A Beacon's broadcast signal range depends on its transmission power (Tx power) setting, as well as its surrounding environment. Signals can suffer interference, be diffracted or absorbed.
The Kontakt.io default Tx power is set to 3 (-12 dBm). A Beacon's Tx setting can be managed from Kio Gateway Installer app, Kio Cloud, and the Kontakt.io APIs and SDKs.
Table 1. Available transmission power values [dBm]
Hexadecimal value |
Tx |
Transmission power |
RSSI @ 3.2 ft (1 m)* |
Approximate range** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
e2 |
0 |
-30 dBm |
-115 |
6.5 ft (2 m) |
ec |
1 |
-20 dBm |
-84 |
13 ft (4 m) |
f0 |
2 |
-16 dBm |
-81 |
32 ft (10 m) |
f4 |
3 |
-12 dBm |
-77 |
65 ft (20 m) |
f8 |
4 |
-8 dBm |
-72 |
98 ft (30 m) |
fc |
5 |
-4 dBm |
-69 |
131 ft (40 m) |
00 |
6 |
0 dBm |
-65 |
196 ft (60 m) |
04 |
7 |
4 dBm |
-59 |
229 ft (70 m) |
* Every Tx power level has its own calibrated RSSI @ 1m (iBeacon) or @ 0m (Eddystone)
** Range is an approximate figure and dependent on other factors, such as the operating environment, beacon placement, and sensitivity of the end-device
Card Beacon 1 (CT16-2) can only broadcast on power level 1 & 6
Power level 0 is not available for beacons that are using the nRF52 chips like Beacon Pro (BP16-3), Smart Beacon 3 (SB18-3), S18-3, Card Beacon CT18-2 etc.