Just trying to help the next guy or gal out so they have all the best information available about these radios and some better options in my opinion. what people do with that information is entirely up to them. thanks for watching the channel and for the comment.
First of all,they are not lying to you,they are saying there is no monthly fee,that's true,there is a yearly fee,but to get a radio service like this,then why shouldn't we pay for it,i would say you're a ham guy,and you don't want anything on the market that is better than ham,and also we are not as stupid as you think we are,we know they might not work all the time,but so what, if you like something we buy it,if you don't then you don't have to buy it,but let people make up their own mind.
Ok so first of they are misleading people in there marketing to think there is no fee at all with these radios which is not true. thye are marketing these as SHTF survival radios that will work anywhere which is just not true. Second if you had actually watched my video you would know I am not a Ham guy and do not even have a Ham license so no I am not a ham guy. I actually said I have a GMRS license and I prefer GMRS radios for my radio needs. And these radios are in no way better then a ham radio that I can tell you for sure. this is super old tech from the 90's it is not new. third again if you would have watched the video you would know that I siad I am just putting this information out here and it is up to you to make up your own minds Because this company is shady and misleading people and I backed up everything I said with facts in this video. So maybe go back and actually watch the full video and listen to what I actually said before making stupid commnets on my video. So yes you my friend are as stupid as I think you are.
It is misleading because they are purposely trying to make it sound like there are no fees. When people ask about this and ask how there are no fees they do not correct the person they say that they worked with cell companies to get an omnibus deal. They have other misleading info. It’s obvious that their marketing people don’t have any scruples.
If someone is that paranoid about staying in touch when the SHTF, I think you might want to invest in a sattelite phone. I'm not saying this is the best thing to do. I'm asking a question.
Well unfortunately SAT phones contrary to what people think do not work all the time either as a matter of fact there are many places that you will not get a signle with a SAT phone because you still have to have have good alinement with the actual satalite as well. Perfect example the Seal team that is portrayed in the movie lone survior. One of the real facts in the movie and this really happened was they were not able to get a good signal with tere SAT phone to call for help so LT. Mike Murphy had to crawl out on this rock out cropping and expose himself to try and get a singnal out to get help heas able to get a signal for about1 minute just enough time to let the Quick reaction force know they needed help and then the signal dropped. And as an ex combat soldier myself I can tell you for a fact that SAT phones do not always work. On top of the fact that if the world ends up in a SHTF situation SAT comes will be down just like everything else linked to computers and other electronics that run our world so a SAT phone will be usless. On top of the fact that the government controls them as well. There is no one end all be all communication system that is fail safe or that will work in every situation that you come across/ What you reall yhave to do is just figure out which one is goin gto work fo rwhat you might need and then go with that which is what I have done. All I can do is give you the information and then it is up to you to decide what to do with that information. The hope for me is to give you the best facts I can to help people out. I am not trying to sell anyone anything just trying to give them the facts. Anyway sorry so long of a response and I appreciate the question I hope that helps.
IF that company can stay in business they will be utilizing low earth orbit satellites in the near future. Problem is that anything that requires telecommunications equipment and servers and what not… well they can stop working. When our cell phones start using low earth orbit satellites they’ll be controlled by SpaceX and another company in partnership with T-Mobile, ATT and others. To let you know how quickly a satellite can go away… Space-X shut off Ukraines low earth orbit connection during a Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian Navy. Now the pentagon is in control of the off switch but you better believe that Elon can still shut it off and that guy is going to loose his shit if the shit hits the fan. So if your T-Mobile phone starts working off of low earth orbit satellite in remote areas that’s Space-X. I don’t know who ATT is using I don’t think it’s Space-X though. But even with that tech you’ll loose service if T-Mobile or ATT lost connection to the satellites.
My husband is climbing Mount Whitney, which is one of the highest peaks in the US and I was thinking about getting these radios for him to communicate back with us. Do you think they will work? It sounds like from your video that they will not. Think that the cell service is very spotty and that’s why I wanted walkie-talkies
So I can only tell you this. First I started looking into these radios for my wife and I as I live in a more remote area in the world that many areas around us have zero cell service and we barely have it at are home. After doing a bunch of research talking to people that own them and even tryin gto contact the company itself I found that this company is making very misleading claims and there marketing of these radios is not only misleading but flat out lies as well. And this is what led me to make this video for peole like you that are looking into these radios for just these kind of situations. So the short answer is if there is no cell service then no you will not be able to talk to him at all. If the cell service is spotty then you might be able to get a single in certain spots but that is iffy at best. I spent most of my life guiding and doing search and rescue in the mountains of Virginia,Colorado, and Wyoming and there are many places that there is no cell service and in those areas these radios are usless and it would be the same for were your husband is headed. Any dead spots they will not work and you have to ask yourself are you willing to trust you life with that? I woul look into the Garmin inReach Mini 2 Satellite Communicator you can't call each other but you can send text messages and if he has an emergancy he can hit one button and it sends out a single for people to come get him with his GPS location. Or look into getting a satelite phone either one would be way better then the Rapid radios. Just undeestand that even with a satelite phone or device you can still have some issues with getting a satelite signal. But less likely then relying on a device that works off a cell tower signal. The Garmin mini 2 is used by many hikers and climbers and having a device that is linked to a satelite will give yo and him a higher ability to be able to at least text and communicate and keep updated with each other over the rapid radios in my opinion. I will also let you know that Rapid radios did reach out to me about my video and wanted to talk to me in which I replied and invited them to come on my channel and feel free to educate us all on there radios and how they really work and what is the real truth So we all have the facts about there radios. And they refused both times and said they wanted to have a private convesation with me instead both times. Basically they want to tray and talk me into taking my video down which is not going to happen. Because all my information about there radios came straight from there website I just had to do some digging to find it. SO the fact that they are not willing to come on the show publically and talk about there radios and be held accontable for all the flase marketing and lies tells you something abouth this company. Anyway sorry this was so long but I hope that helps answer your questions and points you in the right direction of something that might work for your needs. There are other companies that make similar devices like the garmin as well so do your research and pick the one that you think will best work for what you need. I only recommend the garmin because i have used there products for many years and have had good luck with ther stuff. So I hope that helps and answers your question.
I recently saw the ad. Maybe your information is helpful because they just said it was $50.00 per year. But I learned from your video that it runs off of the towers. Good information. Is there a phone that uses satellite or is that the same thing? Thank you!
thanks for the comment and the goal is just to give people the right information and solid good information and then let them make an imformed decision themselves. And I hope that this video will help with that. On top o fthe fact that I do not like shady companies that are not honest and are trying to hide information about there products. Which is what rapid radios is doing.
Thanks I go overlanding out in the sticks and Baja also go ocean fishing, I've been asking Rapid about that and no answer thank you for info on cell towers
Well I am glad the video helped and that is exact;y why I made the video because rapid radios will not respond to people asking those type of questions. They deleted every question I ever asked them and never responded back to any questions I ever asked. I was interested in these radios as well when I first heard about them but my first thought was I think this is just the old nextel push to talk service as I used to have those cell phones. And I was right 100% And after doing more research and seenin ghow they were marking this radios I felt the need to speak up to help people just like you so you don't end up thinking these are going to work in those remote areas and then you are in a serious situation and you are screwed because rapid radios lied about the capability of these radios. My suggestions is they make some good hand held marine radios for when you are out on the water if you don't want a permanant mounted one on your vessel. Adn then look into ham and GMRS radios and see which one will work best for you. Also since you do the Baja thing check out notarubicons youtube channel as he is a big off road guy who usese GMRS radios for when he is overlanding. he has some great information and is way more knowledgable about radios then I am. Anway hope that helps and glad the video helped.
also GMRS radios could work well for you in the ocean as well as they have a real great range in open areas like the ocean a ham radio could work as well. So dig and and do some research and some testing of radios and I bet one of those will be the ticket for you.
That is very misleading. I was wondering how they could offer something like this for free! Thank you. I’m an outdoors kind of guy and definitely worry about comms in times of distress. What would you recommend?
Ya unfortunately it is very mis leading and that ais why I made the video just so people well know and understand how these radios really work. As for what I would recommend well it reall depends on your needs for comms, For me I use GMRS mainly but I also have Ham radios for monitoring and I also have some basic 2 way radios as well because all of these radios can work together and be programed to wor on the same channels if need be. For GMRS and ham you have to get a license the GMRS license is easy to get just fill out a form and get your call sign and you are good to go the HAM license there is a test for that one. Me personally I am GMRS guy and for the range I need comes for they work great and GMRS also allows me to use a reapeter if need be to transmitt further. Also GMRS is a lot more simple to learn and use then HAm as well. So there are a lot of factors that really go into it. I jusy dropped another video about a wekk ago talking more about radios so Maybe check that video out as well. For the most part though I tend to recommend to my friends and Family GMRS radios just because you get more capibility out of them then just your regular 2 way radios. But if nothing else having some good 2 way radios will serve you better then no radios at all. The other cool thing About GMRS radios is that you can get a portable reapeter set up which allows you to increase you radio range no matter were you go because you can take your own personal reapert with you and set it up anywhere. This will give you anywhere from 15 to 60 plus mile radious depending on the terrain. GO check out notarubicons videos on the portable reapeters as he does a great job with his videos on them and check out some of his videos on radios as he has a lot of great information on them as well. Hope that helps get you started in the right direction.
I found a loophole that they usually don't catch..... Comment with something positive. They will respond. Then edit your comment with a concern like the annual fee etc. It usually stays up for others to see.
Well cool that you found out you could do that. But That is whhy I just went ahead and made this video instead of trying to dick around with there crap on there stuff anymore. I apprecaite you letting me know though and I am pretty sure people are staring to catch on to there crap. thanks for the comment.
none of them because they are all an electronic device and they can all fail depending on the situation. And there is no radio out there that is fail safe or works in every condition or situation not even a satilite phone. Some have a few more capibilites and work a little better then others. But these rapid radios rely on cell towers and if there is no cell service then these do not work and they only can communicate with other rapid radios that are in your plan and that is it. even if someone else has a rapid radio but is not in your plan then you cannot talk to them. And if you had payed attention to the video then you would know which radios I do like to use But I guess that is why I am Einstein and you are the one asking me questions.
Sat phone are not a bad idea but they can fail as well and you can have issues with getting a signal with them just like a cell phone. Perfect example is lone survivor if you know the story or have seen the movie. Mike murphy was not able to get signal with there sat phone so he had to climb up to a spot that was out on a rock out cropping which exposed him to enemy fire. he was only able to get a signal for about 45 seconds before the signal dropped and he was killed.
@@oregonpatriot1570 Ya so I recommend looking at a few different options when it comes to radios. Me personally I like GMRS but I also have Ham radios and FRS radios as I said in the video so I can cover most of the bases and all 2 of those type radios can communicate with each other as well. thanks for watching and commenting on the video as well I appreciate it.
@@oregonpatriot1570 well if it is the GMRS version the license is easy to get and cost $35 if it is a ham one the there is a test and a $35 fee. But you do not need either to listen and in a SHTF it will not matter if you have one or not lol.
Huh? So you thank me for the information then make a dick comment right after that? Intersteing way to go well at least you learned something from my video and maybe your still trying to figure out how to pull that stick out of your ass as well.
so if you're not in an area with cellphone service , these radio's still work right? I started glazing after about half the video and couldn't really figure out wether or not they actually work everywhere that normal ham radios work. thanks!
well Ham radios are better for one so good to know you are into those. And no if there is no cell service then these radios will not work. Sorry if the video dragged on but just wanted to make sure I covered everything I new about these radios as fully as I could.
@@Radar55 they 100% need cell service to work as they are based off the old nextel push to talk set up. they are able to use all the cell service networks but if you are in any dead spots or all the net works are down then these will not work at all. example if you are out hiking in the mountains in wyoming or colorado there are lots of dead spots were none of the net works have service so these radios would not work either. Same as were I live lots of dead spots were no net works have service so they are usless in my area.
Great info, and a great reminder to do your research before buying crap
yep exactly!
Excellent information...I thank you for the edification!
Just trying to help the next guy or gal out so they have all the best information available about these radios and some better options in my opinion.
what people do with that information is entirely up to them.
thanks for watching the channel and for the comment.
They delete neg comments or questions. Happened to me today so passing this along to save someone else from wasting money.
thanks for the comment and yes they do delete any comments or questions they do not like or want to answer.
Easier with a cellphone and using Whats app 😆😆😆 Great information buddy 👍 Even worse then the lies as on a GAMO box.....😉
yep I just wanted to make sure people know the truth.
thanks again for watching and commenting.
First of all,they are not lying to you,they are saying there is no monthly fee,that's true,there is a yearly fee,but to get a radio service like this,then why shouldn't we pay for it,i would say you're a ham guy,and you don't want anything on the market that is better than ham,and also we are not as stupid as you think we are,we know they might not work all the time,but so what, if you like something we buy it,if you don't then you don't have to buy it,but let people make up their own mind.
Ok so first of they are misleading people in there marketing to think there is no fee at all with these radios which is not true.
thye are marketing these as SHTF survival radios that will work anywhere which is just not true.
Second if you had actually watched my video you would know I am not a Ham guy and do not even have a Ham license so no I am not a ham guy.
I actually said I have a GMRS license and I prefer GMRS radios for my radio needs.
And these radios are in no way better then a ham radio that I can tell you for sure.
this is super old tech from the 90's it is not new.
third again if you would have watched the video you would know that I siad I am just putting this information out here and it is up to you to make up your own minds
Because this company is shady and misleading people and I backed up everything I said with facts in this video.
So maybe go back and actually watch the full video and listen to what I actually said before making stupid commnets on my video.
So yes you my friend are as stupid as I think you are.
It is misleading because they are purposely trying to make it sound like there are no fees. When people ask about this and ask how there are no fees they do not correct the person they say that they worked with cell companies to get an omnibus deal.
They have other misleading info. It’s obvious that their marketing people don’t have any scruples.
If someone is that paranoid about staying in touch when the SHTF, I think you might want to invest in a sattelite phone. I'm not saying this is the best thing to do. I'm asking a question.
Well unfortunately SAT phones contrary to what people think do not work all the time either as a matter of fact there are many places that you will not get a signle with a SAT phone because you still have to have have good alinement with the actual satalite as well.
Perfect example the Seal team that is portrayed in the movie lone survior. One of the real facts in the movie and this really happened was they were not able to get a good signal with tere SAT phone to call for help so LT. Mike Murphy had to crawl out on this rock out cropping and expose himself to try and get a singnal out to get help heas able to get a signal for about1 minute just enough time to let the Quick reaction force know they needed help and then the signal dropped.
And as an ex combat soldier myself I can tell you for a fact that SAT phones do not always work.
On top of the fact that if the world ends up in a SHTF situation SAT comes will be down just like everything else linked to computers and other electronics that run our world so a SAT phone will be usless.
On top of the fact that the government controls them as well.
There is no one end all be all communication system that is fail safe or that will work in every situation that you come across/
What you reall yhave to do is just figure out which one is goin gto work fo rwhat you might need and then go with that which is what I have done.
All I can do is give you the information and then it is up to you to decide what to do with that information.
The hope for me is to give you the best facts I can to help people out.
I am not trying to sell anyone anything just trying to give them the facts.
Anyway sorry so long of a response and I appreciate the question I hope that helps.
IF that company can stay in business they will be utilizing low earth orbit satellites in the near future. Problem is that anything that requires telecommunications equipment and servers and what not… well they can stop working.
When our cell phones start using low earth orbit satellites they’ll be controlled by SpaceX and another company in partnership with T-Mobile, ATT and others.
To let you know how quickly a satellite can go away… Space-X shut off Ukraines low earth orbit connection during a Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian Navy. Now the pentagon is in control of the off switch but you better believe that Elon can still shut it off and that guy is going to loose his shit if the shit hits the fan. So if your T-Mobile phone starts working off of low earth orbit satellite in remote areas that’s Space-X. I don’t know who ATT is using I don’t think it’s Space-X though.
But even with that tech you’ll loose service if T-Mobile or ATT lost connection to the satellites.
Marketing - the world's second oldest profession.
right lol! thanks for watching and the comment.
Love that comment! 😉 It's so true too!
My husband is climbing Mount Whitney, which is one of the highest peaks in the US and I was thinking about getting these radios for him to communicate back with us. Do you think they will work? It sounds like from your video that they will not. Think that the cell service is very spotty and that’s why I wanted walkie-talkies
So I can only tell you this. First I started looking into these radios for my wife and I as I live in a more remote area in the world that many areas around us have zero cell service and we barely have it at are home.
After doing a bunch of research talking to people that own them and even tryin gto contact the company itself I found that this company is making very misleading claims and there marketing of these radios is not only misleading but flat out lies as well.
And this is what led me to make this video for peole like you that are looking into these radios for just these kind of situations.
So the short answer is if there is no cell service then no you will not be able to talk to him at all.
If the cell service is spotty then you might be able to get a single in certain spots but that is iffy at best.
I spent most of my life guiding and doing search and rescue in the mountains of Virginia,Colorado, and Wyoming and there are many places that there is no cell service and in those areas these radios are usless and it would be the same for were your husband is headed.
Any dead spots they will not work and you have to ask yourself are you willing to trust you life with that?
I woul look into the Garmin inReach Mini 2 Satellite Communicator you can't call each other but you can send text messages and if he has an emergancy he can hit one button and it sends out a single for people to come get him with his GPS location.
Or look into getting a satelite phone either one would be way better then the Rapid radios.
Just undeestand that even with a satelite phone or device you can still have some issues with getting a satelite signal.
But less likely then relying on a device that works off a cell tower signal.
The Garmin mini 2 is used by many hikers and climbers and having a device that is linked to a satelite will give yo and him a higher ability to be able to at least text and communicate and keep updated with each other over the rapid radios in my opinion.
I will also let you know that Rapid radios did reach out to me about my video and wanted to talk to me in which I replied and invited them to come on my channel and feel free to educate us all on there radios and how they really work and what is the real truth So we all have the facts about there radios.
And they refused both times and said they wanted to have a private convesation with me instead both times.
Basically they want to tray and talk me into taking my video down which is not going to happen.
Because all my information about there radios came straight from there website I just had to do some digging to find it.
SO the fact that they are not willing to come on the show publically and talk about there radios and be held accontable for all the flase marketing and lies tells you something abouth this company.
Anyway sorry this was so long but I hope that helps answer your questions and points you in the right direction of something that might work for your needs.
There are other companies that make similar devices like the garmin as well so do your research and pick the one that you think will best work for what you need.
I only recommend the garmin because i have used there products for many years and have had good luck with ther stuff.
So I hope that helps and answers your question.
I recently saw the ad. Maybe your information is helpful because they just said it was $50.00 per year. But I learned from your video that it runs off of the towers. Good information.
Is there a phone that uses satellite or is that the same thing? Thank you!
Just saw replies regarding the satellite phone.
Great info! Thank you!
thanks for the comment and the goal is just to give people the right information and solid good information and then let them make an imformed decision themselves.
And I hope that this video will help with that.
On top o fthe fact that I do not like shady companies that are not honest and are trying to hide information about there products.
Which is what rapid radios is doing.
Thanks I go overlanding out in the sticks and Baja also go ocean fishing, I've been asking Rapid about that and no answer thank you for info on cell towers
Well I am glad the video helped and that is exact;y why I made the video because rapid radios will not respond to people asking those type of questions.
They deleted every question I ever asked them and never responded back to any questions I ever asked.
I was interested in these radios as well when I first heard about them but my first thought was I think this is just the old nextel push to talk service as I used to have those cell phones.
And I was right 100%
And after doing more research and seenin ghow they were marking this radios I felt the need to speak up to help people just like you so you don't end up thinking these are going to work in those remote areas and then you are in a serious situation and you are screwed because rapid radios lied about the capability of these radios.
My suggestions is they make some good hand held marine radios for when you are out on the water if you don't want a permanant mounted one on your vessel.
Adn then look into ham and GMRS radios and see which one will work best for you.
Also since you do the Baja thing check out notarubicons youtube channel as he is a big off road guy who usese GMRS radios for when he is overlanding.
he has some great information and is way more knowledgable about radios then I am.
Anway hope that helps and glad the video helped.
also GMRS radios could work well for you in the ocean as well as they have a real great range in open areas like the ocean a ham radio could work as well.
So dig and and do some research and some testing of radios and I bet one of those will be the ticket for you.
I will not be using these Radios. I am a ham operator.
Well if you are a ham person then you are for sure good to go and this radios are pretty much crap in my opinion.
thanks for the comment.
That is very misleading. I was wondering how they could offer something like this for free! Thank you. I’m an outdoors kind of guy and definitely worry about comms in times of distress. What would you recommend?
Ya unfortunately it is very mis leading and that ais why I made the video just so people well know and understand how these radios really work.
As for what I would recommend well it reall depends on your needs for comms,
For me I use GMRS mainly but I also have Ham radios for monitoring and I also have some basic 2 way radios as well because all of these radios can work together and be programed to wor on the same channels if need be.
For GMRS and ham you have to get a license the GMRS license is easy to get just fill out a form and get your call sign and you are good to go the HAM license there is a test for that one.
Me personally I am GMRS guy and for the range I need comes for they work great and GMRS also allows me to use a reapeter if need be to transmitt further.
Also GMRS is a lot more simple to learn and use then HAm as well.
So there are a lot of factors that really go into it.
I jusy dropped another video about a wekk ago talking more about radios so Maybe check that video out as well.
For the most part though I tend to recommend to my friends and Family GMRS radios just because you get more capibility out of them then just your regular 2 way radios.
But if nothing else having some good 2 way radios will serve you better then no radios at all.
The other cool thing About GMRS radios is that you can get a portable reapeter set up which allows you to increase you radio range no matter were you go because you can take your own personal reapert with you and set it up anywhere.
This will give you anywhere from 15 to 60 plus mile radious depending on the terrain.
GO check out notarubicons videos on the portable reapeters as he does a great job with his videos on them and check out some of his videos on radios as he has a lot of great information on them as well.
Hope that helps get you started in the right direction.
Good info!
thanks for the comment and the video is only ment to help and inform people and give them the truth not a bunch of marketing B.S.
So I hope it helps.
I found a loophole that they usually don't catch..... Comment with something positive. They will respond. Then edit your comment with a concern like the annual fee etc. It usually stays up for others to see.
Well cool that you found out you could do that.
But That is whhy I just went ahead and made this video instead of trying to dick around with there crap on there stuff anymore.
I apprecaite you letting me know though and I am pretty sure people are staring to catch on to there crap.
thanks for the comment.
What radio would you trust with your life? Einstein.
none of them because they are all an electronic device and they can all fail depending on the situation.
And there is no radio out there that is fail safe or works in every condition or situation not even a satilite phone.
Some have a few more capibilites and work a little better then others.
But these rapid radios rely on cell towers and if there is no cell service then these do not work and they only can communicate with other rapid radios that are in your plan and that is it.
even if someone else has a rapid radio but is not in your plan then you cannot talk to them.
And if you had payed attention to the video then you would know which radios I do like to use But I guess that is why I am Einstein and you are the one asking me questions.
I'm guessing a satellite phone is the answer
Sat phone are not a bad idea but they can fail as well and you can have issues with getting a signal with them just like a cell phone.
Perfect example is lone survivor if you know the story or have seen the movie.
Mike murphy was not able to get signal with there sat phone so he had to climb up to a spot that was out on a rock out cropping which exposed him to enemy fire. he was only able to get a signal for about 45 seconds before the signal dropped and he was killed.
@@BravoBassin Damn! Bummer.
@@oregonpatriot1570 Ya so I recommend looking at a few different options when it comes to radios.
Me personally I like GMRS but I also have Ham radios and FRS radios as I said in the video so I can cover most of the bases and all 2 of those type radios can communicate with each other as well.
thanks for watching and commenting on the video as well I appreciate it.
I've got an inexpensive BaoFeng radio, but haven't taken the time to learn how to use it or get licensed yet.
@@oregonpatriot1570 well if it is the GMRS version the license is easy to get and cost $35 if it is a ham one the there is a test and a $35 fee.
But you do not need either to listen and in a SHTF it will not matter if you have one or not lol.
I think that these radios don’t work if all the cell lines are down.
these radios work off cell towers and services if there is no cell service then no these radios will not work at all.
Ok thanks for the info but get on with it
Huh? So you thank me for the information then make a dick comment right after that?
Intersteing way to go well at least you learned something from my video and maybe your still trying to figure out how to pull that stick out of your ass as well.
so if you're not in an area with cellphone service , these radio's still work right? I started glazing after about half the video and couldn't really figure out wether or not they actually work everywhere that normal ham radios work. thanks!
well Ham radios are better for one so good to know you are into those.
And no if there is no cell service then these radios will not work.
Sorry if the video dragged on but just wanted to make sure I covered everything I new about these radios as fully as I could.
I’m not sure if these radios need cell service.
@@Radar55 they 100% need cell service to work as they are based off the old nextel push to talk set up.
they are able to use all the cell service networks but if you are in any dead spots or all the net works are down then these will not work at all.
example if you are out hiking in the mountains in wyoming or colorado there are lots of dead spots were none of the net works have service so these radios would not work either.
Same as were I live lots of dead spots were no net works have service so they are usless in my area.