PoE Tester Gen 2.5 for Voltage, Current & Power | Power Over Ethernet Tester to Determine Voltage - Identify PoE and Troubleshoot Connection Problems, No Battery Needed

I need to start by saying, I think this is an excellent product from PoE Texas. I would recommend it to anyone who needs to test wattage used by POE powered devices. For me, it is exactly what I needed. If you need to measure “wattage used” by your cameras or your AP devices, live “on-the-fly” readouts, this device will let you do that. I have an outdoor POE powered switch that drives 4 cameras or devices. By measuring the wattage drawn on this one POE line to the primary POE switch, I can see how many watts are drawn at any given time such as when the camera-lights kick on and when a PTZ camera moves. Most cheaper POE testers cannot do this. They just measure voltage of the POE power source, be it a an injector or a POE-switch. Most POE testers only support basic POE, (not POE+ or POE++). This unit supports POE, POE+ & POE++. The IEEE Ethernet standards 802.3af (PoE), 802.3at (PoE+), and 802.3bt (PoE++) differ primarily in power delivery, with 802.3af supporting up to 15.4W, 802.3at up to 30W, and 802.3bt up to 90W. This POE Tester from PoE Texas supports POE, POE+, POE++. Those are the positives. As with all things in life, it is not perfect. This device has one unnecessary drawback. Some people will think this criticism is unimportant and think me being overly picky. I get that, but I personally, as a designer, found it to be an unnecessary negative. Products should have clear labeling on the front not ambiguous notes printed on the back. The instruction manual and more importantly the labeling on the device is either wrong or very unclear. The worst part is that the labeling is all printed on the back of the device so a new user has to keep flipping it over to check which port is for what and god forbit they connect it incorrectly since labels are not clear & on-front. Also, there is a switch which is poorly labeled and when you flip the device over, now left becomes right and right becomes left. (or does it?) Its all in how they laid out the label and did they plan for you to flip it over or not.) It’s all very unclear to the 1st time user. In any event, this tester manual tells you if you set the switch to ON, then you are reading the values from a simulated device inside the tester and not your camera or device. This is false. In the ON position, you are reading the attached device power consumption. I’ve tested and verified this multiple times. If you remove the “powered device” while in the ON mode, the display changes to “NO powered device” and no wattage is read. Only voltage from source and a message saying “NO PD”. Set the switch to OFF and the display reads PASSIVE. Start the tester up in “Simulated OFF-mode” with a camera connected to the output of the tester and the POE switch connected to the input of the tester with the switch OFF and nothing happens. ** You must start up with the switch in the “ON” position or the tester does nothing. As is, your only hope is to play around testing the 2 modes in different conditions and try to figure out what the switch actually does and which direction does what. The label reads “POE Simulated” (OFF-ON). The device arrives to you with the switch set to ON. What the switch really is: Passive POE (left) – Active POE (right). In case you are not familiar with those terms, there are POE power sources that just output a specific voltage / polarity on specific pins regardless of the powered-device connected. That’s “passive POE”. Then there are power sources that intelligently check to see what voltage is needed and verify which pins the voltage and polarity is on and then safely powers up the device (such as a camera or wifi-AP). That’s “Active POE”. If the manufacturer meant something different, It is not clear in the manual or the labeling. The manual states all sorts of use case scenario information, but at the end of the day, you will find yourself leaving the switch in the Active or ON position. Once you have it powered up, you can flip the switch to OFF if desired, but you will get more information leaving in Active mode. The instructions say you need to set to “Simulate POE Device” so you can use this tester without a powered device (camera) attached to it. This is true but also misleading and will cause some confusion. Spend 15 minutes with this device and you will come to the conclusion that in most cases you will leave it in Active setting aka “Simulate POE Device = ON”. In fact, the labeling and instructions are confusing just enough to make you question for a bit if this device is even working properly. I would also encourage the company POE-Texas to include more and better pictures of their product on the Amazon sale page. Showing your logo on screen but no real-world display examples and also not showing the back of the unit is a missed opportunity. Personally, Had I had more information up front, I could have made a more informed purchasing decision. Additionally, as you search Amazon, you will find 2 very similar looking devices from 2 different companies. One is red, the other is yellow. This review is for the Yellow one. Based on my research, I can tell you these 2 devices are not exactly the same even though they clearly use the same molded shell and a very similar circuit board. Viewing other user’s photos, I have verified the software running on each (yellow vs red) is slightly different. The yellow unit will display the IEEE Ethernet standard that is active: “802.3-at,af,bt”. The red unit will just show the word “active” or “passive” and no reference to 802.3***. The best part about the red tester is that the makers put the labels on the front so you can easily see them. The yellow tester costs less and provides more read-out data so I personally prefer the yellow one despite the labeling mishaps being on the back instead of the front where they belong. In closing, I do recommend this product. It might seem pricey but its a niche market for this item which tends to drive price up and I'm glad this company made the effort to produce it. I hope the PoE Texas reads this review and considers some labeling changes for its next revision. Also the manual should be reviewed to clarify the functionality of the passive/active switch.

This PoE Texas Tester Gen 2 is an excellent tool! It does everything you need. And don't settle for lesser (or more expensive!). We had an urgent need for determining performance metrics for an essential deployable Emergency Communications System, including several multiple AREDN MESH Nodes, requiring <=24VDC (~min 12VDC) at ~12W total (~1/2A). This System is at the Remote end of a rugged 23ga AWG Cat6 Outdoor Cable, and powered by Passive PoE at lengths of 100 feet, and potentially many hundreds. Some Critical Issues: Must NOT subject Remote Nodes to voltages over 25VDC (!!) due to likely failures! AND Theory is good, but empirical testing rules! The PoE Tester Gen 2 is a simple and effective solution! Just insert it in-line at Source and Remore, and compare! Three Pics show three likely sources (A-24VDC OEM Regulated Injector. C-2x 12VDC Batteries in Series (NOT charging!). E- Nominal "12VDC" (10-20VDC) to 24VDC Converter.) Two Pics show Test Results for Regulated and Battery Cases, measured at each end of the 100ft Cable. For required ~12W total at ~1/2A, Remote received ~24VDC. And Verified <25VDC! Typical voltage loss ~1.1V. ALSO, Beware freshly charged batteries, because even afterwards, may have a no-load voltage of perhaps 26-27VDC! BUT under load, and at Remote end, delivered voltage reasonably safe <24VDC. [Bonus! This Gen 2 also activates Active PoE systems, too!] Summary: Just buy this one! You cannot feasibly acquire the total capabilities, and definitive metrics, with any other device(s) I could find, for anywhere near the very modest cost. Good Luck (and remember, Tests Beat Theory!). Bats :)

I had tested 2 other testers one that displayed POE type and volts, amps, watts and one that displayed each wires voltage and POE type. This one hands down is by far the winner. It's portable and not only displays POE type, volts, amps, watts etc but was the clear winner in diagnosing whether a device was receiving POE inline. This was a tool I need to test copiers pote totally being affected by POE. Even with Active POE that negotiates with end devices to determine their compatibility this device showed how a non compatible device was getting passed POE regardless. This helped me realize why the copier kept having to have software reloaded. I took measures to isolate the POE with inline switch and problem solved. This devices measures the latest bt standard and the display is clear.

Pros: Small. Works great. Accurate. Easy to use. Easy read manual. Can test 2.1mm plugs. (Siamese cable power for older CCTV installs. DC only not AC!) I've used this on a few CCTV jobs were I question the line is supply POE for cameras. I've used to to determine if a camera is pulling too much current and where they're not pulling enough for warranty work. Great tool that can get the job done quickly. Cons Hard to read in day light. Kind of makes it a pain in the butt to use on those really bright days outside doing camera work. Screen flickers if trying to take a pic with phone for documentation. Screen scrolls and is difficult to keep track of the info displayed. No lanyard or carry case to tether onto tool belt or bag while I'm up on a ladder. Small size might make it easy to drop (Crosses fingers!)

Lacking proper documentation, we needed to know the specific properties of a PoE splitter provided with a recently purchased device. This PoE analyzer provided us with enough information to replace this OEM splitter and power supply with a single PoE port on a nearby PoE Ethernet switch. Eliminating the need for another plug-in power supply. While the simple LED PoE tester is sufficient for verifying that PoE is available, it can’t tell you the exact voltage or current draw of the device connected. The low price point; simple functionality and a very informative display makes this analyzer a must have in your tool kit.

Worked well although the scrolling display makes it a little hard to read. You have to wait a few seconds for the value you want ( voltage or power) to scroll across the tiny screen. Also the font is VERY small so that could be an issue for some. I thought it was broken when I first went to use it because the display was blank. Then I realized my PoE injector wasn’t outputting power. It took me a while to figure out that the tester wasn’t allowing my injector to see the PoE camera through the tester. I discovered that if I flipped the switch on the back of the tester to simulate a PoE device, then the injector would turn on and start delivering power. Then while everything was still hooked up, I flipped the switch off and then power was delivered to my camera and it fired up. Not a big deal to work around but if you don’t know that, the device is useless. Overall a good device but could be improved a little.

The Engineers behind this are top notch. Unfortunately , probably because of managers and the CEO types, it was made as cheap as it possibly could be made. First off, the display is about a 1 point font. If you don't have the vision of a 10 year old kid forget it. And if you are over 40 even your reading glasses wont cut it. Time to get out the magnifying glass. On top of that it is a scrolling display which makes it hard to read. On top of that they used a VFD. That is a vacuum display tube. They are invisible in sunlight, can not be read. VFD's are also wearing parts. You won't notice it day to day, but with each use they wear and eventually they dim out to where you can not see them anymore. This was probably not the Engineers choice but a choice made by management. The silkscreen for what the "In's" and "Out's" are, are on the back side of the unit! Makes no sense! Other than it saves space on the front so they can make it smaller and thus a little cheaper. It's actually pretty ridiculous. You have to flip it over to see the labels on the back telling you what you have on the front. Huh? The silk screen for the PD switch is also on the back and upside down! Or, if you turn it over right side up, then it is wrong. showing PD simulation to the left when it really to the right. Obviously this is another cheap cost cutter. I made a visual detailing all this on Youtube if you want to see what I'm talking about. Have you ever seen any device ever made that way? Nobody, no manufacturer does that! They could have opted for an LCD display large enough to see and visible in the sunlight, which would make total sense. For $70 they can put more quality into the build. It is only made of one small board inside and they probably come off the assembly line like crackers. There is nothing here that justifies the price for what you get. No banana jacks, no knobs, no dials, just a small cheaply made, one PCB device with a horrible display and ridiculous silkscreen labeling. I am an Engineer myself and I have seen this before. It makes me boil! This is probably NOT what the Engineers had in mind but decisions made by cost cutting CEO's and managers. What a shame. EDIT: Today is March 7 2024. Mine is three years old, and today I tried to use it and it is dead. No sign of life at all. No display whatsoever. I never plugged it into anything but standard camera lines (all cameras are still working fine). If POE Texas would build one like a real piece of test equipment, I would buy another one in heartbeat, even at say $200. But being that they are built like cheap toys, I'm not buying another one.

OK this is a nice small tester that will test your POE systems which is what I was looking for, and also most wall wart power supplies. It does this well. A slightly better manual would be nice

The unit we received turned out to be faulty - it would display only part of the time and would go wonky. Contacted PoE Texas and they took care of it quickly and with minimal hassle. Really appreciate their customer service. We had the need to use this at a job site while dangling from a second story roofline. It saved us time and effort - love how compact it is!

like easy use screen could be a little larger & easier to read, without putting on glasses

So much more elegant and useful than carrying my homemade custom cable and a multimeter. The voltage drop on the DC 2.1mm output is small but disapointing, I didn't really intend to use it. At that price, I sure hope it lasts.

Really handy, easy to use little tool for the network kit bag.