Environmental Sensors in Access Points

Environmental sensors in APs

Environmental sensors in APs are wireless AP features that

  • enable real-time collection of environmental data such as air quality, temperature, and humidity

  • embed sensors directly within supported Cisco Catalyst AP models, and

  • integrate with Cisco Spaces and wireless controller CLIs to allow configuration and monitoring of sensor data.

Use the Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller CLIs to enable or disable the sensors and set their scan interval.

Cisco Catalyst 9136 Series APs include two sensors:

  • Total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) air quality sensor

  • Combined temperature and humidity sensor


Note

Starting with Cisco IOS XE Cupertino 17.8.1, this feature is supported on Cisco Catalyst 9136 Series APs.

Cisco IOS XE Cupertino 17.9.1 adds support for air quality, temperature, and humidity on Cisco Catalyst Wireless 9166I Series Access Points.

Feature history

Table 1. Feature history for environmental sensors on APs

Feature Name

Release Information

Feature Description

Environmental sensors in APs

Cisco IOS XE 17.8.1

This feature helps you collect real-time environmental data, such as air quality, temperature, and humidity from the environmental sensors embedded in Cisco Catalyst 9136 Series APs.

Environmental sensors in APs

Cisco IOS XE 17.9.1

This feature is supported on Cisco Catalyst Wireless 9166I Series APs.

Use cases

These are the use cases for the environmental sensors in APs:

  • Maintain proper storage conditions and prevent pharmaceutical spoilage in healthcare environments

  • Monitor and improve air quality for guests in hospitality settings, and

  • Protect perishable products from spoilage in retail spaces.

Configure environmental sensors in an AP profile (CLI)

Enable data collection from environmental sensors in an AP profile to monitor air quality and temperature.

Procedure

Step 1

Enter the global configuration mode.

Example:

Device# configure terminal

Step 2

Configure an AP profile.

Example:

Device(config)# ap profile ap-profile-name

Step 3

Configure the AP environmental air quality sensor.

Example:

Device(config-ap-profile)# sensor environment air-quality

Enters AP sensor configuration mode.

Step 4

Enable the AP air quality sensor configuration.

Example:

Device(config-ap-sensor)# no shutdown

Step 5

Configure the AP environmental temperature sensor.

Example:

Device(config-ap-profile)# sensor environment temperature

Enters AP sensor configuration mode.

Step 6

Enable the AP temperature sensor configuration.

Example:

Device(config-ap-sensor)# no shutdown

Step 7

Configure the data sampling interval, in seconds.

Example:

Device(config-ap-sensor)# sampling data sampling interval 200

The valid range is between five and 3600. The default value is five. Use the no form of this command to set the data sampling interval to the default time of five.

Step 8

Exit the sub mode.

Example:

Device(config-ap-sensor)# exit

Configure environment sensors (CLI)

If an AP is sending invalid data, such as being located near an air vent or a coffee machine, disable the sensor by entering the necessary commands in the controller's privileged EXEC mode.


Note

A sensor operates in the Up state only when both the AP profile configuration state and the AP administrative state are enabled. If either state is disabled, the sensor’s operational status remains Down.

Procedure

Step 1

Enable the privileged EXEC mode and enter the password if prompted.

Example:

Device> enable

Step 2

Enable the sensor admin state of the AP.

Example:

Device# ap name CiscoAP sensor environment {air-quality | temperature} shutdown

Step 3

Disable the sensor admin state of the AP.

Example:

Device# ap name CiscoAP no sensor environment {air-quality | temperature} shutdown

Verify the AP sensor status

To verify the status of the AP sensors, run the command:

Device# show ap sensor status

AP Name                           MAC-address          Sensor-type      Config-State     Admin-State      Oper-Status      Sampling-Interval
                --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cisco.1DBC                         xxxx.xxxx.xxx1       Air-quality      Disabled         Enabled          Down             5      
Cisco.1DBC                         xxxx.xxxx.xxx2       Temperature      Disabled         Enabled          Down             5      
Cisco.1E24                         xxxx.xxxx.xxx3       Air-quality      Disabled         Enabled          Down             5      
Cisco.1E24                         xxxx.xxxx.xxx4       Temperature      Disabled         Enabled          Down             5