Flying without a data plan on Vacation

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Hi Alll! Newbie here to the drone world. I recently got the Phantom 3 standard as a birthday gift from my husband, and we'd love to take it to Taiwan for our holiday! I don't know if we'll be able to get 3G/4G while on vacation (or how much it'll cost to turn on data roaming while overseas), so my question is, can we still fly the drone without a data plan? Does this mean if the phone picks up no GPS signal, the drone will be flying in Atti mode? (which i've read is unadvisable for a beginner). The place we're headed to has some incredible scenery and we thought it'd be awesome to get some aerial shots (safely in a wide open space of course). If anyone has any other tips we'd be ever so grateful! I'm trying to read up as much as I can on the forums before we leave.

Thanks very much in advance!
 
can we still fly the drone without a data plan? Does this mean if the phone picks up no GPS signal, the drone will be flying in Atti mode?
Yes, you can still fly. The Phantom itself has a GPS receiver, so you do not need to use a mobile device that has a GPS receiver in order to fly.

Devices with cell data are commonly used when flying in order to download the maps in DJI GO while flying. Without cell data, you'll just need to cache the maps in a location where you have an Internet connection (like this). Or, just fly without maps and use the live camera view to guide you.
 
Your drone does not need a data plan nor does your tablet or connected device. You won't get a updated map without your device having data but it is not needed to fly.
 
Cool that's fantastic!! Thanks for the quick responses. So just to summarise, I basically just startup as I usually would? Apart from the fact that I won't get the loaded maps? RTH, calibration etc should work just as per usual?
 
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Yes, all of those things will work without cell data.
 
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If you will be in a area where there in WiFi you maybe be able to get the maps updated while you fly but don't count on it.
 
If you will be in a area where there in WiFi you maybe be able to get the maps updated while you fly but don't count on it.
Once you connect to the RC'S WiFi network, there cannot also be a separate wifi connection to the internet, so it can not download map data after connecting to the Phantom, except through a data plan.
Without a data plan, the OP can use wifi PRIOR to connecting to the Phantom, to "cache" the maps for the needed area onto the phone.
Also, I think that there are phones that cannot do simultaneous wifi and cellular data, so it would be necessary to pre-cache the maps while wifi is available.

Sent from my Verizon Galaxy Note4 using TapaTalk
 
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