Hey Guys, this has been talked about. But I have heard of people having success with using ME-1’s with a Third Party POE switch. I decided to give it a shot with my SQ6 by buying THIS POE SWITCH and though it powers up. I can’t get it to talk with my SQ! I see all the data lights flashing away like it’s talking but it wont make a handshake. If you bypass the switch and go directly into a ME1 using it’s power supply to power it, it works like a charm! I have access to the switches web GUI, but I have changed nothing. I have pictures of the temporary test set up linked in a google drive below, anything will help! Thanks!
The basic issue here is that connecting an SLink port to a Gigabit switch will prevent the port from entering ME mode. ME devices are only 100 megabit, and this is part of how they are identified. A relevant thread is here https://community.allen-heath.com/forums/topic/poe-switch-issues-me500 but a few potential solutions are:
In the PoE switch management interface, set the switch port that connects to the SLink port to be 100 megabit only.
Use a cable with only pairs 1/2 and 3/6 connected (this prevents any connection above 100 megabit/second).
Place a cheap (but from a reputable manufacturer) 100 megabit switch between the SLink port and your PoE switch.
Switched port number one on my switch (which plugs into the SQ) to 100 megabits and they all started to talk!!! Kept hearing some popping though, so I created a VLan between ports 1 thru 5 and that fixed it, must’ve been because my laptop was still plugged into that switch.
Great, glad it’s working! The popping sound will have been caused by some broadcast packets from your laptop. The ME protocol is not design to interoperate with any other packets.