Patent ID: 8386832

Claim:
A method for providing redundancy for communications and/or inline power between a first network node and a second network node in a wired data telecommunications network, the method comprising: directing, from the first network node, redundant network communications to and from a first network device and a second network device; coupling a first port of a Y device to the second network node, the Y device having at least three ports with at least two pairs of conductors coupled across the at least three ports; coupling a second port of the Y device to a first port of the first network device; coupling a third port of the Y device to a first port of the second network device; configuring the first network device as a master device to serve as the operative network device of the first network device and the second network device and route communications between the network node and the first port of the wired data telecommunications network; configuring the second network device as a slave device; monitoring, at the second network device, communications and/or inline power between the second network node and the first port of the first network device; detecting a condition in the first network device in response to monitoring communications and/or inline power between the second network node and the first port of the first network device; and reconfiguring the second network device as the master device and the first network device as the slave device in response to detecting the condition in the first network device.