This 2025 guide explains how to enable, verify, and optimize PoE on Cisco switches, including standards, power budgeting, configuration commands, troubleshooting steps, and security recommendations. Before enabling PoE, it's important to understand what each standard. A PoE Switch, also known as Power over Ethernet Switch, is a network device that allows users to power and connect devices such as IP cameras, VoIP phones, and wireless access points. A regular switch, on the other hand, merely supplies the internet signal.