[cisco-voip] PoE alternatives

[Norton, Mike]

Anyone use third-party PoE midspans for powering phones? Particularly
with a 2950/2960 switch?

I typically have been installing the PoE version of 3550 or 3560
switches for phones. However, I am entertaining the idea of using a 2960
switch with a third-party PoE midspan, because it is much cheaper and we
do not really use any of the layer-3 switch features anyway. I also have
some future phone installs coming up where there are several existing
2950 switches already in place. In particular, I am looking at
Microsemi/PowerDsine for midspans.

If anyone can provide their thoughts/experiences with such a setup, or
other alternatives, I would appreciate it.

P.S. I am aware of the new 2960 model that has PoE, but it is not
available in 48-port nor with 1000BaseT uplinks, so by the time I buy
two and put SFP modules in, a regular 48-port with midspans is still
appealing.

-- 
Mike Norton
I.T. Support
Peace Wapiti School Division No. 76
Helpdesk: (780) 831-3080
Direct: (780) 831-3076