FRS and GMRS Radios: Talking When Cell Networks Fail

When towers lose power or networks overload, cell phones go quiet. Two-way radios keep a family or neighborhood in touch without any infrastructure.

Listen first: weather and emergency radio

FEMA’s basic kit includes a battery-powered or hand-crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert. Receiving needs no license and is how you’ll hear official instructions when everything else is down.

FRS: no license needed (U.S.)

Family Radio Service radios are the walkie-talkies sold in blister packs.

• No individual license is required, at any age, as long as you follow the FCC rules.
• FRS has 22 channels around 462 and 467 MHz, all shared with GMRS.
• Power is limited (up to 2 watts on channels 1–7 and 15–22, less on the others) and antennas are fixed, so range is short: often a mile or two, less among buildings and hills.

GMRS: more power, license required

General Mobile Radio Service uses the same channels at higher power, with detachable antennas and repeaters that can extend range dramatically. GMRS requires an FCC license. One license covers your immediate family, with no exam. Operating above 2 watts or through repeaters means you need it.

Beyond

• Ham (amateur) radio reaches across a region or around the world, and hams run emergency networks in disasters. It needs an FCC license with an exam.
• When batteries die, line-of-sight methods still work: flags, lights and mirrors. The Army’s 1910 Visual Signaling manual covers them in detail.

Make a plan

Agree in advance on a primary channel and a backup, and check-in times (for example, on the hour for 5 minutes) to save batteries, and practice before you need it. Radio rules differ outside the United States.