WIFI problems? Connects, then disconnects after about 100 ft

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Relative newbie- have done lots of research though so im decently aware of the terminology.

So I bought my drone (Phantom 2 Vision (not the vision PLUS)) used, from craigslist from a very nice old man that bought it and used it very little and very gently. I flew it around, and the farthest ive flown away is about 400 vertical feet right above me, and the wifi cut out. but when i fly away from me at a low altitude i can get farther than 400 feet. cant figure it out.
Then, i was flying yesterday, and when i got above about 50 feet off the ground (maybe 100 feet away from me), the wifi disconnected, and wouldn't re connect until the drone until the drone was about 15 feet in front of my face. I thought it might have been a low battery on the wifi extender, but i fully charged it right before i went flying today. Same problem happened again.
i got new antennas for it and tried those out, same results (linear plane antennas?? dont know what that means)

What kind of extender should i be using, and whats the best antenna (im trying to get the best and most reliable range)? Can (or should) i replace the antenna(s) on the actual drone?

What am i doing wrong and how can i fix this problem of disconnection?
What can i do to improve connection after this problem is solved (or works itself out)?
Also, when i do get connection, my video feed is very bad quality (looks VERY pixelated, sometimes i have to just guess what its showing, based on shapes of objects). How can i fix this?

Anything will help, thanks so much for your time!!
 
The first thing I would do, regardless of whether you're having range problems or not, is replace the range extender. Get yourself a used RE 700 on eBay from a reputable seller. They're around $50. Bind it and test it out. Your FPV range will improve by at least 50% instantly.

I would do that right now.
 
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The first thing I would do, regardless of whether you're having range problems or not, is replace the range extender. Get yourself a used RE 700 on eBay from a reputable seller. They're around $50. Bind it and test it out. Your FPV range will improve by at least 50% instantly.

I would do that right now.

Thats not the problem, like i said, it was working fine, now its not, so its not a quality issue per say, but something seems to be wrong/broken.
 
The first thing I would do, regardless of whether you're having range problems or not, is replace the range extender. Get yourself a used RE 700 on eBay from a reputable seller. They're around $50. Bind it and test it out. Your FPV range will improve by at least 50% instantly.

I would do that right now.

Also i noticed that the 700 model doesnt have antenna ports, and my 500 does, any reason why the 700 doesnt need antennas?
Can i add antennas for increased range?
 
The 500 and 700 are the same case design. Both have stock patch antennas inside the module. There are no antenna ports.

Obviously the previous owner modded your 500. It seems likely either a ufl cable popped out or a cable got pinched when he reassembled the case.
 
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The 500 and 700 are the same case design. Both have stock patch antennas inside the module. There are no antenna ports.

Obviously the previous owner modded your 500. It seems likely either a ufl cable popped out or a cable got pinched when he reassembled the case.

but it worked for me perfectly well, and now its not. how should i fix this?
 
As I said before - I would replace the extender with a 700.

Otherwise, you could open up the 500 and take a look. The problem though, is even if a ufl popped off or if a cable got pinched, chances are good that you fried a transmitter due to the fact that you had no antenna connected.
 
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I opened up my re500, and nothing was disconnected, and it seemed that the stock antennas were still attached as well. There was 2 ufl cables and they were both still firmly attached, I popped them both of and popped them both back on, and nothing was pinched or anything. I'm going to go fly it later today, I'll let y'all know what the outcome is. Any other suggestions if this doesn't work? Is there any way to know if I fried anything? Thanks
 
If nothing popped off or got pinched, there's no reason to believe the transmitter got fried.

Your antennas might be mis matched. From my own experience, the linear antennas are the worst for wifi. Try a patch antenna to match the patch antenna on your aircraft. You might have better luck.

But again, if it was me, I would get the RE 700. That is the first thing I'd do.
 
If nothing popped off or got pinched, there's no reason to believe the transmitter got fried.

Your antennas might be mis matched. From my own experience, the linear antennas are the worst for wifi. Try a patch antenna to match the patch antenna on your aircraft. You might have better luck.

But again, if it was me, I would get the RE 700. That is the first thing I'd do.

What is a patch antenna?
 
It's a flat antenna that looks like a patch. It's what was originally in your extender and is probably still there behind the board (there are two). There are also two in your camera.
 
It's a flat antenna that looks like a patch. It's what was originally in your extender and is probably still there behind the board (there are two). There are also two in your camera.

So what kind of antenna should I get? Maybe provide some links or something? I understand that antennas are pretty specific and I don't know much about them. I was going to order some rhcp antennas (the ones that look like whisks). How would those work?
Thanks
 
Relative newbie- have done lots of research though so im decently aware of the terminology.

So I bought my drone (Phantom 2 Vision (not the vision PLUS)) used, from craigslist from a very nice old man that bought it and used it very little and very gently. I flew it around, and the farthest ive flown away is about 400 vertical feet right above me, and the wifi cut out. but when i fly away from me at a low altitude i can get farther than 400 feet. cant figure it out.
Then, i was flying yesterday, and when i got above about 50 feet off the ground (maybe 100 feet away from me), the wifi disconnected, and wouldn't re connect until the drone until the drone was about 15 feet in front of my face. I thought it might have been a low battery on the wifi extender, but i fully charged it right before i went flying today. Same problem happened again.
i got new antennas for it and tried those out, same results (linear plane antennas?? dont know what that means)

What kind of extender should i be using, and whats the best antenna (im trying to get the best and most reliable range)? Can (or should) i replace the antenna(s) on the actual drone?

What am i doing wrong and how can i fix this problem of disconnection?
What can i do to improve connection after this problem is solved (or works itself out)?
Also, when i do get connection, my video feed is very bad quality (looks VERY pixelated, sometimes i have to just guess what its showing, based on shapes of objects). How can i fix this?

Anything will help, thanks so much for your time!!
I'm going to say that in the end, the ITELITE is probably the one you'd be happiest with. However, you still have a potential problem and IMO you should figure that out first.

Does your range extender have one modded antenna sticking out of it? Or two?

There are a lot of variables with antennas and all sorts of things influence what you should do based on location, environment, and even your personality. It's a science, but there's also a lot of art to it too. Lots of people have different opinions regarding antennas and there isn't really a single right answer that pleases everybody or works best in any given situation.

Again, I suggest getting the RE 700. It kills two birds with one stone - it's a win win. It sends a significantly stronger signal. And the 700 has the patch antenna built in. If your RE 500 is bad, it solves the problem. If your 500 isn't bad, it's still a great enhancement. It's a win win.

If you really don't want to get the 700, you might add this to your existing linear antenna(s) (called a windsurfer). http://www.amazon.com/XJJ-Printing-...56156548&sr=8-31&keywords=dji+phantom+antenna

This makes the signal stronger provided you aim it properly.

Another idea is to replace the linear antenna with a patch: Amazon.com: YKS 5.8G FPV 14DBI High Gain Panel Antenna Aerial for Receiver DJI RC Aircraft FPV: Toys & Games

I have that myself and it works better than the linear but I can't say whether it's better than a windsurfer.

Bottom line is, figure out the range problem so that you can get something close to 300 meters of FPV in an open field away from wifi disturbance.

Once you solve the range problem and you know you don't have some other fundamental problem elsewhere, then IMO you should consider the ITELITE antenna - provided you have the RE 700.
 
It's a flat antenna that looks like a patch. It's what was originally in your extender and is probably still there behind the board (there are two). There are also two in your camera.

So where is the wifi antenna in the drone? is it in the camera? or is it in the drone itself? is there a way to boost the strength of the antenna? or maybe replace or move the antenna to a better location? if so, how?
thanks!
 

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