Quick, how many cables go into the back of a wireless (a.k.a. Wi-Fi or 802.11) netcam? That would be one: a power cord.

How many cables go into the back of a wired netcam, which hooks directly into your ethernet? Also one, if you’re using PoE (power over ethernet). PoE takes advantage of the fact that only two of the four twisted pairs of wire (connected to pins 1/2 and 3/6) in a standard Cat5 ethernet cable carry signals. The other four wires are available to deliver power to your camera or whatever other AC-powered device you have on the network.