Marco Polo Advanced Pet Monitoring, Tracking and Locating System (for Dogs and Cats 5 lb and Larger)

Fourth update: I purchased this in December 2021, and it’s still working today, in August 2025, 3 years 8 months later. Still use this several times a week to keep track of my cat. Still happy with the product. (June 27, 2025) Third update 2.5 years after purchase: Still working, still able to track cat or missing collar. Below is my one year (1/2024) update. Today is my two year, 8 month update. Both receiver (collar) and base unit going strong. Batteries still going strong. The base unit has remained plugged into wall for more than 2.5 years, with only the exception if I’m tracking my cat. I ordered an extra collar pouch a year ago only so I could have a clean one to swap out when one is dirty. Both pouched are still intact. Nothing has changed from the first review. This unit is still working like the first day I tracked my cat. My cat didn’t come home this morning and by 9am I went tracking and found him in the middle of an acre of 8 ft weeds near the forest about two football fields away. Once again peace of mind knowing he’s ok. We’ve had lots of severe thunderstorms this spring and summer and I’ve been able, every time, to track him down and get him inside. Also when I hear coyotes in the distance, or foxes nearby, I’ll track him and keep him in for the night. FIRST REVIEW: “Still holding strong 13 months after purchase and frequent use” I use this product to track my indoor/mostly outdoor cat if not back home after 9pm or if bad weather is expected. The pouch the receiver slides into attached well on either a 3/8” or 1/2” breakaway collar on my 12 lb. cat. After a year, battery life on receiver (collar) still lasts at least a 4-6 weeks before I charge it. I like that the monitor (base unit) will indicate if the collar battery is low. I estimate I’ve tracked my cat (or his lost breakaway collar/receiver) at least 50 or more times with 100% success in an area of about 15-20 acres my cat wanders. I live in a rural area with heavy forest, hills, and ravines. Cell coverage is spotty in my area so this radio signal system was the way to go. The signal range depends a lot on the terrain, I’m probably at 1/4 mile with big hills and ravines, but I just have to wander the area and always eventually pick up the signal. I would assume in an open field or road or level terrain that range would be much longer. Takes a little practice at first, but instructions are thorough, and in my opinion, necessary to read through to understand the system. It’s a bit like metal detecting in that the monitor gives you direction and signal strength (as a percentage). I practice tracking my pet often so I remain good at it in case of a true emergency. I’ve also discovered his top hangout areas and track towards those areas first. The receiver seems very durable and is still working strong despite my cat coming home completely muddy or soaked at times. I keep the monitor plugged in 24/7 and in “monitor” mode which extends the battery charge on the receiver immensely because it pings the receiver every 40 seconds vs every 5 seconds when tracking the pet with the monitor in “track” mode. I haven’t turned off both the monitor or receiver in over a year and batteries still working great. Ive bought other radio signal products that have those little tag devices and they are vastly inferior because the battery life, range, and weather resistance is aweful and failed in less than 4 months, in my personal experience. I’m really happy with this device and the peace of mind it brings. The cat doesn’t mind wearing it either. I added a little yellow duck tape to the breakaway/receiver collar to find it more easily when the cat loses it.

I bought this for my cats when one went missing, they’re indoor/outdoor and I needed a better way to bring them in at the end of the day rather than searching around aimlessly. This has been a great solution, although it’s a little big for our smaller 8 lb. cat. So I bought harnesses for them and attached it to their back as opposed to the neck. The device has stayed attached well. I basically push the power button on the tracker every morning, put the tracker on my cat, and then search for them at the end of the day using the track function, and I take off their harnesses and shut off the tracker after I bring them in. It leads me right to them, puts me in about a 10ft radius of their location. I’ve found it pretty easy to use, but did need to read the instructions. I charge it probably once a month and the transmitter will tell you when the trackers batteries are low. I’ve had good luck with this device. It was more money than I wanted to spend, but its been effective and I don’t have to pay for a service like other cat trackers that utilize cell phone service. My only item I would like to see as an improvement, would be for the transmitter screen to light up for night time use.

I use the Marco Polo tracker to locate my cat when he wanders off into the woods while at camp sites. He normally always runs back and checks in every 20 minutes or so, but I have been able to keep his radius of exploration a bit tighter by tracking him down and bringing him back to camp. The tracker has worked pretty well in dense and hilly terrain out in the middle of the forest in the PNW. Certain conditions are harder than others, and at times its taken some confusing back and forth to find the stronger signals that eventually results in an arrow pointing in the direction of my cat. But overall, it works. The furthest i've ever tracked is about 1/8 mile. One perk is that the locator makes a loud beeping sound as it is working. I now bring my cat's favorite treats (freeze dried fish) with me while locating him. He associates the beeps with treats and has started coming to me when I track him rather than me even having to get super close to him. I have had some issues with the tracker. Some coffee spilled on the locator and had to send it in for repair. The customer service is EXCELLENT as Tim, the owner, deals directly with any issues and has talked through some minor malfunctions (loose battery and stuck buttons) in the past. So i recommend folks contact the company if there are any issues. Highly recommend the product as there is nothing else on the market with decent battery life on the tracker or capability to work in areas out of cell service. The tracker tag is small enough for a cat. That being said, my cat is 16 lbs and has been in a harness since he was 4 months old and is completely unphased by the tracker or anything else i put on him. Must have for adventure cats that go off-leash in the wilderness. @QtheBrave

As an engineer, techie & collector of too many gadgets, I’m pleasantly surprised at how well this system works. My dog, “Ovi”, is a wanderer & chaser of wildlife. He’s managed to find every little hole in the fence surrounding my 25 acre property. Thankfully, he always comes home after his adventures, but I wanted the ability to find him a little sooner than 4:30 am when I’m awakened to him barking outside my window, wet & dirty. I didn’t wish to go the cellular route due to the monthly costs. I figured there had to be a direct RF solution out there & thus came upon the MarcoPolo system & gave it a shot. Naturally, I was skeptical of the range claims. I.e. the “15 mile” walkie talkies that barely reach a few thousand feet. Hilly terrain, and obstacles such as trees & buildings tend to hinder RF, especially in the higher frequency spectrum(haven’t determined the frequency of the MarcoPolo yet). My property has lots of trees & is fairly hilly. I initially tested by putting the tracking tag at one end of the property & then went to the other end to see if I could pick it up. No problem. Then last night, whilst Ovi was spending the night at a family members house about half a mile down the road, I fired up the tracker from my bedroom window & was amazed that I quickly detected him! I still need to see how long the charge lasts in the tracking tag & hand unit. But based on other reviewers, I expect the battery life will be great. In some other reviews, there was one or two people that experienced very short battery life. Obviously it was a defect, but based on what I’m hearing about the well above average customer service, it doesn’t have me concerned. They would obviously be quick to remedy any problem that arises. As for how easy it is to use....very. At least for me-who tends to understand tech things pretty quickly. It may take a little longer to master for some. I’m actually surprised at the supposed “archeologists” that couldn’t figure it out. It ain’t that hard. Hope they’re not exploring anything important! One advantage of this system that most don’t seem to realize is the value during an extended search for a missing pet. Last year I spent the better part of a day searching half the county for a friends missing dog. We had numerous people out looking & thankfully he was picked up & taken to a local vet where his chip was scanned & made it back home. But I think about how much easier the search would have been if he had the Marco Polo tag on him. Even if he had quickly gone out of detection range, it makes the search area MUCH bigger per person. You wouldn’t need to drive around every street in a neighborhood. You would just need to drive near the neighborhood, as the tracker would pick him up if you were within range. A potential further development for this device would be to have a receiver that could be attached to a drone(not the tag itself, but the other end). The drone could then be used to do the searching from overhead. Yes-I’m an avid drone enthusiast. I’m already thinking about how I could strap the hand-unit to my drone so I could view the screen while flying. But alas...I’m rambling. Anyway-GREAT device. I’ll update this review if I come upon any issues. But so far, EXCELLENT. Update 7/10/19: Still 5 stars. Great battery life & has quickly located the wanderer every time! Only one small improvement I would suggest: Make the collar holder more durable. It's turned out to be a bit flimsy. I leave the tag on him 24/7, and with his various activities which involve water, rolling, plunging through shrubs, etc., the tag holder is falling apart quicker than I would expect. Looking closely at it, it does seem to be made of lightweight materials. I'm ordering a replacement to hold me over, but I'm going to see what else I can find, or invent, that would hold up to Ovi's adventures a bit better. BUT....all things considered with this system, to me, it doesn't warrant any deduction in stars.

Performs as advertised. I am an experienced amateur radio operator with a good understanding of radio direction finding and this equipment is top notch! I live in a mountainous valley where there is no cellular service, sketchy GPS and my cat roams freely daily. I was able to track my cat close to a mile away with dense forest. Fallen trees and thick brush cover the area here and this tracker still works fabulous. I don't know how Eureka Tech was able to get such great battery life and range but I'm very grateful for the peace of mind this device gives me. Tracking the cat is fun too.

I purchased this product with two transmitters around March 2017. I lived in a small neighborhood and had a fenced in back yard and was about to move to approximately 1000 miles away to Virginia and would be leaving in the country, on a large piece of land, with a so-so fenced in back area. I have a lab retriever and a German Sheppard /hound mix, who loves to escape, and has escaped from just about every containment product I have used, except for 1 kennel. I read how this device was intended to work and realized that it did not have GPS, but at the time, I thought that would be okay. I find this tracking and monitoring system to severely lacking. After setting it up, charging the transmitters and the monitor, I say this product worked great in my test trials. HOWEVER, there have been 3 occasions that my dogs have escaped, and each and every time, this unit failed to worked. The first time, was on Thanksgiving Day. Everything was charged and supposedly working. I noticed my dogs had escaped the fence, went inside turned on the monitor, It loaded up, but after 10 seconds, the monitor turned off. Its not as if the display had gone to sleep, or if it had, nothing would wake it. I tried turning it on several times that day, and each time, the same thing happened. The second time they escaped, it was about 11:00 pm on a cold night. I turned on the display, this time, the display stayed lit for approximately 3-minutes, but it was impossible to read the display. I tried holding a flashlight on the display, and that worked until the display shut off. As it turns out, on that night, the direction of where my dogs were as indicated on the display was approximately 180 degrees off. Big deal for me, as the part of the country road I was looking for them in was a cul da sac, and 180 degrees in the opposite direction was a 2-lane state route, with a speed limit of 55 mph. This is less than a 1/2 from our yard. The dogs were up by the road. The third time I tried using this device to find my dogs, the black lettering in the crystal display was faint one-minute, then a part would be legible while the other part of the display was absent.

I do not think this is anywhere near on par with a nice Garmin GPS system, but it did eventually find the locator when we tested it out. I tested it out only for a distance of 200 yards through wooded rolling hills. It sends you around for a bit but eventually it does get you in the area of the beacon where you should easily be able to see a dog. Pros: - Price. - Long battery life. With not monitoring it I have not charged the hand held or beacon in 2 weeks. - The monitoring system does work well although there is a 90-120 second delay. - Works without cell phone signal. - Expandable to 3 dogs. Cons: - Takes a significant amount of time to hone in on the animal if it is moving. It took on average 15 minutes to find it 200 yards away in woods. - Frequently throws wrong direction indicators you have to just go with the most frequent direction that pops up. - When locating over a hill it would lead me around the side of the hill where the signal was bouncing off. - Pretty simplistic directions, the signal strength is your first indicator you use to get within a 100 yards of the dog (in woods) and then it will start pointing out directions. This will be much better if you live in a wide open area, I can see it locating the animal very quickly in this situation. - Have to rotate in circles for best direction to go and watch the angle you hang on to it for best signal. If your dog is a runner I do not think I would use this as it takes a while to hone in on the signal. If he likes to just go hang out on the property somewhere then it probably is worth saving the money and getting this over a GPS system. My dog never goes too far so I am keeping mine.

I love the Marco Polo! Best purchase ever! I live in the country. 5 acres with house and outbuildings, surrounded by 100s of acres of corn, tree lines, and soy bean fields. My only option of satellite internet is useless when it comes to tracking devices. I've tried many! Marco Polo works best. I'm willing to spend hundreds on the security of my dogs. But Marco Polo is cheap(shhh don't let company know!) and easy to use. There is a slight learning curve. Basically figuring out what is in the vacinity that may bounce the radio waves. Move a few feet and you get the correct direction. Also, the % distance needs practice to know how far it is in reality. Mine is on 24/7, to alarm if he's wandered too far (which has multiple settings to personalize too far) When the monitor alarm goes off, I have a dog whistle attached to the lanyard on the tracker. I blow the whistle a few times in his direction. Put it in tracker mode to verify he is coming in my direction, and he comes home to yummy treats. Never a scold! He's a terrier with a high prey drive. Might take moments, or maybe 10 minutes, but I can monitor his direction and distance with the Marco Polo. I've rarely had to go out for him. Only once I had to take the 4 wheeler out to fetch him. He was on the tail of a deer. Wouldn't stop. We were a good mile from home. Marco Polo kept me on his tail. That day alone was worth a 100 Marco Polos! Luckily I only needed one! The battery power is amazing! I charge the receiver on his collar once a month. The tracker is plugged in, in my kitchen mostly . I take it outside with me for most days. It's been known to be outside all weekend without hardly any battery usage. It has a battery meter that I've stopped watching. Don't need to, it's always ready to go. I've had the Marco Polo a year now. My dog likes to roll in anything. He's very hard on his collars. The Marco polo collar holster has been very durable, but I did just recently replaced it. You can order it alone on the website for I think 19 dollars. My dog has gotten his collar receiver very wet alot, but never actually submerged. He likes running through water and wet grass. But he no interest in swimming. I hope I've been helpful. I was at loss trying to monitor and keep my dog at bay. I wanted him to have some freedom without me having to worry. Marco Polo gave me that! I 100% recommend it!

I live in the middle of the woods and this is the best option to track and find my cat's whereabouts. None of the Samsung or Apple chips are useful if there are no associated brand's phones/items in the area to triangulate position (which only work on very small distances anyways) ; plus long term subscriptions to tracking services is just one more leech in your pockets to be avoided, imo ; so this options was the best for me and the technology works to my taste! I was able to find that my cat had hidden in a nearby undeground pipe ; which I would never have guessed without this device. Thank you Marco Polo for making this technology available to the public!

good quality works well up to about 1/2 mile

We have Avery curious cat and knowing she can be found or call her if she goes out of range is reassuring

This tracker makes it so easy to find my wandering cat. It has given me complete peace of mind.

We have 2 young cats, one of which likes to wander, and since we planned to take them camping or on the occasional road trip, we wanted to have a way to find them if they went missing or got injured while at home or away. We've had the Marco Polo tracker for a few weeks now, and I am quite happy with it's ability to help us find them in any situation. If you are going to purchase this product, you should be aware that this is not a system that will pin point your pet on a map or tell you that your pet is 500 feet away in a particular direction, this is a technology that has been used for decades to track radio collared animals in the wild. The radio tag is fixed to your pet’s collar and communicates with a handheld unit using radio signals, the unit picks up the signals from the tag and gives you information about how strong the signal from the tag is and roughly what direction the signal is coming from. These signals can, and will, multipath off buildings or other obstructions, so the direction that the unit is pointing will constantly change (or it might be unable to calculate a direction for 20 or 30 seconds) depending on if it is picking up a reflected signal or a direct one, and the signal strength will also change constantly depending on the environment. You need to be patient while using the tracker, if the arrow is swinging back and forth by 90 degrees then head mid way between those points until the unit can get a more direct signal, then head in that direction and continuously narrow your search in that manner. Once you understand how to use the unit it is very easy to narrow down the area your pet is in, and then as you get closer you can zone right in on them relatively quickly, but it is very important to practice and become comfortable with the tracker before you try using it in a real lost pet situation while you are under stress. As an example, we got a new collar for one of the cats last week and it had a faulty quick release clasp on it, he lost the collar 2 days ago squeezing under a fence and came home collarless, we were able to find the collar and tag in minutes with the tracker. I also easily tracked the tag from ¼ mile away, and the signal strength was strong enough that I’m sure I could have tracked it from a mile or more without a problem, but the results will vary by the environment you are in.Once you get used to using the tracker it’s easy to get a good understanding of roughly how far away your pet is and roughly what direction they are in based on signal strength, and its great piece of mind knowing that you can go find them if you need to! All of the other systems that I could find on the market are GPS based and send data through cellular systems to your phone, you then track your pet using an app on the phone. It is a nice feature to see your pet on a map, but those systems do not work if you are out of cel range (read camping) or simply in a bad service area. On top of that they all require monthly or annual service plans above your existing cel plan in order to operate ($200 per pet annual roughly), and that adds up! Some of these products also use a Bluetooth connection, but Bluetooth has a very short range, so if they are more than 60 or 70 feet away it is useless as well. Update: We have been using the unit on a daily basis to get an idea of roughly where our roaming cat is, we have used it about a dozen times to find him, and have done so easily every time. We also took both cats camping for a week, and one night they managed to hook the zipper on the tent and both escaped. As soon as we realized that they had gone for a tour (it was suddenly very quiet after much action!) we jumped up, grabbed the tracking unit, and headed out to look for them. The unit homed in on them right away, and after a short walk down the path the unit pointed into the trees to my right, I turned my flashlight in that direction and there they both were, sitting happily on a log watching us search for them. Both of the cats are black, and we would never have found them if they hadn't come back on their own or if something had happened to them, the best investment we have made! I should add this note for those who want to use the system to monitor their pets and get notified when they stray. It was never our intention to use the unit to monitor our cats, only to find them if they disappeared, and it works great for that. But we started to leave the unit on "monitor" mode for the one cat that doesn't wander because we rarely need to track him, and it is suggested to do this in order to prolong battery life in the tag. I have found that the unit often false triggers the alarm when the signal drops out, it does kick off when the signal is picked up again, but it happens often. We have the volume on the alarm turned off, so it isn't a bother, but if your main goal is to monitor your pet this would probably drive you nuts!