We have multiple beacons for our Android mobile applications, We want to use them for retail stores. we are facing few issues. please help us to solve them.
We used development kit wherein 5ft maximum range was possible.
we ordered beacons in bulk now initial range available is 1ft and 12 feet. its difficult to use it. we somehow changed our plan of installing beacons but now facing a bigger problem.
We set broadcasting power for 12ft/3.5 meter, while testing we are getting signals at 23 feet, it’s double than maximum range. please look in this and give best solution.
The range numbers are just estimations, and you should never treat them as absolute.
Think about the range of the Bluetooth (electromagnetic) radio waves as speakers and sound. At any given volume, the sound doesn’t just auto-magically “stop” at a certain distance from the speaker. It just gets quieter and quieter the further away you are. Some people might only hear at until X ft, and some people with better hearing might do until 2X ft. (s/people/smartphones/)
How you define “I can still hear the sound” also matters, e.g., if you’re talking to somebody on the phone, maybe you still hear their voice, but can’t actually tell what they’re saying. Would that mean you’re still “in range” of the sound or not? Theoretically, yes, but for practical purposes, no? (For beacons, this analogy is equivalent to "if you can detect 1 packet out of 100 at 50 ft, does that mean the beacon has 50 ft range? What if you detect 50 out of 100? 80 out of 100? Where do you draw the line?)
Where you position the speaker/beacons is also important due to reflections, absorption, interference, standing waves, nodes, antinodes, etc. (Just some waves theory! ^_^)
If you want your beacon events to trigger around the 12-ft mark, then just measure the average RSSI at that mark, with as many devices as you can (Android smartphones have significantly different reception characteristics), and make your events trigger around that RSSI.
Hello Heypiotr,
Thanks for replying.
where do we get RSSI value for 12 feet?
There’s really no better way to do that than to measure it yourself, in your target environment/beacon placement (:
e.g., take the Estimote app, place the beacon where you want it to go, stand 12 ft away from it, and check the RSSI shown in the app, repeat a few times, and take the average/median.
Hello we tried to follow your instructions. but which screen of the app shows RSSI values. please share if these is any video link or instruction link.