Microchip PoE to USB-C® Power and Data Adapter - Review

Table of contents

RoadTest: Microchip PoE to USB-C® Power and Data Adapter

Author: jamesy0ung

Creation date: 19 Jun 2021

Evaluation Type: Development Boards & Tools

Did you receive all parts the manufacturer stated would be included in the package?: True

What other parts do you consider comparable to this product?:

What were the biggest problems encountered?: I had frequent kernel panics when using the device with my MacBook Pro running Big Sur.

Detailed Review:

Thanks to element14 and Microchip for providing this product to test.

Unboxing

Opening the package, it was well presented and included: USB-C to USB-C locking cable, PoE to USB-C Adapter, instructions and a felt pouch.

PD-USB-DP60 Package Contents

(Image uploaded to Imgur)

Testing

I used a MacBook Pro 15" Mid-2017 running Big Sur for the majority of my testing. I installed the latest driver (v1.0.4) After installing the driver, I started experiencing random kernel panics.

I used the Microsemi 9001GR 30W PoE Injector for testing.

Other devices tested with:

• iPad Pro 2019
• Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (I do not have a Pi 4, so can't test that)
• Raspberry Pi 3
• iPhone SE
• Intel i7 NUC BXNUC10I7FN0H
• Older Lenovo laptop
• Raspberry Pi Zero

For the Raspberry Pi Zero I used a USB-C to USB-A and then a USB-A to Micro USB cable.

For the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, Raspberry Pi 3, Intel i7 NUC BXNUC10I7FN0H and older Lenovo laptop I used either the provided USB-C to USB-C cable or a USB-C to USB-A 3.0 cable.

A handy feature of the adaptor was the ability to use it bus-powered by the host. I did not power the adaptor over PoE while testing the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, Raspberry Pi 3 and older Lenovo laptop as they do not support Power Delivery.

The adaptor also was not able to power the Intel NUC

Speed

I tested to another computer on the same network with iperf3. Results below.

[ ID] Interval          Transfer    Bitrate

[  5]  0.00-10.00  sec  1.10 GBytes  942 Mbits/sec                  sender

[  5]  0.00-10.00  sec  1.10 GBytes  941 Mbits/sec                  receiver

These results were the same across all adaptors tested (Belkin USB-C, Generic Gigabit adaptor, Intel Ethernet).

Power Delivery

Using my Microsemi 9001GR 30W PoE Injector, I connected it to my Mac and it reported it as a 24W power adaptor. It charged my iPhone SE at 18W using a USB-C to Lightning cable.

Power Delivery Testing

(Image uploaded to Imgur)

I also connected it to an iPad Pro and it charged at 18W but due to the LAN7800 needing drivers, it did not work for ethernet.

It worked well with my Raspberry Pi Zero for data and power, connected with USB-C to USB-A and then a USB-A to Micro USB cable.

Raspberry Pi Zero with PoE adaptor

(Image uploaded to Imgur)

In the marketing materials, Microchip mentions you can power a NUC with it, however no NUC's or Micro PC's can be powered as they all lack USB-C PD input or require more than 60W.

Pros/Cons

Pros

• Fast
• Reliable
• Sturdy build
• Locking pin to keep USB-C cable connected
• Plug n' play on Linux.
• More power available than most other adaptors available on the market
• Can be used without PoE (bus-powered by the host)
• Silent

Cons

• Expensive
• Requires drivers
• macOS drivers are buggy

Conclusion

The Microchip PoE to USB-C® Power and Data Adapter is a good product, however it is expensive, has bad macOS support and is not documented very well. I've been wanting to test the remote management capabilities of it but I cannot find any documentation on how to do as such.