Access Point List

The left application panel is used to display the list of APs detected by the application (if you have a compatible adapter installed.) It also displays virtual APs if you perform a predictive survey.You can use the Group by button to group APs by band, channel, or SSID. Grouping by SSID is the best method in a corporate WLAN environment, where all the WLAN's APs share the same SSID.

The AP list displays key AP parameters in the corresponding columns: SSID, vendor, channel, current signal level in dBm, supported encryption type(s), maximum data rate in Mbps, the number of 802.11n spatial streams, and MAC address. If the vendor is unknown, the AP name is preceded by “Unknown.” If the vendor name is known, the AP name is preceded by the vendor name followed by the AP type. Additionally, for Cisco APs, TamoGraph will try to find and use AP names assigned by the administrator. You can rename APs by right-clicking on them and selecting Rename. To restore the original name, simply delete a user-assigned name by hitting the backspace key. If the AP uses channel bonding (two 20 MHz channels), the number of the secondary channel is shown in parenthesis after the primary channel number. You can customize the columns by right-clicking on the list header or change their order by dragging them. The APs that are not currently audible are shown in grey font, and their signal level is shown as “N/A.”

The AP icons are color-coded to reflect the 802.11 bands and standards they use:

The check boxes next to the APs play a very important role: They should be used for selecting the APs you want TamoGraph to analyze.  When the Selected APs mode is enabled on the tool bar, data visualizations for passive surveys include only the APs that have checked boxes next to them.

Right-clicking on the AP list allows you to Select All or Deselect All APs, as well as to disable or enable the Ignore APs if max. signal is below option (see AP Detection and Placement for more information.) If the list of APs becomes too long and you prefer to not see the APs that are currently outside of the range, select Advanced => Remove Inactive APs. This will remove the APs that have been outside of the range for longer than two minutes.

If the AP signal is strong enough and if a sufficient number of readings has been recorded, TamoGraph computes the AP location and places the corresponding icon on the site map. Those APs that are present on the floor plan have a small plus (+) sign in the lower right corner of their icons. The Auto-locate Access Points command allows you to reset the original estimated AP location(s) of either all or only the highlighted AP if you changed them by moving AP icons with the mouse. If an AP was not automatically placed on the site map and you want to place it there, you can drag the AP icon from the AP list to the site map. To remove it from the site map, drag the AP icon outside of it or use the Clear Access Point Locations command. See Adjusting AP Locations for more information. Virtual APs that were created by the user for predictive surveys have a small blue “V” sign in the lower right corner of their icons; such APs cannot be auto-located or dragged off the site map.

AP Ignore List

Sometimes, a surveyor might need to ignore one or several APs completely. This might be the case when APs do not have a fixed location, e.g., APs that are installed in elevators, or when APs are used temporarily, e.g., a laptop that is used as a hot spot. To ignore such an AP, select it on the AP list, right-click on it, and then select Advanced => Ignore this AP. The AP's MAC address (also known as BSSID) will be added to the ignore list and any packets from this AP will be discarded. The ignore list can be accessed via the Settings => AP Ignore List command of the main application menu. You can review the list and add or remove one or multiple MAC addresses.