--- title: Perpetual PoE on Cisco Catalyst Switches | IPTel description: What Perpetual PoE is, why it keeps devices powered through a switch reboot, and how to enable it on Cisco Catalyst 9000 switches. image: https://blog.iptel.com.au/hubfs/Blogs/Perpetual%20POE/Perpetual%20POE%20(Instagram%20Post).gif --- [![IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500 (1)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500%20(1).png?width=200&height=59&name=IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500%20(1).png "IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2-pnd-optimised-500 (1)")](https://iptel.com.au) - [Home](https://iptel.com.au/) - [Solutions](https://iptel.com.au/solutions) Technologies - [Cisco Access Manager](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-access-manager) - [Cisco Catalyst Center](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-catalyst-center) - [Cisco Meraki](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-meraki) - [Cisco SDA Fabric](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/cisco-sda-fabric) - 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[Request a Quote](https://iptel.com.au/request-a-quote) - [Managed Services](https://iptel.com.au/managed-services-enquiry) Case Studies - [DP World Video](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hubfs/Case%20Studies/DP%20World_Case_Study.mp4) - [DP World](https://blog.iptel.com.au/dp-world-case-study) - [Backup Assure](https://blog.iptel.com.au/backup-assure-a-disaster-recovery-case-study) [Contact Us](https://iptel.com.au/contact-us) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. ## Perpetual PoE July 7, 2026 You may not be aware, but the Perpetual PoE feature allows a switch to continue to power devices connected to the switch, during a reboot. This is to ensure your network is back online as soon as possible after a reboot, as all your end devices are still up. ![Perpetual POE](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Perpetual%20POE/Perpetual%20POE-still.jpg?width=1792&height=960&name=Perpetual%20POE-still.jpg) Related reading - [Cisco Meraki Dashboard](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-meraki-dashboard) - [Cisco Meraki Wireless Overview](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-meraki-wireless-overview) - [Meraki Cloud Wi-Fi](https://blog.iptel.com.au/meraki-cloud-wifi) --- ## What is Perpetual PoE Perpetual PoE: the ability to reload your humble Catalyst 9200/9300/9400 switches while maintaining uninterrupted PoE power. The result is that Powered Devices (PD) connected to the switch stay powered-on even during a switch reload. Another part of this capability is Fast PoE: when AC power is restored in the event of a complete power outage, the switch port remembers the last power drawn (stored in NVRAM) and restores PoE to that port within 15 to 20 seconds. It can bypass the traditional LLDP-based power negotiation meaning it does not need to wait for the IOS to boot up before enabling PoE on the port. ![Perpetual POE 1](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Perpetual%20POE/Perpetual%20POE%201.png?width=697&height=402&name=Perpetual%20POE%201.png) Related reading - [Wi-Fi Predictive Designs](https://blog.iptel.com.au/wifi-predictive-design-wifi-heatmaps) - [Wi-Fi Assurance Review](https://blog.iptel.com.au/wifi-assurance-review) - [Wi-Fi Pre-deployment Surveys](https://blog.iptel.com.au/wireless-pre-deployment-surveys) --- ## Perpetual PoE Use Case I’d like to share an interesting experience I had with a customer recently. [![The Top 6 reasons to use Cisco Catalyst Center (Instagram Post)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/The%20Top%206%20reasons%20to%20use%20Cisco%20Catalyst%20Center/The%20Top%206%20reasons%20to%20use%20Cisco%20Catalyst%20Center%20(Instagram%20Post).png?width=240&height=240&name=The%20Top%206%20reasons%20to%20use%20Cisco%20Catalyst%20Center%20(Instagram%20Post).png)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/the-top-6-reasons-to-use-cisco-catalyst-center)As part of their network modernisation program, they needed to understand and leverage all the High Availability, resiliency, and redundancy capabilities available to them in order to meet their business requirements centred around minimising any disruption to service as a result of either “Planned Events” or “Unplanned Events”. The network solution was built around Cisco Catalyst 9000 switching platforms, which luckily for our customer, has many resiliency and redundancy features built into the hardware that they were not aware of. A lot of you may not realise the extent of what’s available from the Cat 9K family when it comes to availability and resiliency, and that’s why I’m sharing just one of these today, which I think is really cool. Related reading - [Cisco AI Analytics in operation](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-ai-analytics-in-operation) - [Cisco Machine Learning and AI](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-machine-learning-and-ai) --- ## Enabling Perpetual PoE Worth noting that Perpetual PoE and Fast PoE are not enabled by default, it needs to be specifically enabled on a per-port basis using the following interface-level CLI commands: - power inline port perpetual-poe-ha - power inline port poe-ha Something else to note is that Perpetual PoE and Fast PoE do not kick in just by entering these commands. You will need to manually “shut” and “no shut” the port if the PD is already connected as the system needs to first learn the power draw of the powered device; and it’s good practice to give it 10 seconds before you “no shut” 😉 Related reading - [Cisco Catalyst Center Enablement](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-catalyst-center-enablement) - [Introduction to Cisco Catalyst Center](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-catalyst-center-beginners-guide) - [Catalyst Center: Top 5 Use Cases](https://info.iptel.com.au/cisco-dna) --- ## Perpetual PoE: FAQs ### What Is Perpetual PoE? A Cisco Catalyst feature that keeps PoE power flowing to connected devices while the switch reloads. ### Why Use Perpetual PoE? Devices such as APs, phones and cameras don't have to reboot when the switch does, so services come back faster. ### What Is the Difference Between Perpetual PoE and Fast PoE? Perpetual PoE keeps power on during a soft reload; Fast PoE restores power quickly after the switch loses power, before the operating system has fully booted. ### How Is Perpetual PoE Enabled? It's configured per interface on supported Catalyst 9000 switches, as shown in the post. --- ## Perpetual PoE: Summary Perpetual PoE is not a well-known feature but can be very useful in environments where minimum downtime is required - for example hospitals. [![Cisco Powered Managed Services: What It Means for You](https://blog.iptel.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/Blogs/Cisco%20Powered%20Managed%20Services/cisco-powered-managed-services-square.png?width=240&height=240&name=cisco-powered-managed-services-square.png)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/cisco-powered-managed-services)The combination of Perpetual PoE and Fast PoE becomes really important for business continuity as we begin to see much more reliance on PoE powered “smart buildings” that use critical endpoints powered by PoE such as medical devices, lights, IoT sensors, badge readers and so on. A key use case might be that the phones in a site are kept up and running through a switch power-cycle, so the phones are back online much quicker after a switch reboot.    Hopefully this blog is of use for you if your environment requires minimum downtime - always something new to learn!   Related reading - [Troubleshooting with Cisco Catalyst Center](https://blog.iptel.com.au/troubleshooting-with-cisco-catalyst-center) - [Zero Trust Architecture Introduction](https://blog.iptel.com.au/zero-trust-architecture) ### Need Help With Your Network? IPTel designs, upgrades and manages Cisco [campus networks](https://iptel.com.au/technologies/lan) across Australia. If that would be useful, [get in touch with the IPTel team](https://iptel.com.au/contact-us) or email [sales@iptel.com.au](mailto:sales@iptel.com.au). #### Related Articles ###### [Extended Fast Software Upgrade (xFSU)](https://blog.iptel.com.au/extended-fast-software-update-xfsu) July 6, 2026 ###### [DP World - Case Study](https://blog.iptel.com.au/dp-world-case-study) Oct 20, 2025 ###### [Automating Meraki](https://blog.iptel.com.au/automating-meraki) Apr 24, 2025 ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Mark McSherry", "url" : "https://blog.iptel.com.au/author/mark-mcsherry" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-03T07:38:37.651Z", "datePublished" : "2026-07-07T03:39:04.000Z", "headline" : "Perpetual PoE on Cisco Catalyst Switches | IPTel", "image" : [ "https://blog.iptel.com.au/hubfs/Blogs/Perpetual%20POE/Perpetual%20POE%20(Instagram%20Post).gif" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.iptel.com.au/perpetual-poe", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.iptel.com.au/hubfs/IPTel_Solutions_February2020%20-%20Header%20SiteMap/Images/IPTellogo-byline-2020-dark-v2.png" }, "name" : "IPTel Solutions Pty Ltd" } } ```