I've still got a couple of Nextels, and they still work in DirectTalk mode over 900 MHz.

I miss nextel, it's seemed soo cool to teenage me

@@Rich_123 interesting, are they connected to a service or just phone to phone?

The coverage is limited only by the 4G/5G network coverage.

@@foxmulder216 Nextel Direct talk mode is phone to phone. Designed for work sites outside of cellular coverage, it uses digital channels and privacy codes in the 900 MHz ISM band. I've gotten 3 miles out of it in an urban environment because there isn't much in that spectrum.

Those sorts of radios exist too, but they’re of course much more expensive. These are great for when you need medium to long ranges where walkietalkies don’t work, but have to give radios to people without radio licenses. We use them all the time filming in downtown Tokyo where there’s so much interference and physical obstructions a consumer walkietalkie is basically just LOS.

also as I understand this you have to have service with a provider.....too much extra cost.

@@joelmulder you already have one in your pocket...people call them SMARTPHONE

@@gastonbarouille767 you clearly don’t understand both the use and purpose of this device. First, they’re cheaper than phones and more durable. I don’t want to be handing out phones when I need to talk with people who don’t have an RT license. I don’t want to ask them to install an app and use their own data either. Secondly, phone batteries die too fast. Do this with a phone and it will last a few hours. These will last a day or more. Third, simply doing an internet voice call uses data constantly so it’s no option. Same with cellular calling, it uses minutes. This only uses data when the button is pressed. Fourth, range. I often work on video productions in central Tokyo. Regular radios simply don’t always have the range to reach through the urban sprawl. “Family band” radios certainly don’t. Lastly, kinda summarizes all the previous points,simplicity. Like I said we usually use these with people who don’t have an RT license. We just want to give them a box with a “talk” button and that’s it. Nothing is simpler than this.

@@gastonbarouille767 it would be nice though if it had wifi so you could hotspot off your phone if needed.

Great movie!!

The besT

the only issue is it's about 200 USD for one, you can get a cardo for the same price or less, and that's actually designed for the task.

@@stagiestpizza i have cardos and they don’t work well for my use case at all. You have to be pretty close for them to work. Also i’d love to have some handheld systems in the mesh.

If you wanted to go really deep down the rabbit hole, you could do what Shadytel does and set up impromptu telephone infrastructure. Technology is such now that you could probably fit a telephone exchange in your rucksack. And I'm only half joking!

@@stagiestpizza That is expensive.

@@deeiks12 I would assume that you could find some short range handhelds that would do the job for a quarter of the price though, couldn't you? plus they would work without cell signal or a data plan.

Of course its better than a dmr, or can be. This thing is just a cell phone in a different package. Did the 4g sim required part not give it away? lmao

They don't have real outdoors where he is. These aren't anything but less useful cell phones.

@@chublez I'm trying to figure out why you would use this over a cell phone? It won't work in real wilderness, but an analog/digital radio will.

Wifi would have some other nice uses since long distance networks can be created using extenders.

@@kasuraga Old wrt54g's flashed with DD-WRT firmware make excellent point-to-point extenders - they're cheap ($30-$40 used), reliable, and still widely available.

Why not just put a voip client on your cell phone? It could use the cell network or WiFi. I do this with Zoiper, but there are others.

@@heinzzid3923 The network client devices offer several advantages over a mobile phone with application, namely almost instant on, a speaker loud enough to hear over construction equipment, and ruggedized construction. The idea appears to be to have a simple device which conforms to the traditional notion of job site walkie-talkie.

@@guruoo Good ol wrt54g. Was my first wifi router. Used to run DD-WRT too so I could control the power output and get better stability.

I work in industry. When we're posted to "geographically remote work sites" we use UHF repeater systems or satellite phones. In the past we'll drive a spare work truck to the top of a hill or mountain with a repeater in it and use it to bounce comms in and out of a location. If we're on the site for a long time we just put in a solar powered repeater. Since these work off cell towers, you'd naturally not try to force their use in an area with no cell signal, that just wouldn't make sense. They're not FOR that. Think more like, a security company who wants to be able to communicate with it's employees without them breaking smart phones and watching p*rn all night on it.

yeah, if this only works if you have a cellular account and only in range and IF cell service is up. would be useless in an deep woods/emergency/shtf situation

the likelyhood of ALL carriers going down is unlikely. the nice thing sbout these type of radios, the sim csrds they use will automatically switch to different available carriers.. for instance if youre in a dead zone for att and your cell is an att phone you are SOL.. with this.. it will switch to perhaps verizon which has signal in that area. and using s global sim you can take these anywhere and they will hop onto other countries carriers too.

It's not for the applications where a budget smart phone would work. Think...security companies. Staffed by not overly intelligent people who get bored easily and break things constantly. Something like this they can't screw up, they can communicate on it, can't watch videos or p*rn, and that's it. And you're not buying them (even a budget) smart phone which they will absolutely destroy, probably in the first week, then want a replacement.

Excellent points, however the relevance is lost looking big picture, well because there is no big picture. For any of us. Smart money says everything goes to hell before 4g is phased out lol

@@JWallace004 We're all gonna die at some poitn and suffer till that day, yes. That's kinda a given. Until then ima geek tf out with all the electronic goodies I wanna play with. Then if I end up with a bunch of time on my hands and can't go outside, I'll have something to keep me busy. Smart money says if you're worried about what you're worried about, you're going to end up wasting money trying to stave off the inevitable. You're all over the place dude, try to pull yourself together a little. Have some composure.

No problem, we only share old custard recipes 😅

its aes encrypted before going our… nobody is listening to nothing. its digital with encryption not analog

We have gaps in suburban London.

Not great in Scotland either.

This is completely useless for "hiking" unless you know EVEYWHERE you hike has cell phone reception. Better off buying the new ip14 or a sat comm texter, like inreach zoleo or spot.

Battery life on PTT LTE radios is generally worse than DMR devices, which is generally worse than FM/ Analogue devices. Take spare batteries.

As long as there is good cell service with enough bandwidth at the venue. If you have an audience of 10,000 in a rural area, don’t expect data transmission to be reliable.

baofengs work well

20 years ago we had NEXTEL PTT over 3g that worked so well in the field. Then Sprint bought them and it quickly became latent, with terrible sound quality. Almost as if Sprint wanted to destroy any competition.

@@fvckingtest Ah, OK. It was a great system. There was a beeping trick we used to let someone know we needed to talk. A long time ago! LOL

I read that they run on Linux. So the question is whether they are locked down, or if there is a way to unlock their true potential. (Without breaking the law. They do connect directly to the phone system, so there may be some legal limitations to what would be allowed.)

This is the question I had. Someone with the knowledge, please answer! Presuming you must pay for the data, how does that work?

@@JWallace004 thanks. Turns out you get a sim with unlimited data and use that.

@@DerbJd but it aint free, nor does it have unlimited range... what a crock

then it still won't work???!??!

Exactly 🙄😆

You're missing the point, it's not FOR personal use. Think of a security company that needs inexpensive comms with it's people, and doesn't want them breaking smart phones and watching p*rn all night on them. This would fit that perfectly, and they can't screw it up. (though you should never underestimate the ability of a security guard to screw something up). Think, hotel staff. Any low level position where you want comms with your people but you don't want to pay for even budget smart phones. How often do all the cell towers in an area go out? Not often. They aren't "emergency backup comms", they're just meant to be a price-point enterprise solution. It's like you picking up a bar code scanner and going "well this is stupid, what am I going to use this for at home?" You're not.

@@syberphish ahh yes makes sense

@@maindave1 Sorry if I come across brusquely, I'm "on the spectrum". I don't mean anything by it. Sometimes I read stuff later and I go...well maybe that was kinda rude, but it's more excitement than anything. I've been trying to tone it down a bit. I feel like if I just say "it's not designed or marketed for the typical consumer in mind as an end-user" people won't quite connect the same with it. It's easier to just paint the picture and make the connection easier, but I get kinda verbose and intense sometimes. My bad. You're a good egg, Dave.

You’re right! Cheers mick

True, actually Whatsapp capabilities are amazing. Free intl calls, voice messages, text and image, etc... all free. The only drawback is that they have the data stored in company servers

I agree but its kinda dumb that they rely on 4g i'm sure you could make them work on 3g it has plenty of speed to transmit a low quality audio signal