Crashed the second drone in less than a month.

[Dirk_ANAFI]

Yeah, 400 meters away and behind trees and out of line of sight when they experienced a disconnect.

My Anafi was 30 meters away and was still disconnected at *2* meters away.

That never happened to me at distances below 500m and seems to be an indivual problem of you and your drone(s) in the outback.
Get your drone repaired, exchanged (or sold), because it obviously has a technical problem.

 

[wscreate]

My Anafi has for sure lost connection at 5 meters away from the controller. When it flew itself into a tree I was only 5 meters away frantically trying to get the controls to work while flying it in the middle of the outback in Australia (aka the middle of nowhere). When it lost connection flying over a ocean cliff it was also very close by - I could have easily thrown the controller and hit the drone with it!

So from what I've experienced with the Anafi and its frequent connection issues is that the WiFi connection is probably just as bad as the Spark connection.

In my world, losing control is a big no-no. Video feed cuts out? Fine. Losing all control, especially at such a stupidly-close distance? Game over.

I just checked my DJI 4 app with which I fly the Spark. It shows I've had 35 flights with the spark and I don't recall having one disconnect. I am just beginning with the Anafi, have flown 5 times so far and one of those flights had a disconnect. I need more time with the Anafi before I can be sure it's viable.

Can anyone who is having wifi problems verify whether you are using 2.4 Ghz or 5 Ghz wifi? I recently switched to 5 Ghz wifi because that band is less crowded which should translate into less opportunities for interference. Also, 5 ghz transmits data faster than 2.4 Ghz. I've flown twice with the Anafi since the disconnect and haven't had any issues. Both times, I was using 5 Ghz wifi. I copied the following from Netgear.com

The primary differences between the two frequencies are the range (coverage) and bandwidth (speed) that the bands provide. The 2.4 GHz band provides coverage at a longer range but transmits data at slower speeds. The 5 GHz band provides less coverage but transmits data at faster speeds.

The range is lower in the 5 GHz band because higher frequencies cannot penetrate solid objects, such as walls and floors. However, higher frequencies allow data to be transmitted faster than lower frequencies, so the 5 GHz band allows you to upload and download files faster.

Your WiFi connection on a particular frequency band can also be faster or slower because of interference from other devices. Many WiFi-enabled technologies and other household devices use the 2.4 GHz band, including microwaves and garage door openers. When multiple devices attempt to use the same radio space, overcrowding occurs. The 5 GHz band tends to have less overcrowding than the 2.4GHz band because fewer devices use it and because it has 23 channels for devices to use, while the 2.4GHz band has only 11 channels. The number of channels that are available to you depends on the regulatory domain. If you’re experiencing a lot of interference from other devices, consider using the 5 GHz band.

What is the difference between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless frequencies? | Answer | NETGEAR Support

 

[Seitenwerk]

I just checked my DJI 4 app with which I fly the Spark. It shows I've had 35 flights with the spark and I don't recall having one disconnect. I am just beginning with the Anafi, have flown 5 times so far and one of those flights had a disconnect. I need more time with the Anafi before I can be sure it's viable.

Can anyone who is having wifi problems verify whether you are using 2.4 Ghz or 5 Ghz wifi? I recently switched to 5 Ghz wifi because that band is less crowded which should translate into less opportunities for interference. Also, 5 ghz transmits data faster than 2.4 Ghz. I've flown twice with the Anafi since the disconnect and haven't had any issues. Both times, I was using 5 Ghz wifi. I copied the following from Netgear.com

The primary differences between the two frequencies are the range (coverage) and bandwidth (speed) that the bands provide. The 2.4 GHz band provides coverage at a longer range but transmits data at slower speeds. The 5 GHz band provides less coverage but transmits data at faster speeds.

The range is lower in the 5 GHz band because higher frequencies cannot penetrate solid objects, such as walls and floors. However, higher frequencies allow data to be transmitted faster than lower frequencies, so the 5 GHz band allows you to upload and download files faster.

Your WiFi connection on a particular frequency band can also be faster or slower because of interference from other devices. Many WiFi-enabled technologies and other household devices use the 2.4 GHz band, including microwaves and garage door openers. When multiple devices attempt to use the same radio space, overcrowding occurs. The 5 GHz band tends to have less overcrowding than the 2.4GHz band because fewer devices use it and because it has 23 channels for devices to use, while the 2.4GHz band has only 11 channels. The number of channels that are available to you depends on the regulatory domain. If you’re experiencing a lot of interference from other devices, consider using the 5 GHz band.

What is the difference between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless frequencies? | Answer | NETGEAR Support

Usually, 2,4Ghz would always be the better option. 5Ghz is faster, but range is lower and interferences are much easier to happen. The only reason when 5Ghz is better is if there are many devices around which use 2,4Ghz or if you want to download directly from the drone.

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

I read many reports here during the last months about "Wifi connection problems".
I find it very difficult to compare the different problems or even to say whether there are real problems in a single case.
1. As you said, wscreate, often it is not mentioned, which band is used.
2. Mostly there are no remarks on the area: rural, suburban, ...?
3. Mostly there are no comments on the question, whether a Wifi analyzer app was used to identify any "Wifi pollution" or whether a change of the Wifi channel was tried and with which success.
4. The flight situation in which problems arised was seldom mentioned.
5. The kind of problem is not always clear or identified: was it only the message "stronge interference" on the HUD? Was it a short loss of the video stream? Was the drone always controlable or not? Did the drone Auto-RTH?
6. ... (some more)

So here are many emotional discussions on this theme, but often very few or confusing information. In addition there are many comments like "that also exactly happend to me", but I sometimes find the described cases not comparable.

 

[AaronB]

@fuzzybabybunny

I'm begining to think that your Anafi may have some issue with the on-board GPS. In theory if the WiFi link becomes corrupt, the Anafi should hold it's position via GPS, however if your GPS is wandering all over the place then the Anafi will also appear to move at random with signal loss. I'm not defending the the quality of the Anafi WiFi link - but you may have a faulty bird. My experience with poor signal quality is the Anafi just stops moving or does a reasonably accurate return to home.

 

[wscreate]

I read many reports here during the last months about "Wifi connection problems".
I find it very difficult to compare the different problems or even to say whether there are real problems in a single case.
1. As you said, wscreate, often it is not mentioned, which band is used.
2. Mostly there are no remarks on the area: rural, suburban, ...?
3. Mostly there are no comments on the question, whether a Wifi analyzer app was used to identify any "Wifi pollution" or whether a change of the Wifi channel was tried and with which success.
4. The flight situation in which problems arised was seldom mentioned.
5. The kind of problem is not always clear or identified: was it only the message "stronge interference" on the HUD? Was it a short loss of the video stream? Was the drone always controlable or not? Did the drone Auto-RTH?
6. ... (some more)

So here are many emotional discussions on this theme, but often very few or confusing information. In addition there are many comments like "that also exactly happend to me", but I sometimes find the described cases not comparable.

@Dirk_ANAFI Well said. I think the discussion will continue for the forseeable future as long as UAV manufacturers choose wifi as the connection method between the controller and the drone. It is not an optimal choice because of channel overcrowding.

 

[wscreate]

Usually, 2,4Ghz would always be the better option. 5Ghz is faster, but range is lower and interferences are much easier to happen. The only reason when 5Ghz is better is if there are many devices around which use 2,4Ghz or if you want to download directly from the drone.

From NetGear.com --- "The range is lower in the 5 GHz band because higher (5 Ghz) frequencies cannot penetrate solid objects, such as walls and floors. "

I would tend to agree @Seitenwerk - but only if you have obstacles in between you and the drone such as trees or buildings, etc. But from what I've read, the 5 Ghz transmission distance will be fine as long as there are no obstacles in the way. And if you use 2.4 Ghz, the interference will affect the range. So, considering that 5 Ghz is less crowded, I suspect there will be no appreciable difference in range as long as there are no obstacles. I just flew the Anafi using 5 Ghz and the video transmission was great and I had no transmission failures at all.

 

[AlexZh]

Had a similar situation with Anafi.
The drone began to lose communication at a distance of 50 meters, on the screen the message "strong WiFi interference".
Place the position of the drone in Africa. Problem started after the calibration of the drone, which I did poorly and quickly.
After re-calibration, the problem was resolved.
After this incident, more than 20 flights without any problems.

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

Had a similar situation with Anafi.
The drone began to lose communication at a distance of 50 meters, on the screen the message "strong WiFi interference".
Place the position of the drone in Africa. Problem started after the calibration of the drone, which I did poorly and quickly.
After re-calibration, the problem was resolved.
After this incident, more than 20 flights without any problems.

Is this a school on the left side of your picture?
Schools here in Germany often have strong Wifi routers, that are also active during the weekends.
Check the Wifi surroundings with a Wifi analyzer app! Perhaps things go better with another channel or band.

 

[AlexZh]

Yes, this is a school.
But the problem in flight and the error on the screen was and when I returned home. I fly at home often, before this incident and after there are no problems
The reason was the calibration of Anafi. As soon as I did the re-calibration at home, the problem was solved