For that range it's probably using active tags, which is why they cost so much. On the other hand passive readers often cost a few thousand dollars and have tiny ranges so I think that active systems end up being cheaper in many deployments.
I'm working on an active tag system for my phd actually, and our readers only cost as much as our tags and have the same range but they still cost somewhere in the $30-$50 range depending upon how many we make at a time. In a few years we'll probably have the cost down to a dollar or so in mass production but your projects will need to wait a while.
I'm working on an active tag system for my phd actually, and our readers only cost as much as our tags and have the same range but they still cost somewhere in the $30-$50 range depending upon how many we make at a time. In a few years we'll probably have the cost down to a dollar or so in mass production but your projects will need to wait a while.