OK so here is the backstory. Bought a used Phantom 2 Vision Plus from a well-known retailer. Drone works pretty much flawlessly (flying). I am having a big issue with my wifi connection. It connects to my Samsung Galaxy 5 without a problem and I can use the DJI Vision app. However, when I take off and fly maybe 60-80 feet into the air I lose my connection with the wifi. I can still fly and it continues to record video but I have no control over movement of the camera and I lose ability to see battery level and satellites connected within the app. I have gone so far as to take the range extender and leave it on the ground with the Phantom and walk away connected with the app and continue to view the camera and it stays connected as long as the extender stays with the drone. But once I move away with the phone, app, and range extender more than about 60 feet I lose the wifi connection. Any thoughts on what may be causing this? Is there any way to test the wifi module inside the phantom? I cant find any schematic to actually see or check wires for. Also is there any way to check maybe the internal antenna of the phantom? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Little bit of wifi help needed!!!
- Thread starter matt27360
- Start date
Welcome to the forum. Have you tried a different phone or tablet? Where did you purchase from? What kind of warranty since it was from a retailer? If changing phone, etc hasn't helped, I would take it back to see if it is the wifi module or something along that line. Good luck.
I bought used from B&H Photo online. I have called them and gotten an RMA for sending the drone back. They gave me 30 days and so I had about 2 weeks left to send it back. I hate sending it back just bc i am in love with flying this thing... but if thats what has to happen then so be it. Just had hoped it was a simple fix. I did try a tablet and another android phone but did the same thing.
I'm guessing the WiFi extender is fully charged or close to fully charged? Are their two identical wires extending from the body of the drone down the landing gear?
B&H is very reputable & I know you love flying it but, if you can't get it figured out, fixed, I would send it back & get another that worksmatt27360 said:
I have gone in all directions and in sight with no avail... I have tried aiming it in all directions too.Meta4 said:
yes both wires do extend down two of the legs and the compass wires from a third leg. yes the range extender has been fully charged every time but no luck.tcope said:
Does it freeze up ?
what video preview quality setting are you at ? 640x480 @ 30fps for e.g ? It will tell you the preview quality in the settings menu?
Also.. are you flying/testing in the same area each time ? like the same general area I mean ?
Download 'wifi analyzer' from the play store and come back and tell us what channel the Phantom_xxxxx SSID is on.. and the signal strength and other info it tells you.
For some reason DJI picks the worst channels to run the wifi over.. and seems to be some what random... I've spoken to a few people about wifi stuff and we all had diff channels configured from the factory.. the channel can play a big part, espeacilly if you are in a heavilly populated (in terms of wifi) area.
BTW The 2 antenna wires running down the legs are for the 5.8ghz R/C... The 2.4ghz wifi antennas are hidden in the battery compartment, 1 on each side. If you take off the lid of the quad off (have a look on youtube on how to do.... pretty easy to do, just need right tools... 2mm hex and N-0 sized philips heads) and you will see the wifi module. it has 2 antenna cables coming out of it. You can't really miss it.. you could start there and make sure everything looks ok physically.
There is a crap load you could do to troubleshoot further, but it is kind of hard to explain / go through everything. Anyways happy to help..could just be a slow process lol.. maybe start off with wifi analyzer and physically inspect the wifi module.. if you youtube "remove wifi module dji" or something like that you should see some tutorials on how to remove the unit, which should also include how to get the top lid off, and how to identify the wifi unit, and replacing it if it gets to that stage.. suspect the wifi module its self is fine though.. hopefully lose/dodgy connector.
Where abouts are you located ?? If your in Melb/Australia I'd be happy to have a look.
Come to think of it... because you bought the unit second hand, it might be best to call up the place you got it from an explain the situation... Would hate for them to say they won't help you because you took the lid off.
btw.. I use a Samsung s5 aswell.. works 100% with the phantoms
what video preview quality setting are you at ? 640x480 @ 30fps for e.g ? It will tell you the preview quality in the settings menu?
Also.. are you flying/testing in the same area each time ? like the same general area I mean ?
Download 'wifi analyzer' from the play store and come back and tell us what channel the Phantom_xxxxx SSID is on.. and the signal strength and other info it tells you.
For some reason DJI picks the worst channels to run the wifi over.. and seems to be some what random... I've spoken to a few people about wifi stuff and we all had diff channels configured from the factory.. the channel can play a big part, espeacilly if you are in a heavilly populated (in terms of wifi) area.
BTW The 2 antenna wires running down the legs are for the 5.8ghz R/C... The 2.4ghz wifi antennas are hidden in the battery compartment, 1 on each side. If you take off the lid of the quad off (have a look on youtube on how to do.... pretty easy to do, just need right tools... 2mm hex and N-0 sized philips heads) and you will see the wifi module. it has 2 antenna cables coming out of it. You can't really miss it.. you could start there and make sure everything looks ok physically.
There is a crap load you could do to troubleshoot further, but it is kind of hard to explain / go through everything. Anyways happy to help..could just be a slow process lol.. maybe start off with wifi analyzer and physically inspect the wifi module.. if you youtube "remove wifi module dji" or something like that you should see some tutorials on how to remove the unit, which should also include how to get the top lid off, and how to identify the wifi unit, and replacing it if it gets to that stage.. suspect the wifi module its self is fine though.. hopefully lose/dodgy connector.
Where abouts are you located ?? If your in Melb/Australia I'd be happy to have a look.
Come to think of it... because you bought the unit second hand, it might be best to call up the place you got it from an explain the situation... Would hate for them to say they won't help you because you took the lid off.
btw.. I use a Samsung s5 aswell.. works 100% with the phantoms
ok update on this finally. I ended up sending it back to B&H. They exchanged it and got the new one today. Flew it and ...... oh so much better!!! I easily hit over 900' away before losing the wifi signal . Now that this is working as should be I may look at upgrading the antennas for little added range. I dont need anything major .. not flying out of state ..lol. Any suggestions on easy mods for may be changing antennas or so forth??? Any help or ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!!
dirkclod
Premium Pilot
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