Ethernet beyond 100 metres: Ubiquiti's new 800-metre long-range PoE and what it means for outbuildings on Starlink and Amazon Leo

16 hours ago

6 min read

Anyone who has tried to get the internet out to a distant barn, gate or yard camera knows the rule: a standard copper Ethernet cable is good for 100 metres. Go further and you are normally looking at fibre, a wireless bridge, or a chain of repeaters, and often a separate power supply at the far end as well.

This week Ubiquiti announced a new option. On 26 October 2026 it introduced UniFi Long-Range PoE Switching, which it says delivers power and data over a single Ethernet cable up to 800 metres. In this post we look at what the new kit actually does, where it fits and where it does not, and what it means for UK homes, farms and businesses that run their network from a Starlink dish today or plan to use Amazon Leo when it launches.

What Ubiquiti has announced

The system has two parts. The UniFi Long-Range Switch 8 PoE (model USW-LR-Switch-8-PoE) sits in the main building, and an Outdoor Long-Range Endpoint (UACC-LR-Endpoint) sits at the far end of each cable run. Ubiquiti's launch post says the switch is built for remote cameras, access devices and IoT sensors in places where there is no local power, and that the dedicated outdoor endpoint should be used for the best performance and the longest runs.

From Ubiquiti's published technical specifications:

The switch has eight long-range ports, each able to supply PoE+++ at up to 90 W, with a total PoE budget of 630 W.
Those eight long-range ports run at 100 Mbps (100M/10M), not gigabit. Uplinks to the rest of the network are one gigabit RJ45 port and one 1G SFP port.
The outdoor endpoint has two 100M/10M ports, is rated IPX5, has built-in 3 kA / 6 kV surge protection and is specified for -40 to 60 °C.
The endpoint is powered from the switch and passes through up to PoE++ to the camera, reader or sensor connected to it.
Everything is managed in UniFi alongside the rest of a UniFi network, and Ubiquiti describes it as completely licence-free.

Overseas resellers began listing the products in October, with some showing them as coming soon. We have not seen confirmed UK retail pricing yet, so we are not quoting a price here.

Why 100 metres has always been the limit

The 100-metre figure comes from the Ethernet standards themselves: twisted-pair copper cabling such as Cat5e and Cat6 is specified for a channel of up to 100 metres between two active devices. Beyond that, signal loss and timing mean a normal network link cannot be guaranteed, and the voltage drop along the cable also limits how much PoE power arrives at the far end.

Until now the usual ways around it have been:

Fibre, which runs for kilometres at gigabit speeds or more, but needs power at the far end.
Ethernet repeaters or extenders placed every 100 metres. Ubiquiti's existing Long-Range Ethernet Repeater (UACC-LRE), for example, has two gigabit ports and passes PoE through, but each cable segment still has to stay within the normal limit.
A point-to-point wireless bridge, which needs a clear line of sight and power at both ends, but no trench.
Running mains power to the far end for a local switch, often the costliest part of the job.

What makes the new system different is that one cable carries both power and data the whole way, up to 800 metres, with no powered box in the middle.

The catch: 100 Mbps per port

The most important detail for anyone with a satellite connection is the port speed. Each long-range port is 100 Mbps. That is plenty for what Ubiquiti designed it for: a security camera, a gate intercom, a door access reader, a weather station or a set of sensors typically need only a small fraction of it.

It is not a way to deliver a full Starlink or Amazon Leo connection to a distant building. Many Starlink connections run above 100 Mbps, and Amazon has reported Leo connections of more than 400 Mbps in demonstrations. If you feed a holiday let, home office or workshop through a 100 Mbps long-range port, that link becomes the ceiling for everyone in that building.

So the sensible way to think about it is this:

Long-range PoE for low-bandwidth devices at the edge of a site: cameras on a long drive, a gate keypad, a feed-store sensor, a remote access point used only for light coverage.
Fibre or a gigabit wireless bridge for buildings where people will actually use the internet: offices, lets, staff accommodation, workshops with video calls or cloud backups.
A mixture of both on larger sites, all managed in one place.

What it means for UK homes, farms and businesses

Many of the properties that choose Starlink, and that are likely to look at Amazon Leo, are exactly the ones with long distances to cover: farms with yards and barns well away from the house, equestrian centres, caravan and camping sites, holiday lets, rural workshops and business units. Getting power to the far end is often the hardest part, and that is where long-range PoE can save real cost and disruption.

Some practical points before choosing it:

Plan the cable route properly. An 800-metre run is a serious piece of work. Outdoor runs need the right external-grade or direct-burial cable, ducting where it will be dug or driven over, and care around other underground services.
Protect against lightning and surges. Long outdoor runs pick up surges. The endpoint has surge protection built in, but bonding, earthing and surge protection at the building end still matter.
Check your power budget. 90 W per port and 630 W in total sounds a lot, but heated cameras, floodlit cameras and access points add up. The switch needs a reliable mains supply, and ideally a UPS so cameras stay up during a power cut.
Think about the core network. The long-range switch connects to the rest of the network over a single gigabit uplink, so the router, main switch and Wi-Fi behind the satellite dish still need to be designed properly.
Remember it is UniFi-only, so it suits sites already running a UniFi network.
Consider the alternatives honestly. Where there is clear line of sight, a wireless bridge can be quicker and cheaper than digging. Where a building needs full speed, fibre is still the right answer.

How it fits with a satellite installation

The dish itself is usually close to the main building, and the satellite router or a separate firewall feeds the core switch. From there, the job is distributing that connection across the site: Cat6 and PoE inside, then fibre, wireless bridges or long-range PoE to reach the edges. Getting that design right matters more than any single piece of hardware, because the slowest or least reliable link decides what each building actually gets.

If you already have Starlink and want to add cameras on a long driveway, a barrier at the yard entrance, or coverage in a distant field shelter, long-range PoE is now a realistic option to price up alongside fibre and wireless. If you are planning for Amazon Leo, the same site network will carry over, because the cabling and switching behind the dish do not depend on which satellite service you choose.

Site-wide networks from Space Internet Solutions

Space Internet Solutions installs Starlink for homes and businesses and is preparing customers for Amazon Leo. We survey for the best dish position, fit secure mounts and sealed cable routes, and design the network behind the dish, from Cat6, PoE and mesh Wi-Fi to fibre, point-to-point wireless links and long-range cabling out to barns, gates and outbuildings. Through our nationwide network of trusted PLEO (Professional Low Earth Orbit) installers, that same standard of work is available anywhere in the UK.

Whether you need one camera at the end of a long drive or a connection to every building on a large site, we can help you choose between long-range PoE, fibre and wireless, and install it properly. To book a survey or installation with a trusted professional installer nationwide, visit spaceinternetsolutions.com.

Sources: Ubiquiti, 'Introducing UniFi Long-Range PoE Switching' (26 October 2026); Ubiquiti technical specifications for the UniFi Long-Range Switch 8 PoE, the Outdoor Long-Range Endpoint and the Long-Range Ethernet Repeater (checked 30 October 2026); reseller listings (October 2026); Amazon and press reports on Amazon Leo performance demonstrations (October 2026).