Radio as a Sensor

When in Sensor mode, an ExtremeWireless AP's radio does not service clients. Instead, it scans channels and functions as a sensor for the following services:
  • AirDefense Essentials
  • AirDefense Services Platform (ADSP)

    ADSP is supported on all ExtremeWireless APs.

  • Positioning services

    Positioning reports the MAC addresses and RSS values that the radio receives, and can co-exist with any radio mode.

The access point (AP) scans all channels that are allowed by the selected country. When the configuration Profile includes an ADSP profile, the ADSP server controls the channels.

You can use the Smart RF Auto Sensor feature in conjunction with ADSP to automate sensor radio management on eligible APs; otherwise, you can manually configure AP sensor radios.

Automated Sensor Management with Smart RF Auto Sensor

On AP models that include a dedicated sensor radio, you can use Smart RF Auto Sensor in conjunction with ADSP to automate sensor radio assignment across a site. When Auto Sensor is enabled in the Smart RF policy, ExtremeCloud IQ Controller dynamically selects which APs activate their dedicated sensor radio, targeting a ratio of one sensor AP for every three data APs. The controller recalculates sensor selection hourly based on current AP density.

Smart RF Auto Sensor is the recommended method for managing sensor deployment in large campus environments where manually configuring individual AP sensor radios is not practical. For configuration details, see Smart RF Auto Sensor Settings.

For deployments that require static sensor assignment—for example, where specific APs must remain dedicated sensors regardless of density—configure the sensor radio manually as described in Manual Sensor Configuration.

Manual Sensor Configuration

The method you use to configure an AP radio as a sensor depends on the AP model.

For AP4020/X/FX, AP4060/X, AP5020, AP5022/FX/SD6, and AP5060D/U, consider the following:

  • The sensor supports basic WIPS with AirDefense Base Application.

  • The sensor does not support 320 MHz channel width.

  • Radio 4 detection and sensing capabilities are limited to legacy rates.

For AP4020/X/FX, AP4060/X, AP5020, AP5022/FX/SD6, and AP5060D/U models, to enable the Radio 4 sensor:

  1. From the Edit Profile page, select the Air Defense tab.

  2. Choose from the following actions:
    • Select the Enable AirDefense Essentials check box to dedicate the Radio 4 sensor to AirDefense Essentials service.

    • From the Air Defense Profile drop-down list, select an existing profile.

      Optionally, you can:

      • Select to edit the profile.

      • Select to delete the profile.

    • Select to create a new Air Defense Profile, then select it from the drop-down list.

For all other eligible AP models, from the Edit Profile page, select the Radios tab. Set the Mode to Sensor, as follows:

After the radio mode is set to Sensor on the configuration Profile, define the scan list under Advanced Profile settings.

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