Is Mavic 3 LTE Dongle Being Sold ANYWHERE Yet?

ZoneAerial · Mar 7, 2022

How are you going to go through the process of signing up for the annual DJI data service to allow the dongle to work?

Suren · Mar 7, 2022

ZoneAerial said:
How are you going to go through the process of signing up for the annual DJI data service to allow the dongle to work?

So it seems that the 1st year is free to use with no subs, there after hopefully it will have been released throughout the world.

tgryphon · Mar 18, 2022

Of all places, I saw one on the San Francisco Bay Area Craigslist. Offered at $1500 it was too steep a risk that it was blocked or bricked somehow.

GadgetGuy · Mar 18, 2022

tgryphon said:
Of all places, I saw one on the San Francisco Bay Area Craigslist. Offered at $1500 it was too steep a risk that it was blocked or bricked somehow.

$1500 is crazy ,even if worked seamlessly! They list at less than $200 for both components.

dolphindrone · Mar 26, 2022

It doesn't appear to work in the U.S. I tried it in the RC-Pro and standard controller that comes with the Mavic 3. Even went so far as to buy two new data SIM cards, one for each modem (one goes in the Mavic 3 drone dongle and the other in the RC-Pro).

The lights on both modems flash green which means they're connected to the mobile network but they just don't have a strong signal. That little compartment in the back of the RC-Pro accepts the modem perfectly because it downloads data when Wi-Fi is disabled and even shows the mobile carrier name on the Android page, but the icon with the "4G" does not appear in the DJI Fly app as it does in the videos from Australia and China. Also, if you go to the DJI Fly app "Transmission" page there is no option other than 2.4 and 5.8Ghz.

I'm curious to know if the limitation is due to

The location (geofence written into the code for restricted countries)
The user's origin country (where the account was set up because each device is tied to a user's account)
The country of the mobile network (e.g., restricting when the SIM card has a country code of +1 which is for the U.S.)
The location where the device was purchased (unlikely but DJI could flag this on orders it fills)
Or something else like I'm not paying for the DJI service others have mentioned

I travel internationally and would like to bring the Mavic 3 to a country where I could try this out but I'm not going to go to all that trouble to discover I have a restriction based on the origin of my login or the origin of the SIM card.

RussDoggy Dog · Mar 30, 2022

dolphindrone said:
It doesn't appear to work in the U.S. I tried it in the RC-Pro and standard controller that comes with the Mavic 3. Even went so far as to buy two new data SIM cards, one for each modem (one goes in the Mavic 3 drone dongle and the other in the RC-Pro).

The lights on both modems flash green which means they're connected to the mobile network but they just don't have a strong signal. That little compartment in the back of the RC-Pro accepts the modem perfectly because it downloads data when Wi-Fi is disabled and even shows the mobile carrier name on the Android page, but the icon with the "4G" does not appear in the DJI Fly app as it does in the videos from Australia and China. Also, if you go to the DJI Fly app "Transmission" page there is no option other than 2.4 and 5.8Ghz.

I'm curious to know if the limitation is due to

The location (geofence written into the code for restricted countries)

The user's origin country (where the account was set up because each device is tied to a user's account)

The country of the mobile network (e.g., restricting when the SIM card has a country code of +1 which is for the U.S.)

The location where the device was purchased (unlikely but DJI could flag this on orders it fills)

Or something else like I'm not paying for the DJI service others have mentioned

I travel internationally and would like to bring the Mavic 3 to a country where I could try this out but I'm not going to go to all that trouble to discover I have a restriction based on the origin of my login or the origin of the SIM card.

Try a sprint mobile data plan as the dongle from China uses a tdd lte connection and it seems like only sprint uses the tdd lte network

dolphindrone · Mar 30, 2022

Thanks...I'll give that a shot. A Best Buy salesperson told me not to buy a standard SIM card because two devices like these can't use standard phone numbers and so he sent me to T-Mobile where 4 salespeople were all trying to help me (including the manager who owns a drone). I thought they understood what I needed (it took them 45 minutes to process my order) but it was only after I was walking out the door did I realize they had given me SIM cards with phone numbers. At that point I figured I should just give them a try (they were $15 each). I'll go back and ask for the TDD solution.

Lasidora · Mar 30, 2022

dolphindrone said:
Thanks...I'll give that a shot. A Best Buy salesperson told me not to buy a standard SIM card because two devices like these can't use standard phone numbers and so he sent me to T-Mobile where 4 salespeople were all trying to help me (including the manager who owns a drone). I thought they understood what I needed (it took them 45 minutes to process my order) but it was only after I was walking out the door did I realize they had given me SIM cards with phone numbers. At that point I figured I should just give them a try (they were $15 each). I'll go back and ask for the TDD solution.

Keep us informed of the outcome

dolphindrone · Mar 31, 2022

I called the guy at T-Mobile and explained the situation and he said T-Mobile no longer uses the Sprint TDD technology. I can't imagine DJI would make it so difficult that you had to get a specialized SIM card for it's latest drone. I think there's some DJI restriction in place.

For what it's worth, there are 2 ports on the modem, one labeled "4G" and the other "DIV". Regardless of which one I plug the RC Pro controller into, it finds and connects to the internet and so I don't think it's a network compatibility problem. I'm still of the view it's either due to my physical location or the country code embedded in the SIM card that restricts it's use.

It's also interesting to see DJI just announced the Matric 30 (for $10,000) and in some of its promotional material it sports the same modem without any mention of not being available in the U.S., which DJI also failed to mention in the launch of the Mavic 3.

For what it's worth, I read somewhere the Anafi AI is shipping on April 4th in the U.S. with cellular capabilities.

Suren · Mar 31, 2022

dolphindrone said:
I called the guy at T-Mobile and explained the situation and he said T-Mobile no longer uses the Sprint TDD technology. I can't imagine DJI would make it so difficult that you had to get a specialized SIM card for it's latest drone. I think there's some DJI restriction in place.

For what it's worth, there are 2 ports on the modem, one labeled "4G" and the other "DIV". Regardless of which one I plug the RC Pro controller into, it finds and connects to the internet and so I don't think it's a network compatibility problem. I'm still of the view it's either due to my physical location or the country code embedded in the SIM card that restricts it's use.

It's also interesting to see DJI just announced the Matric 30 (for $10,000) and in some of its promotional material it sports the same modem without any mention of not being available in the U.S., which DJI also failed to mention in the launch of the Mavic 3.

For what it's worth, I read somewhere the Anafi AI is shipping on April 4th in the U.S. with cellular capabilities.

It is the location of the SIM card. In New Zealand with the RC-N1 I can see the enhanced button and 4G in the Fly app but cannot enable it, the dongle light is a solid green so it is connecting to network but I get a network error when trying to turn it on. I created a post about this here, Dji said the services are limited and will be open soon.

dolphindrone · Apr 1, 2022

Suren said:
It is the location of the SIM card. In New Zealand with the RC-N1 I can see the enhanced button and 4G in the Fly app but cannot enable it, the dongle light is a solid green so it is connecting to network but I get a network error when trying to turn it on. I created a post about this here, Dji said the services are limited and will be open soon.

Thanks. I don't think the link to the post you reference is available. Do you think it's the country code on the SIM card or the location where it's being used?

I also get a communication error on the DJI Fly app even though the RC-Pro is accessing the internet for map data and no-fly information. The communication error seems to be in it's ability to find or link to the drone's SIM card.

Suren · Apr 1, 2022

dolphindrone said:
Thanks. I don't think the link to the post you reference is available. Do you think it's the country code on the SIM card or the location where it's being used?

I also get a communication error on the DJI Fly app even though the RC-Pro is accessing the internet for map data and no-fly information. The communication error seems to be in it's ability to find or link to the drone's SIM card.

I think it is the sim country because that register on the cell towers. I tried a VPN on my phone, still did not work

Netvise · Apr 8, 2022

RC-N1 Test

Suren · Apr 8, 2022

Netvise said:
RC-N1 Test

Is that in Russia?

GadgetGuy · Apr 8, 2022

Suren said:
Is that in Russia?

Moscow, according to the comments by the pilot.

Suren · Apr 8, 2022

GadgetGuy said:
Moscow, according to the comments by the pilot.

So it seems to be working in more countries than we thought, interesting

GadgetGuy · Apr 8, 2022

Here's another!

DJI Mavic 3, 4G Cellular Dongle+Antenna:

What I would give for this kind of signal control in an urban, downtown environment!

flyingunicorn · Apr 15, 2022

I tried the 4g dongle yesterday. It wasn’t as great as I expected but do live in the middle of no where with average coverage

GadgetGuy · Apr 15, 2022

flyingunicorn said:
I tried the 4g dongle yesterday. It wasn’t as great as I expected but do live in the middle of no where with average coverage

It's strength is in heavily urban areas with lots of highrises blocking LOS signal, where there is still great cell coverage from above. Temporarily flying behind tall intervening buildings then won't trigger loss of signal RTH, which would ruin any video and cancel a waypoint mission. FPV is also maintained for camera control throughout, and serially loaded waypoints from the RC can continue throughout the mission.

Viper2097 · Apr 16, 2022

flyingunicorn said:
I tried the 4g dongle yesterday. It wasn’t as great as I expected but do live in the middle of no where with average coverage

Which telco did you connect with? I've still got one on order so I need to get another SIM and it looks like only Optus uses the SPEC that's compatible with the dongle. Did you use Optus?