Altronix NETWAY5BT 4-Port Gigabit PoE++ Switch Board
Overview
The Altronix NETWAY5BT is a compact five-port gigabit switch board engineered for surveillance integrators who need to push serious power to edge devices — up to 90W per PoE port — without building a full rack-mount chassis around it. Four of its five 10/100/1000 Mbps ports deliver IEEE 802.3bt (PoE++) power, while the fifth acts as a gigabit uplink. At 5.625" x 4" x 0.75" and just 0.25 lb., the NETWAY5BT is designed to drop into an enclosure, cabinet, or custom housing wherever your deployment demands it. The Altronix Altronix PoE and power distribution line builds around this kind of board-level flexibility — useful when standard managed switches are too large, too expensive, or draw from the wrong power architecture.
Key Features
- 90W Per PoE Port (802.3bt): Each of the four PoE ports can deliver up to 90W independently — enough headroom for the most power-hungry PTZ cameras, multi-sensor panoramic units, and pan-tilt heads with integrated IR illuminators. You won't need a secondary injector or a separate power supply run to the device.
- 240W Total Power Budget: The aggregate PoE budget of 240W means you can realistically run all four ports near capacity without triggering thermal cutbacks. In a four-camera enclosure scenario — say, four 60W thermal or multi-imager units — this board covers the load where a standard 802.3at switch would be underpowered by a wide margin.
- IEEE 802.3af/at/bt Auto-Negotiation: The board negotiates power class automatically with connected devices. Legacy 802.3af (15.4W) and 802.3at (30W) devices work without configuration — plug in a standard IP dome and it draws what it needs; plug in a 90W PTZ and it gets full class delivery. No manual per-port power ceiling required.
- Five Gigabit Ports (Four PoE + One Uplink): All ports run at 10/100/1000 Mbps. The fifth port connects to your upstream network switch or NVR at full gigabit speed, so aggregated camera streams from four high-bitrate devices won't saturate the uplink even at 4K multi-stream.
- 48–56V DC Input Voltage Range: The board accepts a wide 48–56V input, which gives you flexibility in pairing it with Altronix or third-party PoE power supplies already installed in your enclosure. You're not locked to a single supply voltage.
- -30°C to 55°C Operating Range: Industrial-grade thermal tolerance means this board survives unheated equipment cabinets in northern climates or sun-loaded outdoor enclosures in summer. The storage range extends to -40°C / 85°C, so it ships and sits in warehouse conditions without issue.
- Compact Board Form Factor (5.625" x 4" x 0.75"): The bare-board design is intentional — it integrates into Altronix enclosures, third-party NEMA boxes, or custom OEM housings. For integrators building out pre-wired camera enclosures or pole-mount cabinets, the small footprint leaves room for power supplies, terminal blocks, and cable management alongside it.
- CE Agency Listing: CE marking confirms the board meets European electromagnetic compatibility and safety directives, relevant for international deployments or projects with strict compliance requirements on electrical components.
- Lifetime Warranty: Altronix backs the NETWAY5BT with a lifetime manufacturer warranty — an unusual commitment for active networking hardware that reduces long-term total cost of ownership on permanent installations.
Integration and Compatibility
The NETWAY5BT is a passive gigabit switch board — it does not perform VLAN segmentation, QoS tagging, or link aggregation. Traffic passes through unmanaged. That's the right call for isolated camera enclosures where you want deterministic, zero-configuration behavior, but it means you'll handle any VLAN or storm-control requirements at the upstream managed switch. Any PoE-capable IP camera, access control reader, or intercom supporting 802.3af, 802.3at, or 802.3bt will negotiate correctly with the board. Pair it with an Altronix power supply feeding 48–56V DC into the board's input terminals; verify the supply's total output wattage covers your per-port load plan before commissioning. For infrastructure planning, review the PoE planning guide to confirm your upstream switch and cabling can handle the aggregated camera stream from four gigabit ports.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the maximum PoE wattage per port on the NETWAY5BT?
A: Each of the four PoE ports on the NETWAY5BT delivers up to 90W under the IEEE 802.3bt (PoE++) standard. The total PoE power budget across all four ports is 240W.
Q: Does the NETWAY5BT support older PoE standards like 802.3af and 802.3at?
A: Yes. The NETWAY5BT auto-negotiates with 802.3af (up to 15.4W), 802.3at (up to 30W), and 802.3bt (up to 90W) devices. No manual configuration is required — each port supplies only what the connected device requests.
Q: What input voltage does the NETWAY5BT require?
A: The board accepts 48–56V DC input. You'll need a compatible PoE power supply in that voltage range — either an Altronix supply or a third-party unit that falls within the specified window.
Q: Is the NETWAY5BT a managed or unmanaged switch?
A: The NETWAY5BT is an unmanaged switch board. It passes traffic without VLAN, QoS, or storm-control configuration. Management features must be handled at the upstream switch in your network architecture.
Q: What is the warranty on the NETWAY5BT?
A: Altronix covers the NETWAY5BT with a lifetime manufacturer warranty.
Q: What operating temperature range does the NETWAY5BT support?
A: The board operates from -30°C to 55°C (-22°F to 131°F), making it suitable for unheated outdoor enclosures and industrial cabinet installations in cold climates.
The spec that matters most on the NETWAY5BT is the 90W-per-port PoE++ delivery — not because most cameras need it, but because the ones that do (high-end PTZs with integrated IR, thermal-optical multi-sensors, and pan-tilt heads) often can't get it from a standard 802.3at switch without a separate injector run. This board eliminates that workaround entirely inside a single enclosure, and the 240W aggregate budget is correctly sized for four ports running at heavy but realistic loads.
Technical Highlights:
- 90W PoE++ per port: Class 6 and Class 8 devices — including PTZ cameras with integrated IR banks — can be powered directly without inline injectors. At 90W ceiling, you have margin even for high-end thermographic units.
- 240W total budget: Running four 55–60W multi-sensor cameras simultaneously stays well within budget. Compare this to a typical 802.3at switch at 30W/port max — the math doesn't work for high-draw devices without this class of board.
- -30°C operating floor: Deployed inside an outdoor NEMA enclosure with no active heating, this board survives winter conditions that would push other switch hardware into thermal fault territory.
Deployment Considerations:
- The 48–56V DC input means you must confirm your supply voltage before wiring. A supply that drifts below 48V under load will cause port instability — size the supply with headroom above the 240W PoE total.
- This is an unmanaged board — there's no port isolation, no storm control, and no VLAN capability. In a multi-tenant or shared-infrastructure deployment, handle all network segmentation at the upstream managed switch, not here.
The NETWAY5BT is the right board for integrators building out pre-wired outdoor camera enclosures — specifically cabinet-style pole mounts or wall boxes housing two to four high-wattage PTZ or multi-sensor cameras where a managed switch is overkill and 802.3at power is insufficient. The lifetime warranty makes it a viable permanent installation component rather than a field-replaceable consumable.
