I have recently picked up a Raspberry Pi Zero. Because of it's size, it is small enough to fit about anywhere, but there isn't always a free electrical socket nearby -- however a PoE powered solution would be ideal.

I've already heard there is an official PoE hat but this can only be used with a Pi 3 Model B+. The solution I have came up with (along with many other people) is to use a PoE splitter, this can split the power from the Ethernet cable to a 5V micro USB connection.

The PoE splitter I bought came from The Pi Hut, the item came quickly and well packaged:

I am powering this from an 802.3af compatible PoE switch, namely the TP-LINK TL-SG1008PE. The installation is simple, simply connect the adaptor’s Ethernet and micro USB end into your Pi, then an Ethernet cable from your PoE switch to the PoE adaptor (I’m using the RPi Zero so the cables look messy, if you’re using a Model B variant it will look a lot neater):

At first I was concerned if the wattage and amperage being supplied the adaptor would be insufficient. However the adaptor is rated to supply 5V power supply and up to 2.4 Amps, I've found in my tests that this was efficient for me needs, even with a keyboard and mouse connected via USB.

Some other notes

A word of warning: before finding the PoE adapter mentioned, my search originally led me to the TP-LINK TL-POE10R PoE splitter. In theory this would have worked (you can use a micro-switch to select a 5V output), and you would have had to find a barrel to USB cable adaptor.

Then I read this was a 'non-isolated' adaptor, meaning you as soon as you plug in an isolated accessory/cable such as a HDMI cable which is connected to a TV the adaptor and Pi would turn-off.

A big thanks to James Young as he mentioned this originally on his blog. If you'd like to see an example of this grounding issue, there is a video on YouTube here.

Notice

I have created this post with the intention of helping others power their Pi with PoE.

Note: This is not an ad-supported supported post, however Amazon links have been tagged with my affiliate code.