Losing track of valuable assets costs companies millions of dollars every year. For a long time, businesses faced a frustrating choice. You could either pay a premium for high-end GPS and cellular trackers to guarantee visibility, or you could use affordable Bluetooth tags that only worked inside your own facility walls. Once an item left your building, it effectively disappeared.
That limitation is now a thing of the past. Link Labs has partnered with Hubble Network to revolutionize how you track equipment, inventory, and materials. By connecting Bluetooth tags to Hubble’s massive global network, you can now monitor your assets well beyond your facility doors.
This post explores how this new partnership enhances asset tracking capabilities. We will look at the technology driving these changes, the massive cost savings you can expect, and the specific use cases where this solution shines.
Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) tags are incredibly popular for asset tracking. They are small, battery-efficient, and highly affordable. However, they rely on nearby readers to pick up their signal. Up until now, tracking a Bluetooth tag meant you needed a dedicated indoor infrastructure, like the Link Labs AirFinder system, or a mobile hub like the SuperTag when assets traveled over the road.
If a tagged asset walked away from your local gateway, you lost sight of it. You could not see where it went until it passed another reader you owned. To get continuous tracking in the wild, you had to upgrade to GPS or cellular tags. While highly effective, these devices require expensive hardware, SIM cards, and ongoing carrier fees. For many companies, putting a costly GPS tracker on a lower-value item simply destroyed the return on investment (ROI).
The partnership between Link Labs and Hubble Network bridges the gap between affordable Bluetooth tags and wide-area visibility. Hubble Network operates a global infrastructure of more than 90 million terrestrial gateways. These gateways act as an invisible net covering cities, transit routes, and commercial areas.
Now, when your Link Labs tags leave your facility, they do not drop off the map. As they travel, Hubble’s extensive network of terrestrial gateways detects them. The network picks up the location and sensor data from the tag and sends it right back to your system. You get off-site tracking without needing to buy a cellular connection for every single asset.
This massive expansion means your tags can report their location even without built-in GPS or cellular capabilities. The heavy lifting is done by the surrounding Hubble network rather than the tag itself.
You do not need to learn a new software system or manage multiple dashboards to take advantage of this new range. The data collected by the Hubble Network feeds directly into the Link Labs AirFinder platform.
When your asset is inside your warehouse, AirFinder tracks it using your local gateways. When a truck picks up that asset and drives it across town, Hubble gateways detect the tag and send that information straight to AirFinder. You get a single, unified view of both your on-site and off-site assets. This smooth integration ensures your daily workflows remain completely uninterrupted.
Are you using a different platform? No problem. AirFinder's easy API and MQTT integrations make it simple to view your AirFinder data in the system that drives your operations.
The financial impact of this partnership is significant. By eliminating the need for complex hardware in every tag, you drastically reduce your upfront and operational costs.
Because the Bluetooth tags do not need GPS modules or cellular antennas, they cost a fraction of traditional wide-area trackers. You can afford to buy hundreds or thousands of tags for assets that were previously too inexpensive to justify tracking.
Cellular trackers require data plans, SIM cards, and monthly carrier fees to function. Link Labs tags operating on the Hubble network completely bypass these requirements. You do not have to negotiate carrier contracts or pay ongoing cellular data fees for individual tags.
GPS and cellular connections drain batteries quickly. By relying on low-energy Bluetooth signals, your tags last much longer in the field. This means you spend less time and money physically locating tags to swap out dead batteries.
This affordable, extended-range solution opens up tracking for items that previously slipped through the cracks. Here are a few key areas where the Link Labs and Hubble partnership delivers incredible value.
Construction sites are chaotic. Tools get left behind, loaded into the wrong trucks, or stolen. Putting a $100 cellular tracker on a $200 drill makes no sense. However, attaching an affordable Bluetooth tag is highly practical. If a tool leaves the job site, Hubble’s network helps you locate it across town, saving you from buying replacement equipment.
Hospitals track wheelchairs, IV pumps, and beds indoors using Link Labs infrastructure. Sometimes, this equipment accidentally ends up in ambulances or gets transferred to other clinics. With Hubble Network integration, hospital administrators can spot their missing assets at other facilities and bring them back, reducing unnecessary procurement costs.
Logistics companies lose thousands of reusable pallets and containers every year. Because these items have a low individual value, expensive tracking is out of the question. The new Bluetooth solution allows supply chain managers to monitor pallets in transit and see exactly which customer is hoarding their returnable packaging.
If you ship high volumes of goods, you need to know where your packages are. You can slip a small Bluetooth tag into a shipment to get location updates as it moves along its journey. You can also receive sensor data, such as temperature or shock readings, ensuring your products arrive in perfect condition.
While the Hubble Network adds incredible wide-area capabilities to Bluetooth tags, it does not replace cellular tracking entirely. You need to choose the right tool for your specific goals.
For assets that require absolute real-time visibility, the Link Labs SuperTag remains the best option. SuperTags use multiple location technologies including GPS and WiFi sniffing along with cellular networks to provide pinpoint accuracy no matter where they are. If you transport highly sensitive items or operate heavily in remote, rural areas where terrestrial gateways are sparse, the Link Labs SuperTag is your best option.
However, many businesses do not need that level of granular update for every item. If knowing a general location or receiving less frequent updates is acceptable, the Hubble-enabled Bluetooth tag is an amazing alternative. It gives you the visibility you need to run your operations efficiently at a price point that improves return on investment.
The partnership between Link Labs and Hubble Network changes the math on asset tracking. You no longer have to choose between affordability and off-site visibility. By leveraging over 95 million gateways worldwide, you can track your assets from the warehouse floor to the final destination with zero changes to your existing workflows.
If you want to secure your equipment, monitor your supply chain, and stop wasting money on lost assets, it is time to upgrade your tracking strategy. Contact us today to learn how our unified tracking solutions can protect your bottom line.