Zebra FXR90 Ultra-Rugged Fixed RFID Reader

The Zebra FXR90 is a rugged fixed RFID reader for outdoor gates, loading docks, yards and cold stores, sealed to IP67 and rated to -40°C. We install it in Malta on the EU 865-868 MHz band, after a read test with your own tagged goods at the gate or door where it will hang.

Price on request · Request a quote for the FXR90 or call (+356) 2138 5911 · Download Spec Sheet

Sirap is a Zebra Premier Business Partner in Malta and a Zebra RFID Specialist.

We supply, set up and support Zebra RFID readers in Malta.

A reader at a yard gate or on an open quay gets rain, salt air, sun and the odd knock from a forklift, and there is often no network cable within reach. The Zebra FXR90 is built for that spot. Tagged pallets, cages, containers or vehicles are recorded as they pass, at more than 1,300 tags a second. The reads go to your yard, warehouse or ERP system over Ethernet, Wi-Fi or 5G, depending on the version.

You can order it with a built-in antenna, or cable up to eight external antennas to cover a wide opening. Indoor readers, sleds and tags are on our RFID readers, antennas and tags page. Dock and scanning projects sit under warehouse automation, and the rest of the range is on our Zebra page.

What is the Zebra FXR90 for?

The Zebra FXR90 is for read points that an indoor reader would not survive. That means an open yard gate, a quay, a loading dock exposed to the weather and a cold store. In logistics and warehousing it records tagged pallets and cages at a dock door that opens onto the yard. At a port or a shipping yard, it can record which tagged trailers, containers and returnable cages came through a gate, and when.

In manufacturing, the FXR90 suits the goods-out gate of a plant where pallets leave through a yard, and cold rooms that an indoor reader is not rated for. Zebra’s transport and logistics flyer lists it for ports, yards and the cold chain.

A rugged outdoor RFID reader for gates, quays and cold stores

The Zebra FXR90 is sealed to IP65 and IP67 and works from -40°C to 65°C, according to Zebra’s spec sheet. It is tested for vibration and salt fog to MIL-STD-810 and for solar radiation, which matters for a reader near the sea in a Maltese summer.

Mount it beside the lane, clear of trucks and forklifts. The FXR90 comes with two flush-mount brackets for a wall or a frame. An articulating VESA mount for a pole or a post lets us aim it in two directions, indoors or outdoors. It can go in any orientation, and we keep it away from motors and other sources of electrical noise.

Sealed connectors. Ethernet, power, USB and the inputs and outputs use screw-on M12 connectors, and Zebra supplies caps that stay on every unused port outdoors. Zebra’s M12 Ethernet cables come in 1, 3, 5 and 15 m lengths.

Earthing and safe distance. When the antennas are outside the building, the reader is bonded to the building’s earth through its grounding screw. Whether our technicians or your electrician does that is agreed per job at the survey. Zebra asks for at least 30 cm between the antennas and people.

Built-in antenna or external antennas on the FXR90?

The Zebra FXR90 comes either with a built-in 7 dBi antenna plus four external antenna ports, or as a reader only with four or eight external ports. The built-in antenna has a 72° beam and a nominal read range of 16.7 m on Zebra’s figures. Zebra reaches 30.5 m with a specific tag and setup, and writes to a tag from 4.5 m.

One gate, one box. For a single lane or a gate that vehicles pass slowly, the built-in antenna version is the quickest install: one unit to mount and aim. Its four external ports still take extra antennas if a second lane is added later.

Wide openings and several lanes. A wide dock or a gate with several lanes needs antennas placed across the opening, cabled to the reader’s reverse-polarity TNC ports. The eight-port version covers the widest openings. Zebra’s sealed antennas for outdoor use are on our Zebra RFID antennas page, and the antenna choice decides where tags are read and where they are not.

The range comes from the test. The 30.5 m figure is Zebra’s best case. What the tag is on (metal and liquids are the hard cases), how fast it passes and where the antennas sit decide the real figure, so we test with your own tagged goods before we quote.

Connections for a gate with no network cable

The Zebra FXR90 has Gigabit Ethernet on every version. Depending on the part code it adds Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3, and the top versions add 5G with GPS, using a nano SIM or an eSIM.

5G where a cable is hard to run. A 5G version removes the data cable to a far gate or across a yard and sends reads over the mobile network instead. You need a data plan from a Maltese carrier, and we check with the carrier that the reader’s 5G bands are supported before we quote. The eSIM profile is loaded from the reader’s console over a temporary Ethernet or Wi-Fi link once the carrier has activated it. Power still needs a cable.

Power that matches the radio. The FXR90 runs on Power over Ethernet (power carried in the network cable), on 12 to 24 V DC or on Zebra’s sealed outdoor power supplies. The power source sets how strongly the radio can transmit.

On standard PoE (802.3af) the RFID radio transmits at 31.5 dBm (dBm is the unit of radio power). On PoE+ (802.3at) it reaches 33 dBm with USB, or 31.5 dBm with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on. A 5G reader needs Zebra’s DC power supply, which gives full RFID power with every radio on. For the other versions, we check that the switch at the gate delivers PoE+.

Lights, barriers and sensors. Four inputs and four outputs let the FXR90 start reading when a vehicle breaks a light beam and switch a stack light or a barrier on a command from your software. The reader supplies the sensors and lights at 24 V on a 24 V DC input, at 12 V on a 12 V input and at 24 V on PoE+. On plain PoE (802.3af) the outputs get no supply from the reader, so a gate with lights runs on PoE+ or DC.

Connecting the FXR90 to your WMS, ERP or yard system

The Zebra FXR90 sends its reads to your software through Zebra’s IoT Connector, which is built into the reader. It publishes tag events by MQTT to your own broker, by HTTP POST to a web endpoint, or to AWS IoT Core or Azure IoT Hub. It can also filter out tags you do not want before they leave the gate.

Who builds the receiving side. That depends on your systems. We configure the connection to your WMS or ERP ourselves, work alongside your software partner, or set up the gate reader and hand its interface to your IT team.

For your developers. The FXR90 also takes commands over a local REST API and over MQTT, and it speaks LLRP (the standard reader protocol) for middleware that already uses it. Small apps can run on the reader itself as Debian packages, close to the gate. From firmware 4.0.8, the FXR90 supports Impinj Gen2X features such as Protected Mode. Protected Mode hides a tag from any reader that does not know its password, and it needs Gen2X tags.

A PLC on the line. For a PLC (the controller on a production line) that must read tags directly, we plan the build around the indoor Zebra FX9600 fixed RFID reader. Zebra documents EtherNet/IP, PROFINET and Modbus TCP for that reader.

Security. The FXR90 encrypts its connections with TLS 1.2 and 1.3, and Zebra’s sheet lists FIPS 140-2, a US government standard for encryption modules.

Zebra FXR90 technical specifications

Download the Zebra FXR90 spec sheet (PDF)

Zebra FXR90 models and part codes

The Zebra FXR90 comes in the configurations below, and we pick the one that fits your work: antenna type, number of antenna ports and wireless options. Tell us the task and we specify the part code. FXR90 units are usually from stock or within a few days, depending on regional availability.

The two “RFID only” versions have no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, so they connect by Ethernet cable and are set up through it. The integrated-antenna versions come with four external ports. Antennas, cables, mounts and the power supply are separate items, quoted with the reader once the survey has settled the build.

FXR90 cables and mounts

Zebra’s sealed M12 Ethernet cables and the aimable mount for a pole or post:

FXR90, FX9600 or FX7500: which fixed reader fits your site?

Choose the Zebra FXR90 when the reader sits outdoors, in a cold store below -20°C or anywhere a network cable is hard to run. Indoors and under cover, a less rugged reader usually does the same job.

The Zebra FX9600 fixed RFID reader also takes four or eight antennas and has four inputs and four outputs, but it is sealed to IP53 and rated from -20°C to 55°C. It suits a covered dock, a conveyor or a production line, and it is the one to pick for a direct PLC link. The compact Zebra FX7500 takes two or four antennas and is sealed to IP40, for a stockroom door or a shelf bay indoors.

For one indoor dock door where you also want the direction of travel, according to Zebra, the Zebra ST5500 transition RFID reader comes with its antennas in one housing. If you need to know where a tagged item is inside a hall, and not only that it passed a gate, look at the overhead Zebra ATR7000 RFID locationing reader.

What decides the cost of an FXR90 read point?

The FXR90 version is one part of it: the integrated antenna, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and 5G each change the part code. The antennas and their cables, the mounts and an outdoor power supply come on top at a wide gate, and a 5G reader adds a monthly data plan.

Earthing, cable runs and the read test sit in the installation, and a Zebra OneCare service plan can be added on request. Each of these has its own line in the quote. The RFID labels or hard tags, such as our Zebra ZipShip RFID labels, are quoted separately.

What we do with an FXR90 order

The survey of the gate, dock or cold store comes first, with test reads on your own tagged pallets, cages or vehicles. That test settles the FXR90 version, whether the built-in antenna is enough and where any external antennas go. It also settles the earthing, and who does it.

Our technical team then mounts the reader, runs and seals the cables, wires beam sensors, stack lights or barriers to its inputs and outputs and commissions it on the EU 865-868 MHz band. The link to your system is built by us, with your software partner or by your IT team, and the reads are tested with you at handover. After that we support the read point locally.

Frequently asked questions about the FXR90

Can the FXR90 work at a gate with no network cable?

Yes. The Zebra FXR90 versions with 5G send reads over the mobile network, and the Wi-Fi 6 versions over your site Wi-Fi. A 5G reader needs a SIM or eSIM and a data plan from your carrier, and it runs from Zebra’s DC power supply, so it still needs power at the gate.

Does the FXR90 need external antennas?

Not always. The Zebra FXR90 with the integrated antenna reads on its own, with a nominal range of 16.7 m on Zebra’s figures, and suits a single lane. A wide dock or several lanes need external antennas on the four or eight ports, chosen after a test at the opening.

How far can the Zebra FXR90 read?

With its built-in antenna, the Zebra FXR90 has a nominal read range of 16.7 m on Zebra’s figures, and up to 30.5 m with a specific tag and setup. Metal, liquids, the speed of the vehicle and the antenna position shorten it, so we measure the range with your own tagged goods at the gate.

Can the FXR90 send reads to our WMS or ERP?

Yes. The Zebra FXR90 publishes tag events by MQTT or HTTP POST and speaks LLRP for middleware. Zebra lists no direct SAP connector, so we either set up the receiving side, build it with your software partner or hand the reader interface to your IT team.

Who installs it in Malta?

The Zebra FXR90 is installed by our technical team. They mount it, seal the cable runs, wire any lights or barriers to its outputs and commission it on the EU band. Earthing is agreed per job at the survey, by our technicians or your electrician. We test the reads with your own tagged goods at handover.

Who repairs it and handles the warranty?

The Zebra FXR90 comes with Zebra’s standard warranty. For a fault you call us, and our technical team checks the read point on site and takes the claim to Zebra through to the fix. We quote Zebra OneCare service plans on request.

Is it held in stock in Malta?

The Zebra FXR90 usually arrives from stock or within a few days, depending on regional availability and the version you need. Antennas, cables and the outdoor power supply are confirmed in the same quote, so the install date follows the survey.

Talk to us about an FXR90 read point

Tell us where the reader goes (gate, quay, dock or cold store) and what passes it, and how fast. Say what carries the tags and where the reads should go. We reply within one working day with the questions we still need for the gate. If the gate or yard needs a look, an engineer visits, anywhere in Malta and Gozo. You get a quote with the exact part codes, the antennas, the installation scope and the warranty route.

Request a quote for the Zebra FXR90 or call (+356) 2138 5911 · Price on request

Monday to Friday 8:30 to 16:30. We reply within one working day.

Our sales team in San Gwann works out the right gate set-up with you, and our technical team installs it, tests it and handles warranty claims and repairs.