I'm curious what protocol this USB port uses. In the states it's hard to find the proprietary DJI deal that this is made for. I'm wondering if any 4G modem can make use of it. TCP over USB, Ethernet over USB, reverse USB tethering, what I'm trying to accomplish goes by many names and protocols. I'm just wanting an internet connection that's hardwired and not taking up anymore wireless spectrum.

The Dji dongle just connects into that usb c port and it gives the RC Pro an internet connection, I have 1 in my RC

Suren Posted at 5-25 10:30
The Dji dongle just connects into that usb c port and it gives the RC Pro an internet connection, I have 1 in my RC

I understand that, my question was if this is restricted to only work with DJI's 4G dongle? Or can I use any 5G/4G modem with a USB out in place of DJI's? Or even a phone with USB tethering enabled.

Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. This part works only for DJI 4G Dongle at the moment. For the additional accessories to work with the back part ports, we will let you know. Please keep an eye on the DJI official release. Thank you for your understanding and support.

DJI Paladin Posted at 5-25 19:36
Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. This part works only for DJI 4G Dongle at the moment. For the additional accessories to work with the back part ports, we will let you know. Please keep an eye on the DJI official release. Thank you for your understanding and support.

So let me get this straight.. DJI uses Android which is open source, but decided to close it. You use Universal Serial Ports (USB) but have made it proprietary. Not only locking it down to a DJI only restriction, but you even block your own apps from installing and block your own drones from connecting to my RC Pro Enterprise. DJI is using Android as their OS. Which is free and comes out of the box with near ubiquitous support for USB accessory compatibility. We shouldn't have to wait on DJI to let us know when they've fixed something that they went out of their way to break. A $1200 RC that only works with one of your drones also has a USB port that only works with a single product. Do you see how ridiculous that sounds?  

Johnnokomis Posted at 5-25 21:42
So let me get this straight.. DJI uses Android which is open source, but decided to close it. You use Universal Serial Ports (USB) but have made it proprietary. Not only locking it down to a DJI only restriction, but you even block your own apps from installing and block your own drones from connecting to my RC Pro Enterprise. DJI is using Android as their OS. Which is free and comes out of the box with near ubiquitous support for USB accessory compatibility. We shouldn't have to wait on DJI to let us know when they've fixed something that they went out of their way to break. A $1200 RC that only works with one of your drones also has a USB port that only works with a single product. Do you see how ridiculous that sounds?

My take on that:
DJI using Android makes a lot of sense...
Of course, any device manufacturer that uses Android still has to make a lot of adjustments!  
Manufacturing a drone that also takes pictures during its flight and can in principle cause damage to third-party property is of course a special responsibility for the manufacturer...
There are a lot of rules on the part of the state authorities to be observed here so that the flight is as possible as possible  surely takes place!  
If anyone could really make changes, install anything they wanted on the device, etc., then that would certainly cause many, many problems!

frankymusik Posted at 5-25 22:15
My take on that:
DJI using Android makes a lot of sense...
Of course, any device manufacturer that uses Android still has to make a lot of adjustments!  

Of course using Android makes sense. It's a proven system that is a lot cheaper than developing your own OS. I'm having difficulty understanding what your point is with your comment. To sum it up in one sentence you're basically saying, releasing a drone comes with many responsibilities. The fact that DJI releases an SDK to third party devs makes the rest of your comment null and void.

Johnnokomis Posted at 5-25 21:42
So let me get this straight.. DJI uses Android which is open source, but decided to close it. You use Universal Serial Ports (USB) but have made it proprietary. Not only locking it down to a DJI only restriction, but you even block your own apps from installing and block your own drones from connecting to my RC Pro Enterprise. DJI is using Android as their OS. Which is free and comes out of the box with near ubiquitous support for USB accessory compatibility. We shouldn't have to wait on DJI to let us know when they've fixed something that they went out of their way to break. A $1200 RC that only works with one of your drones also has a USB port that only works with a single product. Do you see how ridiculous that sounds?

Thank you for your feedback. We will surely forward this to our designated team for attention. Thank you for your understanding and support.

Johnnokomis Posted at 5-26 03:47
Of course using Android makes sense. It's a proven system that is a lot cheaper than developing your own OS. I'm having difficulty understanding what your point is with your comment. To sum it up in one sentence you're basically saying, releasing a drone comes with many responsibilities. The fact that DJI releases an SDK to third party devs makes the rest of your comment null and void.

... that's your point of view!

Thanks for your honest answer...


By the way:
If another company uses the SDK and creates "new" software using it, then they also take on some responsibility...

Johnnokomis Posted at 5-25 11:30
I understand that, my question was if this is restricted to only work with DJI's 4G dongle? Or can I use any 5G/4G modem with a USB out in place of DJI's? Or even a phone with USB tethering enabled.

Wouldn't it be easier to just use phone tether or dedicated 5G hotspot via wifi? Or are you thinking about other potential use cases that benefit from hard wired via the USB-C port (maybe secondary battery for charging)?

djifan99 Posted at 6-16 11:09
Wouldn't it be easier to just use phone tether or dedicated 5G hotspot via wifi? Or are you thinking about other potential use cases that benefit from hard wired via the USB-C port (maybe secondary battery for charging)?

It's another piece of gear to have to remember, keep charged, power on, wait to boot up etc. The RC Pro sucks at auto connecting to any WiFi. Usually you have to go into settings and tell it to connect to the SSID, even though it's a known network. Having an access point right beside the RC causes interference since Ocusync is using the same wireless spectrum. 4G/5G has it's own wireless bands. Hardwired is more stable, almost always faster, more secure because traffic can't be sniffed. Other than that it's basically the same.

Johnnokomis Posted at 6-16 16:56
It's another piece of gear to have to remember, keep charged, power on, wait to boot up etc. The RC Pro sucks at auto connecting to any WiFi. Usually you have to go into settings and tell it to connect to the SSID, even though it's a known network. Having an access point right beside the RC causes interference since Ocusync is using the same wireless spectrum. 4G/5G has it's own wireless bands. Hardwired is more stable, almost always faster, more secure because traffic can't be sniffed. Other than that it's basically the same.

I see, good point. On the other hand, the DJI 4g dongle can be had at aliexpress for around $100 so not too much more than any decent 4G hotspot on the market.

One major limitation I recently found (yet to be confirmed) is you need two 4g dongles for what's it intended to do (not talking about BVLOS, but simply having a backup communication channel in the rare case of signal loss), it seem you can't just get one dongle for the air unit and tether the RC Pro. This is of course assuming you pop one of those supported sim cards from a Chinese carrier into the air unit dongle. But from what Ive heard you must have two DJI 4g dongles (again unconfirmed).