What Are the Best Wi-Fi RFID Tags?

Aeroscout and Ekahau are two of the leading providers of Wi-Fi-based real-time location systems (RTLS). It's difficult to say whose tags are "best," however, or whether there is even such a thing as a tag that is the "best." Wi-Fi tags all have a similar read range, and communicate with access points using a standard air-interface protocol.

The best tag, in my view, is the one that gets the job done at the lowest total cost of ownership. In one application, the best tag might be one with a small form factor so that it would not affect a device's use. In another, the best tag might be one that came with an infrared sensor to improve location accuracy.

A Wi-Fi real-time location system, like any RTLS solution, should be evaluated as an entire system—tags, access points, software and integration with existing software applications. Choosing a system based on the tag alone would likely be a big mistake.