Buying walkie talkies online or from a supplier
By Jolene Wong
A listing sells you a box. Here is what the box cannot tell you, when buying online is fine, and five things to check before you pay.
Buyers often tell me they saw a radio on a shopping platform. Sometimes that is the right buy. More often the radio is not the problem. What is missing around it is. Here is how I would decide.
When buying online is fine
A family set for outings, or a small shop where everyone is on one floor. A certified radio at 0.5 W, on the channels MCMC lists for licence-free use, works out of the box. Nobody needs to design anything.
What a listing does not tell you
- Whether the radio is certified. Selling or using uncertified communication equipment is an offence in Malaysia. That covers using it, not only selling it. Look for the certification label on the radio itself.
- Whether you need a licence. Radios above 0.5 W need an MCMC licence. A listing that says 5 W is telling you that, without saying it.
- Whether it reaches. A range in kilometres is measured in the open. Inside a building, the walls, lifts and basement decide.
- Whether it talks to what you already own. Analogue and digital radios, and radios on different frequencies, do not always talk to each other.
- Who sets the channels. Business radios are set to your frequency and your teams. A box from a listing arrives the way the seller left it.
What I do that a listing cannot
- Test on your site with real radios before you buy. In the Klang Valley the site test is free.
- Tell you when portable radios are enough, and when you need a repeater.
- Handle the MCMC licence application.
- Set the radios to your frequency and your teams.
- Answer you myself afterwards. You reach me, Jolene, not a call centre.
Five things to check before you pay, wherever you buy
- Is there a certification label on the radio, and can the seller show you the certificate?
- What is the power? If it is above 0.5 W, who applies for the MCMC licence?
- Has anyone tested it where your staff actually work: the basement, the lifts, back of house?
- Will it talk to the radios you already have?
- Who do you call when a unit stops working, and do they answer?
About price
I do not put prices on this site, because the right price depends on the model, the quantity and your site. Compare the whole job, not the box: the radios, the licence, the setup, and whether it works where you need it. If the radio you found online is the right answer for you, I will say so.
Next: uncertified radios, the risks
