Very poor range

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Hi every one, first time drone user here. I purchased the Solo a few weeks ago, took it out finally for a good flight this last week. My problem is I was getting extremely poor range with it. At 150ft, I was getting only about 400ft range before loosing connection. Thought maybe it was bad interference, so went out to a secluded area today for another flight. Tested again and I got about 700ft before loosing connection. Any tips or anything to look for to troubleshoot?

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Welcome! Pardon the obvious questions but they must be asked: Are the antennas on your controller positioned correctly? Are you blocking the path between them and Solo with your tablet or your body or anything else? Are you near any cell phone towers or other sources of strong RF noise? Are you standing too close to your car or truck? (Just trying to eliminate some of the typical causes of trouble).
 
try not to stand too close to any trees and houses. I did this in my first flight. and I was loosing connections at about 150 ft to 200ft. in my back yard. solo would keep returning home. I upgraded to some better antennas and my gps. I am now able to fly from my back yard and in-between trees.
 
try not to stand too close to any trees and houses. I did this in my first flight. and I was loosing connections at about 150 ft to 200ft. in my back yard. solo would keep returning home. I upgraded to some better antennas and my gps. I am now able to fly from my back yard and in-between trees.
Hello there, I was having the same problem where I lived but not where i worked at. I only got roughly 500-800 feet around my house with a clear line of sight. And at work the max I got was 1,200 feet.
I wanted something a little more stable so I picked up those Alfa antennas off amazon for $20 and rushed shipping. They increased my range at work to a solid 3-4 bars at 2,000 feet and I have been able to get out to 3,400 feet the other day before turning around and coming back still flying it. I couldn't see it anymore but the signal bar had zero but I still could controll it. This was with heavy trees in front.
I haven't been able to fly by my house due to the weather lately so i don't know how they will work by my home.
But, check out the Alfa antennas for sure if you want more stable connection. I sometimes lost connection if the bird was about 350feet and like 40 feet away from home but not anymore.
 
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download wifi analyzer
you will almost always find when you get good range at location A but terrible at B
that B has very high wifi traffic
 
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Welcome! Pardon the obvious questions but they must be asked: Are the antennas on your controller positioned correctly? Are you blocking the path between them and Solo with your tablet or your body or anything else? Are you near any cell phone towers or other sources of strong RF noise? Are you standing too close to your car or truck? (Just trying to eliminate some of the typical causes of trouble).

No, the obvious questions are great, I'm a newb :). The second flight I did I was close to my car, so that's possible. I'll try to get out in an open field and test again.
 
download wifi analyzer
you will almost always find when you get good range at location A but terrible at B
that B has very high wifi traffic
Yupp, point a (home) in my case very residential and point b (work location) only businesses. At point A I can fly down the railroad tracks down to about 1,300 feet on stock with dji reflectors.
 
No, the obvious questions are great, I'm a newb :). The second flight I did I was close to my car, so that's possible. I'll try to get out in an open field and test again.
I've never had problems with being close to a car. Only problem is turning it on in a car and searching for gps. I always have magnetic interference obviously. At some points in my flying there are 4 full size semi trucks in the parking lot around me. Not 5-10 feet away but close. I've never had problems.
 
Hello there, I was having the same problem where I lived but not where i worked at. I only got roughly 500-800 feet around my house with a clear line of sight. And at work the max I got was 1,200 feet.
I wanted something a little more stable so I picked up those Alfa antennas off amazon for $20 and rushed shipping. They increased my range at work to a solid 3-4 bars at 2,000 feet and I have been able to get out to 3,400 feet the other day before turning around and coming back still flying it. I couldn't see it anymore but the signal bar had zero but I still could controll it. This was with heavy trees in front.
I haven't been able to fly by my house due to the weather lately so i don't know how they will work by my home.
But, check out the Alfa antennas for sure if you want more stable connection. I sometimes lost connection if the bird was about 350feet and like 40 feet away from home but not anymore.

I've ordered the antennas (same day shipping where I live, love amazon!), I'll test with them. They're directional correct? Is the side with the "Alfa" on it the directional side?
 
I've ordered the antennas (same day shipping where I live, love amazon!), I'll test with them. They're directional correct? Is the side with the "Alfa" on it the directional side?
Hey sounds good, I'm happy you picked them up. You won't be disappointed. they are directional, Alfa logo pointed away from you and towards the bird with a slight bend in the arm. Just play around with the angle of them. Keep them aligned together perfectly as that is how I always have good luck with them. So if you adjust one, make sure you adjust the other one the same as well.
 
I've ordered the antennas (same day shipping where I live, love amazon!), I'll test with them. They're directional correct? Is the side with the "Alfa" on it the directional side?
Yes, Alfa points to Solo. They are more directional than the stock antenna.

Like Pyrate said, if you have an Android device, wifi analyzer is free and will tell you what's going on around you. Might give us an idea where to go next.
 
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I've ordered the antennas (same day shipping where I live, love amazon!), I'll test with them. They're directional correct? Is the side with the "Alfa" on it the directional side?
Yes the side with the Alfa is the directional side that you want to point at the bird.
I love amazon as well!! Sometimes the difference between same day shipping and 2 day is only a dollar apart. Always nice to have that.
Also sometimes I get better connection by have the antennas a full 90 degrees down with Alfa logo outward and sometimes better with a slight bend just like the stock ones say to do.
Happy flying
 
Yes, Alfa points to Solo. They are more directional than the stock antenna.

Like Pyrate said, if you have an Android device, wifi analyzer is free and will tell you what's going on around you. Might give us an idea where to go next.
Well if you fly near homes there will always be wifi compared to flying in a dessert. Those antennas are a great improvement over the stock completely.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone, love these forums! I'll be checking my wifi surroundings and test with the alfa antennas and go from there.
 
I also as well pick some Alfa from amazon and for some reason they don't work that good with my solo (with the Alfa you need to have the solo mostly in a straight line) I guess that will be good near a desert or something like that. Anyways with the stock one surprisingly I have travel over 8100ft. Of course as well almost in a straight line and in one charge. The battery is usually the negative part of my Solo. It does give me only about 15 to 18 minutes of flight "maybe".
Still I do enjoy it.
Happy flying guys!
 
try not to stand too close to any trees and houses. I did this in my first flight. and I was loosing connections at about 150 ft to 200ft. in my back yard. solo would keep returning home. I upgraded to some better antennas and my gps. I am now able to fly from my back yard and in-between trees.
i tried everything you said to do and my maximum range still stayed at about 350 feet. i'm worried something is up with my transmitter. is there anything you recommend to do to check if there are problems with the controller? also, which antennas and GPS did you upgrade to?
 

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