FMC130 BLE Beacon detection and power consumption

Telematics
1

Hi Teltonika Community,

I’m using BLE Beacon detection on a FMC130 and soon on FMC880.

During my tests I found the detection of my third-party Eddystone Beacon to be kind of unstable, when Non-Stop-Scan is disabled. Sometimes the Beacon would show up, other times it would not. Beacon Advertising interval is set to 400 ms. Periodic Scanning was set to the default 30/30/10 settings.
Only when I turn on the Non Stop Scan the beacon is reliably detected.

BT Power Level is 7.

Has anyone experienced this?

As the stability of the detection is vital for our usecase, I’m thinking about leaving the tracker in Non-Stop-Scan mode. I’m a little woried about power consumption though. The tracker will be installed in vehicles and will have to live several months from the vehicles 12 V battery. According to the Wiki having the tracker in Online Sleep Mode will draw about 7 mA. Which would sum up to ~ 5Ah per month. Given the size of modern day 12 V batteries, that should not be a problem. How much is constant BLE scanning going to add to this equation?

Thanks in advance for any info!

3

Understanding the Detection Issue

The unstable detection you’re experiencing with Non-Stop-Scan disabled is a known behavior related to how periodic BLE scanning works. When using the default periodic scanning settings (30/30/10), the FMC130 performs intermittent scans rather than continuous monitoring.

How Periodic Scanning Works:

  • BLE Scan Duration: 30 seconds - the time when sensors are actively scanned

  • Update Frequency: 30 seconds - the interval between scan initiation

  • Scan Retries: 10 - attempts before showing error

With your beacon’s 400ms advertising interval and these periodic scan windows, there’s a timing mismatch that can cause missed detections. The device starts scanning every 30 seconds for 30 seconds, but if the beacon’s advertising doesn’t align well with these scan windows, detection becomes unreliable.

Non-Stop-Scan Mode Benefits

Non-Stop-Scan resolves this issue by enabling continuous BLE scanning when any sensors are configured. This mode ensures:

  • Continuous monitoring of BLE devices rather than periodic windows

  • Reliable detection of beacons regardless of advertising timing

  • Immediate response to beacon presence/absence changes

When Non-Stop-Scan is enabled, the device continuously scans for configured sensors, eliminating the timing gaps that cause detection instability.

Power Consumption Considerations

Your power consumption analysis is generally correct, but Non-Stop-Scan will add to the baseline consumption:

Baseline Consumption (Online Sleep Mode):

  • ~7 mA at 12V (approximately 5Ah per month)

Additional BLE Scanning Consumption:

  • Continuous BLE scanning adds several milliamps to the baseline

  • The exact increase depends on scan intensity and configured sensors

  • For vehicle installations with 12V battery, this additional consumption is typically manageable

Recommendation for Vehicle Installation: Given that your trackers will be installed in vehicles with 12V batteries and detection stability is vital for your use case, leaving Non-Stop-Scan enabled is advisable. Modern vehicle batteries can handle the additional power draw, and the reliability benefits outweigh the modest increase in power consumption.

Alternative Optimization Options

If power consumption becomes a concern, consider:

  1. Adjusting BT Power Level: You’re using level 7 (50m range) - consider if a lower level meets your proximity requirements

  2. Beacon Record Settings: Configure “On Change” instead of “Periodic” to reduce unnecessary data transmission

  3. Optimized Update Frequency: If using periodic mode, increase the update frequency to improve detection windows

4

Thank you @laith.sa for this excellent explanation! So I guess, we will stick to permanent scanning and on change messages!

As for the power consumption: Am I correct, that the BT Power Level is for the trackers own broadcasting power and should therefore have no effect on the detection of the beacons? My first tests indicate, that this is true:

  1. Set BT Power Level to 1.
  2. Move Beacon just barely out of detection range.
  3. Increase BT Power Level to 7.
  4. Beacon is NOT detected again.

Physically makes sense as using an antenna to receive signals, means, that the antenna is “passive”, so power level should not matter.

So for us a power level of 1 would be fine…

5

thanks for the information