My Mini should supposedly reach more than 4Km, but at 1500m RC connection starts to break up. Yesterday I flew over a river, straight line of sight, and max I reached was 2322m. Video was almost non-existent starting at 1300m. Video recorded ok on the SD card, just no transmission to my phone, Galaxy S10 (US Snapdragon version). My phone was also in airplane mode. Any idea why? Bad batch? Normal? This was a new replacement unit for a factory defect drone.

1500m is ok for this model if you are not using signal boosting antennas. It has 4km range only in completely rural environment with no wifi interference.

You can see a mini from over 2,300 meters away?

Larry+DarrelX2 Posted at 4-9 05:10
You can see a mini from over 2,300 meters away?

Not VISUAL line of sight, but still over the water and it was a straight stretch. Rural area, so in theory it SHOULD make the 4km trip. My point isn't the VLOS but the specs posted on DJI website.

Tuxtard Posted at 4-9 04:22
1500m is ok for this model if you are not using signal boosting antennas. It has 4km range only in completely rural environment with no wifi interference.

DJI says we void warranty if we use 3rd party accessories and something happens to the drone. Signal boosters are still 3rd party so we should not need to use these to reach the advertised range (some people DO reach this range like I've seen on Youtube). Hence my concern if my mini has some kind of factory defect or limitation...

The claimed distance is under ABSOLUTELY ideal conditions.  Especially in an urban environment, it will almost certainly be less.  The longest distance I have flown with mine was about 7,000 feet - but I was not limited by signal, I did not want to fly over a wilderness area that I could not enter if the drone ended up there.  And yes, I could easily see the strobes at that distance (night flight).  Around home, I can seldom get more than 1,000 feet at best and in one direction less than 300 feet before the drone loses connectivity due to WiFi interference and initiates a RTH.

Back home I can get away with around 2000ft (600m more or less), but I work at a remote area with little to no population and no transmission towers. So even if I was able to get video or RC connection up to 9000+ feet away I would be ok with that.

4 km on FCC compliant remote controller is under ideal conditions in a test environment (free of obstructions and signal interference of any kind).  CE controller is down to 2 km under ideal conditions.  For where I fly 2000 m is the norm.  

DowntownRDB Posted at 4-9 06:07
4 km on FCC compliant remote controller is under ideal conditions in a test environment (free of obstructions and signal interference of any kind).  CE controller is down to 2 km under ideal conditions.  For where I fly 2000 m is the norm.

Do you still have video at that distance? Cuz mine is gone after 1300m...

This is the pier I'm on when flying and looking at the direction of flight as we see in the picture. From the pier there's a straight section of river and still looses connection.

doglaboi Posted at 4-9 06:12
Do you still have video at that distance? Cuz mine is gone after 1300m...

This is the pier I'm on when flying and looking at the direction of flight as we see in the picture. From the pier there's a straight section of river and still looses connection.

Yes, I still have video at 2000 m.  Your view in the direction of the flight looks clear.  However, are there many homes with wifi along the banks?  Could also be other anomalies effecting your signal.  Even trees can reflect signals and cause mutlipath interference.

Good test is to try a flight in another area, preferably in a rural flat area away from homes, wifi, etc and see what results you get.  Hope you get it sorted out.  

I upgraded to Mavic Air 2 so I could get Occusync for better connectivity.  However, I still fly my Mini and like it a lot.

No homes along the banks. The part with the pier is the only area with any buildings. From the pier onwards it's just water. As you can see in the pictures there's no structures around and the path I was flying is all above water (left path).
I would love to get an Air 2, but way to expensive for me since I just use it occasionally.

Hi, doglaboi. Thanks for reaching out and posting your concern. We understand your disappointment but please be advised that the advertised Max Transmission Distance for both versions are measured and were taken in unobstructed environments free of interference. We strongly suggest always fly your drone within the visual line of sight unless otherwise permitted. In addition to that, kindly check whether your Mavic Mini is running the latest firmware version available and that antennas are positioned in relation to the aircraft as this is where the signal between the aircraft and remote is most reliable.

There is another solution which may be help,:
Mavic Mini: We can enable boost mode on Mavic Mini with the desktop app or FCCboost with the Android app DHCompanion. For the Mavic Mini there is no specific Watt values, it will just power up your RemoteController to the maximum possible. Due to different hardware the results for boost mode will be different on CE and FCC models.

Note: Your maximum flight distance is a combination of your transmit power and your local RF environment. FCC and Boost mode should give you more range, but if you live in a heavily populated urban area the effects may be limited.

Maybe try increasing your altitude if possible or try controlling it from a slightly elevated position or somewhere with less vegetation. The 5.8ghz frequency is more easily absorbed by surrounding objects due to the skin effect that comes with higher frequencies, while the ones that get reflected may cause interference. I've personally tried flying over a hill and was able to get noticeably better range (about 80% increase or nearly double).

ranrick Posted at 4-10 00:45
Maybe try increasing your altitude if possible or try controlling it from a slightly elevated position or somewhere with less vegetation. The 5.8ghz frequency is more easily absorbed by surrounding objects due to the skin affect that comes with higher frequencies, while the ones that get reflected may cause interference. I've personally tried flying over a hill and was able to get noticeably better range (about 80% increase or nearly double).

Finally someone who'se actually saying something that makes sense. I always thought as long as the RC has a straight unobstructed view to the drone it should be able to go the distance. Do you have any idea why video transmission goes out way before RC transmission does? Doesn't it use the same 5.8GHz wifi to transmit the video? Is it because of the bandwidth video uses?

dji_MODDER Posted at 4-9 23:51
There is another solution which may be help,:
Mavic Mini: We can enable boost mode on Mavic Mini with the desktop app or FCCboost with the Android app DHCompanion. For the Mavic Mini there is no specific Watt values, it will just power up your RemoteController to the maximum possible. Due to different hardware the results for boost mode will be different on CE and FCC models.

That's not a solution I was hoping for since I will need to pay 25 Euro's to boost my RC signal. If I but a product which has been stated to achieve 4km HD video transmission in unobstructed environments free of interference, then at least half of that transmission distance would be acceptable for me in the rural area I have tested mine in. But my video feed already craps out at around 1000-1300m (quarter of claimed distance) and that's in unobstructed environment (70m above water - no buildings or any towers/antenna's around for miles)....RC antenna's correctly aligned, phone on airplane mode, full battery on all 3 units (drone, RC, phone). So why?

doglaboi Posted at 4-10 02:18
Finally someone who'se actually saying something that makes sense. I always thought as long as the RC has a straight unobstructed view to the drone it should be able to go the distance. Do you have any idea why video transmission goes out way before RC transmission does? Doesn't it use the same 5.8GHz wifi to transmit the video? Is it because of the bandwidth video uses?

Having an unobstructed view helps out a lot, but definitely not perfect still apparently. At 4km, any bit of interference from vegetation or the surroundings would have considerable impact. So yeah, either find a really large piece of flat land, or if you're flying near vegetation or a jungle, try to find an elevated spot.

As for the video transmission, yeah that's what I think is the reason as well. Video takes up a lot of bandwidth, RC control movements on the other hand don't. So by the time you reach like 3km and above, a lot of the bandwidth meant for video transmission gets lost due to signal absorption or interference by the surroundings. What signal is able to return or be sent from your remote would be the low bandwidth essential stick controls then, as well as crucial flight info such as altitude and distance.

ranrick Posted at 4-10 17:19
Having an unobstructed view helps out a lot, but definitely not perfect still apparently. At 4km, any bit of interference from vegetation or the surroundings would have considerable impact. So yeah, either find a really large piece of flat land, or if you're flying near vegetation or a jungle, try to find an elevated spot.

As for the video transmission, yeah that's what I think is the reason as well. Video takes up a lot of bandwidth, RC control movements on the other hand don't. So by the time you reach like 3km and above, a lot of the bandwidth meant for video transmission gets lost due to signal absorption or interference by the surroundings. What signal is able to return or be sent from your remote would be the low bandwidth essential stick controls then, as well as crucial flight info such as altitude and distance.

By the time video cuts out though, you can at least rely that the drone will still record on the sdcard reliably; just that you won't be able to see in real-time what's being recorded unfortunately.

ranrick Posted at 4-10 17:22
By the time video cuts out though, you can at least rely that the drone will still record on the sdcard reliably; just that you won't be able to see in real-time what's being recorded unfortunately.

Exactly. I had no video on screen from 1300m onwards (a good 1000m+) and I wanted to know how far I could push my Mini. It stopped at 2322m and initiated RTH. All footage however was still captured on the card flawlessly. At least I know now that I won't be able to use mi Mini for eventual Search and Rescue anytime soon
Vegetation really does kill signal. I noticed it yesterday when I tried flying away from me behind some trees. Immediately got signal weak errors and almost lost connection, I wasn't even 50m away.
Do you think those 3rd party signal boosters might help with going the distance? Or will vegetation on the banks still have an impact on the transmission.

doglaboi Posted at 4-11 02:57
Exactly. I had no video on screen from 1300m onwards (a good 1000m+) and I wanted to know how far I could push my Mini. It stopped at 2322m and initiated RTH. All footage however was still captured on the card flawlessly. At least I know now that I won't be able to use mi Mini for eventual Search and Rescue anytime soon
Vegetation really does kill signal. I noticed it yesterday when I tried flying away from me behind some trees. Immediately got signal weak errors and almost lost connection, I wasn't even 50m away.
Do you think those 3rd party signal boosters might help with going the distance? Or will vegetation on the banks still have an impact on the transmission.

Woah no video at just 1.3km. That's pretty close and lots of interference it seems. Yeah the mini won't stop recording to the sdcard unless it gets instructions from the remote so at least that's something.

Yeah the mini really is not up to that task. It uses enhanced wifi and is far from an ideal protocol for such tasks. You'd be better off switching to the mini 2 or other dji drones using occusync communication protocols; they're much more stable and at least in the case of the mini 2, still very compact and light perfect for quick rescue missions.

doglaboi Posted at 4-11 02:57
Exactly. I had no video on screen from 1300m onwards (a good 1000m+) and I wanted to know how far I could push my Mini. It stopped at 2322m and initiated RTH. All footage however was still captured on the card flawlessly. At least I know now that I won't be able to use mi Mini for eventual Search and Rescue anytime soon
Vegetation really does kill signal. I noticed it yesterday when I tried flying away from me behind some trees. Immediately got signal weak errors and almost lost connection, I wasn't even 50m away.
Do you think those 3rd party signal boosters might help with going the distance? Or will vegetation on the banks still have an impact on the transmission.

And yeah it does, any tall structures nearby really will reduce signal. The 5.8ghz band really does a poor job of penetrating through objects and gets absorbed really easily. Also that's why occusync is recommended since at least it works in dual band/channel (2.4 and 5.8 ghz). In this case at least, an occusync capable drone will switch to 2.4ghz automatically as it has a much better chance of not getting absorbed by the skin effect and penetrating vegetation and reach much further, just at the expense of more latency; and using the occusync protocol, it will experience much less interference as well.

doglaboi Posted at 4-11 02:57
Exactly. I had no video on screen from 1300m onwards (a good 1000m+) and I wanted to know how far I could push my Mini. It stopped at 2322m and initiated RTH. All footage however was still captured on the card flawlessly. At least I know now that I won't be able to use mi Mini for eventual Search and Rescue anytime soon
Vegetation really does kill signal. I noticed it yesterday when I tried flying away from me behind some trees. Immediately got signal weak errors and almost lost connection, I wasn't even 50m away.
Do you think those 3rd party signal boosters might help with going the distance? Or will vegetation on the banks still have an impact on the transmission.

I've used 3rd party passive signal boosters and they do work well, at least for my case. I don't know the prices you have there but they only cost like 4-5 dollars over here actually. The 3rd party boosters I use work by shaping the signal beam so it becomes narrower but much longer so it can reach further; and it does so passively so it really won't damage the remote or drone really. Of course, the cons with using these are since the beam is focused, you need to be somewhat accurate at where you are pointing the remote at; since unlike without boosters where you get a near 360 degree equally strong signal, with boosters, you would have focused signal beam and if misaligned with the drone to a degree, you would lose signal almost instantly, depending on which type of passive booster you use.

That said the two main ones are the parabolic mirror and yagi-uda antenna extenders. The former simply works like a mirror and reflects wasted wifi signals that are pushed towards you instead of the drone, and focuses them to the direction where you are pointing at. The yagi-uda antennas works somewhat similarly just with different signal shaping concepts that is really better explained by electronics and communication videos if you want to learn more.

Long story short, on the differences, parabolic mirrors give you only a slight boost (a few hundred meters or a kilometer at best), but produces a relatively wider beam so you don't really have to be pinpoint accurate when facing the drone (about 120 degrees according to sources I've seen, which is pretty much fits in the general area where you'd be pointing at when flying anyways). The yagi-uda antenna extenders on the other hand give a much more considerable boost (personally got an 80% to nearly double increase in range), but you have to be more accurate in facing the drone RC (about within 90 degrees of the drone's position) or risk losing signal almost instantly when at very long distances. Also note that you need to make sure you get the 5.8ghz yagi-uda antennas, since these antennas tune and shape specific frequencies, and if you buy a 2.4ghz antenna, that won't work at all.

You can actually use both at the same time, with marginal results though. I personally use the latter more to fly and explore areas that are further, but note that you would almost likely need to fly straight, since if the drone veers left or right a bit, you need to turn and compensate to line up and it can be hassle especially at long distances. But I do sometimes use the former if I want to explore areas in the vicinity with more margin of error, so I can circle around areas without having to constantly line up and still have boosted range.

ranrick Posted at 4-11 03:47
I've used 3rd party passive signal boosters and they do work well, at least for my case. I don't know the prices you have there but they only cost like 4-5 dollars over here actually. The 3rd party boosters I use work by shaping the signal beam so it becomes narrower but much longer so it can reach further; and it does so passively so it really won't damage the remote or drone really. Of course, the cons with using these are since the beam is focused, you need to be somewhat accurate at where you are pointing the remote at; since unlike without boosters where you get a near 360 degree equally strong signal, with boosters, you would have focused signal beam and if misaligned with the drone to a degree, you would lose signal almost instantly, depending on which type of passive booster you use.

That said the two main ones are the parabolic mirror and yagi-uda antenna extenders. The former simply works like a mirror and reflects wasted wifi signals that are pushed towards you instead of the drone, and focuses them to the direction where you are pointing at. The yagi-uda antennas works somewhat similarly just with different signal shaping concepts that is really better explained by electronics and communication videos if you want to learn more.

Hmm, thanks for the explanation. I'll buy them both and give them a try. I buy all my stuff from the US anyway and have them shipped off to my country with freight forwarder so no biggy to get them.
Thanks again for all your input, greatly appreciated. I am leaning towards getting a used Air2 but they're still very pricey.

doglaboi Posted at 4-11 02:57
Exactly. I had no video on screen from 1300m onwards (a good 1000m+) and I wanted to know how far I could push my Mini. It stopped at 2322m and initiated RTH. All footage however was still captured on the card flawlessly. At least I know now that I won't be able to use mi Mini for eventual Search and Rescue anytime soon
Vegetation really does kill signal. I noticed it yesterday when I tried flying away from me behind some trees. Immediately got signal weak errors and almost lost connection, I wasn't even 50m away.
Do you think those 3rd party signal boosters might help with going the distance? Or will vegetation on the banks still have an impact on the transmission.

But yeah, vegetation and obstructions will still have some impact of course to an extent. But as someone who has flown in places with a lot of trees, the yagi-uda antennas did a pretty good job of still increasing my range and did very well compensating for some of the signal absorption by the vegetation nearby as long as line of sight is maintained.

doglaboi Posted at 4-11 03:54
Hmm, thanks for the explanation. I'll buy them both and give them a try. I buy all my stuff from the US anyway and have them shipped off to my country with freight forwarder so no biggy to get them.
Thanks again for all your input, greatly appreciated. I am leaning towards getting a used Air2 but they're still very pricey.

I see, alright then, hope they help out a bit.

Very welcome. Pretty relatable as someone who asked these same questions before myself lol, so feel free to ask around in the forum as always.

Yeah, I've also been looking around for a used Air2 but also still saving up. I love the mini but there are also a lot of things I can use the Air2 for. Fingers crossed that the used Air2 market will go down once DJI releases the Air2S lol.