Is it enough to equip anti-theft gates with one or two readers in the entrance area, about 12 meters apart, or is it necessary to put readers on every gate from both sides? Do these readers cost the same as usual readers, and what is the price for reading anti-theft gates via RFID? It’s strange, but information that I’ve found is that RFID gates cost from $2,000 to $4,000 apiece, while a single gate reader for the exit costs approximately $9,900. Why is a gate cheaper than a reader?
—Name withheld
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Let’s take those questions one at a time.
1. Is it enough to equip anti-theft gates with one or two readers in the entrance area, about 12 meters apart, or is it necessary to put readers on every gate from both sides? Do these readers cost the same as usual readers, and what is the price for reading anti-theft gates via RFID?
You should probably talk to companies that sell gate readers designed to detect stolen items, but I would say that having reader antennas located 12 meters apart at two heights would work well. Many ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) Gen 2 readers support four or even eight reader antennas. The precise configuration would best be determined with some testing, but you could mount a reader on each of two gates, and have two antennas facing to the right and two to the left. That would cover the area. You might need three readers, with 12 reader antennas covering the area.
2. It’s strange, but information that I’ve found is that RFID gates cost from $2,000 to $4,000 apiece, while a single gate reader for the exit costs approximately $9,900. Why is a gate cheaper than a reader?
I don’t know which sites you’ve been visiting, but it is likely that the gates have no readers, so you will need to purchase separate readers to install at the gates. A reader typically costs about $2,000 to $4,000, plus the gate and the cost of installation. I would expect each gate will thus cost between $8,000 and $10,000 with wiring and cabling.
—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal