A method localizes a set of nodes in a wireless network that includes a target node having unknown location and a set of anchor nodes having known locations. The set of anchor nodes is partitioned into subsets of anchor nodes, wherein each subset has at least three anchor nodes. A distance from the target node to each of anchor nodes in each subset is measured, to estimate possible locations of the target node. A geometric constraint is applied to each estimated location to determine valid locations, which are then filtered to determine filtered locations. The filtered locations are averaged to determine an initial estimate of the location.