Powering an Apple Homepod mini over ethernet (USB-C)

[MrCheese]

I've been swapping out Sonos for Homepod minis, they aren't as good but are adequate for background music.

They come with a hard-wired USB-C connector and an apple 20W mains plug. They only connect to the network via wifi.

I'd iike to put a couple of them in locations where I only have a cat-6 ethernet cable (about 5-10m runs). Is it possible to power them over the ethernet cable? I have a PoE+ switch with a 65w power budget.

Seems I have 2 options:

1) use the apple power plug and make some sort of adapter to use the ethernet as a simple piece of wire (eth->usbc socket one end, usbc plug->eth the other)

2) use the poe switch to power the device and have some sort of eth->usbc socket the other

I've googled a bit and can't really find anything that does this even though I think at 18w the power requirement of the homepod is fairly modest.

Anyone have any thoughts?

[b.e.n.n.y_b.o.y]

Something like this? https://www.amazon.co.uk/UCTRONICS-PoE-Splitter-US...

Not quite 18w though, looks like its 2.4A at 5v which is around 12w, so depends whether that's enough for your device or not.

[Jenny Tailor]

IIRC Homepod Miini needs a min of 18W.

[frisbee]

This suggests it draws piss all power but runs at 9V (USB-C PD raises the voltage to supply more power):

https://psn.medium.com/how-much-power-does-the-hom...

[MrCheese]

Thanks for the replies, I hadn’t realised it was 9v.

Perhaps this would work?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125262787326?mkcid=16&a...


Bit of a wait to get it though….

[MrCheese]

MrCheese said:

Thanks for the replies, I hadn’t realised it was 9v.

Perhaps this would work?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125262787326?mkcid=16&a...


Bit of a wait to get it though….

It works! I got 2 of them and can power a stereo pair over 15m cable from a PoE switch. Quite a game changer for me as I can put speakers in locations where I can’t get mains.

[Waragainstsleep]

Hi.

I have one of those DSLRKit PoE-USB-C adaptors which I bought for the exact same reason as you did but I don't seem to be able to persuade my HomePod Mini to power up from it.
I'm connecting it to a Ubiquiti Unifi USW Pro 24 PoE switch which provides PoE++ up to 64W allegedly. I checked the total power consumption in case it's over budget and its only putting out about 15W of its 400W PoE budget.

Any ideas why it isn't working for me?

The switch is borrowed but I'm loathe to buy a switch of my own (I also use Unifi) or a PoE++ injector unless I know its going to work.