Hi folks

This is not about breaking VLOS, this is about whether or not the DJI 4g Dongle would work on O2 in the UK or any network for that matter.

The DJI Dongle is TDD and can work on these frequencies as per this reply over on Mavic Pilots

4G TDD LTE Frequency Bands used in (Asia)
B38 (2600 MHz) IMT-E
B39 (1900 MHz)
B40 (2300 MHz)
B41 (2500 MHz)

According to this site O2 works on both,
the top of the page shows

FDD B28 700Mhz

and further down it shows

TDD on band B40 2300Mhz and B38 (2600 MHz)

Unless I'm reading things incorrectly and its used for 5g?

Any thoughts?

PS, just found this in the manual, it looks like its not limited to TDD

Specifications

Telecommunication Standards
TDD-LTE/FDD-LTE/WCDMA/GSM

Operating Frequency Bands
TDD-LTE: B34/38/39/40/41 FDD-LTE: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B18/B19/B20 B25/B26/B28/B66/B71
WCDMA: B1/B2/B4/B5/B6/B8/B19 GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Let's hope Dji comes on and says that this is opening up for the rest of the world.

Suren Posted at 1-9 18:15
Let's hope Dji comes on and says that this is opening up for the rest of the world.

Yeah, would be nice to get some official input

Hi, Captain. Thank you for your feedback. DJI Cellular Dongle is initially released in Mainland China and is still only available there. Please note that we still don't have an estimated release time for the DJI Cellular Dongle in other regions. We apologize for the inconvenience caused. We suggest you stay tuned in our DJI Official Website for official announcements. Should you have other concerns, please reach back here at DJI Forum. Have a nice day!

You have to subscribe to a service with DJI for it to work and they dont allow you to subscribe outside of china last I heard.  

DAFlys Posted at 1-10 01:35
You have to subscribe to a service with DJI for it to work and they dont allow you to subscribe outside of china last I heard.

Suren says hes got it working

DAFlys Posted at 1-10 01:35
You have to subscribe to a service with DJI for it to work and they dont allow you to subscribe outside of china last I heard.

Mine works now with no subscription

Bashy Posted at 1-10 04:42
Suren says hes got it working

I read that you get the first year free then need to pay after that. Seems that mine actually was active from March 2022 but I did not know that, that was around the time I bought the dongle and installed it but it was not working.

Why would anyone need this...... What is its purpose

Suren Posted at 1-10 10:12
I read that you get the first year free then need to pay after that. Seems that mine actually was active from March 2022 but I did not know that, that was around the time I bought the dongle and installed it but it was not working.

Weird, i take it you could have added your own sim card an it should have worked then though?

Bashy Posted at 1-10 17:15
Weird, i take it you could have added your own sim card an it should have worked then though?

You still need a SIM card with data on it but the subscription service for the first year is free thereafter you need to pay an annual fee to Dji to use the dongle.

Suren Posted at 1-10 18:57
You still need a SIM card with data on it but the subscription service for the first year is free thereafter you need to pay an annual fee to Dji to use the dongle.

Sorry, what i meant was, if youd added your own sim from the day you bought it, could that have activated it?

Bashy Posted at 1-10 18:59
Sorry, what i meant was, if youd added your own sim from the day you bought it, could that have activated it?

No, I did add a sim but it was still no activated. The option to turn on enhanced transmission was greyed out but now it is possible to turn it on and fly with it. Did another short flight while sitting inside the house and no RC Connection to drone and it flew nicely on 4G

Suren Posted at 1-10 19:43
No, I did add a sim but it was still no activated. The option to turn on enhanced transmission was greyed out but now it is possible to turn it on and fly with it. Did another short flight while sitting inside the house and no RC Connection to drone and it flew nicely on 4G

No way of knowing if it will work in the UK then, a lot of money for a gamble unless of course ya want to jump on a plane ;) lol

Suren Posted at 1-10 18:57
You still need a SIM card with data on it but the subscription service for the first year is free thereafter you need to pay an annual fee to Dji to use the dongle.

How much is the annual fee approx and do you think it is worth it. How does it fit with LOS rules

Suren Posted at 1-10 19:43
No, I did add a sim but it was still no activated. The option to turn on enhanced transmission was greyed out but now it is possible to turn it on and fly with it. Did another short flight while sitting inside the house and no RC Connection to drone and it flew nicely on 4G

Do you get additional range

Bashy Posted at 1-10 21:25
No way of knowing if it will work in the UK then, a lot of money for a gamble  unless of course ya want to jump on a plane ;) lol

Would love to fly and see the place but I also took the chance and like I said I had to keep it in the RC Pro for a while which also worked out well because the RC Had internet out in the field all the time.

Bigplumbs Posted at 1-10 22:28
How much is the annual fee approx and do you think it is worth it. How does it fit with LOS rules

Dji website shows the fee at 99yuan which converts to about $23NZD for me. The app shows me that I have to renew by 23 March 2023 to remain active

Bigplumbs Posted at 1-10 22:29
Do you get additional range

Way more range but I have not fully tested because of weather conditions. This weekend is said to be sunny so I am heading off to my mates farm which has a lot of trees and will be flying behind all of them. I can fly comfortable from inside the house with Mini 3 Pro or Mavic 3 with no RC Connection and have 4G connection, this I did test and it works flawlessly

Suren Posted at 1-10 10:11
Mine works now with no subscription

It was said here that DJI charge a subscription for their relay server

https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... 242&pid=2678270

Bashy Posted at 1-10 04:42
Suren says hes got it working

Interesting,  there was a long thread about and someone said there was a subscription to use the  DJI relay server.

https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... 242&pid=2678270

DAFlys Posted at 1-11 00:31
It was said here that DJI charge a subscription for their relay server

https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=redirect&goto=findpost&ptid=260242&pid=2678270

That is correct, there is a subscription but I read it some where some time back that 1st year is free, maybe on the Chinese forum but mine works until end of March and then I need to pay

Bashy Posted at 1-10 17:15
Weird, i take it you could have added your own sim card an it should have worked then though?

Assume this is the case if compatible with UK phone networks, re your post, though seems would just for the mobile data element not the controlling the drone as that requires dongle at both ends, DJI subsription also which isn't available here nor pretty much anywhere!  An expensive way of getting mobile data on the rc pro vs phone tethering, which does work... being you can download the maps offline (as bad as they are) I'm not sure there is such a use case for this unless you don't like faffing with a phone if you say need to sync your flight logs or use an app you could have on your phone..

Suren Posted at 1-11 00:54
That is correct, there is a subscription but I read it some where some time back that 1st year is free, maybe on the Chinese forum but mine works until end of March and then I need to pay

So did you have to do a vpn trick to sign up for the free first year subscription?

Axelz Posted at 1-11 00:57
Assume this is the case if compatible with UK phone networks, re your post, though seems would just for the mobile data element not the controlling the drone as that requires dongle at both ends, DJI subsription also which isn't available here nor pretty much anywhere!  An expensive way of getting mobile data on the rc pro vs phone tethering, which does work... being you can download the maps offline (as bad as they are) I'm not sure there is such a use case for this unless you don't like faffing with a phone if you say need to sync your flight logs or use an app you could have on your phone..

You can use it with the RC N1 so that would have been better for me anyway, saving the price of 2 dongles.
I have seen so far that it now works in Australia and New Zealand.

From the link i added in my post, there's a possibility that O2 supports TDD on 2300mhz and 2600mhz
Not sure about the other networks as i wasn't looking for those, I'm an O2 person but if it meant Vodaphone or Three only support it then i would certainly jump ship or at least just for this purpose lol

For those in countries that haev tried this and failed, i am wondering if they have actually blocked the signal from the RC to the drone so that the 4G side of it will kick in? as thats a major point.

Just found this site that is a bit easier to read and clearly shows the TDD bands on page (slide) 10
https://www.forensicanalytics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/UK-Cellular-Frequency-Allocations-v13.1-Q1-2020.pdf

Dammit, to find out the band your network is using type into the phone pad *#0011#
Im on 800mhz and 900mhz both are FDD so no good for O2

I think use of the Dongle will mean breaking the LOS Rules

Bigplumbs Posted at 1-11 08:10
I think use of the Dongle will mean breaking the LOS Rules

Think what you like, that's your prerogative, as I said in your thread, my VLOS is a lot further when using nav lights, I can easily see what side is what at 1km during the day, didn't test further as it was from my house and just over 1km is the max due to houses in the way of LOS.

DAFlys Posted at 1-11 01:01
So did you have to do a vpn trick to sign up for the free first year subscription?

Nope, it just worked when I out it on a few days ago, had to remove the FCC Hack from RC Pro first but on normal RC and iPhone it just worked

Suren Posted at 1-11 10:08
Nope, it just worked when I out it on a few days ago, had to remove the FCC Hack from RC Pro first but on normal RC and iPhone it just worked

Thats the good part, with the dongle there shouldn't be any need for FCC

Suren Posted at 1-11 10:08
Nope, it just worked when I out it on a few days ago, had to remove the FCC Hack from RC Pro first but on normal RC and iPhone it just worked

Ho w smooth did you find the video feed?  On the demo I saw it looked a bit laggy.

Dirty Bird Posted at 1-12 03:45
Your control range is as far as the cellular network reaches.  Theoretically you could launch a drone in California while sitting in New York.  It would be interesting to have an M30T with LTE & the M30 docking station mounted at your house.  You could fly from anywhere you had broadband coverage.

Form what i have see, that wouldnt be possible, 1st i believe there is a max distance, sommat like 25 miles i think and also, you have to take off in wifi mode, from what i have read anyway..

Dirty Bird Posted at 1-12 08:43
Interesting.  I have not seen the operating manual.  I'll have to look for more info.  Wonder what the point of the M30 all-weather docking station is if you have to be there to launch?

#3.1  here https://bbs.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=294747

DAFlys Posted at 1-12 01:22
Ho w smooth did you find the video feed?  On the demo I saw it looked a bit laggy.

If the 4G connections stays stable then feed is really good but as it drops between red and orange feed gets buggy but I flew almost 7km with 4G signal bars in red. RC lost connection at 2.5km from me

Dirty Bird Posted at 1-12 03:45
Your control range is as far as the cellular network reaches.  Theoretically you could launch a drone in California while sitting in New York.  It would be interesting to have an M30T with LTE & the M30 docking station mounted at your house.  You could fly from anywhere you had broadband coverage.

To take off you will need to have a connection from RC to drone then when the RC loses connection the 4G takes over

Be interesting if you hit return to home

Bigplumbs Posted at 1-12 10:32
Be interesting if you hit return to home

RTH will work regardless as its set within the drone itself

Suren Posted at 1-12 10:16
If the 4G connections stays stable then feed is really good but as it drops between red and orange feed gets buggy but I flew almost 7km with 4G signal bars in red. RC lost connection at 2.5km from me

That does sound pretty good.    I guess in a couple of cycles this could be internal to the drone.

Bigplumbs Posted at 1-12 10:32
Be interesting if you hit return to home

Done that and tried it when on 4G and it works as normal

DAFlys Posted at 1-13 00:43
That does sound pretty good.    I guess in a couple of cycles this could be internal to the drone.

May well be in the next Mavic 4