One of the coolest features of the netAlly EtherScope nXG is being able to charge it via PoE.  We’ve all been there – using your favorite tool of choice, and you notice you are low on battery – usually at an inopportune time in most cases. 

Those days are in the rearview mirror with the netAlly EtherScope nXG.  The EtherScope nXG has the ability to be charged with the charging cable that comes with the unit, but also via PoE. 

In this quick tutorial, I am going to show you how to configure it to charge via a class 4 PoE port.  You’ll know when you have it configured properly when you see the charging “lightning bolt” in the battery icon in the status bar in the upper right hand side of unit, as seen below:

In the upper left of the EtherScope nXG, you see the AutoTest icon.  You’ll need to press that button (you have likely done this many times by the time you read this) after plugging in the Ethernet port into a Class 4 PoE switch – just like the photo above.  That will run the AutoTest.  Here are my results below.  Note: I plugged into a not-so-smart switch port, so that is why we see “Nearest Switch Not Found”.

In the upper left, you will see three horizontal lines that are commonly referred to as the “hamburger”.   Go ahead and press that and the following screen will appear.  Look for General Settings down near the bottom and tap that with your finger.  

Near the bottom, you will see “Charge battery via PoE”.  It will likely not be enabled if you have determined that your EtherScope nXG is not charging via PoE.  Simply tap that with your finger and enable it, then press the “back” triangle in the lower left, under the word “Management”.

 Now that you have pressed the “back” arrow button, you should be at the screen below:

You will now configure the unit to expect Class 4 PoE power.  Press the Settings icon (gear) next to the word START.  The following screen appears:

Tap the Wired Profile card somewhere in the middle of the card – in that empty space.  That will bring you to the settings in the Wired Profile as seen below:

As you can see, the PoE Test is set to Class 4, which will allow the EtherScope nXG to be charged via PoE.  I will go through the motions of setting it to Class 4 in case the unit is set to something else – which will likely not allow the unit to be charged via PoE.  From this point on, we will assume the unit showed PoE Test Class 1.

Press the PoE Test card and it will bring you to the PoE test page as shown below.  The PoE Test should be enabled, and needs to be set to Class 4 on the Powered Device Class card.  Since we are assuming it is set to Class 1, press the Powered Device Class card.

Once the Powered Device Class card has been pressed, the Powered Device Class screen should pop up, allowing the selection of Class 4 as shown below:

Select Class 4 and press OK.  Tap the “back” triangle in the lower left four times and it should bring you to the main screen.  If the EtherScope nXG is plugged into PoE Class 4 power, you should now see the unit charging – and now you’re ready to enjoy this awesome feature!