WiFi vs HDMI

[Brannon Hagenson]

I am seeing all this discussion about WiFi vs HDMI?
What is best to use for the SOLO drone, I have been flying with a Samsung galaxy S5 with WiFi connected, should I have a HDMI cable connected as well?
Also I have lost connection from my controller to the Solo a couple times, is this normal?

 

[Earldgrayjr]

Hdmi is video only. Good for goggles or external monitor. wifi connection for Solp app is correct. Connection loss can happen depending on distance, obstacles, metal, etc. Antennas should be pointed down and away, and try to stay away from noisy wifi areas. The wifi analyzer app is your friend. You can also try add on antenna such as FPVLR

 

[Brannon Hagenson]

Ok, so there is really no use for the HDMi when flying, right?
The Wifi analyzer app?, this is something i should download?

 

[Brannon Hagenson]

The analyzer app shows you other wifi's i see, how does this help when solo has its own?

 

[erikgraham]

The analyzer app shows you other wifi's i see, how does this help when solo has its own?

He's clearly been reading the other threads where people have discussed wifi interference and suggested using a wifi analyzer on a phone to check the wifi environment before flying.

 

[erikgraham]

Ok, so there is really no use for the HDMi when flying, right?
The Wifi analyzer app?, this is something i should download?

First I suggest you read the manual and watch the 3DR videos in the Solo app.

On the drone itself, your GoPro is connected to your Solo using an HDMI cable. But the drone communicates with the controller and the Solo app using WiFI.

There is also an HDMI port on the controller, which you can use to connect video to a monitor or goggles, but for the most part people just watch the video on their iPad/Android.

What you absolutely do not want to do is use the GoPros built in WIFI to watch video in the GoPro app on your phone. You should have the WIFI on your GoPro turned off completely. It will interfere with your Solo's connection.

 

[Earldgrayjr]

The analyzer app shows you other wifi's i see, how does this help when solo has its own?

You don't want other wifis overloading Solo Wifi. if it is "crowded". It means trouble, as in likely disconnections

 

[Earldgrayjr]

He's clearly been reading the other threads where people have discussed wifi interference and suggested using a wifi analyzer on a phone to check the wifi environment before flying.

I use it. It helps in understanding the WiFi environment around you. If you have several strong Wifi signals on the same channel (6 or 11) as Solo, the chances of disco and video problems goes way up... Simple as that.

 

[rrmccabe]

I use it. It helps in understanding the WiFi environment around you. If you have several strong Wifi signals on the same channel (6 or 11) as Solo, the chances of disco and video problems goes way up... Simple as that.

According to 3DR they would rather have strong signals on 6 and 11 with you rather than next to you on as and example channel 5. Not sure how I fell about that logic!

 

[Brannon Hagenson]

First I suggest you read the manual and watch the 3DR videos in the Solo app.

On the drone itself, your GoPro is connected to your Solo using an HDMI cable. But the drone communicates with the controller and the Solo app using WiFI.

There is also an HDMI port on the controller, which you can use to connect video to a monitor or goggles, but for the most part people just watch the video on their iPad/Android.

What you absolutely do not want to do is use the GoPros built in WIFI to watch video in the GoPro app on your phone. You should have the WIFI on your GoPro turned off completely. It will interfere with your Solo's connection.

Got it, thank you for the info!

 

[Brannon Hagenson]

According to 3DR they would rather have strong signals on 6 and 11 with you rather than next to you on as and example channel 5. Not sure how I fell about that logic!

How do you know which channels the other WiFi's are on?

 

[Solo Joe]

For those that may not be as familiar with WiFi. In the US, the range for wireless data transmissions is from 2.412 -2.472Ghz. That is a spectrum of 60Mhz wide in total.The individual channels are 22Mhz in width so you can see that to fit 13 channels there has to be some overlap.

If you have a network on channel one and someone else has a network on channel 2, you can see on the diagram below that you would be sharing as much as 66% of the bandwidth with each other. There are only 3 channels that do not overlap each other 1,6,&11. That is why some say there are only 3 true channels in the 2.4Ghz range.

The point is that the spectrum is small and crowded. However, the mere presence of a wifi network is not indicative of interference. There is 2 parts, the channel and the utilization. If you have 3 SSIDs on channel 6 but there is no data being passed on those networks, you would be fine operating on it without co-channel interference. That is why those wifi analyzer tools only tell half the story.

To get the other half you need a spectrum analyzer. For iOS, there is a device you can buy that attached to your ipad or iphone and an app that gives you a true spectrum analysis of the 2.4Ghz range only. https://www.oscium.com/spectrum-analyzers/wipry-pro

 

[Brannon Hagenson]

Thank you, so on the wifi analyzer app, any channels in-between the wifi "Arch's" if you will, are being used, correct?

 

[Solo Joe]

Thank you, so on the wifi analyzer app, any channels in-between the wifi "Arch's" if you will, are being used, correct?

They are channels that COULD be used. Like I said, If you are on channel 6 and someone else is on 7 part of your channel is shared with theirs. It does not mean you will deffinitley have issues, If the person on channel 7 is just sitting there reading MSN news, you will be ok. BUT, if he starts watching HD netflix on 3 different tv in his house, Part of your bandwidth will be chocked. the part that you are sharing with him. To be honest, if you are unfamiliar with networks (wired or wireless) and you dont really understand RF. I would just leave the app to do thins automatically and use the wifi scanner. if you see alot of networks dont fly there. If you want to learn more, start by learning networking basics then learn wireless basics. Googleing both will turn up courses.

 

[Brannon Hagenson]

They are channels that COULD be used. Like I said, If you are on channel 6 and someone else is on 7 part of your channel is shared with theirs. It does not mean you will deffinitley have issues, If the person on channel 7 is just sitting there reading MSN news, you will be ok. BUT, if he starts watching HD netflix on 3 different tv in his house, Part of your bandwidth will be chocked. the part that you are sharing with him. To be honest, if you are unfamiliar with networks (wired or wireless) and you dont really understand RF. I would just leave the app to do thins automatically and use the wifi scanner. if you see alot of networks dont fly there. If you want to learn more, start by learning networking basics then learn wireless basics. Googleing both will turn up courses.

Got it, thank's again for the information, I will check the WiFi Analyzer before flying to see the amount of networks.

 

[Brannon Hagenson]

Got it, thank's again for the information, I will check the WiFi Analyzer before flying to see the amount of networks, one last question I have is if you are flying on one of the 3 channels that do not overlap, "the 3 true channels" then there is no worry of interference correct?

 

[Earldgrayjr]

According to 3DR they would rather have strong signals on 6 and 11 with you rather than next to you on as and example channel 5. Not sure how I fell about that logic!

Both are true. The app illustrates visually the overlap. Experience tells me that a crowded 2.4 GHz space will have interference.

 

[Brannon Hagenson]

Both are true. The app illustrates visually the overlap. Experience tells me that a crowded 2.4 GHz space will have interference.

Ok, thank you!