I've tried powering a Nanode using a TL-POE10R PoE splitter (cost about
£10).
This has two output options - 5v and 12v. With 12v output wired up to the
screw terminals, the Nanode consumes about 3.3W according to my PoE switch
and the heatsink on the 5v reg gets rather hot. With 5v output wired up to
the ftdi connector, the Nanode consumes about 1.7W. (I guess 1.6W being
dumped into the heatsink is quite a lot!)
The 5v supply from the TL-POE10R seems stable enough to power the Nanode
with no problems. If you have extra electronics connected, it can supply up
to 2.3A - about 11W.
So - not cheap, but handy if you need to run a Nanode from an 802.3af PoE
switch when there's no other power supply around.
Steve