Can you fly without cell service?

[BuddyD]

Hello, I'm new to all of this and am getting ready to purchase a mavic 2 pro. I've been doing quite a lot of research into the many avenues of drone flying and have watched more you tube in the last couple months than probably in my whole life lol! One thing that I haven't really gotten the the bottom of is whether you can fly in areas without cell service and if this poses a problem (maybe a dumb question so sorry if it is). I've seen some talk of caching maps on the app and then going out and flying without wifi or anything but I really don't understand what that means in totality. Will your position show up in real time when you get to where you are going even though you have no wifi or cell service?? Sorry, total newb and I'm just trying to learn all I can, thanks for any help you guys can give me!!!

 

[Bunny Too]

Hello, I'm new to all of this and am getting ready to purchase a mavic 2 pro. I've been doing quite a lot of research into the many avenues of drone flying and have watched more you tube in the last couple months than probably in my whole life lol! One thing that I haven't really gotten the the bottom of is whether you can fly in areas without cell service and if this poses a problem (maybe a dumb question so sorry if it is). I've seen some talk of caching maps on the app and then going out and flying without wifi or anything but I really don't understand what that means in totality. Will your position show up in real time when you get to where you are going even though you have no wifi or cell service?? Sorry, total newb and I'm just trying to learn all I can, thanks for any help you guys can give me!!!

Howdy from Wyoming @BuddyD , welcome to the community, plenty of fine folk and excellent information here. You do not need cellular service to fly.

 

[Porky]

Hi @BuddyD welcome also

You don’t need a cell phone network or WiFi to fly your drone when you get it. You would normally turn everything off on the phone while flying unless you won’t to live stream.

GPS is generated via you phone but again it doesn’t need cell service.

Hope this helps in any way

 

[BuddyD]

Howdy from Wyoming @BuddyD , welcome to the community, plenty of fine folk and excellent information here. You do not need cellular service to fly.

Thanks so much for replying!!!

 

[BuddyD]

Hi @BuddyD welcome also

You don’t need a cell phone network or WiFi to fly your drone when you get it. You would normally turn everything off on the phone while flying unless you won’t to live stream.

GPS is generated via you phone but again it doesn’t need cell service.

Hope this helps in any way

Awesome thanks!!!

 

[Porky]

Your more than welcome, just remember take your time while flying, read the manual. I would start flying 1st in beginners mode where the height/distance is 30 mtr. But the most important thing is to enjoy yourself & don’t get impatient, it will take time to understand everything

Don’t know if you’ve read the manual but check the link out below.

https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic_2/Mavic 2 Pro Zoom User Manual V1.4.pdf

 

[msinger]

I've seen some talk of caching maps on the app and then going out and flying without wifi or anything but I really don't understand what that means in totality

Caching the maps means they are downloaded while connected to the Internet and stored for later use. If you're only going to look at the live video feed in DJI GO, then you don't need to cache the maps. However, if you want to be able to see the maps while flying, you'll need to cache them if your mobile device is not going to be connected to the Internet while you're flying.

 

[Meta4]

GPS is generated via you phone but again it doesn’t need cell service.

???
Your Mavic has a very good GPS receiver of its own and that's all it needs for flying.
GPS does not come from your phone.
And the location of your phone would be useless for flight purposes.
What's important is where the Mavic is, not your phone.

Will your position show up in real time when you get to where you are going even though you have no wifi or cell service??

You can fly in the middle of the desert or the ocean.
There's no need for any cell service or wifi at all.
And maps aren't necessary either, there's no need to worry about them.

 

[Porky]

Hi @Meta4

I was only indicating that the phone doesn’t need a cell network to get a GPS lock. I know the drone has GPS & very good it is

I was just letting the OP know that no network is required for flying.

Apologies for not making myself clear

 

[Storyline]

Meta4 is correct when he says you do not need maps for flying but imo they are nice to have when you are learning to fly - just gives a little bit more confidence that all is working properly.

There is something to be aware of when it comes to using maps offline. As others have mentioned there is a function in the Go4 app to download maps for use when offline. There is a problem with this for many users as it just does not work. but there is circumstantial evidence which suggests that they are much more likely to work on Ios devices. Even if the map appears to download and you can see it listed on your device it does not mean that it actually exists !

Something else to be aware of regarding being online/offline is to echo what Porky said. Even if you have cell access and download mapping, you will want to switch into Aeroplane mode before take-off, not only to improve the performance of your phone but also to make sure you will not receive a call which can be quite disconcerting when you are new to flying

Finally, expanding again on what Porky said, start in beginners mode when you are new. This is just until you gain trust in the aircraft and confidence that you have it under your control - this can be a very quick process. However, even when you have moved on to 'normal' mode, I would advise spending at least half of each flight on a formal learning regime. There are lots of suggestions on youtube and they typically require you to fly in specific patterns like figures of eight etc.

These Mavic's are so well behaved and easy to fly that you will really enjoy yourself

 

[Porky]

Meta4 is correct when he says you do not need maps for flying but imo they are nice to have when you are learning to fly - just gives a little bit more confidence that all is working properly.

There is something to be aware of when it comes to using maps offline. As others have mentioned there is a function in the Go4 app to download maps for use when offline. There is a problem with this for many users as it just does not work. but there is circumstantial evidence which suggests that they are much more likely to work on Ios devices. Even if the map appears to download and you can see it listed on your device it does not mean that it actually exists !

Something else to be aware of regarding being online/offline is to echo what Porky said. Even if you have cell access and download mapping, you will want to switch into Aeroplane mode before take-off, not only to improve the performance of your phone but also to make sure you will not receive a call which can be quite disconcerting when you are new to flying

Finally, expanding again on what Porky said, start in beginners mode when you are new. This is just until you gain trust in the aircraft and confidence that you have it under your control - this can be a very quick process. However, even when you have moved on to 'normal' mode, I would advise spending at least half of each flight on a formal learning regime. There are lots of suggestions on youtube and they typically require you to fly in specific patterns like figures of eight etc.

These Mavic's are so well behaved and easy to fly that you will really enjoy yourself

I would’ve loved to come out with more information about 1st time flying but when you can’t read & write .... it’s a bit hard lol

 

[BuddyD]

Meta4 is correct when he says you do not need maps for flying but imo they are nice to have when you are learning to fly - just gives a little bit more confidence that all is working properly.

There is something to be aware of when it comes to using maps offline. As others have mentioned there is a function in the Go4 app to download maps for use when offline. There is a problem with this for many users as it just does not work. but there is circumstantial evidence which suggests that they are much more likely to work on Ios devices. Even if the map appears to download and you can see it listed on your device it does not mean that it actually exists !

Something else to be aware of regarding being online/offline is to echo what Porky said. Even if you have cell access and download mapping, you will want to switch into Aeroplane mode before take-off, not only to improve the performance of your phone but also to make sure you will not receive a call which can be quite disconcerting when you are new to flying

Finally, expanding again on what Porky said, start in beginners mode when you are new. This is just until you gain trust in the aircraft and confidence that you have it under your control - this can be a very quick process. However, even when you have moved on to 'normal' mode, I would advise spending at least half of each flight on a formal learning regime. There are lots of suggestions on youtube and they typically require you to fly in specific patterns like figures of eight etc.

These Mavic's are so well behaved and easy to fly that you will really enjoy yourself

Thanks so much for your advice and information!

 

[Turn11]

Here is a few thoughts I put together for a first time operator

 

[Maverick pilot]

Hi all thanks for this informative site. I have flown my mavic without a sim card in my phone. The reason i did this was to dedicate my cell phone(old phone) to the mavic. It works fine and havent experienced any problems. The only thing i noticed just recently that by selecting the return to home feature in particular to the remote controller it wont do it. It says that the device has a weak gps signal from the phone but works perfect to first take off point. The return to home the original take off point works as it has always. Now im not sure is it because theres not network available that causes this and assists phone with google maps to calculate the new homepoint being the controller??. I think maybe not because a tom tom or navman gps for a car does not need a network connection. So what do you guys think may be causing this? I would like to set an alternate landing spot should i move to another nearby location. Other than that i have not found that the mavic has any problems without cellular connection. Sorry dont want to seem like ive deviated from the question asked by other user but yes mavic will perform well without cell but not sure about this one issue ive brought up. Ps. I will be trying my cell phone to try with that and determine will the network connection correct this.

Thanks

Steven

 

[Meta4]

It says that the device has a weak gps signal from the phone but works perfect to first take off point. The return to home the original take off point works as it has always. Now im not sure is it because theres not network available that causes this and assists phone with google maps to calculate the new homepoint being the controller??

It's unrelated.
Internet and cellular connection are not at all related or involved.
Weak GPS signal means no GPS signal.
Possible causes could be:
That you had no GPS in the phone or GPS was disabled .. or
You were under cover and GPS reception was blocked .. or most likely ..
You just had the same problem that's affecting many Apple users who cannot get that feature to work despite everything otherwise being OK.

 

[Maverick pilot]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure then what caused this problem of home point to the controller. I had GPS enabled on the device (phone). I was practicing in an open field in particular a football oval with adjacent open area. I don't have a Apple iPhone so that cant be it, Maybe its the Samsung note 4 that I was using. I will try my Samsung galaxy S5 as both these phones were my previous phones which I wanted to dedicate for DJI Mavic. However I will also try my Note 9 that has mobile sim reception. Maybe its the age of the Note 4. However it performs perfectly without any problems (No sim card) until I tried return to controller function in dji go app. Until that, the craft worked perfectly without cell service,

 

[Rumbaar]

I think you need internet connectivity the first time you 'register' the drone and power it up, as it needs to be activated at the DJI servers. But after that, you don't need any connectivity, outside of connection to the drone and controller.

 

[Meta4]

Until that, the craft worked perfectly without cell service,

It will always work perfectly well without cell service because there's nothing it uses cell service for.

 

[Maverick pilot]

Its an excellent aircraft. Love it. Just trying new things and works perfect. Not sure why this issue is happening. No great drama can fly it to where i am but just worried if you lose sight of it even though its not far away. Would make it more reassuring that this return to controller would work. Maybe i didnt have it higher in altitude to set this function. I will try different ways in a familiar area.

 

[Meta4]

Maybe i didnt have it higher in altitude to set this function.

There's no height limit for that feature.

The weak GPS message means that the app detects no GPS signal from the device.
Are you certain your device GPS is switched on?

just worried if you lose sight of it even though its not far away. Would make it more reassuring that this return to controller would work.

How far are you moving that you need this feature?
Almost no-one uses it.
Are you flying from a moving car or boat?