Our world is ever more connected and reliant on technology. The humble computer as we know it went from the size of a room in the mid-1940s to less than your palm in only a few short decades. The PC towers I grew up with were quickly replaced with laptops weighing under 5 lbs.
Heck, the only thing that keeps your cell phone from being the size of a matchbox is the desire to consume media and video on it.
However, when our desire is to move towards an off-grid life, adding more and more complex technology is rarely a great answer. Yes, we need to make use of some of the technological advances, but others can hinder our efforts.
If you are looking to go off-grid, this often involves moving to an area that is not as developed as a big city. Lack of cell phone coverage, internet service providers, and the all-important lack of two-day shipping are things you really need to consider.
Less Communication
A lack of services can easily result in less communication. When your cell phone only works when you drive to town, it’s not like you will be calling out often. And when you are busy with homestead chores, you likely don’t want to drive to town every day.
Humans by nature are social creatures. We enjoy the company of one another. When we end up with less communication it’s hard to function effectively. Plus being cut off can leave us vulnerable to outside forces.
Eliminating outside control on your communications
Your cell phone has a rather large glaring issue. It will always rely on the cell phone provider to maintain towers and give you service.
If our goal is to be reliant on our own devices, requiring the use of a cell phone puts a big hole in our preps. Needing to watch a YouTube video each time to see how to complete a homestead task leaves you at the mercy of outside providers such as YouTube and the internet at large.
Whenever possible you need to find alternate methods of communication that will allow you to stay connected and still receive the information needed, even when internet or cellular service providers can’t.
Mobile Radios
A simple solution to the problem of outside dependence is to move to mobile radios. Often thought of as the walkie-talkie or trucker CB, and just as easily dismissed. Radio communication has been around the entire time computer technology advanced, and has been employed by the military for years, including multiple wars.
Done right, it can be extremely reliable and reach around the world.
FRS, GMRS, and HAM
FRS Radios
The most common for everyday use today is FRS or Family Radio Service. These are the walkie-talkie styles of radio that you can use to call your kids while you are out camping.
They require no license to use, and most newer radios come with a set of built-in security channels to keep your conversations slightly more private (or maybe less annoying to everyone else). FRS radios are a great first line and are especially useful for local communications on your property.
However, FRS radios are low power topping out at 2 watts. This lack of power keeps your communications limited to a few miles at best under ideal conditions.
Our favorite is the Motorola Talkabout series, with the upper-end radios containing both the FRS ability and built-in NOAA weather radio. We have the T465 model, which the T475 model replaced.
GMRS Radios
GMRS radios, or General Mobile Radio Service, take the FRS to another level. Capable of more output power and connecting to repeaters, GMRS radios can reach upwards of 50 miles on a good base station in ideal conditions.
Given this extra power and ability, GMRS makes an excellent way to connect with your local community. A license is required, but no studying is needed. Plus, the license can cover your entire household, making it ideal for use with children who might need to use the radio to contact you while they are out and about.
If your community has a GMRS repeater, you can easily reach farther away. A well-placed repeater could connect your town with the neighboring town. This gives both towns the advantage of trade when crap hits the fan.
A good starting radio for GMRS is a Boafeng GM-15, which often comes in a set online and can get you connected for a lower entry cost.
HAM Radios
Amateur radio service, or HAM as it’s commonly referred to, takes radio to a whole new level.
This is the quirky neighbor with a huge antenna tower in the backyard level of communication. Capable of reaching around the world in the right conditions, HAM radio can keep you connected with the outside world at large and make local communications easier.
Because of the immense level of power you can achieve with amateur radio, a tiered licensing structure is available. Each tier will require a full test, including hours of study. The lowest level, a technician, can operate within certain frequency bands and will most easily be able to communicate locally.
The next tier up, General, opens a much larger range of frequencies. While Technician level users could technically reach much farther and have access to some high-frequency bands, General level users have access to nearly all of them.
Your General level users (and Amateur Extra) are the ones you see most often making connections around the world.
If you are serious about learning what you can from other places during all types of situations, getting your amateur radio license at any level is highly recommended.
The go-to entry-level radio for most new HAM operators is a Boafeng UV-5R. This handheld gives you 5 watts of power and enough memory space for most local repeaters and channels.
I chose a B-Tech BF-F8HP PRO for its slightly higher wattage output, more memory channels, and USA support through B-Tech. Whatever radio you get, remember an upgraded antenna and programming cable.
Radio service is a good fallback
Because you can use radio services to make direct connections, meaning your radio to another radio, you can maintain comms even when all else fails. And even with a lower-level license (or no license), you can connect with those who already have the bigger gear and can reach farther.
Start with the most budget-friendly solution for you. For some, that might be a $20 pair of walkie-talkie-style radios. Others may want to jump right into elevated levels of HAM radio, devoting the time and money to antennas, radios, and studying.
This is not a one-size-fits-all solution. And radios are useless without someone to talk with, so find people in the community you want to chat with before everything falls apart.
But what about the internet?
Going off-grid might mean giving up on the high-speed internet you are used to.
When we moved from the relative city to the semi-rural that we are in now, we went from internet speeds as low as 200mbps to speeds as high as 20mbps on a good day. Our average is 5mbps.
Yes, slower internet can take time to complete some tasks. But we don’t need to sit all day on the internet either.
You can investigate alternative providers that mainly use satellite, with mixed reliability. We decided that we didn’t want to be tethered to yet another company to control a bit of our lives. And if the internet went down tomorrow, we probably wouldn’t mind.
Before we chose to move towards less internet, we decided how to handle services like Netflix and Discovery Plus. Mainly we choose to drop the services and purchase DVDs. You will need to decide what works best for your family.
Getting a signal
Sometimes you might still want cell service at your house. If satellite internet is not a good option or you want to avoid additional service providers, getting a cell phone repeater might be a solution.
For us, we have two cell phone repeaters. One for each level of our house. The repeater is needed because our house has all metal siding and roofing. Using the repeater, we can draw in some signal and use our phones to make calls.
We also use the cell service as our internet provider, using a dedicated phone and complex router setup. This solution keeps us with a single bill for cell phones and gives us basic service.
However, I will caution you. Cell repeaters can be tricky to get working consistently and do bring with them the possibility of bringing in unwanted radio signals if that’s a concern for you.
The two styles of repeaters we have are a Hi-Boost Cell Booster and a WeBoost Cell Booster.
Off-grid doesn’t mean off comms
Yes, it can be scary to think about losing connection with friends and family. But those are the people you need to work with first and choose the right method. If your family lives in another state, each of you getting a HAM license and a large antenna is probably going to be most effective. Your friend who lives down the road might be a good option for GMRS.
Remember, communications are only as good as the people you can reach. If you reach no one then your communications are useless. I strongly suggest creating a preparedness group in your community so you have people to communicate with locally. They are the ones you will need first in an emergency.
Hopefully, this has given you some insight into moving off-grid while staying connected.
