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Do iBeacons have influence on each other?


I have a question about iBeacons. I've been checking the stability of the iBeacons by using different applications to detect them and the distance from the device to the beacons itself.

What I've noticed is that if two beacons are put directly next to each other or on top of each other, the distance isn't correct anymore.

So my question is, do iBeacons interrupt each others signal?

Thanks in advance.


Solution

  • Bluetooth LE beacons generally do not cause significant disruption in eachothers' signal. While they share the same radio band, there are multiple channels for advertising and the devices automatically detect collisions and retry transmitting when needed.

    When you get in extreme density (hundreds of beacons in radio range) it can start to reduce detection counts for individual beacons, but this is an extreme scenario that is not what is described in the question.

    For normal operations the above is true. For signal strength readings, any radio signals, noise, reflections or obstructions can affect the signal strength that is used to provide distance estimates. The important thing to note is that these are just estimates and many things can throw them off. Rarely are they very accurate.