diff --git a/deploy.sh b/deploy.sh
index feb7fcc..313ad66 100755
--- a/deploy.sh
+++ b/deploy.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #         ./deploy.sh --post-check [conf]  # read-only live checks (units, br0, LAN, NAT, dnsmasq, radios, uplink); exit 1 on any warning
 #                                    # POSTCHECK_WAIT=<s>: seconds retried probes may wait in total (default 15; 0 = single attempt)
 #         ./deploy.sh --classify-unit <ActiveState> <Result> <ExecMainStatus>  # prints ok|finished|wait|warn (used by post_check; for tests)
+#         ./deploy.sh --classify-radio     # reads `iw dev <if> info` text on stdin, prints beaconing|silent (no ssid line = silent; used by post_check; for tests)
 #         ./deploy.sh render <file>        # preview a templated file on stdout
 #         ./deploy.sh --redact             # filter stdin, masking secret values (used by --diff; for tests)
 # Idempotent. Netplan (wlan0 + Starlink NIC = NM-managed WANs; eth0 is a LAN
@@ -141,6 +142,15 @@ classify_unit() {  # classify_unit <ActiveState> <Result> <ExecMainStatus> -> ok
     esac
 }
 
+classify_radio() {  # stdin: `iw dev <if> info` text -> beaconing (has an ssid line) | silent
+    local line
+    while IFS= read -r line || [ -n "$line" ]; do
+        line=${line#"${line%%[![:space:]]*}"}
+        case "$line" in "ssid "*) echo beaconing; return 0 ;; esac
+    done
+    echo silent
+}
+
 post_check() {  # read-only live checks; every probe is guarded, warns instead of aborting
     set_units
     echo "== post-deploy check =="
@@ -204,11 +214,16 @@ post_check() {  # read-only live checks; every probe is guarded, warns instead o
     has_dhcp() { local o; o=$(ss -ulnH 2>/dev/null | awk '{print $4}') || true; [[ $'\n'$o == *:67$'\n'* || $o == *:67 ]]; }
     if retry has_dhcp; then echo "   ok    dnsmasq bound to UDP 67"
     else warn "post-deploy: nothing bound to UDP port 67 (dnsmasq DHCP)"; fi
-    # f. AP radios
+    # f. AP radios (present but no ssid = hostapd is not beaconing)
+    radio_beaconing() { out=$(iw dev "$1" info 2>/dev/null) || return 1
+        [ "$(classify_radio <<<"$out")" = beaconing ]; }
     for n in "$WIFI_5G_IFACE" "$WIFI_2G_IFACE"; do
-        if out=$(iw dev "$n" info 2>/dev/null); then
+        u=hostapd; [ "$n" = "$WIFI_5G_IFACE" ] || u=hostapd-2g
+        out=
+        if retry radio_beaconing "$n"; then
             echo "   ok    radio $n: $(echo "$out" | grep -E 'ssid|channel' | sed 's/^[[:space:]]*//' | tr '\n' ';')"
-        else warn "post-deploy: radio $n not present (its hostapd keeps retrying until it appears)"; fi
+        elif [ -z "$out" ]; then warn "post-deploy: radio $n not present (its hostapd keeps retrying until it appears)"
+        else warn "post-deploy: radio $n is present but not beaconing (no ssid) — check: journalctl -u $u -n 30"; fi
     done
     # g. uplink
     out=$(ip route show default 2>/dev/null) || true
@@ -265,6 +280,9 @@ case "${1:-}" in
     --classify-unit)   # ./deploy.sh --classify-unit <ActiveState> <Result> <ExecMainStatus>
         classify_unit "${2:-}" "${3:-}" "${4:-}"
         exit 0 ;;
+    --classify-radio)   # ./deploy.sh --classify-radio < `iw dev <if> info` text
+        classify_radio
+        exit 0 ;;
     --post-check)   # ./deploy.sh --post-check [conf] — live checks, no root, no install; exit 1 on any warning
         load_conf "${2:-$VANLINK_CONF}"
         post_check
diff --git a/tests/check-templates.sh b/tests/check-templates.sh
index edb2001..78992f6 100755
--- a/tests/check-templates.sh
+++ b/tests/check-templates.sh
@@ -193,4 +193,13 @@ for row in "active success 0:ok" "inactive success 0:finished" "failed exit-code
     if [ "$got" = "$want" ]; then ok "--classify-unit $args -> $want"; else bad "--classify-unit $args gave '$got', want '$want'"; fi
 done
 
+# 13. radio beaconing classification used by post_check (present but no ssid = not beaconing)
+r_ok=$'Interface wlan1\n\tifindex 5\n\ttype AP\n\tssid VanLink2\n\tchannel 149 (5745 MHz), width: 80 MHz, center1: 5775 MHz'
+r_bad=$'Interface wlxd8ec5e2faa8c\n\tifindex 6\n\twdev 0x100000001\n\taddr d8:ec:5e:2f:aa:8c\n\ttype AP\n\twiphy 39\n\ttxpower 30.00 dBm'
+for row in "beaconing:$r_ok" "silent:$r_bad" "silent:"; do
+    want=${row%%:*}; inp=${row#*:}
+    got=$(printf '%s\n' "$inp" | ./deploy.sh --classify-radio 2>&1) || true
+    if [ "$got" = "$want" ]; then ok "--classify-radio -> $want"; else bad "--classify-radio gave '$got', want '$want'"; fi
+done
+
 exit "$fail"