Labthrift Labthrift Buy the boring upgrade. Skip the rest.

Notes / Cheap PoE + APs

Editorial, 22 Aug 2026. Specs from maker pages and recent street reports. We have not burned these units in. Affiliate tags are not live.

af, at, bt: match the AP class before you buy the switch

A table of maker max watts, not “we ran this for a week.” Budget the switch total, not eight ports times 30 W.

802.3af is about 15.4 W at the port. 802.3at is about 30 W. 802.3bt Type 3/4 is camera / 6 GHz-Pro territory. Closet APs that stay in af: U7 Lite, EAP613, Instant On AP21/AP22, GWN7660. Closet APs that need at: EAP653, EAP670, EAP723, Instant On AP25/AP32, GWN7664E. bt: EAP773 at full radios (802.3at derates 6 GHz).

Lite 8 PoE is 52 W. SG108PE is 64 W. Discontinued TPE-TG380 was 100 W. SG2210XMP-M2 is 160 W. Two 13 W Lites fit 52 W. Two 15.5 W EAP653s plus two cameras do not. The existing two-AP brick is still the first apartment answer. This page is only the class math.

The short list

AP / switchClass / budgetMaker max (cite, not a lab number)Note
U7 Lite802.3af~13 Wreview
EAP613802.3af10.9 W PoEreview
GWN7660802.3af/at9 Wreview
Instant On AP21 / AP22802.3af class 3~10.9 W / 10.1 WAP21 vs AP22
EAP653802.3at15.5 WBreaks a 15.4 W injector. vs 613.
EAP670 V2802.3atUS V2 22.3 W PoE2.5G Wi-Fi 6
EAP773802.3bt full / at derates 6 GHzTri-band 10GWi-Fi 7 tax
USW-Lite-8-PoE4× PoE+, 52 W total$109 UI (surcharge $117)Budget number, not a repurchase pitch.
TL-SG108PE4× PoE+, 64 W, fanless$51–$61 Amazoninjector vs switch
SG2210XMP-M28× 2.5G PoE+, 160 W, fanlessDong Knows $249.99 / Newegg $347.992.5G PoE closet

Skip

Skip “8 × 30 W = 240 W” shopping. The switch total is the product. Skip a noisy 150 W gigabit MP for two APs. Skip mixing 24 V passive with any row above — 24 V traps.

Sources

Cablify UniFi PoE guide. UI Lite 8 PoE. Omada EAP653. Newegg EAP773.

Also in this lane

24 V passive will not feed a U7 Lite — and 48 V passive is not the same brickMix the three “passive” strings and you brick a port. SG2210MP’s fan is why the closet should buy SG2210XMP-M2 or SG108PEBuy the fanless SKU. Do not mod the fan. EAP670 V2: AX5400 and 2.5G without buying Wi-Fi 7AX5400 and 2.5G without buying Wi-Fi 7.