Eli5- How do consumer drones (DJI, etc) broadcast the camera image to your phone from so far away? How come you can control a drone and view the feed like a mile away but I have trouble getting Wi-Fi reception on the other side of condo
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A big factor is line of sight. Walls (especially steel reinforced concrete), wires, plumbing etc. can all attenuate radio signals strongly.
Without obstacles normal 2.4GHz Wifi or Bluetooth can reach ~100m range. With good, directional antennas this can be extended to several kilometres.
The biggest limitation in the 2.4GHz part of the spectrum is the low power limit. Most regulations only allow up to 100mW of transmit power. In other parts of the spectrum you are allowed to transmit with *a lot* more power. Like 25W or even more.
As others have said, lower frequencies (e.g. the 35MHz band used by RC aircraft) tend to propagate better through obstacles and are less affected by water vapour.
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