Has anyone flown in a residential area? I was attempting to fly for distance, 75 meters high, in any direction. I can only achieve ~750 meters before I lose video and radio signal. Then I have to hit the RTH button and pray. That is not even 1/2 a mile!!! That is crappy!!!! One time flying it even said "lost communication" at that distance. Never had any issues at closer distance yet. Anyone else try this or have any experience? My area is not heavily populated and their are not a large amount of trees and power wires. This is my 2nd P4P as mine was sent in for repair and DJI replaced it with a new one.

5.8 or 2.4GHz?

theGrindLab.com Posted at 2017-1-13 12:34
5.8 or 2.4GHz?

2.4 but I have it on auto.

Svt04cobra Posted at 2017-1-13 12:36
2.4 but I have it on auto.

I have a similar problem....I'm able to get about 1/2 mile but the best channel in my area appears to be 5.8Ghz I'm guessing do to all of the interference.  What is a reasonable expectation with 5.8ghz?

My feeling is there is something wrong. Even if your flying in "not the best" conditions with regards to trees and line of sight interference, I would think you would still get at least 1610 meters min. That would be at least 1/4 of the advertised distance.

UpUpAway Posted at 2017-1-13 12:39
I have a similar problem....I'm able to get about 1/2 mile but the best channel in my area appears to be 5.8Ghz I'm guessing do to all of the interference.  What is a reasonable expectation with 5.8ghz?

My first test was with 5.8Ghz and netted me slightly less distance. I would expect 5.8 to be less bandwidth there for less distance away and less distance to broadcast video. 2.4Ghz should net the max distance and video but so far I'm not happy. I had already called support, and what I found initially was my channels (in auto mode) were bouncing around very fast. We did a reset on the controller by holding in a combination of buttons and that fixed that issue. Now my channels bounce around but much slower, which was the way my controller acted before I sent my P4P in for repair. I'm going to go out to a park this weekend to test again in a much more open area. All I can say is I would expect more from where i'm currently at.

Svt04cobra Posted at 2017-1-13 12:55
My first test was with 5.8Ghz and netted me slightly less distance. I would expect 5.8 to be less bandwidth there for less distance away and less distance to broadcast video. 2.4Ghz should net the max distance and video but so far I'm not happy. I had already called support, and what I found initially was my channels (in auto mode) were bouncing around very fast. We did a reset on the controller by holding in a combination of buttons and that fixed that issue. Now my channels bounce around but much slower, which was the way my controller acted before I sent my P4P in for repair. I'm going to go out to a park this weekend to test again in a much more open area. All I can say is I would expect more from where i'm currently at.

The reason for short range is not to do with power lines and such, it is that the radio channels used by the Phantom are unregulated by the FCC and just about every consumer device using radio shares those channels. Everything from home WiFi to garage door openers, baby monitors, the lot. The only way to get around this is get out of town.

just never be on 5.8. Your range will be garbage in that frequency. Just set it to 2.4.

sunny051488 Posted at 2017-1-13 14:39
just never be on 5.8. Your range will be garbage in that frequency. Just set it to 2.4.

Even with 2.4 I can't even get 1/2 mile range.

Svt04cobra Posted at 2017-1-13 19:08
Even with 2.4 I can't even get 1/2 mile range.

I had the same issue in residential area even with line of sight.

You will NOT get 3000' range unless you are a top of the roof with straight line of sight.

Look at the picture below I was on main street and it always lost connection around 2500' and am 300' height.

Yup. I think that is doody!!!! My area is the same type.

Sunny 5.8 in auto gets me super far. Idk why u guys are having problems dji did say 5.8 will do 4.3 miles also if u look at power output on fcc papers online it tells the tale anyways maybe some interference u guys are dealing with i can always get consistent results even in super saturated spots

Crazy part is u would think 2.4ghz would get you farther but that is not the case with mine also this is consistently better than my Phantom 4 with DBS mod!!!

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-1-16 09:56
Crazy part is u would think 2.4ghz would get you farther but that is not the case with mine also this is consistently better than my Phantom 4 with DBS mod!!!

So you get better range with the P4P then your P4 in 2.4GHz? At least that is good to know. What is your max range with your P4 you would get in a residential area?

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-1-16 09:54
Sunny 5.8 in auto gets me super far. Idk why u guys are having problems dji did say 5.8 will do 4.3 miles also if u look at power output on fcc papers online it tells the tale anyways maybe some interference u guys are dealing with i can always get consistent results even in super saturated spots

Can you show a picture of one of your "saturated" spots and the long range your getting? If that is the case then my "new P4P" that was just shipped back to me from DJI repair is defective!!!!

climate change.  its the cause of everything.

Do Phantom 4 transmitters suck compared to P3P transmitters? I ask because, even in areas like that, I could easily get 2+ miles before transmission would break.

theGrindLab.com Posted at 2017-1-16 12:10
Do Phantom 4 transmitters suck compared to P3P transmitters? I ask because, even in areas like that, I could easily get 2+ miles before transmission would break.

If that is the case then I would say yes! Either that or ours are defective!

Yes I get better range than my p4 def...and this is about as saturated As It Gets

Over 40,000 ft there and back took the screenshot just sitting there hovering when I got back

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-1-16 14:06
Yes I get better range than my p4 def...and this is about as saturated As It Gets

Definitely more of a commercial area vs where we are which is more residential. But if you have less range with your P4 then I wonder why DJI would make newer models with less power/range?  

I flew from Pennsylvania to New Jersey it was pretty cool round trip was a little over eight miles I think close to 8

That is just a screenshot of a couple buildings that I was passing dude I'm telling you I'm in a big residential area lots of stuff around trains buses cars, lots of houses trust me

The point is I can get the range that DJI is saying it will get unlike my P4 modded

I am 2 miles from philadelphia! If that isn't jam-packed with interference then I don't know what is!

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-1-16 14:14
I am 2 miles from philadelphia! If that isn't jam-packed with interference then I don't know what is!

For sure!!!

Svt could just be interference on your end somewhere test a few more times. Also tap on little hd icon when ready to fly(top right) leave it in auto but pick 5.8

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-1-16 14:36
Svt could just be interference on your end somewhere test a few more times. Also tap on little hd icon when ready to fly(top right) leave it in auto but pick 5.8

I'll give that a try and see what happens.