Purpose of passthrough port

What is the purpose of the passthrough port?

There are two ports marked "Passthrough" on the E430W. One is on the rear of the device (below eth1) and the other is on the bottom port panel (along with eth2-eth4). The connectivity between these two ports is purely electrical and the AP does not modify (or try to decode) a signal applied to either of these ports in any way - the same signal will appear at the other port.

There are a couple of ways in which you can use this port:

  • When you wall mount a device, you can install a second cable run (the first being for the PoE / eth1 port to the AP) through the wall conduit to the same wallplate and connect it to the rear passthrough port. You can then connect any device in the room to the bottom passthrough port to enable connectivity. This can be done even for non-Ethernet analog devices like phones (the AP does not modify or analyze the signal on the passthrough port)
  • In some cases you may want connectivity to eth1 to be physically accessible post installation on a wall mount or you may want to supply power and data to the AP through the bottom port panel, rather than throgh the rear (e.g. when you use the desk mount kit). In that case, you can attach a very short Ethernet cable between the rear passthrough port and eth1. Data and PoE can then be supplied to the bottom passthrough port, which in effect is electrically connected to eth1
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