GPS vs Radio Frequency: How Do They Compare For Pets?

Losing a pet is a heartwrenching, terrifying experience – one we know all too well. And it’s not an unfounded worry. Each year, approximately 10 million pets get reported as lost, stolen, or missing in the US alone!¹ So as a loving dog or cat parent, you might’ve searched pet trackers online – and come across a radio frequency pet tracker as one option.

But what even are radio frequency pet trackers – and how do they work?

• Are they safe for pets?
• Does a radio frequency tracker include real-time tracking or unlimited range – like GPS trackers?
• In fact, how do radio frequency pet trackers compare to GPS trackers – like Tractive?

Short answer: radio frequency trackers might not be the best choice for pets. Their limited range, frequent obstructions, and lack of pet-friendly features fall short of modern GPS dog and cat trackers.

Here’s a deep dive why – and how investing in the Tractive GPS could end up saving your pet’s life.

What is radio frequency?

Bear with us for a moment – this is going to get technical. Radio frequency (RF) refers to the fluctuation of electromagnetic energy within a certain frequency, namely 3 kilohertz (kHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz).

Here is a more detailed definition of radio frequency from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) :

“Electromagnetic radiation consists of waves of electric and magnetic energy moving together.

Radio waves and microwaves emitted by transmitting antennas are one form of electromagnetic energy, collectively referred to as “radiofrequency” or “RF” energy or radiation.“

Source: RF Safety FAQ

📻 Basically, it’s what lets you sing along to your favorite tunes on your local radio station.

So how does radio frequency play a role in tracking devices?

What are radio frequency tracking devices?

Exactly what it says on the tin, radio frequency trackers (RF trackers) or radio frequency tracking devices are:

• tracking devices…
• that use radio frequency to…
• send and receive information between two components. (Usually for location tracking purposes.)

So with a radio frequency tracker, you might have to use a separate receiver – like a handheld locator device.

Which you’ll have to carry around with you everywhere to locate your pet in case they wander off.

(Sounds pretty cumbersome, if you ask us!)

💡 On the other hand, GPS trackers like Tractive use a combination of other tracking technologies like Bluetooth, GPS, cellular and satellite.

All of which connect to your phone or tablet – so you can track your missing with complete peace of mind…and just a glance at your device.

“Your Tractive device’s GPS module receives signals from several GPS satellites. This helps it better and more accurately calculate your pet’s position.

These satellites then forward their location to the Tractive servers with the help of the network module. (Which also includes a SIM card.)

Once the Tractive servers receive this information, you can quickly and easily check your pet’s location when you open the Tractive app.”

– Ivelin Nenkov, Embedded Systems Engineer at Tractive since 2016

Which means, your Tractive device helps you track your pets with just a glance at your phone. No need for a separate handheld locator, like with most radio frequency trackers.

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Is radio frequency safe for pets?

Here’s what a 2021 study found: any radiation exposure as a result of a radio frequency tracker was well below international limits.²

• That means negative health reactions in pets or humans are unlikely.³
• So just like cell phones are considered safe for human use, radio frequency devices are considered safe for pets.⁴

In fact, using radio frequency technology in household products is nothing new. It’s an essential component of your television, computer, phone, radio and even remote-controlled toys.

So if your dog or cat doesn’t mind those, they likely won’t mind a radio frequency pet tracker.

Is it worth using a radio frequency tracker for your dog or cat?

Some companies make radio frequency trackers specifically for pets. The radio frequency locator typically comes with one remote and one or more tags, which you can attach to your pet’s collar.

As our friends at The Nomad Cats explain:

“It works like a compass: You need to be within a (claimed) distance of 130 meters to pick your cat’s location.

A light and / or sound will then increase or decrease to indicate how close you are to your cat.”

– Martina, The Nomad Cats

Can radio frequency pet trackers track in real-time? Or over an unlimited range?

Not always. Most “pure” radio frequency trackers don’t offer reliable real-time tracking. Rather, at best, they offer directional guidance and how close or far you might be from your pet while searching.

On the other hand, some radio frequency pet trackers that combine radio frequency with GPS can, however, offer real-time tracking – but only up to a certain range.

• For example, the Marco Polo pet tracker might offer real-time distance updates once you’ve triggered the Lost Pet feature. And even then, you’re still stuck to a range of just about 2 miles (or 3 kilometers.)
• Others, like the Garmin Astro 430, use a mix of radio frequency and GPS to extend to a range of around 9 miles (or 14.5 km), up to which you can track your pets in real-time.

Which could still work if your pets don’t tend to stray too far…

⚠️ …but which is bad news if you’ve got a dog that can cover a mile a minute chasing prey. Or an outdoor cat with a big territory to patrol and defend.

And just for reference:

• Most cats wander around 344 yards/315 meters away before someone notices they’re missing.⁵ And that’s assuming they haven’t run into something dangerous before you do start looking for them.
• Even small dogs can run off up to a half mile (~1 km) – simply because they’re bored.⁶ 
• Bigger dogs can cover even longer distances – up to 5 miles/8 km! This is even more so the case if you’ve got a dog breed that’s just built for running.

So why track your pets if you can only track them so far?

Real-time tracking might just end up saving your pet’s life.

Like in the cases of:

• Nala, an adventurous outdoor cat who went missing in a remote area

• Or Happy, an off-leash Golden Retriever who disappeared into the forest on his first hike outdoors

• Or Kathy, a Beagle who was kidnapped by pet thieves while in the middle of her hunting training.

💡In all these cases, Tractive’s LIVE Mode helped their parents track them down and find them in no time – safe and sound.

(Or two hours, if you count Kathy’s high-speed car chase and police rescue.)

And the best part? Tractive works across an unlimited range – connecting to mobile networks in 175 countries around the world. (If you’re on a Premium subscription.)

🌎 So you can track your pet even while on vacation.

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But don’t GPS trackers need cell coverage to work?

Yes, for the most part. But your Tractive GPS includes features that save your pet’s locations, even in areas with poor cell coverage. Like, for example, Location History.

“If you want to pinpoint your pet’s location or store their Location History, you don’t actually need a cellular connection.

So once you’ve equipped your Tractive GPS, there’s no need to worry if your device loses coverage for a little while. Your tracker stores your pet’s positions securely.

So you’ll be able to see where they’ve been even if you’re offline.”

– Ivelin Nenkov, Embedded Systems Engineer at Tractive since 2016

💡Which, in the long run, helps you pick up on where your pets tend to wander off to the most.

Helping you better understand their behavior – and pre-empt an escape attempt.

🐶 In fact, even Tractive’s Location History has saved the lives of dogs, cats, and even people around the world.

Like Imogen, a high-energy Borzoi, who bolted her fence – and crashed through the ice in a nearby frozen lake.

Luckily, her tracker’s Location History helped her mum rescue her from freezing and drowning.

Here she is, pictured safe and sound, with her Tractive device:

But besides adventurous dogs, here are a couple of other stories from around the world – where Tractive’s Heat Map and Location History came to the rescue:

• A family of sick kittens that was reunited with Mama cat using her tracker’s Heat Map.

• Search and rescue teams around the world – especially water rescues – who rely on Tractive’s Location History to find missing people and animals.

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How about if I want to find my dog or cat indoors?

Now we do understand – not all pets are off gallivanting across the great outdoors. In fact, much of the time, your biggest struggle might be coaxing your dog or cat out from underneath your bed!

💡Which is where a short-range radio frequency or even Bluetooth tracker can come in handy. Since they can help you locate your pet in areas where GPS isn’t the most helpful – like the indoors.

Plus, smaller dogs and cats can end up in some risky hiding spots! Like, for example:

• Washers and dryers,
• High rafters, where they can’t climb down,
• Garages, where they might end up hidden under a car or low shelf, where you can’t see them,
• Bigger wardrobes, where they might end up tangled up in your winter coats
• …or just about anywhere indoors, where they might get stuck and unable to call out for help.

😉 But in case that’s turned you off GPS, think again.

Tractive devices come equipped with both GPS AND Bluetooth tracking – so you can locate your dog or cat at short-range or in an indoor environment, where GPS isn’t as helpful.

Here’s how our short-range Radar Mode works – using your phone’s Bluetooth to guide you in the direction of your pet at short range.

Track Your Pets Indoors

🤔 So with all this said, how do radio frequency pet trackers perform in the real world?

Let’s look at some user experiences to see how effective people find radio frequency trackers for pets.

User reviews of radio frequency pet trackers

At first, when Martina (who runs The Nomad Cats) received her first radio frequency cat tracker, she tried it out immediately on her feline buddies.

It worked generally well outdoors – but only when the cats didn’t venture too far from home.

However, one time, things didn’t go so great.

“When Milù went missing, I scouted the immediate and not-so-immediate surroundings day and night, pointing the remote in every direction, hoping to pick up her signal.

Nothing. Nothing, for miles, and miles after that. Because I had no idea which direction she took off, the task was overwhelming.

On top of that, the amount of trees and other natural obstacles significantly decreased the distance the locator could cover.

And because we like to spice things up with as much bad luck as possible, the remote broke.”

Source: Cat Trackers: Radio Frequency vs GPS

Another pet parent reviewed a RF pet tracker, saying:

“…(the) range is nowhere near as far as it says, I’d expect a bit less but I don’t think I even get anywhere close to half with mainly just garden fences and a few trees in the way, even a third seems a stretch.

The signal bars aren’t too great either, it has 5 bars and it seems like 3 bars is 1 garden over, then 2 bars is 2 or 3 gardens over. For something that should reach like 15 gardens over easy you’ll always be on 1 bar if they’re not within earshot.

Finding the right direction can be hard too, it goes green when you’re getting closer but it seems like it can be random sometimes.”

Source: Amazon

And a user of the same RF device said:

“It can track up to 4 tags. The hand held tracker is easy to use and works well. It is fun to go searching for the cat and find him so easily.

I am still waiting to have to do a real wide area search for him, but it is comforting to know that with the long, proven, battery life of many weeks I will have plenty of chance with my searching.”

Source: Amazon

So, how does a radio frequency pet tracker compare to GPS?

When it comes down to picking the best choice for a pet, you’re best off with a dedicated pet GPS tracker that helps you:

• Track in real-time with LIVE Mode
• Find your pet over an unlimited range

Here’s a quick summary of the differences between most radio frequency trackers – and how they compare to a GPS tracker that’s, well…actually designed for pets.

	Radio frequency pet trackers	Tractive GPS Tracker
Range	Up to 9 miles (14.5 km)	Unlimited
Real-time updates	Not with “pure” radio frequency trackers. (Only if combined with GPS.)
Weight	6-7 g (0.2-0.3 oz)	Dogs: 35 g / 1.2 oz Cats: 25 g / 0.9 oz
Waterproof	Not consistently
Battery life	Up to 6 months (sometimes more, depending on the brand)	Up to 10 days, up to 1 month with XL
Upfront cost	~$100+7	$49,99 + subscription fees at the price of a coffee and cookie per month
Ongoing costs	None	Monthly plans priced lower than your Netflix subscription
Area of operation	Worldwide	Worldwide
Activity & Sleep tracking
Health alerts
Light & Sound tracking
Bluetooth tracking

Why radio frequency trackers might not be the best choice for pets

While radio frequency trackers have some pros like low cost and long battery life, their cons overwhelmingly outweigh these.

👎Their biggest downsides? A lack of real-time tracking and limited range.

• So if your pet roams too far from you, a radio frequency tracker (like most Bluetooth trackers for pets) will be useless. Not to mention, you won’t even know which direction to start your search.
• On top of that, physical obstacles can block the RF tracker’s signal. And that makes it difficult to locate your pet when you need to most.
• So in a nutshell: radio frequency trackers might be a good option for pet parents who are sure that their buddy won’t stray too far from their side.

😺 However, isn’t the whole purpose of a pet tracker to be able to find your dog or cat if they really do get lost and run away?

Like, lost lost. (Like, say, on vacation – in an unknown city or country – where you can’t stay forever to find them.) In fact, why track your pet at all if you can only track them so far?

That’s where GPS trackers for pets come to the rescue.

Get 100% peace of mind with a GPS pet tracker

Pet trackers that are built with more reliable and modern technologies, such as GPS, can help you locate your dog or cat anywhere, any time.

As the world’s most-trusted pet tracker, the Tractive GPS offers nearly all the features of a radio frequency tracker, and a whole lot more.

Some of the ones we haven’t covered include:

• Virtual Fence – know if your buddy leaves a safe space, like your garden. Perfect for foiling another dognapping attempt.
• Adventure-proof build – 100% water-proof, shock-resistant and built for four-legged adventure
• Battery Life – set up Power Saving Zones where your buddy spends lots of time, and go up to 7 day without charge
• Pet-friendly design – light, compact and made to fit pretty much all collars and dog harnesses

😻 All this in one device – built with love for pets and for your peace of mind as a pet parent.

Always know where your pets are

Follow every step in real-time with unlimited range. Get alerts if they wander too far. Keep them happy & healthy with Wellness Monitoring. And let others – like walkers or sitters – keep an eye on your pet too.

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Want to see the Tractive GPS in action? Check out one user’s review in the video below:

And if you’ve liked this post, share it with a fellow tech-savvy pet parent – and let’s help build a safer, kinder world for our furry friends together.