RFID Key Fob

Three things you specify in a key fob

Every fob order comes down to three choices. The chip must be one your reader accepts. The body around the chip and its antenna decides how the fob survives years on a keyring, in a pocket or at an outdoor gate. The marking, a printed or engraved logo and number, ties each fob to a person in your records. This page covers all three, plus encoding, samples and ordering.

Specification

Chip options

The same bodies take chips from both bands. What differs is what each chip stores and what can be written to it before delivery:

Which of these chips your readers need, how far each one resists copying and how to plan a migration from 125 kHz is covered in the RFID key fobs for access control guide, together with lifts, gates and smart locks. Single-band fobs have their own pages: 125 kHz proximity fobs and DESFire fobs and tags. For hotels the room-lock system decides the chip, as it does for a hotel key card.

Bodies and materials

The body does not change the chip or the format; it changes how the fob looks, feels and lasts. Most access projects use ABS, and the other materials are chosen for branding, a premium feel or tougher surroundings.

• ABS: the standard fob, in several shapes and stock colours. In daily use the antenna joint is the weak point, so an ultrasonically welded ABS body outlasts a glued one.
• PC and PVC: alternative plastic bodies for a different finish or shape.
• Epoxy: a printed face sealed under clear epoxy, as a key tag or with an adhesive back, when full-colour artwork matters most.
• Leather-covered: a premium finish for apartment buildings, hotels and branded key sets.
• Silicone: soft, flexible fobs for gyms, pools and changing rooms; a silicone wristband takes the common LF and HF chips when the credential is worn rather than carried.
• FR4 and wood: FR4, a rigid circuit-board laminate, for industrial use; wood for a non-plastic finish.
• NFC ring: a ceramic NFC ring takes MIFARE Classic for 13.56 MHz readers or a T5577 (ATA5577C) for 125 kHz readers; it holds one chip, so it cannot replace a dual-frequency fob.

Ratings differ between moulds and materials, so the ones your site depends on are confirmed for the specific body rather than quoted once for every fob: water and dust resistance for outdoor readers or washed fobs, drop and pull strength at the ring hole, temperature at your extremes (and whether the fob can be presented with gloves at a cold gate), and exposure to chemicals and sunlight.

Printing, colours and numbering

Logos are applied by silk-screen or UV printing, or laser-engraved into the surface; engraving is the usual choice for ID numbers because it is cut into the body rather than printed on it. Sequential numbers and QR codes can be added to either, and body colours can separate user groups, buildings or access levels.

On a 125 kHz fob the printed number has to match the way your software displays the chip ID; the proximity fob page explains the common formats. On any numbered fob, the ID list described below pairs each printed number with its chip ID.

Encoding and the ID list

Most access systems enrol a fob by its chip ID when it is issued, so plain fobs need no programming. Where your system expects data written in advance, such as a number range on a rewritable 125 kHz chip or an NDEF record on NTAG, we encode it to your specification. Every encoded fob is read back after encoding, and each encoded order ships with a data report. Key loading and MIFARE Plus or DESFire personalisation are agreed in the quotation, and the access keys normally stay with your administrator (RFID encoding service).

Numbered fobs come with a file in Excel, CSV or XML that maps each fob's chip ID to its printed number, so an access system with a list import can enrol a whole batch at once instead of one fob at a time at a door. Order a small buffer of spare fobs to the same specification for new users and replacements; because the numbers match your records, a reissued fob points at the right person. Revoking a lost fob is done in the access-control system, not on the fob; the access-control guide linked above explains how networked and standalone locks handle it.

Samples and ordering

Proud Tek has manufactured RFID and NFC products in its Shenzhen factory since 2008. Free samples are available for standard fobs; customised samples, with your chip configuration, logo, colour or numbering, carry a setup fee. If you are replacing an existing credential, send one working fob: we read its chip type and format and propose the closest body, colour and marking from our range; a shape we do not already make may need a new mould (tooling), and the quotation states whether it applies. Enrol the samples and try them on every reader type before the volume order.

Pricing is quote-only against your specification, and we quote within one business day of a workable inquiry. A standard fob order generally takes 2–3 weeks; the schedule for a large order is confirmed on its own. Send your reader model and one working fob through the contact page, or browse the full RFID key fobs range and the matching MIFARE DESFire cards when one enrolment process must cover both cards and fobs. Readers, controllers and software come from your access-control provider.