Complete Ubiquiti UniFi WiFi Monitoring Guide: PRTG Custom Scripts & SNMP Setup

Ubiquiti Networks is a company which designs and manufactures wireless hardware and software solutions for enterprise WiFi and operator WiMAX wireless data communication. In this detailed step by step guide we will show you how to monitor Ubiquiti's UniFi WiFi solutions with PRTG Network Monitor.

SNMP Monitoring vs. Controller API Monitoring

One way to monitor each of your UniFi access points is with PRTG's standard SNMP sensors together with Ubiquiti's private MIB files. This lets you monitor each access point in depth, giving you insight into any data available in the MIB file.

Though SNMP monitoring can be done on individual UniFi access points for more specific metrics, this method poses some challenges when managing an overall wireless network:

• Configured Individually: Requires setting up each access point as a separate sensor in PRTG
• SNMP Setup: Must enable SNMP on devices and configure community strings
• Scaling Difficult: Can be cumbersome to manage hundreds of individual sensors
• No Central Visibility: Lacks a single view of wireless network status across multiple sites

Ubiquiti UniFi SNMP Settings

PowerShell Script Setup for UniFi Controllers

We made a custom script sensor to monitor the controller directly and give you a bird’s-eye view of all your access points in one sensor.

Here’s what you can monitor with the PowerShell script for UniFi:

• Number of connected access points per site
• Total connected wireless clients
• Bandwidth utilization
• Access point health
• Controller connectivity
• Site performance

You don’t need to monitor each AP individually and instead have a centralized visibility of your entire UniFi deployment.

Special thanks to Luciano Lingnau, our technical support team member who published the following script in our Knowledge Base.

The script uses UniFi RESTful API to pull the data into PRTG and display controller metrics like::

• Response time from the controller’s API
• Number of access points connected to the controller (UAPs in “connected” status)
• Total number of connected clients, including guests
• Total number of connected guests
• Number of upgradeable access points (UAPs in “connected” status, with the “upgradeable” flag set)

Disclaimer: As this script queries all information directly from the UniFi controller, it will show a global view for all access points that are attached to the queried controller. Additionally, it only requires HTTP access to the controller – No SNMP access to each access point is required.

UniFi Monitoring System Requirements:

• PRTG Network Monitor 16.4.27 or newer

• PowerShell execution must be enabled on the PRTG probe

• UniFi Controller with API access enabled

• Network connectivity between PRTG probe and UniFi Controller

• Valid UniFi administrator credentials to use for API authentication

UniFi Cloud Key / UDM Pro Special Configuration

NOTE: For UDM Pro and UniFi Cloud Key, the API endpoint may need additional adjustments:

If you are using UniFi Cloud Key Gen2 / UDM Pro, you will need to make the following adjustments to the default API Endpoints. The UniFi Monitoring script must be configured to support these special controller models::

1. API Endpoint Adjustment: Change the default controller port from 8443 to the Cloud Key specific port

2. Authentication Method: Modify authentication parameters for Cloud Key compatibility

3. Data Parsing: Adjust JSON response parsing for UDM Pro API variations

For some reason (per ubntwiki.com) the API endpoints are slightly different with these versions of the UniFi Controller. The script will work, but needs 2 little tweaks to function in this situation.

Monitoring works fine with these changes on Cloud Key and UDM Pro as well.

PowerShell Script Deployment Guide

Step-by-step installation of the UniFi monitoring script:

1. Download the Script: Copy the Custom PowerShell UniFi Status script from our Knowledge Base article

2. Save Location: Save as Custom Powershell Unifi Status.ps1 under: C:\Program Files (x86)\PRTG Network Monitor\Custom Sensors\EXEXML\

3. Configure Controller Access: Ensure your UniFi Controller API is accessible and you have admin credentials

4. Create PRTG Sensor: Add a new EXE/Script Advanced sensor in PRTG

5. Set Parameters: Configure the script with your UniFi Controller IP, port, and credentials

6. Test Connectivity: Verify the sensor can successfully authenticate and retrieve data

7. Configure Thresholds: Set up custom channel alerts based on your requirements

Setting Up Intelligent Alerting

The UniFi monitoring sensor requires manual threshold configuration to provide meaningful alerts. By default, the sensor will not produce any alerts unless it cannot authenticate or contact the UniFi controller.

Once the sensor is deployed, you're advised to set up limits in the sensor channel settings:

• Access Point Count Monitoring: Set lower error limits to detect offline access points immediately

• Client Connection Thresholds: Configure warnings for abnormal client connection patterns

• Bandwidth Utilization Alerts: Define limits based on your wireless capacity planning

• Controller Connectivity: Enable immediate notifications for controller communication failures

For example, define a lower error limit for the number of connected access points. This way you are notified as soon as the number of connected access points is lower than expected. See also: How to set up notifications via the PRTG web interface.

Advanced UniFi Metrics and Alerting

Further, German blogger Frank Carius expanded this script to monitor the following advanced metrics:

The blog post of Frank covers in great detail how to pick the right UniFi hardware for your needs, as well as best practices when deploying UniFi in an enterprise. Even if you don't speak German, you can find the extended script (commented in English!) over at the "Tech" section of his blog.

The expanded script shows in addition to the usual controller metrics details for individual access points, as well as in depth wireless network monitoring..

Why Choose PRTG Over Dedicated UniFi Monitoring Tools

Dedicated UniFi monitoring tools only display wireless metrics, while PRTG unifies infrastructure monitoring and clearly associates WiFi performance with the network backbone. This holistic visibility uncovers issues that isolated monitoring misses:

• Root Cause Analysis: Correlate wireless performance issues with upstream network problems

• Capacity Planning: Integrate WiFi usage trends with overall network utilization

• Single Pane Management: Eliminate the need for separate monitoring dashboards

• Cost Efficiency: Monitor UniFi alongside existing network infrastructure without additional licensing

Whereas other network monitoring systems rely on external integrations and/or separate licenses for wireless visibility, PRTG offers out-of-the-box UniFi monitoring from its extensive sensor library. Going beyond device-centric tools like Domotz, PRTG enables actionable insights in the form of performance data, historical trending and predictive alerting for the enterprise wireless LAN.

Troubleshooting Common UniFi Monitoring Issues

Authentication Failures

• Verify UniFi Controller credentials are correct

• Check if two-factor authentication is blocking API access

• Ensure the monitoring account has sufficient privileges

API Endpoint Connectivity

• Confirm UniFi Controller is accessible from PRTG probe

• Verify firewall rules allow HTTPS traffic on port 8443

• Test controller URL manually before configuring sensor

PowerShell Execution Policy

• Check PowerShell execution policy on PRTG probe system

• Enable script execution if restricted by corporate policy

• Verify .NET Framework compatibility

Sensor Timeout Issues

• Increase sensor timeout for large UniFi deployments

• Optimize script performance for sites with many access points

• Consider splitting large sites into multiple sensors

Technical Capabilities and Integration

PRTG supports UniFi wireless monitoring with native SNMP sensors as well as custom PowerShell script sensors using the EXE/Script Advanced sensor technology. PRTG natively supports all UniFi Controllers including Cloud Key, UDM Pro, and all legacy UniFi Software controllers by connecting directly to the Controller API.

PRTG’s dual-sensor support for UniFi allows complete and redundant visibility across all your UniFi infrastructure assets, not limited to any one method of monitoring. UniFi historical data, proactive analysis, and asset correlation to underlying network infrastructure data is not found in most single-protocol WiFi monitoring solutions.

The ability to monitor UniFi with PRTG’s sensor-based pricing ensures that you only pay for the data you need to monitor your UniFi Controllers today, and in the future as your wireless network grows.

Get Started with UniFi Monitoring Today

Whether you are tracking a single UniFi office or you want to monitor your distributed wireless networks that are spread out over multiple office locations, PRTG has the enterprise level monitoring your UniFi network is looking for.

Get all-inclusive UniFi monitoring for your business with PRTG's 30 day free trial. Unlimited UniFi devices, no strings attached. Start Free Trial!

Don't know how to set up UniFi monitoring? No problem. Download our full PowerShell script and receive free technical support while on your trial period. We're here to help you deploy the best possible UniFi monitoring setup for your network.

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