I am still futzing around with my air, and have yet to really let loose with the thing as I am working through the learning curve with this, but I was curious if anyone has tested out the actual real world distance that the drone can go before the wiFi signal drops or something else happens that would force the drone to come back to you.... I know in all the literature that DJI says it can go up to 2.5mi from the operator, but is that actually the case?  I mean I would be happy with 1.5mi, but would still be worrying if I would love the thing...

The Max is 1.2 mi

Define "real world". Is it "real world" according to DJI marketing, youtubers getting gear for free, youtubers paying for reviewed gear, general fanboys, general public or general haters?

The max distance I have reached without losing the video signal or not experiencing problems with the transmission ...has been 600-800 meters, beyond that you run the risk of losing the signal.

eYeSkYeYe Posted at 2018-2-12 07:53
Define "real world". Is it "real world" according to DJI marketing, youtubers getting gear for free, youtubers paying for reviewed gear, general fanboys, general public or general haters?

Well DJI claims that you can get the Air to go 2.5mi from the operator, but we all know that is BS especially if you are flying in an area where there are a ton of different wifi signals (urban areas mostly), but what about areas that are free of wifi signals? Mountains? Desert areas? Ocean/beach areas?  I live in NYC, one of the most densely populated cities on earth with a crap ton of wifi signals, and so I know full well not to expect to send my drone off and get it to the advertised 2.5mi distance, but if I took it on vacation to lets say Vegas and flew it out at Red Rock Canyon where there is almost no wifi interference, I assume you can get it close to 2mi?

Parisi2274 Posted at 2018-2-12 08:13
Well DJI claims that you can get the Air to go 2.5mi from the operator, but we all know that is BS especially if you are flying in an area where there are a ton of different wifi signals (urban areas mostly), but what about areas that are free of wifi signals? Mountains? Desert areas? Ocean/beach areas?  I live in NYC, one of the most densely populated cities on earth with a crap ton of wifi signals, and so I know full well not to expect to send my drone off and get it to the advertised 2.5mi distance, but if I took it on vacation to lets say Vegas and flew it out at Red Rock Canyon where there is almost no wifi interference, I assume you can get it close to 2mi?

If desert is anything like a water, here you go:

Typical housing area, I was able to get 500 meters to 800 meters depending on the direction i flew my Mavic Air, thats all on 2.4. Not to back in my opinion 1/4 mile seems very acceptable up to 1/2 mile

Honestly I would be fine with a 1/2 to a mile.  I'd still be nervous as anything that I would lose it, but I would love see how far I could get that thing to travel.

The other day I had it at a alt of 350ft up, and I still had a very strong video signal and that was in the parking lot of my job, with a ton of wifi signals around.

Worst I've seen was about 200m, it lost signal and RTH'ed. The best I've seen was 1600m and the video feed was still stable, so it depends a lot on the location. But usually the connection is stable, with no video lag, if I keep it under 500m. Certainly it's no match for the Platinum and what makes it worse is it can lose connection completely and go into RTH before you know. However, I had 2 flights yesterday on the newest firmware and it seemed to have improved. Need a few more flights to confirm this though.

It seems to me that any further than "Line of Sight" is gonna probably start something that makes you think about going any further with the Mavic Air to me.  It's alright trying to push it a little more, but why would you if you cannot successfully use the camera due to interference etc?  The question is however, how strong is the signal before you get to "Line of Sight", is it really good and 100% stable or are people seeing issues here too?  I personally have held off buying for the moment.

Monkey007 Posted at 2018-2-12 11:31
Worst I've seen was about 200m, it lost signal and RTH'ed. The best I've seen was 1600m and the video feed was still stable, so it depends a lot on the location. But usually the connection is stable, with no video lag, if I keep it under 500m. Certainly it's no match for the Platinum and what makes it worse is it can lose connection completely and go into RTH before you know. However, I had 2 flights yesterday on the newest firmware and it seemed to have improved. Need a few more flights to confirm this though.

I wanted to take it up this weekend and test it out, but we had nothing but rain all weekend here in the NYC area, so I am hoping that this coming weekend is nicer and I can take it out and put it through its paces...

I did a review with an Air that I paid for. No freebie on my channel and I told it how I found it. A lot of people talking about interference in towns and cities; well, most interference would be from home routers and other low-output transmissions so if you're in a park and flying above 150 feet high, the interference should be minimal.  And if you let it decide the frequency itself, it will work out which has least interference and probably stick to 5.8 which has less interference... And the supposed longer reach of 2.4 is a little over played by people I think.

I got to almost 2Kms or 1.3 miles on both my trials, and for me, the transmitter would be reduced in power due to me flying within Europe and the auto CE limitation.  You're in the USA so should get further range.
Cheers,
Ian

HomePoint Posted at 2018-2-12 11:45
It seems to me that any further than "Line of Sight" is gonna probably start something that makes you think about going any further with the Mavic Air to me.  It's alright trying to push it a little more, but why would you if you cannot successfully use the camera due to interference etc?  The question is however, how strong is the signal before you get to "Line of Sight", is it really good and 100% stable or are people seeing issues here too?  I personally have held off buying for the moment.

Quite frankly I am not  impressed with the Air's range all because I'm used to composing my shots with the Mavic, which usually means flying far away from the subject so I can get a wide enough shot. Otherwise the Air packs a lot of features for its price, and I'm NOT regretting to have bought it.
Remember, a man always needs n+1 birds...

Wellsi Posted at 2018-2-12 12:30
I did a review with an Air that I paid for. No freebie on my channel and I told it how I found it. A lot of people talking about interference in towns and cities; well, most interference would be from home routers and other low-output transmissions so if you're in a park and flying above 150 feet high, the interference should be minimal.  And if you let it decide the frequency itself, it will work out which has least interference and probably stick to 5.8 which has less interference... And the supposed longer reach of 2.4 is a little over played by people I think.

I got to almost 2Kms or 1.3 miles on both my trials, and for me, the transmitter would be reduced in power due to me flying within Europe and the auto CE limitation.  You're in the USA so should get further range.

Ian, I watched your video and your video was stuttering within 500m, which backs up my comments earlier on the strengths of the signals within Line of Sight to be able to shoot video.

HomePoint Posted at 2018-2-12 13:04
Ian, I watched your video and your video was stuttering within 500m, which backs up my comments earlier on the strengths of the signals within Line of Sight to be able to shoot video.

Remember I did two tests; the first was on an appallingly windy day at a low altitude  The second was on a better day and higher altitude.
Having flown it repeatedly since then, I'd say it's pretty solid up to around 1,000 metres and still not bad up to 1,500.
But you're right; it's defo no Mavic Pro range-wise...  
cheers, Ian

Monkey007 Posted at 2018-2-12 12:36
Quite frankly I am not  impressed with the Air's range all because I'm used to composing my shots with the Mavic, which usually means flying far away from the subject so I can get a wide enough shot. Otherwise the Air packs a lot of features for its price, and I'm NOT regretting to have bought it.
Remember, a man always needs n+1 birds...

Yep; I bought this initially to review, but have really taken to it as my preferred drone now.  For every day use it's really great; so light and zippy and easy to travel with.  And I know all about needing a spare drone

Ian