Updated: Nov 28, 2025
Network teams in Delhi, Pune and Gurgaon face a pattern that refuses to go away. An office wants Wi Fi 6E. It wants PTZ cameras. It wants sensors for space use, energy tracking and access control. The team prices radios, cameras and licenses. Then the upgrade stalls at an unexpected point; the switch does not have the power budget to feed everything.
If you run a network in an Indian office, ask yourself one question. Do you size PoE for the devices you have, or for the devices you know will come in the next two years?
The labels look simple, but each step raises the power draw.
802.3af gives up to 15.4W per port. It covers thin APs, basic phones and entry-level cameras.
802.3at gives up to 30W. It fits mid-sized cameras, advanced APs and sensors.
802.3bt, or PoE++, gives 60W and 90W. This is where Wi Fi 6E access points, PTZ cameras, thermal units and smart lighting sit.
If your devices span two or three of these classes, your switch must serve all of them without a single weak port. IDC reports a 40 per cent jump in high draw PoE demand in Asia Pacific between 2022 and 2024 due to Wi Fi 6 and 6E rollouts (IDC, 2024). That trend will only rise as offices adopt analytics-heavy cameras and building sensors.
CTOs ask a sharper question. Can this switch support the next wave of devices, not just the current one?
Wi Fi 6E APs draw over 40W. PTZ cameras cross 60W. Smart lighting units need 60W. Environmental sensors with edge logic can reach 45W. The load grows with floor density and the need for better workplace data.
When you add these systems, a switch with low draw PoE becomes a bottleneck. A switch with 90W UPOE lets you run high draw endpoints without redesigning your racks, adding mid spans or splitting your network.
If you want a switch that survives your next upgrade cycle, focus on two checks.
Port-level wattage. Can every port support 60W or 90W if required?
Total PoE budget. Does the switch have enough headroom for full load conditions?
A mid-sized Gurgaon office with thirty APs, twenty cameras, fifteen sensors and a few AV units can cross two kilowatts of PoE draw. Many teams only discover this late in the project when the switch cannot support peak load.
The Catalyst 9400 stands out for large campuses and dense endpoints. Its high power per port and large total PoE budget make it suitable for offices that want Wi Fi 6E, smart lighting and mixed surveillance. It is common in Bengaluru tech parks, Hyderabad campuses and Mumbai retail hubs.
A strong PoE chassis does two things. It delivers stable power at full density, and it gives clear draw visibility per port. You see which devices pull more power than expected. You prevent failures before they hit the user.
A product engineering firm on Outer Ring Road wanted full Wi Fi 6E coverage, 360-degree PTZ cameras on each floor and occupancy sensors for meeting room analytics. Their older switches ran at close to 70 per cent of their PoE budget. Any new device would push them over the limit.
When we ran a detailed PoE load study, the future draw crossed 2,400W for one floor alone. Their existing design could not support the upgrade. They moved to high-budget PoE switches and gained stable power for all device classes.
The outcome was clear. No mid spans, no fallback injectors and no unstable endpoints.
Wi Fi 6E is not the biggest PoE driver. The next wave of sensors and analytics devices will draw more power and demand a more predictable supply. If you size PoE for only your radio upgrade, you set yourself up for a second upgrade a year later.
Dell’Oro Group notes a 25 per cent rise in global shipments of high-power PoE switches between 2023 and 2024 as IoT density increased. Offices in India mirror this trend as they adopt energy systems, safety sensors and high-resolution cameras.
Many partners treat PoE as a checkbox. Proactive treats it as a capacity limit. We collect draw data per device type, model the three-year endpoint growth and test peak load conditions. We then design a switch plan that supports heavy devices without hidden gaps.
Our NOC teams see failure signatures every week, APs reboot from voltage dips, cameras drop at peak hours, and sensors freeze during firmware updates. These patterns shape how we size PoE for your network. You get a design that stays stable under real load, not just on paper.
If you want your network to support smart workspaces, power planning is critical. If your PoE plan is right, your upgrade will run clean. If the plan is wrong, devices will fail in a way that is hard to root cause.
If you want a PoE plan that gives clarity and a stable base for IoT expansion, speak to Proactive. We help you choose switches that support Wi Fi 6E, cameras, sensors and smart lighting without rebuilds.
