Hey there

I have been flying for a month now with my Mavic 3 and noticed that the Signal Transmission Range is only a few hundred meters (300meters, 1000ft) sometimes if there are buildings or dense forests between me and the drone. If I fly over a lake for example, the connection status is perfect even at 3kms (10k ft).


I do know that urban areas and mountains can interfere with the range, but I did not think this much. I lost connection in the middle of the woods so far, only after a few hundred meters, as well as in urban areas. So I would like to ask for advice from the community if this is normal behavior to start losing signal merely after a few hundred meters, even because of trees and dense foilage.

I am using the RC-N1.

Haven't heard of this issue so much with the Mavic 3 but only with the Mini 3 Pro lately.

This actually pretty typical. As long as you have line of sight and the antennas aligned properly, the range will be nearly unlimited. Buildings, trees, land other obstructions will limit your transmission. range. It will be especially bad if the obstructions are close-by your controller position as the signal can't spread out before being bounced back.

LoftyAmbitions Posted at 7-10 10:20
This actually pretty typical. As long as you have line of sight and the antennas aligned properly, the range will be nearly unlimited. Buildings, trees, land other obstructions will limit your transmission. range. It will be especially bad if the obstructions are close-by your controller position as the signal can't spread out before being bounced back.

Your last sentence makes a lot of sense, that is what has been happening most likely. I was too concerned with the drone's position, when in reality it was my RC's environment that determined those unfavorable outcomes. Appreciate the perspective

Hello there Obelisk88. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for reaching out. May we please know what is the model of the mobile device that you are using please and kindly please try to fly your DJI Mavic 3 to a different location with less interference to see if the issue will still persist. The said DJI drone might have picked up magnetic interference on the ground, and you took off from close to a buildings with rebar concrete metal objects on it. In addition, please make sure that the antennas are pointed toward the aircraft for optimal transmission. Thank you.

DJI Stephen Posted at 7-10 20:08
Hello there Obelisk88. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for reaching out. May we please know what is the model of the mobile device that you are using please and kindly please try to fly your DJI Mavic 3 to a different location with less interference to see if the issue will still persist. The said DJI drone might have picked up magnetic interference on the ground, and you took off from close to a buildings with rebar concrete metal objects on it. In addition, please make sure that the antennas are pointed toward the aircraft for optimal transmission. Thank you.

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iPhone 12 is the device. I was not aware of potential magnetic interference on the ground, good to know. Thanks for the antenna direction picture, it is helpful.

In Europe you'll fly in CE mode, which is vastly under powered compared to FCC mode, specially in the 5.8Ghz band. It's so under powered that we can just say that the drone will only fly in 2.4Ghz, thus it will be quite vulnerable to interference.

On the other hand, transmission systems of this type rely purely on line of sight. As long as you have an unobstructed line of sight the drone can go waaay beyond VLOS, more than 6Km in CE mode easily. even the Mini 2 CE could hit 4Km with no problems, but remember, unobstructed (and if possible, from high ground). A single obstacle like a tree can reduce the signal drastically.

Finally set the phone to airplane mode. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and LTE antennas so close to the controller interfere the signal a lot, you won't lose connection, but you'll get stutter and reduced range. You can keep the GPS on if you want, as it's a passive device it won't interfere.

PS: If you are in Europe the first thing you need on your DJI drone is an FCC hack, even if you are flying VLOS.

Obelisk88 Posted at 7-11 11:39
iPhone 12 is the device. I was not aware of potential magnetic interference on the ground, good to know. Thanks for the antenna direction picture, it is helpful.

Hi there Obelisk88. You are very much welcome and thank you for the reply. Ig you have any other concerns or any inquiries with DJI. Please feel free to post it here at DJI Forum. We are all here to help and assist you. Thank you.

Before I ever got into photography and drones I was a huge radio communications hobbyist. I done a lot of work building antennas and TX / RX on multiple radio bands. I would like to just offer my thoughts on this topic from  a radio communications perspective, as I feel it could be helpful. First and foremost, the #1 thing you can do to make sure you have the best possible signal is to make sure you are flying the drone correctly with the controller. Antenna orientation is very important. You need to be facing the drone, and have the back side of the antennas facing the direction of the drone at all times. Think about the end of those antennas as being flashlights, because that is kind of how they work, projecting the strongest radio signal out in that direction.

additionally, you need to know that these drones communicate with the remote on the 2.4 ghz and 5.8 ghz frequency bands. These are the same radio bands used by WIFI routers. Frequencies in these bands are more susceptible to interference, as they aren't able to penetrate as well as radio waves of a lower frequency band, like FM, or VHF. This is why you will often see a vast difference between line of site communication versus obstructedl ine of site communication in devices in these frequency bands. If you simply fly around a thick building, or around a mountain, you may lose all signal, even though you are very close to the drone. The radio signal simply cant penetrate that building or earth to reach the drone, or vice versa. However, with straight line of sight the mavic 3 has been shown to fly out 8 or 9 miles. All that said, to answer your question, YES obstructions do make a big difference. If the obstruction is vegetation, like tall trees, then as you fly further and further away, the obstruction is getting thicker and thicker as more and more tree tops are eclipsing into the signal path. This is where increasing altitude can help, as you effectively lessen the amount of obstruction. If you are flying behind a solid, thick object like a building or mountain, then altitude is likely to make little difference. If you are flying in an area that has a lot of woods/trees, try to pick a place where you have a little distance between you and the trees. Just keep in mind open area is your friend with these drones - not just the mavic 3 - but all drones as most all of them operate within the same frequency bands.

In addition to obstruction, you also have to be very mindful of interference from other electro magnetic waves. This is another eason why populated areas can sometimes be problematic, as you have wifi routers literally everywhere these days, all of which are transmitting radio signals in the same radio band as your drone. This is like having a big room full of people all talking, and you trying to talk across the room to a friend.

As a rule of thumb: 2.4ghz band will give you better range than the 5.8ghz band. If you are out in rural areas this is the preferred band to use. 5.8 ghz band will offer less range, but 5.8ghz generally has less radio chatter, at least for now. The 5ghz band is starting to get more and more busy these days, but typically 5.8 ghz has always been a good option for transmission when 2.4ghz band was already saturated in an area. If you fly in a populated area take a moment to look in the fly app at the radio chart - it gives you a little chart to show how noisy the band is. The drone intelligently alters its frequency transmission to try and stay on as clean a frequency as possible.

Tornado12 Posted at 7-13 12:17
Before I ever got into photography and drones I was a huge radio communications hobbyist. I done a lot of work building antennas and TX / RX on multiple radio bands. I would like to just offer my thoughts on this topic from  a radio communications perspective, as I feel it could be helpful. First and foremost, the #1 thing you can do to make sure you have the best possible signal is to make sure you are flying the drone correctly with the controller. Antenna orientation is very important. You need to be facing the drone, and have the back side of the antennas facing the direction of the drone at all times. Think about the end of those antennas as being flashlights, because that is kind of how they work, projecting the strongest radio signal out in that direction.

additionally, you need to know that these drones communicate with the remote on the 2.4 ghz and 5.2 ghz frequency bands. These are the same radio bands used by WIFI routers. Frequencies in these bands are more susceptible to interference, as they aren't able to penetrate as well as radio waves of a lower frequency band, like FM, or VHF. This is why you will often see a vast difference between line of site communication versus obstructedl ine of site communication in devices in these frequency bands. If you simply fly around a thick building, or around a mountain, you may lose all signal, even though you are very close to the drone. The radio signal simply cant penetrate that building or earth to reach the drone, or vice versa. However, with straight line of sight the mavic 3 has been shown to fly out 8 or 9 miles. All that said, to answer your question, YES obstructions do make a big difference. If the obstruction is vegetation, like tall trees, then as you fly further and further away, the obstruction is getting thicker and thicker as more and more tree tops are eclipsing into the signal path. This is where increasing altitude can help, as you effectively lessen the amount of obstruction. If you are flying behind a solid, thick object like a building or mountain, then altitude is likely to make little difference. If you are flying in an area that has a lot of woods/trees, try to pick a place where you have a little distance between you and the trees. Just keep in mind open area is your friend with these drones - not just the mavic 3 - but all drones as most all of them operate within the same frequency bands.

I think Mavic 3 is 5.8ghz not 5.2ghz, original M1 might have been 5.2ghz and maybe Mini 3 pro uses 5.1ghz 5.7ghz and 2.4ghz seems dji are varying this in all their drones Air2s 5.7ghz etc. but the 5ghz is growing in use.

hallmark007 Posted at 7-13 15:09
I think Mavic 3 is 5.8ghz not 5.2ghz, original M1 might have been 5.2ghz and maybe Mini 3 pro uses 5.1ghz 5.7ghz and 2.4ghz seems dji are varying this in all their drones Air2s 5.7ghz etc. but the 5ghz is growing in use.

You are correct that it is 5.8ghz instead of 5.2ghz. I will edit my post to clarify that. Everything I have said though still applies. There is no difference between 5.2 and 5.8ghz, they are on the same band. I would also note that the 5ghz band is restricted in some countries as well, so it may not even be available in some places. If I could only have one band though I would prefer 2.4ghz, as it will offer the best transmission distance.