Handheld Wi-Fi 2-way radios
An AC just discovered hand held 2-way Wi-Fi radios and wants to know if anyone has any experience with them. Likely the most popular product is the ICOM IP100H. There have been a couple of basic radio enthusiast reviews, which outline the short-range from hand-held to AP, and higher price than conventional radios, but not much else.Traditional license-free 2-way radios like FRS & MURS (in North America) while cheaper and with multi-mile range, only offer a small number of non-overlapping channels, and scrambling or other privacy features are strictly forbidden by the FCC. As shown in the illustration, the ideal use-case for Wi-Fi radios seems to be dense areas with obstacles, which already have several Wi-Fi APs deployed, such as high-rise building complexes.
http://www.buytwowayradios.com/blog/2015/01/is_the_icom_ip100h_radio_worth_the_price.aspx
is already discounting (on application). Since there are no license fees, the prices can't be compared directly to the lower cost for other similar sized radios which do require license fees.
I found this in a car racing magazine -- ICOM is sponsoring a race team in Australia who use the system for communication between pit crew members. They must be using with headphones and maybe even noise canceling mics for that very loud environment??