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<!--startmeta
custom_edit_url: "https://github.com/netdata/netdata/edit/master/collectors/charts.d.plugin/ap/README.md"
meta_yaml: "https://github.com/netdata/netdata/edit/master/collectors/charts.d.plugin/ap/metadata.yaml"
sidebar_label: "Access Points"
learn_status: "Published"
learn_rel_path: "Data Collection/Linux Systems/Network"
message: "DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE DIRECTLY, IT IS GENERATED BY THE COLLECTOR'S metadata.yaml FILE"
endmeta-->
# Access Points
<img src="https://netdata.cloud/img/network-wired.svg" width="150"/>
Plugin: charts.d.plugin
Module: ap
<img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/maintained%20by-Netdata-%2300ab44" />
## Overview
The ap collector visualizes data related to wireless access points.
It uses the `iw` command line utility to detect access points. For each interface that is of `type AP`, it then runs `iw INTERFACE station dump` and collects statistics.
This collector is only supported on the following platforms:
- Linux
This collector only supports collecting metrics from a single instance of this integration.
### Default Behavior
#### Auto-Detection
The plugin is able to auto-detect if you are running access points on your linux box.
#### Limits
The default configuration for this integration does not impose any limits on data collection.
#### Performance Impact
The default configuration for this integration is not expected to impose a significant performance impact on the system.
## Metrics
Metrics grouped by *scope*.
The scope defines the instance that the metric belongs to. An instance is uniquely identified by a set of labels.
### Per wireless device
These metrics refer to the entire monitored application.
This scope has no labels.
Metrics:
| Metric | Dimensions | Unit |
|:------|:----------|:----|
| ap.clients | clients | clients |
| ap.net | received, sent | kilobits/s |
| ap.packets | received, sent | packets/s |
| ap.issues | retries, failures | issues/s |
| ap.signal | average signal | dBm |
| ap.bitrate | receive, transmit, expected | Mbps |
## Alerts
There are no alerts configured by default for this integration.
## Setup
### Prerequisites
#### Install charts.d plugin
If [using our official native DEB/RPM packages](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/packaging/installer/UPDATE.md#determine-which-installation-method-you-used), make sure `netdata-plugin-chartsd` is installed.
#### `iw` utility.
Make sure the `iw` utility is installed.
### Configuration
#### File
The configuration file name for this integration is `charts.d/ap.conf`.
You can edit the configuration file using the `edit-config` script from the
Netdata [config directory](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/configure/nodes.md#the-netdata-config-directory).
```bash
cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata/etc/netdata
sudo ./edit-config charts.d/ap.conf
```
#### Options
The config file is sourced by the charts.d plugin. It's a standard bash file.
The following collapsed table contains all the options that can be configured for the ap collector.
<details><summary>Config options</summary>
| Name | Description | Default | Required |
|:----|:-----------|:-------|:--------:|
| ap_update_every | The data collection frequency. If unset, will inherit the netdata update frequency. | 1 | False |
| ap_priority | Controls the order of charts at the netdata dashboard. | 6900 | False |
| ap_retries | The number of retries to do in case of failure before disabling the collector. | 10 | False |
</details>
#### Examples
##### Change the collection frequency
Specify a custom collection frequence (update_every) for this collector
```yaml
# the data collection frequency
# if unset, will inherit the netdata update frequency
ap_update_every=10
# the charts priority on the dashboard
#ap_priority=6900
# the number of retries to do in case of failure
# before disabling the module
#ap_retries=10
```
## Troubleshooting
### Debug Mode
To troubleshoot issues with the `ap` collector, run the `charts.d.plugin` with the debug option enabled. The output
should give you clues as to why the collector isn't working.
- Navigate to the `plugins.d` directory, usually at `/usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/`. If that's not the case on
your system, open `netdata.conf` and look for the `plugins` setting under `[directories]`.
```bash
cd /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/
```
- Switch to the `netdata` user.
```bash
sudo -u netdata -s
```
- Run the `charts.d.plugin` to debug the collector:
```bash
./charts.d.plugin debug 1 ap
```
|
