20  Debate: Wi-Fi vs. BLE for Indoor Positioning

A Technical Trade-off Scenario

This scenario is drawn from a hospital asset-tracking deployment and is meant to be worked through as a design-decision exercise, not just read.

20.1 Wi-Fi vs BLE for Indoor Positioning

Discussion Prompt

Scenario: A hospital needs to track 200 medical equipment items in a 50,000 sq ft facility with 1-meter accuracy.

Debate: Wi-Fi RSSI fingerprinting vs BLE beacons?

Defend Your Position:

• Infrastructure requirements
• Battery life for asset tags
• Accuracy achievable
• Maintenance burden

---