Rapid Radios discussion

[RayAir]

POCLink says "higher network priority than regular phones, our radios stay online when smartphones drop out". Is there any truth to this?

I saw a couple of the RR units on the floor of an ambulance last month. I swear they felt like mockups.


I don't think "most" is accurate, at least not the cheapo subscriber units. We know Falck went to NXDN. What about AMR? Who else is big?

It's probably false considering every security and privacy statement they made on their website is misleading.
They will be receiving a vulnerability disclosure letter soon.

Their radios do have sensitive receivers though. In rural areas I had a better signal on the radio than on my smartphone. So maybe they meant you have a better chance of getting a signal? They do claim access to multiple provider's networks.

As far as having higher priority over other network users goes, no, that's laughable.

I looked at a few PoC providers and would avoid PocLink, Global PTT, and Rapid Radios. Avoid any Chinese PoC radio. Hytera Horizon was meh. Motorola Wave seemed to be the only business/consumer grade solution doing it right. But they are one of the most expensive.

Haloid Solutions pointed out some of the risks with these Chinese PoC companies a year ago. I couldn't find any evidence that anyone else looked into them.

If you want to research these devices yourself, for starters I'd suggest downloading their APKs and going through them with JADX. If you have the radios, install the PTT app on your phone then connect to a mobile hotspot on another computer running Wireshark and start capturing your own traffic.

Just wanted to spread some awareness. I was mislead by PocLink's claims.

 

[N4KVE]

A bunch of us in Florida, & Tennessee have them. They work great, & are very clear. I realize if a hurricane hits, & all the cell towers go down they’ll be useless. But we haven’t had a hurricane here in years, & the devices do what they say they will do. We have channels open to everyone, as well as “direct connect” one on one channels. I think each radio was $125, & that included a year of service. One local, the guy who got us all into these takes care of the programming which is like OTAR. 2 radios were bad, the fancy new ones, & replacements were sent out right away. I got the regular model, & it’s been great. And 8 days to a battery charge. That’s amazing.

 

[bigray246]

I have3 been using RRs foe a few months now, they work great, I am currently using the RR app on my smart phone. Is there any RR groups out there looking for members, I hail from New Jersey.

 

[kd4pbs]

A popular national radio talk show host told me on his show that these radios work in places that have zero cell phone coverage. He said he uses them on his ranch where he can't get any kind of cell phone to work. Something didn't sound right about that, since it was my understanding that they used cell site data connection to work.
Looks like he is full of BS.
Or the company that makes them told him to say that, and they are full of BS.
Anyone from the Rapid Radios company on here care to elaborate?
Seems to me that if they use cellular carriers for their connection, I might as well just continue to use my phone to communicate. These are reminiscent of the Nextel radio scam that so many people bought into in the late 90s because they thought that being able to use a PTT based communications device was somehow superior to just calling a person on the phone.

 

[KE4ZNR]

A popular national radio talk show host told me on his show that these radios work in places that have zero cell phone coverage. He said he uses them on his ranch where he can't get any kind of cell phone to work. Something didn't sound right about that, since it was my understanding that they used cell site data connection to work.
Looks like he is full of BS.
Or the company that makes them told him to say that, and they are full of BS.
Anyone from the Rapid Radios company on here care to elaborate?
Seems to me that if they use cellular carriers for their connection, I might as well just continue to use my phone to communicate. These are reminiscent of the Nextel radio scam that so many people bought into in the late 90s because they thought that being able to use a PTT based communications device was somehow superior to just calling a person on the phone.

That "popular talk show host" was lying or just not informed or in the worst case scenario being paid to lie. Makes you wonder what else he lies about or embellishes. All the more reason to quit listening to the talking propaganda heads on FM/AM these days.
As someone that used to work for Nextel they were the furthest thing from a "scam". Nextel was a little different in that they were a two way radio first with cellular & data as an add on. Their primary purpose was the iDen two way radio service. They just did not have the needed data throughput and Sprint did not know how to best use that iDen technology nor was iDen given a long term roadmap to continue to grow. Add in the 800Mhz interference because of where the FCC allowed Nextel to set up shop the Nextel days were numbered. If in an alternate universe Nextel had been allowed to use different spectrum along with a long term growth roadmap then they would still be around today.
But to call Nextel a "scam" is very wrong as it was a good PTT service in its day.

 

[mmckenna]

Yeah, these do not work without cellular, but I've seen some that do have a separate 2 way radio option that will allow short range communications. The Rapid Radio models that this thread was about do not have that.
So, yeah, the guy is misinformed and probably more than on just this subject. But whatever gets them views, clicks, advertising dollars, it's all fair game.

As for NexTel, I concur with @KE4ZNR Nextel was originally an 800MHz SMR (Specialize Mobile Radio) operator. There entire business model was wide area two way radio service using a specific model of 800MHz Motorola handset (R750 was one that was common) that did the iDEN trunking protocol (not to be confused with the Icom NXDN "IDEN" protocol).

Along the way, they realized that cellular was taking a lot of their business, so they tried cramming in the capability to do phone calls by robbing some bandwidth from the two way radio side.

The nice thing about NexTel was that it did "one to many pretty well" without the need for dialing up into a conference bridge, which was handy for some industrial applications. We used it for wide area coverage where our trunked system didn't cover.

 

[KevinC]

We'll see how they work. Out of the blue I got a $100 off from Shop for Rapid Radios, I was able to stack 2 other coupons which brought it down to a little over $200 for the pair. I had some money left from a bonus I got so I sprung for them, so if they are crap I'm not really out anything...sort of.

 

[KE9EGF]

I don't get the reason for these fancy "radios" for "emergency situations". I mean, I get it, somme can buy it for a distraction-free experience, but you can do the same with a dumb phone, like an old, basic Nokia, for a fraction of the price that Rapid Radios have. If cell towers go down, they both stop working, just because it looks like a full radio-based comms system to the consumer doesn't mean that it is one. They brand it like it functions on sub-GHz radio, but it's just LTE. Rapid Radios are really just a phone in a suit and tie.

 

[KevinC]

I don't get the reason for these fancy "radios" for "emergency situations". I mean, I get it, somme can buy it for a distraction-free experience, but you can do the same with a dumb phone, like an old, basic Nokia, for a fraction of the price that Rapid Radios have. If cell towers go down, they both stop working, just because it looks like a full radio-based comms system to the consumer doesn't mean that it is one. They brand it like it functions on sub-GHz radio, but it's just LTE. Rapid Radios are really just a phone in a suit and tie.

If you can get past all the BS on their website they are PoC devices, which serve a purpose way beyond any apocalypse uses they may mention.

 

[KE9EGF]

all the BS on their website

I know, I'm not saying they don't have a use, but "all the BS on their website" is the part that makes me mad. I just don't know why somebody would prefer something that is scummy like this when there are other, more legitimate, and cheaper PoC devices on the market. I am not trying to be mean, but it doesn't take somebody with half a brain to figure out that there are better choices for that price point, or less.

 

[KevinC]

I know, I'm not saying they don't have a use, but "all the BS on their website" is the part that makes me mad. I just don't know why somebody would prefer something that is scummy like this when there are other, more legitimate, and cheaper PoC devices on the market. I am not trying to be mean, but it doesn't take somebody with half a brain to figure out that there are better choices for that price point, or less.

Well, I guess I have less than half a brain.

Can you provide some links to something that's comparable at less cost? Keeping in mind mine were around $200 for the pair with a year of service.

 

[KE9EGF]

I'm not saying you are stupid and can't find better options, it's just better to see if there are nicer and more legitimate alternatives. Also, I dug a little bit, and from knowledge, I know that TidRadio makes some decent PoC devices. If you are focusing on budget, I see that this TidRadio PoC device seems to be one of the best options. It's around $100 for a pair, comparable to an entry-level mesh device, and a yearly renewal costs about $20 for each SIM card. They come with a free year of service.
TIDRADIO TD-G100 Global Rapid PTT Walkie Talkie Nationwide Unlimited Range
I can find more if you want me to, or you can look for yourself, there are many options.

 

[KevinC]

I'm not saying you are stupid and can't find better options, it's just better to see if there are nicer and more legitimate alternatives. Also, I dug a little bit, and from knowledge, I know that TidRadio makes some decent PoC devices. If you are focusing on budget, I see that this TidRadio PoC device seems to be one of the best options. It's around $100 for a pair, comparable to an entry-level mesh device, and a yearly renewal costs about $20 for each SIM card. They come with a free year of service.
TIDRADIO TD-G100 Global Rapid PTT Walkie Talkie Nationwide Unlimited Range
I can find more if you want me to, or you can look for yourself, there are many options.

Thanks, one drawback I see is they are locked to AT&T.

 

[KE9EGF]

one drawback

Yes, but one drawback is, in most if not all cases, better than a shady, misleading product. Also, AT&T has pretty excellent coverage anyways, even in rural areas. What I am trying to say is from my whole string of posts, don't rely or fully trust the most advertised product, especially if they seem too good to be what they say they are, you need to dig deeper if it seems off.

 

[mmckenna]

"all the BS on their website"

There are legit uses for PTT over cellular. For many non-public safety radio users, they'll get better service and much more coverage out of a service like this. I have absolutely steered some of my end users to services like this. It works and it works well.

As for the BS on the website, well, that's kind of standard.
Most of the public could not explain to you how a radio works, how cellular systems work, or why this is a good or bad idea. The vendors know this, so they can get creative with the wording to incite fear, and fear is a great motivator when you want to get your mitts on someone elses money.

For guys like Kevin that -do- understand how this stuff works, a couple of coupons will make for a pretty good deal, and he knows enough to understand where they will and will not work.

Like I said in my earlier post, the wording on that website hit all the trigger words for the 'prepper' crowd. I'm convinced you can sell anything to the preppers if you do your marketing right.

After all, when the SHTF and the world order collapses and the Libyans start dropping dirty nukes and EMP bombs, the polar ice caps are going to melt, the poles will shift, and Eskimos will absolutely need to be investing in refrigerator/freezer combinations to keep their whale blubber from spoiling, so you better stock up on refrigerators now before the Eskimos take them all and leave your Jell-O pudding pops melting in the bottom of the freezer. Add in something about ammo shortages and the "man" coming to take your guns, and I bet I could be a millionaire by this time next week…..

 

[KevinC]

Yes, but one drawback is, in most if not all cases, better than a shady, misleading product. Also, AT&T has pretty excellent coverage anyways, even in rural areas. What I am trying to say is from my whole string of posts, don't rely or fully trust the most advertised product, especially if they seem too good to be what they say they are, you need to dig deeper if it seems off.

Ok.

 

[mmckenna]

Also, AT&T has pretty excellent coverage anyways, even in rural areas.

In some areas they do. In many areas they don't. I've gone across big chunks of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico where my AT&T/FirstNet phone gets zero service.

I have also have a work Verizon phone, and even it does not have coverage everywhere.

But between the two cell carriers, I survive. Anyone who cannot survive a day without their cell phone doesn't belong in such places.

 

[jeepsandradios]

At my house ATT/FN phone sits in my truck with no serivce. I have to drive about an hour to get reliable service.

As for why folks like the little radios my theory is KISS. I tried zello and other POC apps on phones with friends and family and its always a hassle. They have a use but for the KISS method I can hand a RR radio to my 70+ old parents and they can use it. I think there is a huge market for them excluding the SHTF folks.