Weak Signal with XBee Pros

Question

Hello All,
I am having the worst luck getting my xbees to establish a reliable connection. I'm using a 2 XBee pro s1 one connected to my computer with a SparkFun XBee Explorer Dongle and the other attached to an arduino using a SparkFun XBee Shield which is being powered by an external 7.4v 1300ma battery. I've gone through all of sparkfun's xbee tutorial. I can get them to connect but the signal is very weak. I'm supposed to be getting a range of 1 mile line of sight but I'm only getting a maybe 100 feet line of sight. I've been looking all over the internet for a solution for the past 2 days but can't find any reason for such a low signal range. In xtcu's networking tab it says that the signal quality is unknown. Does anyone have any ideas?

Answer 1

2.4GHz? A mile? Not without elaborate antennas and near line of sight.

In line of sight, with the short wire antenna, expect 500 ft. or so with the PRO. There is an AT command to set the transmitter's power. Check that.

Laws of physics at work.