Do BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) trackers really track?

The limitations of Bluetooth trackers

Thomas Walk
Aug 9, 2017 · 4 min read

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) trackers seem like a perfect fit for the tracker market, but their limitations make them anything but ideal. Standard Global Positioning System (GPS) trackers that work with a 2G or 3G cellular system are still the most important trackers on the market.

To understand the attraction of BLE trackers, first let’s look at their strengths. They are extremely efficient when it comes to energy consumption. This is a great thing with any electronic device. Consumers are constantly searching for devices that last longer on a full battery, or devices that are smaller due to a smaller battery. BLE trackers seem to deliver on both of these: One charge can last weeks, months, even a year with some BLE devices; Due to their efficient use of energy, manufacturers can install tiny batteries of 5mm in diameter and 1mm in width. BLE allows for a very small tracker with a very long battery life. This is a huge plus for people who want a tracker that they can tuck away and feel is almost non-existent until they need it.

These tiny BLE trackers, which are relatively cheap, costing between US$20 and US$50, can be attached to keychains, backpacks, bicycles… anything of value that you are afraid of losing. Owners use a bluetooth signal to link their smartphones to the BLE tracker through the accompanying app on their phone. Because of the low energy-drain associated with bluetooth, this connection has a small drain on the smartphones battery. Once this connection is made, it’s possible to always know the last place you were in range of the object you want to track. Say you put a BLE tracker in your wallet, then leave your keys at a restaurant and walk away. Then, when you are in a mall down the street and go to buy a pair of shorts, you realize your wallet is gone and don’t remember where you last used it. With a BLE tracker, all you have to do is whip out your phone, check the app, and using a map service it will pinpoint the last location where you were in range of the wallet, in this case at the restaurant. Once you know this, you have to run back to the restaurant to hopefully retrieve your wallet.

And therein lies the limitation of BLE trackers. If somebody picked up and walked away with your wallet after you left, there is no way you can find it with a BLE tracker. The tracker can only tell you where your phone was last in range, not where the tracker has gone since then.

BLE trackers are not GPS devices. They are not equipped with chips for detecting GPS signals, nor are they equipped with chips for sending or receiving cellular signals over 2G, 3G or 4G wireless networks. Without the ability to determine its own location by detecting GPS signals or to transmit its location over a wireless non-bluetooth frequency, BLE trackers cannot live track. Bluetooth devices have a range of about 15 to 20 meters (yards). If you and your phone are in that range, you can detect the BLE tracker and your phone’s GPS can tell you where it is. But when you are out of range, there is zero connection with the tracker and your phone can only tell you where you were last in range. If that BLE tracker is somehow mobile… like, you left it and your wallet in a taxi, then it will not be where your phone tells you it is and you will likely never see it again.

Live tracking is different. When live tracking a device, you can use the mapping function of your phone to see where a device is, where it is going and where it has been… all live, right now. You will see the pin move on your smartphone map as the device and the valuables it is attached to move in the real world. To allow live tracking, a device requires, at a minimum, a GPS connection to locate itself on the planet and a cellular signal to tell the server connecting to your smartphone app where it is in the world. Many GPS trackers also have WiFi antennas to allow a quick location assist.

BLE trackers have non of these functions. In fact, calling BLE trackers is a bit of a misnomer as they do not track. They are more like electronic reminders if you leave something behind. They can prevent you from losing valuables, but they cannot help you find those valuables if they have moved.

Turtler

Exploring the possibilities of GPS tracking and sharing for companies, families and friends. Find out more: https://turtler.io/

Thomas Walk

Written by

Partner at Turtler GPS Ltd

Turtler

Turtler

Exploring the possibilities of GPS tracking and sharing for companies, families and friends. Find out more: https://turtler.io/

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