Cellular connections with drones is a new way for drones to communicate with your ground station or controller that can either bolster the safety of your current set up or replace the traditional telemetry link used by most non DJI commercial drones built today. A few points to consider if it is worth it to integrate or replace fully your traditional connection devices for that of a cellular connection are:

• Allows for Easier BVLOS

• Can be more Reliable than LOS connection

• Not locked into one network

When considering your operations, if BVLOS is on the table then having a cellular connection can help boost your connection reliability and make operations in more sparsely populated areas easier. It also allows the use for multiple countries or network providers by just piggy backing off of the already existing cellular infrastructure that is there by simply removing a SIM card and swapping it for another. Easy swapping allows for moving from country to country or simply keeping the SIM for moving across your own country. When considering cellular having multiple options for connections regardless of where you are, if you have a cell phone connection then you can have a C2 connection.

Another way that cellular is useful is through long inspection routes where there is already existing infrastructure such as roads, railroads, power lines, etc. Here, there are already existing cellular connections in place and even in the more “remote” areas having a drone up to even 100ft can double your connection strength at times depending on physical obstacles or distance barriers. 

The next way you can look at using cellular is to just make your current operations more reliable than they already are. With cellular connections you can give yourself a good connection constantly with good data rates along with it. Or, if you want something with quicker latency that does not go through the internet you can use cellular as a backup that will always be available to you should you lose primary C2. The benefits of devices like the XRD2 is that the footprint of these devices are so small and easy to mount that the weight and power loss is borderline negligible. It also helps that the antennas can be, well, whatever the user wants, from hard plastic paddles to sticky antennas that just stick onto any smooth surface of the drone (or arm of it if you want).