How far can I scan the items while taking inventory?
THE PROBLEM
You've been using the WAVE app for a little while, and you have been enjoying every single step. Then one day, you go into your warehouse, and all of a sudden, you're having a hard time picking up some of the RFID assets.
WAVE HANDHELD READ RANGE
The CS108's RSSI (Received Signal Strength Identification) is pretty strong. It can pick up as far as 30 feet radius in an RFID conducive environment. In cases that you are not picking up tags from within 10 feet, we suggest you check your Handheld Power Settings. Please follow the steps below:
- Open your WAVE app and click the gear icon on the bottom right. It should show the settings option.
- Under Handheld, you'll see Power settings.
- At default, it should be set to Max. You can set it depending on your need.
- Please note that the Search and Inventory pages share the same power settings.
Do note that several things can also affect your scans. Here are some of the common issues:
Shelves and dividers can affect the scans' range, especially if these are metal.
- RFID tagged items are clumped inside a wooden crate: when you scan crates or boxes, make sure to rotate evenly and thoroughly scan all the faces of the box as some can't be tagged due to the placement of tags altogether in one location. It is also highly suggested to scan the bottom of the crates if need be.
- If the room is small and congested with a considerable amount of tags, it sometimes takes time to scan everything because of the sheer amount of RFID tags available within the room
- Metal dividers affect the scanning power. RFIDs generally don't work well with metal
On that last part, we have several products that work well on metal. You'd still want to follow the general rules. Below is a list on how to do an efficient scan.
- If possible, all the RFIDs you want to scan are within line of sight.
- RFID tagged items should be stored or shelved within non-metallic (wood) surfaces.
- Taking an inventory within 10 feet is the reasonable length between you and the items you are scanning.
- Don't place your RFID tags near a liquid container. Should you need to tag liquid containers, we suggest you use our flag tags.
- Don't clump RFIDs in a tiny space.
We've written an in-depth article regarding the best practices of scanning and tagging, which you can read in this link.
Feel free to reach out to our support team should you have further questions.
