Newbie Question

cwerph · Jan 31, 2022

How does the drone communicate with the controller? Is it via wifi or via GPS/Satellite?

My HS700E seems to "lose" connectivity when it is not very far away (height <100 feet, distance <400 feet).

It is rather disconcerting. When I set the parameters to max distance and max height, I am worried I will get it so far away that I will lose control.

Thanks.

Ed from Bama · Jan 31, 2022

Good evening to all-
The drone communicates with the controller via wifi. there are different types of wifi, and they offer different levels of good control at distance. I have a HS 700E, and its connection distance varies greatly- by day and by location, Don't take the control distances claimed by the company as gospel- your drone will most likely not fly as far under your control as the max distance claims it can.
IF the system works, when you lose connection between drone and controller, the drone will automatically go into return to home- that's where the GPS connection is crucial- and come back. But it can be scary when the screen locks up and the drone doesn't tell you what its doing.

Having said this, you should, in most cases, get better than 400 feet distance before system fail.

good night to all- Ed

cwerph · Jan 31, 2022

Thanks for the info. My understanding is the wifi from the drone/controller is 5G.

Verizon recently updated the entire network surrounding me to 5G. Any chance that is causing interference?

Ed from Bama · Feb 1, 2022

Good morning to all-
Brother, I have no idea if the surrounding system being 5G makes any difference at all. My control phone is not sim card equipped and does not connect with any phone service- it just runs the drone and that's it.
Sorry- I don't know the tech- I just push the switches up and down and see what happens.

good day to all- Ed

cwerph · Feb 1, 2022

Ed from Bama said:
Good morning to all-
Brother, I have no idea if the surrounding system being 5G makes any difference at all. My control phone is not sim card equipped and does not connect with any phone service- it just runs the drone and that's it.
Sorry- I don't know the tech- I just push the switches up and down and see what happens.

good day to all- Ed

Ok, thanks. Looking for an old phone I can use. That sounds like a better option.

cwerph · Feb 1, 2022

Update: I took a peek around the web and found a video from another manufacturer explaining the signal pattern on the typical drone controller - if the drone is up high and a good distance away when it loses signal, changing the position of the controller so the antenna is vertical points the signal at the drone. Tried it tonight - the drone lost signal at about the same position I signal lost. Changed the attitude of the controller and it reacquired and stayed connected.

Bob Johnson · Feb 5, 2022

About your wifi with your phone. Forget the 5G. That is just the generation of the service the phone companies use. Your drone is probably using 5Ghz which is the frequency that it communicates on. The phone service in the area does not matter. I control mine with a phone with no SIM card. So it has no way to communicate with the cell tower system. I hope this helps. I see a lot of comments confusing the frequency and the service generation.

cwerph · Feb 5, 2022

Bob Johnson said:
About your wifi with your phone. Forget the 5G. That is just the generation of the service the phone companies use. Your drone is probably using 5Ghz which is the frequency that it communicates on. The phone service in the area does not matter. I control mine with a phone with no SIM card. So it has no way to communicate with the cell tower system. I hope this helps. I see a lot of comments confusing the frequency and the service generation.

good to know. Just confirming - I do not need a 5g phone to work with my drone. Is that correct?

Bob Johnson · Feb 5, 2022

Yes. I use an old 3G phone without a SIM card and it works just fine. I do have an older drone which uses the 2.4 Ghz wifi, but it does not require a cell tower connection to communicate to the drone.

Bobbrecken · Oct 21, 2022

Bob Johnson said:
Yes. I use an old 3G phone without a SIM card and it works just fine. I do have an older drone which uses the 2.4 Ghz wifi, but it does not require a cell tower connection to communicate to the drone.

I use an older Samsung with no Sim card but the Wifi works fine.

Ron HS600 · Sep 23, 2024

I read somewhere that you should set your phone to Airplane mode with WiFi On and Blue Tooth Off. This was suggested as a way to reduce signal interference and improve communication to the drone. If you are loosing connectivity at 400 ft, try this tip and let us know if it helps.
Thanks, -Ron