<!--
title: "Access point monitoring with Netdata"
custom_edit_url: https://github.com/netdata/netdata/edit/master/collectors/charts.d.plugin/ap/README.md
sidebar_label: "Access points"
-->

# Access point monitoring with Netdata

The `ap` collector visualizes data related to access points.

## Example Netdata charts

![image](https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/2662304/12377654/9f566e88-bd2d-11e5-855a-e0ba96b8fd98.png)

## How it works

It does the following:

1.  Runs `iw dev` searching for interfaces that have `type AP`.

    From the same output it collects the SSIDs each AP supports by looking for lines `ssid NAME`.

    Example:

```sh
# iw dev
phy#0
        Interface wlan0
                ifindex 3
                wdev 0x1
                addr 7c:dd:90:77:34:2a
                ssid TSAOUSIS
                type AP
                channel 7 (2442 MHz), width: 20 MHz, center1: 2442 MHz
```

2.  For each interface found, it runs `iw INTERFACE station dump`.

    From the output is collects:

    -   rx/tx bytes
    -   rx/tx packets
    -   tx retries
    -   tx failed
    -   signal strength
    -   rx/tx bitrate
    -   expected throughput

    Example:

```sh
# iw wlan0 station dump
Station 40:b8:37:5a:ed:5e (on wlan0)
        inactive time:  910 ms
        rx bytes:       15588897
        rx packets:     127772
        tx bytes:       52257763
        tx packets:     95802
        tx retries:     2162
        tx failed:      28
        signal:         -43 dBm
        signal avg:     -43 dBm
        tx bitrate:     65.0 MBit/s MCS 7
        rx bitrate:     1.0 MBit/s
        expected throughput:    32.125Mbps
        authorized:     yes
        authenticated:  yes
        preamble:       long
        WMM/WME:        yes
        MFP:            no
        TDLS peer:      no
```

3.  For each interface found, it creates 6 charts:

    -   Number of Connected clients
    -   Bandwidth for all clients
    -   Packets for all clients
    -   Transmit Issues for all clients
    -   Average Signal among all clients
    -   Average Bitrate (including average expected throughput) among all clients

## Configuration

Edit the `charts.d/ap.conf` configuration file using `edit-config` from the Netdata [config
directory](/docs/configure/nodes.md), which is typically at `/etc/netdata`.

```bash
cd /etc/netdata   # Replace this path with your Netdata config directory, if different
sudo ./edit-config charts.d/ap.conf
```

You can only set `ap_update_every=NUMBER` to change the data collection frequency.

## Auto-detection

The plugin is able to auto-detect if you are running access points on your linux box.

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