Hi, Mavic Air 2 community,

I recently purchased a Mavic Air 2. Flying the drone around Seattle, I cannot get more than a 1-mile range prior to losing signals. I fly the drone at about 300 feet high.

I tried to fly it from those different locations but the range is still limited. Thankfully it turns around and comes back automatically.

How can you extend this range?

Thanks for your tips,

Best,

Benjamin

18 million wireless routers in that area interfering with the signal.  Have to be away from cities to get long range.

Sounds like you are in the center of the city. In that case your range sounds about right.

Vlas Posted at 5-18 07:38
Sounds like you are in the center of the city. In that case your range sounds about right.

Thanks Vlas.

Is there a way to expand the range with an antenna? If so, which one would you recommend?

Best,

Benjamin

dubrow Posted at 5-18 07:53
Thanks Vlas.

Very welcome.

There are settings in the safety section of the fly app that control flight height N distance.  Double check those.

I too lost signal under a mile. But, I was flying near a Tower in the city (Atlanta). Went to my usual location away from the city and extended my range, easily over a mile. While I enjoy flying my MA1, this MA2 is a better connect and i like the speed.

My M2Z flew farther in the same situations as my MA2.  Odd since the latter is rated a higher distance.

Can you do a test flight in the countryside, if you still have the issue then Id open a case, otherwise you can't rule out interference which can be different from day to day.

dubrow Posted at 5-18 08:12
Is there a way to expand the range with an antenna? If so, which one would you recommend?

Best,

If you extend further than you can physically see you are breaking the law, many rules are changing and will continue to change because of irresponsible flying, the fact that you are asking this question suggests you are new to flying drones. I would suggest get used to flying within VLOS and stick with that in the city .

Get out of the city and get out to the country, see if that makes a difference.

I've actually been wondering whether low and fast isn't a better video anyways.  Would give you a better sense of speed.  Have to be close to the drone to pull this shot off.

I did not see any range extender for the Mavic Air 2, but less than a mile in Seattle is pretty good.

hallmark007 Posted at 5-19 01:19
If you extend further than you can physically see you are breaking the law, many rules are changing and will continue to change because of irresponsible flying, the fact that you are asking this question suggests you are new to flying drones. I would suggest get used to flying within VLOS and stick with that in the city .

Thanks @hallmark. Correct, new to this. Still looking for good resources of do and don't  in the US. If you have any pointers...

ex: Max altitude 400 feet, etc.

dubrow Posted at 5-19 06:11
Thanks @hallmark. Correct, new to this. Still looking for good resources of do and don't  in the US. If you have any pointers...

ex: Max altitude 400 feet, etc.

I think in cities radio signal is fine in Mavic Air, but keeping drone in sight is hugely important, to many obstacles and the possibilities of causing real damage is very much real. One big problem with cities is gaining gps which can be blocked out by big buildings in cities, if you have weak or no gps you really need to be able to see your drone.

You should also check if it’s legal to fly and if it is great, cities make great subjects for drone videos, but go early morning or quiet times when you don’t have to fly over people and cars etc when you won’t be disturbed. But gain some experience first.

hallmark007 Posted at 5-19 06:47
I think in cities radio signal is fine in Mavic Air, but keeping drone in sight is hugely important, to many obstacles and the possibilities of causing real damage is very much real. One big problem with cities is gaining gps which can be blocked out by big buildings in cities, if you have weak or no gps you really need to be able to see your drone.

You should also check if it’s legal to fly and if it is great, cities make great subjects for drone videos, but go early morning or quiet times when you don’t have to fly over people and cars etc when you won’t be disturbed. But gain some experience first.

Thanks Hallmark.

Hi,

I experienced the same but in countryside. I also cannot get more than a 300 meters range prior to losing signals. I fly the drone at about 70 meters high.

I am in the middle of the fields lost in the countryside of France without any interference, or high voltage near by.

I've double checked my max distance which is set to 512 meters which would bring me to the limit of the field I fly...

Is there any rule like "more high your drone is farther the signal will last" ?

Thanks for the tips.

Auré Posted at 5-19 13:47
Hi,

I experienced the same but in countryside. I also cannot get more than a 300 meters range prior to losing signals. I fly the drone at about 70 meters high.

Are you pointing the remote towards the drone?
Mavic Air 2's controller has directional antennas, unlike the previous controllers.

Also, try forcing it to use 2.4 GHz (if that's still doable in the new Fly app like it was in Go).

Try increasing the altitude as well and see if it helps.

Finally, put your phone in airplane mode while piloting the drone.

0rcinus Posted at 5-19 17:27
Are you pointing the remote towards the drone?
Mavic Air 2's controller has directional antennas, unlike the previous controllers.

Thanks 0rcinus.

With your recommendations I was able to flight 2500 meters over the farther field long I found ! I didn't try to go farther as it was sufficient for my tests.

The new flight app can force 2.4 GHz but I didn't need to do it because the transmission switched by itself when needed.

Smartphone in Airplane mode + increasing altitude at some points + antennas well directed to the Mavic did the job !

Thanks !