AirDefense Profile Settings

The AP integrates with Extreme AirDefense (AirDefense), offering an additional profile option that allows the AP to function as an AirDefense sensor or to act as a sensor and retain the ability to forward traffic.

When the AP is configured with an AirDefense dedicated sensor profile, the functionality of the AP is controlled by the AirDefense server. When the AP is configured with an AirDefense Radio Share profile, it continues to forward traffic while sending packets to an AirDefense server. To ensure rate performance, an AP configured with a Radio Share profile does not forward its own Tx/Rx data to the ADSP server.

The AP3xx, AP4xx, AP5xx, AP4020/X/FX, and AP4060/X support Radio Share and OCS. AP4xx, AP4020/X/FX, AP4060/X, AP5022/FX/S6D, and AP5060D/U offer a separate sensor radio. For AP4060/X, the sensor does not support 320 MHz channel width.

Interaction with Smart RF AutoSensor Placement

When Smart RF AutoSensor Placement is enabled in the Smart RF policy, the AirDefense profile provides the ADSP server connection details used by the automatically selected sensor APs. AutoSensor Placement activates or deactivates the dedicated sensor radio on selected APs; the ADSP server, specified in the AirDefense profile, then controls the channel scanning behavior and collects wireless data from the active sensor radios.

The relationship between AutoSensor Placement and the AirDefense profile is as follows:

AirDefense profile — Defines the ADSP server address, port, and connection parameters. Must be configured and assigned to the device group before enabling AutoSensor Placement.
AutoSensor Placement (Smart RF policy) — Determines which APs in the site activate their dedicated sensor radio, based on a 1-to-3 sensor-to-data-AP ratio. Once a sensor radio is activated, it connects to the ADSP server using the parameters from the assigned AirDefense profile.

Note

AutoSensor Placement manages the dedicated sensor radio on eligible APs. It does not interact with Radio Share mode. APs operating in Radio Share mode are not affected by AutoSensor Placement and continue to forward traffic as configured.

To enable AutoSensor Placement, the AirDefense profile must first be configured and assigned to the device group. See Smart RF Auto Sensor Settings.

Configuring an AirDefense Profile

Configure the following settings:

Table 1. AirDefense Profile Settings
Field	Description
Profile Name	Name of the AirDefense profile.
Add Server Address	The IP address of the AirDefense servers. Provide the FQDN or IPv4 string, maximum 255 characters. Enter the IP address, then click the add icon. The IP address is added to the Servers list. Note: When using the AirDefense Base (add-on container application), provide the IP address of the ExtremeCloud IQ Controller data port that is reachable by the APs and sensors.
Port	Specify a port for the AirDefense server. The default port is 443 (used with a dedicated external AirDefense server). Note: When using the AirDefense Base (add-on container application), configure port number to 32032.
Servers	List of IP addresses for servers. Click the delete icon to remove an IP address from the list.

Select Save.

Note

For AP4020/X/FX, AP4060/X, AP5022/FX/S6D, and AP5060D/U, this step enables the dedicated sensor on Radio 4 to support AirDefense and completes this procedure. For other eligible AP models, select the Radios tab and configure the sensor radio profile according to instructions for the specific Device Group AP model. See Radio Modes for details.