Limited range with nrf24L01 PA module and JXD385

I purchased a nrf24L01 module with PA and rubber ducky antenna.
www.aliexpress.com/item/FREE-SHIPPING-1-...with/1864628898.html

My JXD385 is on a carbon fiber frame with an FPV tx added. I can only get about 40 meters of range before the quad falls out of the sky...which is pretty much the same as my hubsan x4 with the integrated antenna with no PA. I have the transmitter power set at 100ma, I have the side of the antenna pointing at the quad.

I read people get much more range out of the 385 and the 7e.... What could be wrong here? I've already tried a slightly different nrf24l01 module with the same results...

Did you connect pins 3 and 2? I skipped that on mine (thinking it wasn't required since I was running nightly builds), and had both range and connection issues. Fixing that solved both sets of problems.

Pins 3 & 2 are VCC and CE, right? I connected 3 & 2 together with a wire and 3 with VCC, yes. I'm assuming this is no different than connecting both of them directly to VCC.

I may or may not have had an antenna attached on one or more of my nrf24l01 modules during installation (which might explain why 1/3 of the modules don't work), but this is an all or nothing sort of issue, right? It wouldn't decrease my range or anything, just wouldn't work at all if I damaged it by installing with no antenna?

The VTX or carbon fiber wouldn't have anything to do with the range issue would it?