GPS, Bluetooth or UWB? Choosing the Right Asset Tracking Tag

Ask "how do I track my assets" and you get one answer back: GPS. But GPS is only one of four technologies that matter, and on a real site the right choice is usually a mix. A pallet in a warehouse, a generator on a compound, a worker in a tunnel and a ewe on open hill each need something different. This guide walks through the options in plain terms, so you buy the tag that actually fits the job. Last updated: August 2026. The four ways to locate a tag GNSS (GPS) locates outdoors to a few metres using satellites. Perfect for vehicles, plant, containers and livestock in the open. It needs sky view, so it struggles indoors and under heavy cover. Bluetooth (BLE) does not give a coordinate on its own. Instead, low-cost beacons and tags are detected by nearby gateways, so you know an asset is "in this zone" or "near this door." Cheap, tiny, multi-year battery life, and it works indoors where GPS cannot. UWB (ultra-wideband) measures time-of-flight between a tag and fixed anchors to locate it to roughly 10cm in real time. This is the technology for a genuine real-time location system (RTLS) where precision matters: tool cribs, production lines, high-value stores. Cellular assist and AGPS speed up and sharpen GPS in the field, and some tags fall back to cell-tower or Wi-Fi positioning when satellites are blocked. Most sites end up combining them: GNSS outdoors, Bluetooth for indoor zones and yards, UWB in the one area that needs centimetres. Connectivity: the choice that sets your running cost Locating the tag is half the story. The tag also has to report, and that is where the running cost lives. LoRaWAN sips power and reports over a long-range radio network you install yourself with a gateway. No per-tag SIM, no data bill, multi-year battery. Ideal for farms, campuses, yards and sites where you own the coverage. Browse the LoRaWAN gateways that anchor it. NB-IoT and 4G Cat-1 connect straight to the mobile network, so there is no gateway to install but each tag needs a SIM. Best where assets roam beyond any single site. NTN satellite reports from places with no mobile coverage at all, for the most remote tracking. As a rule: if your assets stay on ground you control, LoRaWAN is cheapest to run. If they roam, cellular earns its SIM. Matching the tag to the job Containers, plant and outdoor assets want a rugged IP67/IP68 GNSS tag with a long battery, and door-open or tamper sensing on containers. See the GPS tracker range. Indoor stock, tools and files suit low-cost Bluetooth beacons and labels read by gateways, or UWB tags where you need the exact shelf, not just the room. People and lone workers use wearable badge or helmet tags with an SOS button and fall detection. See personal and worker tags. Livestock need solar ear tags built for a British winter, reporting over LoRaWAN or satellite. See livestock tracking. One manufacturer, all four technologies The reason we stock the Lansitec range is that it covers this whole spread from a single maker: GNSS asset and container trackers, worker-safety badge and helmet tags, solar livestock ear tags, low-cost Bluetooth beacons and labels, and UWB anchors and tags for centimetre RTLS, plus the Bluetooth-to-LoRaWAN, NB-IoT and Cat-1 gateways that tie them together. You can start with one use case and extend across a site without changing platform. Get it specced properly Tell us what you are tracking, where, and how often you need to know its position, and we will spec the tag technology, the connectivity and any gateway or anchors you need, at trade pricing. Talk to our UK team. Free UK delivery over £75.