Has anyone gotten Skydio2+ to work in Europe?

[Sky Cyclist]

I believe the drone has to complete the initial “setup” of the app where Skydio sends the “code” to your email BEFORE it will connect to any device. I had forgotten that when I suggested using a beacon or controller might get it going. My bad if that caused any confusion.

(picture)

The drone may not even start to broadcast its SSID before that SETUP step is done.

In any event I don’t think going to the basement would make any difference.

Besides, the only way to set up the drone is through the Wifi connection.

If the drone does not broadcast its Wifi SSID before the setup process, there is no way to connect the drone with the Skydio app to start the setup.

So, there are two possible situations:

(1) No any wifi ssid to be found even before the most initial setup ==> If so, there is no way to connect and not able to setup.

(2) It was all ok during the setup process. But, after the setup, it just can not connect anymore.

As the pictures which @Paolo posted, he can't find Skydio 2+ Wifi SSID during the indoor preparation tasks.

Now, more information reveal that even the Beacon comes with the drone also can not find the drone!!

Skydio 2+ denies itself flying overseas? It is so unbelievable and hard to imagine it could happen.

Just need to see more information.

 

[ETdronehome]

I posted the suggestion is because of two reasons:

(1) (Device) Is this an issue that is related to Europe's mobile phone and Skydio 2+ connectivity?

Beacon 2+ is sold with Skydio 2+ and the two devices should not have any connectivity issue.

If Beacon 2+ can't find Skydio 2+, and the setup is done properly. Then, there will be some other reasons causing the issue.

So, if the beacon can't find Skydio 2+ drone, it is not simple Wifi hardware supportive issue that is happened with Europe's specific Wifi regulation. - So, doing a test in a place without any other Wifi interference will help identify the issue.

(2) (New design - firmware layer) is this an issue that is related to Skydio's new (unknown) policy for where to operate its drone.

Someone mentioned the issue might be caused by the design. He thinks when Skydio 2+ drone finds itself outside of the US, it stops its Wifi function.

In this case, going to the basement or a place without any wifi and GPS interference to do the test (setup) will help identify the issue.

Here is the link:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Skydio/comments/smd6wt

Interesting that the source you quoted is almost verbatim what this thread started out with. It seems to be a theory - perhaps valid but does not actually include what Skydio support had to say about the situation.

The “European” 5Ghz thing seems to stem from a concern about devices working in those frequency bands causing interference with weather radar. That has been around for years now. What Europe actually did about with phones etc I have no idea.

Does Skydio “know” where the drone is physically located BEFORE it is actually setup and somehow lock it because it’s in Europe and not in the USA or Canada seems pretty unrealistic to me.

Here is an article I found about the weather radar interference concern

https://web.mit.edu/jync/www/pdfs/Saltikoff+etal-2016.pdf

Note in the article is stated the 5.150-5.350 band is a concern and interestingly enough that is an overlap of the first band that S2+ has listed 5.18-5.24.

We are all just spitballing here.
One of the owners of the effected S2+ equipment needs to contact Skydio support and quote verbatim the support response in this thread.

 

[Eirial]

try changing the region on your phone to USA, different countries have access to different wifi ranges.

My brand new Skydio 2+ doesn't show any WIFI SSD. Support seems to think it's because am in the UK but am sceptical. I already have a Skydio 2 and that works fine here. But the 2+, none of my devices can see the WIFI SSD. It's starting to become a brand new piece of plastic on the shelf.. help!

 

[Sky Cyclist]

try changing the region on your phone to USA, different countries have access to different wifi ranges.

Worth to try but I bet it won't work.

It is not about the phone but the drone does not broadcast the Wifi SSID.

Or, at least, Beacon can connect the drone.

Since that, no way to connect the drone, and the drone has just "disappeared" from the universe.

 

[Sky Cyclist]

Interesting that the source you quoted is almost verbatim what this thread started out with. It seems to be a theory - perhaps valid but does not actually include what Skydio support had to say about the situation.

The “European” 5Ghz thing seems to stem from a concern about devices working in those frequency bands causing interference with weather radar. That has been around for years now. What Europe actually did about with phones etc I have no idea.

Does Skydio “know” where the drone is physically located BEFORE it is actually setup and somehow lock it because it’s in Europe and not in the USA or Canada seems pretty unrealistic to me.

Here is an article I found about the weather radar interference concern

https://web.mit.edu/jync/www/pdfs/Saltikoff+etal-2016.pdf

Note in the article is stated the 5.150-5.350 band is a concern and interestingly enough that is an overlap of the first band that S2+ has listed 5.18-5.24.

We are all just spitballing here.
One of the owners of the effected S2+ equipment needs to contact Skydio support and quote verbatim the support response in this thread.

Pretty unrealistic to me, either.

But, Paolo's pictures show the evidence.

I've also studied the Wikipedia about the 5GHz channels but I can't find there are strong differences from USA and Europe.

Before today, I thought the situation is caused by European mobile phones and Skydio 2+ drone connectivity.

However, it seems not now.

Here is the Wikipedia link of the List of WLAN channels.

List of WLAN channels - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[ETdronehome]

Pretty unrealistic to me, either.

But, Paolo's pictures show the evidence.

I've also studied the Wikipedia about the 5GHz channels but I can't find there are strong differences from USA and Europe.

Before today, I thought the situation is caused by European mobile phones and Skydio 2+ drone connectivity.

However, it seems not now.

Here is the Wikipedia link of the List of WLAN channels.

List of WLAN channels - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

“But, Paolo's pictures show the evidence.”

The only “evidence” the pictures show is the drone is powered on and a Phone that isn’t displaying a SSID starting with SKYDIO. It’s not “proof” of much of anything imo.

It’s been quite awhile since I did the setup and Skydio does not document all the steps but here is what I recall.

After the drone is powered on.

1) You connect a phone or tablet capable of running the Skydio app to the internet and launch the app.
2) You “login” using a valid email address. I used the same one I completed my “purchase” with.
3) Skydio sends a unique code for your drone to that email address.
4) You enter the code into the app
5) You then enter the WiFi SSID and password from your drone (on a sticker on the drone body)
6) The device running the app might disconnect from a wifi router that had it connected to the internet so it can connect to the drones SSID.

If that doesn’t work for any reason I believe the drone won’t connect to anything including the beacon and/or controller as those initial connections happen AFTER the initial setup has completed successfully.

You are now theorizing that the 2+ Beacon doesn’t work in Europe either, just creating more confusion.

 

[notero]

“But, Paolo's pictures show the evidence.”

The only “evidence” the pictures show is the drone is powered on and a Phone that isn’t displaying a SSID starting with SKYDIO. It’s not “proof” of much of anything imo.

It’s been quite awhile since I did the setup and Skydio does not document all the steps but here is what I recall.

After the drone is powered on.

1) You connect a phone or tablet capable of running the Skydio app to the internet and launch the app.
2) You “login” using a valid email address. I used the same one I completed my “purchase” with.
3) Skydio sends a unique code for your drone to that email address.
4) You enter the code into the app
5) You then enter the WiFi SSID and password from your drone (on a sticker on the drone body)
6) The device running the app might disconnect from a wifi router that had it connected to the internet so it can connect to the drones SSID.

If that doesn’t work for any reason I believe the drone won’t connect to anything including the beacon and/or controller as those initial connections happen AFTER the initial setup has completed successfully.

You are now theorizing that the 2+ Beacon doesn’t work in Europe either, just creating more confusion.

Guys, this is a known issue by Skydio. Unfortunately, not clear they will/can fix it…
See the response I got from Skydio support:
”Thanks for clarifying. Our engineers are working towards a possible resolution, but we have no timeline for this fix and cannot guarantee that the product will be operable outside of the US and Canada. Skydio drones are not yet certified for consumer use or warrantied outside of the US or Canada. However, if you would like to initiate a return, I'd be glad to provide those steps to you.”

 

[ETdronehome]

Guys, this is a known issue by Skydio. Unfortunately, not clear they will/can fix it…
See the response I got from Skydio support:
”Thanks for clarifying. Our engineers are working towards a possible resolution, but we have no timeline for this fix and cannot guarantee that the product will be operable outside of the US and Canada. Skydio drones are not yet certified for consumer use or warrantied outside of the US or Canada. However, if you would like to initiate a return, I'd be glad to provide those steps to you.”

Thanks for posting the response from the company. I hope some other owners in Europe also post their support responses to see if they are consistent with what you received.

What you received isn’t really surprising as the company policy is sales and support limited to USA and Canada

Can you describe what steps of the “setup” process you were able to complete?

 

[skydiopilot9]

When I spoke to support, they said the exact thing that notero posted. They've raised a ticket with engineering and said they are aware of the problem. I've not been given any timeline yet. I did ask support how on earth will the European users who have Skydio 2+ devices update to a firmware fix when we can't connect to WIFI with the drone. He's not entirely sure yet. Am going to try and get hold of an American purchased phone but I have a feeling that the theory of Skydio knowing where it is being possible because am pretty sure if I took my phone as it is now to the U.S, it will most likely work.

 

[ETdronehome]

When I spoke to support, they said the exact thing that notero posted. They've raised a ticket with engineering and said they are aware of the problem. I've not been given any timeline yet. I did ask support how on earth will the European users who have Skydio 2+ devices update to a firmware fix when we can't connect to WIFI with the drone. He's not entirely sure yet. Am going to try and get hold of an American purchased phone but I have a feeling that the theory of Skydio knowing where it is being possible because am pretty sure if I took my phone as it is now to the U.S, it will most likely work.

Can you describe what steps of the “setup” process you were able to complete?

 

[skydiopilot9]

Can you describe what steps of the “setup” process you were able to complete?

Absolutely none. Got the Skydio 2+ delivered by UPS with a ridiculously expensive customs fee

1. Unboxed the Skydio 2+
2. Read the manual/instructions, seemed to be pretty much the same as the previous 2 version
3. Plugged in the battery to the Skydio 2+ and connected the charging adapter
4. Waited till the charging is complete and then turned on the Skydio 2+
5. Installed the app on a new Google Pixel 6 Pro
6. Couldn't find an SSD signal.. then went to get 3 other phones in the cupboard, tried them too. No dice. Laptop, nothing. Desktop, nothing.
7. Got in touch with support who told me to reset the drone (did the reset procedure), still nothing
8. Support then tells me to wait whilst he gets in touch with Engineering. After a while, engineering gets back to him that "this is a known issue" but they have no timeline yet on rolling out a fix
9. I asked support even if they roll out a fix, how the hell is me & all the Europeans that purchased are supposed to update the firmwire when we can't see the SSD. He said he's not sure either.

 

[ETdronehome]

Absolutely none. Got the Skydio 2+ delivered by UPS with a ridiculously expensive customs fee

1. Unboxed the Skydio 2+
2. Read the manual/instructions, seemed to be pretty much the same as the previous 2 version
3. Plugged in the battery to the Skydio 2+ and connected the charging adapter
4. Waited till the charging is complete and then turned on the Skydio 2+
5. Installed the app on a new Google Pixel 6 Pro
6. Couldn't find an SSD signal.. then went to get 3 other phones in the cupboard, tried them too. No dice. Laptop, nothing. Desktop, nothing.
7. Got in touch with support who told me to reset the drone (did the reset procedure), still nothing
8. Support then tells me to wait whilst he gets in touch with Engineering. After a while, engineering gets back to him that "this is a known issue" but they have no timeline yet on rolling out a fix
9. I asked support even if they roll out a fix, how the hell is me & all the Europeans that purchased are supposed to update the firmwire when we can't see the SSD. He said he's not sure either.

That all lines up with my memory of the setup process and the manual up to step 5 in both


The manual says enter your email account and get a code.

Did you get a code via email?

I don’t recall seeing anything about the SSID until later in the process.

 

[paularity]

not that it's going to really assist the Euro's on this thread, but I can confirm the S2+ works in Australia and the SSID connects to iPhone - which it should since Skydio officially is present in the country selling to enterprise customers!

just received my Pro Kit yesterday after paying a small fortune to get it shipped to WA!

 

[ETdronehome]

not that it's going to really assist the Euro's on this thread, but I can confirm the S2+ works in Australia and the SSID connects to iPhone - which it should since Skydio officially is present in the country selling to enterprise customers!

just received my Pro Kit yesterday after paying a small fortune to get it shipped to WA!

Can you confirm and/or correct the steps of the setup process?
1) Power on the drone
2) Launch app
3) Enter your email
4) Get a code from Skydio in your email inbox
5) Enter the code in the app
6) Click Next
7) Enter the wifi SSID on the sticker
8) Enter the password on the sticker

THEN the app connected to the drone?

At any point did you see the drone broadcast its ssid BEFORE that last step?

 

[paularity]

Can you confirm and/or correct the steps of the setup process?
1) Power on the drone
2) Launch app
3) Enter your email
4) Get a code from Skydio in your email inbox
5) Enter the code in the app
6) Click Next
7) Enter the wifi SSID on the sticker
8) Enter the password on the sticker

THEN the app connected to the drone?

At any point did you see the drone broadcast its ssid BEFORE that last step?

Yeah pretty much that exactly

I'm actually away for work and saw this thread, so I called my partner and talked her through the process because I was like "oh maybe I might have the same issues!"

I don't know about exactly when it broadcast the wifi SSID, but I would imagine it's as soon as you fire up the drone regardless of the initial set-up process - could be wrong though

I did get her to check the connection in the settings app on her iPhone, but only after the initial set up process, not before

 

[Sky Cyclist]

Just putting a note here for reference:

If you want to do the factory reset without the app, here is the process of Skydio 2. It might also work for Skydio 2+.

SKYDIO 2 WON'T CONNECT TO PHONE, BEACON, OR CONTROLLER

my beacon, controller, and phone app are not connecting to the drone. In the beacon, it keeps saying "looking for ..." and on the phone it says "Datalink Timed Out. I have an apple iPhone 12 pro max to the latest ios and latest Skydio 2 app. I tried everything to connect to it. The funny thing...

skydiopilots.com

 

[ETdronehome]

Yeah pretty much that exactly

I'm actually away for work and saw this thread, so I called my partner and talked her through the process because I was like "oh maybe I might have the same issues!"

I don't know about exactly when it broadcast the wifi SSID, but I would imagine it's as soon as you fire up the drone regardless of the initial set-up process - could be wrong though

I did get her to check the connection in the settings app on her iPhone, but only after the initial set up process, not before

Thanks.

I‘m wondering if the drone doesn’t actually start broadcasting its SSID before the “code” is entered in the app and then the info on the sticker is also entered.. maybe that triggers something in the firmware of the drone to start broadcasting It’s SSID

I know you can setup routers to NOT broadcast their SSID for security reasons. The user has to manually type in the SSID and Password to connect rather than select the SSID from a list.

 

[notero]

Thanks.

I‘m wondering if the drone doesn’t actually start broadcasting its SSID before the “code” is entered in the app and then the info on the sticker is also entered.. maybe that triggers something in the firmware of the drone to start broadcasting It’s SSID

I know you can setup routers to NOT broadcast their SSID for security reasons. The user has to manually type in the SSID and Password to connect rather than select the SSID from a list.

No, its not the case. I've tried and it doesn't work like that. Which is logical, because the app can't communicate with the drone because it can't see the wifi in the first place

 

[ETdronehome]

No, its not the case. I've tried and it doesn't work like that. Which is logical, because the app can't communicate with the drone because it can't see the wifi in the first place

To be clear what I’m trying to convey is disabling the SSID broadcast stops the drone or router from sending out the wireless network's name, making it invisible to users. However, this only hides the name from showing up on device lists of nearby networks. The network itself is still there.

Neither you or @skydiopilot9 has confirmed you followed all of the steps in the setup process. You both say you can’t see the S2+ WiFi SSID on your device during the setup process. You don’t have to that as you enter it MANUALLY during the activation process. IF broadcast is off until after setup is complete you WON’T see it in any list.

Let me ask again:

Did you get a code from Skydio and enter it in the app?
Did you MANUALLY enter the SSID and password on the sticker in the app?

 

[notero]

To be clear what I’m trying to convey is disabling the SSID broadcast stops the drone or router from sending out the wireless network's name, making it invisible to users. However, this only hides the name from showing up on device lists of nearby networks. The network itself is still there.

Neither you or @skydiopilot9 has confirmed you followed all of the steps in the setup process. You both say you can’t see the S2+ WiFi SSID on your device during the setup process. You don’t have to that as you enter it MANUALLY during the activation process. IF broadcast is off until after setup is complete you WON’T see it in any list.

Let me ask again:

Did you get a code from Skydio and enter it in the app?
Did you MANUALLY enter the SSID and password on the sticker in the app?

Yes, I’ve done all you say. I’ve received the code, I’ve inputed the wifi data manually both in Skydio app and also tried to add manually the wifi in my phone. I followed all the steps you laid out. It doesn’t work. I’ve tried to connect the beacon to the wifi. It doesn’t work. In all cases it’s says that it cant find the network. I own a S2 (previous version) and it works flawlessly. I know what I’m doing to activate it.

Please read my previous messages above. I reached out to Skydio support. They know this is an issue. They don’t know if they will be able to fix. Currently they just claim the drone doesn’t work outside of US, Canada or Australia. I feel this is ridiculous. Even if you are a legit US buyer you would expect to use the drone on travels overseas. I believe Skydio just fuped during design of the radio interfaces for this new drone and now they are scrambling to see if there is a feasible solution…