Hazel, two-way radios use their own frequencies and are considered transceivers (they broadcast and receive). Each country has their own frequency spectrum however there are common ones around the world.

Their range can be anywhere from a mile to 50 or 60 miles depending on the model and lack of interference. We’ve used ours on a boat and they’ll go for miles and miles if there isn’t a lot in their way since they operate directionally.

In a city you’ll be lucky if you can get a few miles with most of them however it really depends on where you are and what’s around. They’re perfect for shopping trips and times when one of us is down by the beach while the other is in our room.

We’ve also used them a lot when we have 2 or more cars on a road trip. It’s an easy way to stay connected and is great for discussing our next stopping point or to let the kids chat back and forth.

One thing to point out is that even though it’s not hard to find an empty channel, anyone tuned to that channel can hear you so don’t be broadcasting your credit card information over it. That said, I can think of only once where we’ve ever heard someone using the same frequency we were on and we were on channel 1. Once we changed to a different frequency and sub frequency we’ve never been interrupted.