Abstract: An intelligent subscriber and method of the subscriber roaming between base stations is presented. An unexpected uplink, such as a request to initiate communication, a SMS communication or request to change talkgroup, is transmitted to a base station. When a predetermined number of such uplinks remain unacknowledged by the base station, the subscriber determines that terminal failure of the base station has occurred. An ordered list of available base stations able to serve the subscriber is maintained in subscriber memory. The ordering is based on service level and within each service level by radio measurements. The list is manipulated such that the service level of the original base station is minimized A new base station is selected using the manipulated ordered list. The service level of the original base station is then restored. A communication is sent to an external host to record information about the terminal failure.