Power options for MV72 Outdoor Camera

[The_Machine]

Hi Team, 

can someone please explain me what the power options are for the MV72 outdoor camera? I can't quite get the details from the data sheet as to how the camera can be powered? I assume one option is PoE but I am more interested what other options I have. I can see under accessories there is this round shaped low voltage power adapter but there are no real pictures or more info on how the connectivity exactly looks like.

In my case I don't have PoE available to the outside of the house, so want to understand how other power options can be mounted and connected, etc.

Anyone got some details on that please?
Thanks

Thomas

[rwiesmann · Accepted solution]

Hi,

as I know you will have 3 Options.

Option 1:

You just pull power via PoE. With or without the heater (802.3af/802.3at).

Option 2:

Use the Meraki Ethernet Injector

Meraki 802.3at Power over Ethernet Injector Datasheet

https://meraki.cisco.com/lib/pdf/meraki_datasheet_poe_8023at.pdf

Option 3:

This would maybe an option for you, if you have some low voltage source close by.

This accessory converts existing low voltage (12VDC/24VAC) power supplies into PoE.

https://meraki.cisco.com/lib/pdf/meraki_datasheet_low-voltage-power-adapter.pdf

Also in the Datasheet you can get some and useful information concerning the power options...but i guess you know this datasheet 🙂

https://meraki.cisco.com/lib/pdf/meraki_datasheet_mv72.pdf

Hope that helps you

rgds

Roger

[jdsilva]

SImply put, your only option is PoE.

The MV72 does not have any other power input other than power supplied via the Ethernet port. That said, how you get PoE to the camera is up to you. You can use PoE supplied directly off a switch, or you can insert a PoE injector into the mix, and that injector can be powered by any number of methods depending on the model of injector you use. 

[The_Machine]

Thanks a lot Roger for the speedy reply and the info!

Cheers

Thomas

[rwiesmann]

Happy that I could help you Thomas

Roger

[MerakiDave]

@The_Machine  The previous answers are correct regarding the 3 options:

1. PoE+ switch

2. PoE+ injector

3. Low voltage power adapter (the "eye patch" or "hockey puck")

Since you do not have PoE available outside the house, the options would be to deploy an Ethernet switch with PoE+ ports, or a less expensive option of deploying a PoE+ power injector, or leveraging the low voltage power adapter.

If you have a way to extend your home LAN with a piece of Cat6 cable to where the MV camera will be mounted, a cheap 30W PoE+ injector might be the easiest and least expensive way to go here.  Make sure to get a 30W injector, not a legacy 15W adapter, the outdoor MV72 and MV72X have integrated chassis heaters and want/need to see more than 15W to become operational.

If you don't have a way to run an Ethernet cable from the camera all the way back to your home LAN/switch equipment, they you can still use a PoE+ injector in the area of the camera to power it, you would simply need a place to plug the injector into AC power and then run a piece of Cat6 from the injector to the camera, and you would just not have a cable running back from the injector to your home LAN.  The camera would then connect wireless back to your wifi, so long as it's within range.

The low voltage power adapter can be powered via 12 VDC or 24 VAC.  (Yes, car battery included although I'm not sure if it's officially supported. 😀  See the slide attached below.  This shows a typical siamese video/power cable that might be used in a legacy analog deployment, and instead of ripping and replacing cable (which can be very expensive compared to the cost of the adapter) you abandon the coax cable and use the low voltage power to run the adapter, and then just need a Cat6 jumper cable from the adapter to power the camera, and again the camera powers up and connects back via wireless for data/video.

So if doing this in the home, I'm guessing you may not have 12VDC or 24VAC readily available, unless you might have already had analog cameras deployed.  If not, wouldn't make much sense to use a transformer just for the sake of using the LV adapter to then power the camera, and I'd fall back to the PoE+ power injector as the simplest and cheapest option.

Note that to use wireless on the cameras, regardless if using a power injector or LV adapter, the camera needs to be connected via a wired connection first in order to be configured with the wirelsss SSID parameters.  It requires you to configure BOTH a primary and backup wireless SSID.  If you only have one SSID at home, then perhaps consider configuring the hotspot on your cell phone as the backup.  

Here is the installation guide for the low voltage power adapter:

https://documentation.meraki.com/MV/Physical_Installation/MV_Low_Voltage_Power_Adapter_(LVPA)_Instal...

Here is the MV wireless config guide:

https://documentation.meraki.com/MV/Initial_Configuration/MV_Wireless_Configuration_Guide

Hope that helps!

Regards,

Dave

[The_Machine]

Brilliant, thanks so much for that extensive info!

Cheers

Thomas