maybe banned from the US... I believe the government uses them. maybe only them because the calls cant be traced as walkie talkies...

Nextel started their overseas branches in the 90’s however due to several of the overseas branches going bankrupt throughout the late 90’s early 2000’s, Sprint stayed with the US division only. Most if not all of the overseas Nextel’s have gone bankrupt and purchased by other companies with the exception of Nextel Brazil. One of the biggest reasons for Nextel losing it’s popularity was that in the mid 2000’s phone plans and especially plans with texting we’re getting affordable. Unlimited talk and text killed Nextel’s advantage. Also the equipment to run the iDen system was very outdated and behind 3G at the time. Once 4G was in the works their was no reason to keep it.

@@NenaLiiz yeah they use a special system in the 900 megahertz band and basically they skip around to different frequencies when they're sending and receiving and even if you do manage to pick one up it's going to sound like garbled e nothing for a Split Second

speaker phone lolll

lol right? i remember snapping a flip phone screen completely off and could still place calls just couldn't hear the person talk back as the speaker was detached >.

muskrat Ondatra as long as it was on speaker ha

Have you tried them lately?

Any of the Models listed in this video will work. Or these - Phones with Direct Talk feature. Disclaimer: list not fully verified. ic402, ic502, ic602, ic902, i275, i315, i325, i325is, i335, i355, i365, i425, i455 (questionable), i560, i570, i580, i615, i670, i760, i776, i850, i870, i880. You will need to purchase two or more phones with Direct Talk Feature, chargers, and a Nextel Sim card off Ebay for each unit. Find videos on programming and setting up. Not hard, but several steps. Depends on height of buildings and how dense, but Nextel units will be hard pressed to reach a few miles in urban settings. They are self powered, not connected to towers. That said every location and distance is different. Inside one building to inside another building will be different than outside to outside or outside to inside and so forth. Best test is to acquire two and give a try.

You are correct. Thank you for highlighting the frequencies. This video is old and was made before the new FCC rules went into effect on Sept 28th, 2017. When the video was made GMRS and FRS had some frequency differences.

Phones with Direct Talk feature. Disclaimer: list not fully verified. ic402, ic502, ic602, ic902, i275, i315, i325, i325is, i335, i355, i365, i425, i455 (questionable), i560, i570, i580, i615, i670, i760, i776, i850, i870, i880.

Direct talk no need for sim, but connect probably.

The SIM card is necessary to get past the “Insert SIM” screen. It does nothing but satisfy the software looking to make sure a SIM is installed. Otherwise you cannot advance to be able to use the device.

@@petertran2731 yes you need a SIM card to use the off network ptt 🎉

​@chanel808life-mthi I have a pair of old Motorola Nextel phones. The i686, never needed a sim and I can still use the direct talk. Bought it off from ebay.

Yes, you can.

There is a button to change it to the ear speaker

@@ItsTheApeManWC Is it any setting that has to be activated to route the audio to the earpiece ? I never managed to switch the output to the ear speaker.

I do not believe so. At least not the way these phones/radios did as a phone and radio in one unit. Everything for phones now relies on apps and cellular data or wifi, not internal radios. Motorola does have something similar to the way the old Nextels worked in the DTR series radios. They work on the 900MHZ as well and depending on the model can be programmed to communicate with an individual radio or all radios like the Nextel.

You need to setup each radio(phone) with a unique number. Go to Main menu>my info. Name the radio a unique name such as Com1 or Radio1, Com2 etc. In the Line 1 assign a unique number to each radio. Choose something unique in the rare event someone else with direct talk chooses the same number. For instance don’t use 01, 02, etc. something with a few digits. Similar to giving your radio a phone number. Save and restart phone. Do this for each radio. Then create a contact list in each radio. Go to contacts>new contact>. Put in the name of the radio you want to add. Put in the unique number you setup for the radio you want to add. Like adding a phone contact. Do this for each radio. Then go to contacts, highlight the radio you want to reach privately and push the PTT button. This will contact that particular radio only.

@@mic4725 When I create the number on Line 1, Does it have to be 10 digits?

No it does not. I’ve used 5 digit numbers in the past on mine. I made first 3 numbers identical across all radios then the next two unique. For example, 12301, 12302, 12303 etc.

Yes. You will need to acquire some Nextel units and old Nextel SIM cards. SIM cards are only needed to satisfy internal software to get past welcome screen. They have nothing to do with any cell service. They act like dummy cards. Best place is eBay for units and SIMs. Check other comments below for models that have the necessary features. They work independent of any cell service so they will always work on their own.

Thank you for commenting on the video. This video is rather old and sometimes I forget it’s still posted. Instead of stating I’m wrong, how about some mutual respect. All people seem to want today is a quick reason to jump and say someone is wrong, or to be angry or upset with them. Maybe a “hey man, just to let you and others know GMRS could be used without a license”. And then back up your statement with some facts. I say this because although your comment is not completely incorrect, it’s also not completely correct. Therefore, my statement in the video about GMRS needing a license is not wrong. Because I believe statements need facts to back them up, I’ll share a couple so we all can learn and I’ll give some respect in sharing what I know. What you do with it from there is up to you. The video is old (August of 2016 to be exact) and FCC rules changed in 2017. However, GMRS needing licenses has not changed. An excerpt right from the FCC dated 11/18/21 states “An FCC license is required to operate GMRS system.” I’ll explain. On Sept 28th, 2017 New FCC rules went into effect affecting both FRS and GRMS frequencies. The biggest change was to FRS usage. FRS used to be confined to .5watts and specific channels (frequencies). FRS has been given more channels to use and up to 2watts on certain channels. Both FRS and GMRS radios can be used on all 22 channels (plus 8 repeater channels for GMRS), but must abide by the channel rules to use without a license. What are the rules? FRS does not require a license, GMRS will depending on wattage used. Channel 1-7 (FRS 2 watt limit)(GMRS 5watt limit, need license for use over 2watt). Channel 8-14 (FRS .5watt limit)(GMRS .5watt limit no license needed). Channel 15-22 (FRS 2 watt limit)(GMRS 50watt limit, need license for use over 2watt). Essentially using a GMRS radio under the non licensed wattage limits of the channel is not being a GMRS user. It's being an FRS user holding a GMRS capable radio. Once you step from FRS rules into GMRS rules, you are a GMRS user, and as a GMRS user a license is in fact required.

The Direct Talk feature of Nextel uses the Industrial-Scientific-Medical (ISM) band - 902MHz-928MHz. There are several ISM bands available to use by many electronic devices (cordless phones, wifi devices, garage door openers etc). Many manufacturers have moved from the 900MHz to the 2.4 and 5.8 GHz bands because the 900MHz range was small and was getting crowded. The ISM frequency ranges currently do not require a USA FCC license to operate in. This may be different in countries outside of the USA. However, things do change so if you have factual updated information that you can post a link to that shows a license is required for the 900MHz spectrum the Nextel devices use in the USA, please do so.

Walkie talkies have miles distance limit, will this nextel phones be the same??

Depends on what you refer to as walkie talkie. FRS radios, GMRS radios, uhf or vhf radios, etc? Basically yes. All radio wave devices have distance limits. Distance is dependent on output power of the device, terrain, frequency wave, etc. The Nextel units have fixed power and fixed frequency range. Terrain will be the biggest factor. Flat open terrain will give about two miles range. In urban settings the range drops dramatically. Wooded terrain drops range as well.