MS390 POE budget

[chiatt]

Why do the MS390s deny power based on budget versus consumed like ALL the other MS series switches?

[cmr]

What firmware are you running, the MS390s now run CS firmware, the same as the Catalyst 9300s.  It does seem odd to be different, but it is Catalyst hardware, as opposed to Meraki native.

[chiatt]

Running CS 15.21.1 on MS390UX-48. These have 1100 watt power supplies but only 525 watts for POE. We didn't recommend this combo to the client. I believe they worked with a Cisco system architect that recommended this setup and brought me in for install.

I've already recommended a 2nd power supply but really hoping there is some upcoming change that addresses this.

Client bought 9166 APs to use on them. They are only drawing 12-13 watts each but calling for a 45 watt reserve. The issue is the switch is denying power based on reserve instead of consumed.

[cmr]

I'd get a second PSU in there ASAP, we use 3850s and 9300s and if they aren't using Stackpower, we always have two PSUs, even if just for redundancy.  If you add a second 1100W PSU, you get the full amount added to PoE.

Edited for typos

[chiatt]

I agree. This is an e-rate customer so they are sometimes limited during the purchase.

I'm just trying to figure out why the 390 limits power based on budget versus consumption like all the other MS series switches.

[cmr]

The documentation about combined power even suggests that it should use consumed power for PoE management.  I'd suggest it might be another MS390 'feature' and I'd log a support ticket.

[chiatt]

I did log a ticket trying to get clarification or reasoning. I did find the specs for the Cisco 9300-48UXM and they are identical to the MS390 except I can't find any disclaimer about POE being limited by reservation versus consumption. This must be a "feature" of Meraki.

Or is there a way to flash the Cisco firmware on this and config via CLI to bypass this Meraki feature. I think I'll call this a failture. A feature that fails the task.