Why you may not need a wifi sniffer tracker

When developing an IoT gadget, weareable, tracker or any other device, there are usually three important factors that will have a big impact in the success or failure of it.
 

• Cost
• Battery duration
• Usability

 
All of them are very closely related. For example:

• If two devices have the same price, but the battery of one of them lasts double than the other one, then it can be said that one is half of the cost compared to the other
• If a device is cheap and very durable, but not usable, then it becomes very expensive.

 
If we are talking about IoT trackers then the usability fact is directly linked to the location accuracy. These are the main methods of how the location is calculated:
 

• GPS location:

This is the most accurate positioning method (5-10 meters). But it has some problems: it only works outdoor. It adds a cost to the device and it consumes a lot of battery, which in the end, becomes a non-lasting expensive solution. (3-5 years)

1. Cost: High
2. Battery duration: up to 5 years
3. Accuracy: 5-10 meters (only outdoor) 

• Wifi sniffing location:

This is a solution in the middle. It is not very accurate (50-100 meters) but it only works where wifi infrastructure has been deployed. In a similar way to GPS it adds a extra cost to the device and this affects the battery duration. In the end, it becomes a non-lasting solution. (5-7 years)

1. Cost: Medium
2. Battery duration: up to 7 years
3. Accuracy: 50-100 meters

• Network triangulation location:

This is the most simple solution but its accuracy is the poorest (1-5 Km). However, there is no need to add an extra chip to the device, so the cost is reduced and therefore, it has the longest battery duration. In the end, it becomes a long-lasting, scalable and cost effective solution. (10-15 years)

1. Cost: Low
2. Battery duration: up to 15 years
3. Accuracy: 1-5 Km (can be reduced to less than 300 m)

 
 
So if you are involved in a real-time asset tracking project, you will probably be wondering how can you have the best accuracy, longest battery duration and lowest cost for a considerable amount of trackers. Well, there is a solution for that:
 
How can the accuracy of option 3 be improved? Well, a gateway antenna can be placed in the facilities or warehouses to reduce the location error from several kilometers to less than 300 meters. By using this configuration, the cost of each tracker is not increased, the battery duration is not reduced and the location accuracy is improved by a factor of ten.