Bluetooth Tracker

[Jack]

They seem to be a great idea but do they really work?

Bluetooth has quite a very limited range.

Some sellers say that you go on to the "community" to see if someone can track the device. Is that a community for all Bluetooth Trackers or is it a community for each company that's selling them?

Is live tracking possible? If I put one in my mother-in-laws bag could the family find her quickly when she goes walk about?

I'm a wee bit confused about the whole thing.

An example of one ... other devices are available from a variety of sources 😆
https://www.mymemory.co.uk/tile-mate-bluetooth-tracker-in-white-4-pack.html?utm_campaign=306303_Tile%204%20pack%20%2 8May%202022%29&utm_medium=email&utm_source=MyMemory%20Ltd_DD&dm_i=54U7,6KCF,1GS9GG,P41J,1

[nonshinyfinish]

They're used in a couple of different ways:

- Finding stuff nearby just uses a direct Bluetooth connection – e.g. you have a tracker attached to your car keys because you always forget where you put them down, so your phone connects to the tracker over Bluetooth and makes it beep, at which point you realise your car keys are on top of the fridge.

- Finding stuff that's lost in the wider world does rely on the 'community' network as you've read. In the case of Tile it's definitely just other Tile users – you'd need one of them to pass your tracker in Bluetooth range. Bear in mind they wouldn't need to still be in range at the point you look it up – you should get a 'last seen' location if the tracker has been pinged at any point.

Whether it's useful or not will come down to the density of other users in your area – Tile is the most well known so is likely to have the best chance, but it's going to vary from area to area and particularly urban vs rural. The other thing to bear in mind when reading about it is how you and others define the tracking system 'working' – if you left your phone on a train and a tracker located it two days later you'd say it worked, but less so if you're looking for a person.