Patent ID: 8325710

Claim:
An adapter for coupling an inline powered communications device to a primary network and to a secondary network, the communications device configured for having an assigned device identification and configurable for using an assigned network address for use in routing data over either of the networks and receiving inline power from either of the networks, the adapter comprising: a first port having a device connector having device inline power and data connections for connecting to the communications device to facilitate the communication of the data and the inline power between the adapter and the communications device, the inline power for use in operating the communications device; a second port having a primary network connector having primary network inline power and data connections for connecting to the primary network to facilitate the communication of the data and the inline power between the primary network and the communications device via the first port, the second port coupled to the first port; a third port having a secondary network connector having secondary network inline power and data connections for connecting to the secondary network to facilitate the supply of the data and the inline power between the secondary network and the communications device via the first port, the third port coupled to the first port; and a module configured for redirecting a transmission path of the inline power between the first port and the third port when the inline power becomes unavailable from primary network via the second port, while maintaining a transmission path of the data between the device data connection and the primary network data connection, by decoupling the device inline power connection from the primary network inline power connection and coupling the device inline power connection to the secondary network inline power connection.