Three RFID reader based network deployment algorithms (grid-covering, diagonal and mixed) were evaluated in this paper. Experimental results show that the grid-covering method can be used to minimize hardware costs, but it leads to many indeterminate positions. The diagonal method can be used to solve the indeterminate problem, however increases the number of readers, especially in a large tracking field. The mixed algorithm can be used to avoid the indeterminate issue and also has the minimum reader number when deployed in a large space. However, it is not suitable for a small tracking field. An optimal deployment algorithm is selected from these three algorithms according to the environmental conditions and the localization requirement. In addition, an optimal RFID reader network deployment combined with a subarea-mapping algorithm can be used to minimize the hardware costs while improving the fine-grained indoor localization accuracy.