modes |
| PoE Protocol | IEEE 802.3af / IEEE 802.3at Standard |
| Transmission Distance | Standard Mode: 100m; Extend Mode: 250m |
| Plug and Play | No software configuration required; automatic device sensing |
| Forwarding Mode | Store and Forward |
| Backplane Bandwidth | 7.2Gbps (Full Duplex) |
| Power In | AC 110V-240V |
| Power Supply | DC 52V 250W (Internal Power) |
| PoE Output Voltage | DC 48V - 55V Wide Voltage Output |
| Signal Pins | 1, 2, 3, 6 (Data Transmission) |
| PoE Power Pins | 1, 2 (+) Positive; 3, 6 (-) Negative |
| Network Media | Cat5 / Cat5e or better (Pure copper cable recommended) |
| Reliability | Industrial-grade surge/lightning protection |
| Dimensions | 312mm (L) * 185mm (W) * 46mm (H) |
Specifications are taken from the manufacturer data sheet for the model listed. Where a figure depends on the configuration you order, we confirm it in writing on the quotation rather than leaving it implied.
Frequently asked questions
Is 250 W enough for sixteen cameras?
Yes, with substantial headroom. Sixteen fixed 5 MP cameras draw roughly 100 W in normal operation, less than half the budget. The spare capacity is there for the moments that matter — illuminators on, a PTZ drawing peak current, and the cold-start surge when everything powers up together.
Can I use one 16-port switch for a whole small building?
Only if every camera run stays under 100 m. In a two- or three-storey building with a central communications room that is often true. In anything taller, put one switch per floor — it keeps the runs short, confines a fault to one floor, and saves you from running an extend-mode port at reduced bandwidth.
How many spare ports should I leave?
Two or three on a sixteen port switch. They end up being used — a wireless access point, a door controller, an intercom, or the camera somebody adds after the fit-out. Leaving no spare ports means the next device requires a second switch and a second uplink.
Does it support both PoE and PoE+?
Yes, IEEE 802.3af and 802.3at are both supported, so standard cameras and higher-draw devices such as PTZ domes and access points can share the switch. The constraint is the total budget rather than the port standard, so check the sum before adding several high-draw devices.
What is the difference between this and the all-gigabit model?
The PS162 has gigabit uplinks and 100 Mbps PoE ports with a 250 m extend mode, which is what camera traffic needs. The all-gigabit model keeps every port at gigabit speed with a fixed isolation setting, which suits a floor where cameras share the switch with computers. Camera streams do not need gigabit at the port level.
Can the switch be powered from a UPS?
Yes, and on a building system it is worth doing. Powering the switch from a UPS keeps the cameras and the recorder running through a short outage, which is exactly when footage tends to matter. Size the UPS for the switch plus the recorder, not just the switch.
Plan Your CCTV or Video Wall Project
Send us the building type, floor count and camera estimate — we will come back with a system layout, a bill of materials and a price.