A construction firm cannot find a generator. A hospital owns forty infusion pumps and locates maybe thirty. A logistics operator sends thousands of roll cages out to sites and watches a steady fraction never return. In every case the asset still exists — the company has simply lost track of it, and the real cost is re-buying equipment it already owns. A LoRaWAN asset tracker fixes this by reporting each item's location automatically, whether the asset is sitting in a yard or buried three aisles deep in a warehouse. Here's how the locating works in both places, and how to match the right tracker to what you own.
Reporting: Why LoRaWAN
A tracker does two jobs: it works out where it is, then it reports that position. The reporting runs over LoRaWAN - a long-range, low-power radio that lets the device last for years on a battery and reach a gateway across a yard or building. Every device in the asset tracker range uses LoRaWAN for this, which keeps the cost per device low and the battery life long. The interesting part is the first job - fixing the location - because that method changes completely between outdoors and indoors.
Two Ways to Fix a Position
Positioning splits neatly by where the asset is. A multi-mode tracker carries both methods and switches automatically as the asset moves between them.
For outdoor plant and vehicles, the HKT GT-100 pairs GNSS with a rugged IP67 housing, while the Milesight AT101 adds Wi-Fi positioning to GNSS in an IP67/IK09 enclosure. For assets that move between the yard and the warehouse, the SenseCAP T1000 combines GNSS with Wi-Fi and BLE in a slim card, switching modes automatically.
Trackers We'd Reach For
The SenseCAP T1000 is our best all-rounder: a slim, low-cost multi-mode tracker that handles GNSS outdoors and Wi-Fi/BLE indoors in one device, covering the widest range of assets from a single SKU. The one caveat - the card form factor suits tools, pallets and people more than heavy outdoor plant, where a rugged housing earns its place.
Matching the Tracker to the Asset
| What you're tracking | The key demand | Tracker to choose |
|---|---|---|
| Tools & kit moving in and out of a depot | Indoor and outdoor positioning in one device | SenseCAP T1000 |
| Plant & machinery on worksites | Rugged housing, outdoor GNSS | HKT GT-100 or Milesight AT101 |
| Workforce & lone workers | Wearable, with an SOS button | Abeeway Smart Badge |
| Assets in hazardous or explosive areas | Certified safe for ATEX zones | Abeeway Compact (ATEX) |
For outdoor and worksite assets, the housing matters as much as the positioning. A tracker bolted to a generator faces rain, dust, vibration and impact, so an IP67 rating - dust-tight and able to withstand water jets - is the baseline.
What Sets Battery Life
A LoRaWAN tracker reporting a few times a day runs for a long time; the dominant variable is reporting frequency. Reporting every few minutes drains far faster than twice a day. GNSS fixes also cost more power than a Wi-Fi or BLE scan, so a tracker that leans on indoor positioning when it can will outlast one constantly hunting satellites.
A Real Deployment
A plant-hire company kept losing track of high-value tools and small machinery moving between three depots and dozens of active job sites. Spreadsheets went stale within days, and the firm was repeatedly re-buying equipment it already owned but could not locate.
It fitted multi-mode trackers that used GNSS outdoors on the job sites and Wi-Fi positioning inside each depot, all reporting to gateways across the yards. Reporting was set to twice daily plus a movement trigger, keeping batteries alive for the long haul.
Within a quarter the firm stopped re-purchasing lost kit - and could tell a customer exactly which site a missing breaker was sitting on.
What You Need Besides the Tracker
A tracker alone is not a system. You need LoRaWAN gateways covering the sites where assets live, and a network server such as The Things Stack or ChirpStack to turn each transmission into a position on your dashboard. The trackers are provisioned on that server before rollout.
For indoor positioning to work, the building also needs enough Wi-Fi access points or BLE beacons to triangulate against - worth confirming before you rely on zone-level location. For multi-site networks, our guide to LoRaWAN deployment in Europe covers sizing gateways and frequency planning.
Frequently Asked Questions
How accurate is the tracking?
Outdoors with GNSS, within a few metres. Indoors, Wi-Fi and BLE positioning gives zone-level accuracy — building, floor or area — rather than an exact point.
Can one tracker work both indoors and outdoors?
Yes. Multi-mode trackers combine GNSS with Wi-Fi and BLE scanning and switch automatically, so the same device locates an asset on a job site and inside a warehouse.
Do I need my own network?
Yes. These trackers use LoRaWAN, so you install gateways on the sites where assets live and run them to a network server. One gateway covers a wide area and many trackers.
Can I track condition as well as location?
Some trackers also log temperature, motion or tamper status alongside position — useful for sensitive or security-critical assets. Check the individual device's monitoring parameters.
Putting Asset Tracking to Work
The hard part isn't the dashboard; it's matching each asset to the right tracker and making sure both outdoor and indoor positioning will work on your sites. A multi-mode LoRaWAN tracker that uses GNSS outdoors and Wi-Fi or BLE indoors covers the widest range of cases from one device. Get the match right and you stop paying twice for equipment you already own.
Losing Track of Your Assets?
The shopioT engineering team helps operations and logistics teams choose the right form factor and ruggedness, confirm gateway and indoor-beacon coverage, and ship trackers pre-provisioned for the network.