A communications system including devices (10, 20) for transmitting and receiving wireless communications over licensed and unlicensed bands is disclosed. On the transmit side, a device (10) includes a plurality of message sources (8A, 8B, 8C) and a smart router (12) function executed by a processor (30) within the device. The smart router (12) function allocates each wireless transmission, or components of a multicomponent wireless transmission, over a licensed wireless link (LLTX) or an unlicensed wireless link (ULTX), by optimizing various factors. The allocation factors include the availability of the unlicensed and licensed channels within range of the transmitting device (10); quality of service parameters such as time delay limits, jitter limits, bandwidth requirements, and the like; cost tolerance and cost per minute factors; power consumption expectations; and a combination of these and other factors. Transmission of the wireless message over the selected wireless links is then carried out. A receiving device (20) may include a smart receiver (22) that resequences the components of a multicomponent transmission for forwarding to output functions (24A, 24B, 24C) of the receiving device (20).