Dropping Landline

[kok328]

I've had cell only for many years now but, I recall 911 calls, medical alerts and burglar alarms had to be thought about before cutting the phone cord.

 

[tomtheelder2020]

Yes, your cell phone will give your location to 911 call centers. You can also dial 911 on any cellphone provided it has a SIM card, you don't need to have a provider.

Sparky, what Havasu said above is exactly right for CA.

Calling 911

 

[Sparky617]

Sparky, what Havasu said above is exactly right for CA.

Calling 911

Glancing at the link, it would appear specific to some areas in LA County. Cell phones use location identification services to determine where you are located and route it to the correct 911 center. The majority of calls to 911 come from cell phones today. Landlines are quickly becoming a thing of the past. And I've been in the phone industry for close to 40 years. If our fiber phone service is available to your address we won't install a copper landline to your house. Your service will be on fiber, even if you don't opt for internet or TV services. Phone companies want to retire the aging and higher maintenance copper outside plant and all the equipment that supports that service. Northern Telecom (Nortel) made a lot of that gear and they went out of business a decade or more ago.

 

[Eddie_T]

I would keep landline for backup but it has become too expensive. With all the this-and-that fixed charges I am paying $37.37 per month compared to $10 + tax for cell phone service. Plus the cell service includes caller ID, long distance and mail box at no extra charge. Now if there was just some way to get cheap high speed internet I would be in business.

 

[Spicoli43]

I would keep landline for backup but it has become too expensive. With all the this-and-that fixed charges I am paying $37.37 per month compared to $10 + tax for cell phone service. Plus the cell service includes caller ID, long distance and mail box at no extra charge. Now if there was just some way to get cheap high speed internet I would be in business.

Yeah, there's no way I would pay that with the minimum cell phone deals we have. I will have to investigate what my charge would be since Charter never talks about Phone service anymore.

 

[tomtheelder2020]

Phone companies want to retire the aging and higher maintenance copper outside plant and all the equipment that supports that service. Northern Telecom (Nortel) made a lot of that gear and they went out of business a decade or more ago.

I wish AT&T would upgrade equipment in my area. I have to use Wave Broadband (cable company) for internet because ATT can only manage 12 mbs over old landline. Question: When old equipment is replaced with fiber, do they replace up to the house or just to the poles?

 

[raymond-]

It bears mentioning that just because you have a landline doesn't necessarily mean that your old
land line phone will be compatible as some service providers have switched from analog service
over to digital. So take a moment to look into compatibility. I still have a trimline which I used
when electrical power is out....but that fallback method is no longer possible now that AT&T has
gone digital in most of Seattle

 

[BuzzLOL]

Regardless though, less than a cent a minute.

To figure the actual cost per minute you have to use the actual number of minutes actually used...

 

[Eddie_T]

To figure the actual cost per minute you have to use the actual number of minutes actually used...

That's what I tell my friends, unlimited minutes mean nothing if you don't use them. My current plan is in reality a placeholder. Since I don't use all my .06 minutes I am paying around $8/mo just to have a phone in my pocket (much better than paying $100 for same).

edit: I forgot to mention that I overpaid because I failed to read the fine print. I was letting my minutes expire before renewing. After I discovered that by renewing before expiry minutes carry over I now have a comfortable balance and it only takes a $10+tax tickler for another 120 days of service.

 

[ajaynejr]

I have had a land line installed in an unoccupied building so I could have a device I dial into and get a temperature report as a safeguard against heating failure and freeze up in winter.

Didn't want to use wifi which would require a running PC that might crash plus an internet ISP which costs a lot more per month compared with a minimal measured (by the minute) land line.

 

[Krich]

I text first to see if it is a convenient time to talk.

I got email back in the day for electronic messages so I'll be happy to send someone an email and they can read it and reply on their smart phone.

I don't text because it's on this little phone when I can instead send an email on my nice computer keyboard (much more convenient) using my computer with the nice flat screen TV that I use for a monitor.

I'm sure it'd be different had I grown up texting, but I didn't and instead use email for all my electronic messages since texting is not convenient. Too much trouble using a little keyboard on a phone and then you have to answer incoming texts.

I'm living good without it. If everyone is going to texting then I'll enjoy some peace and quite - but then again I work all day in a service job so I enjoy peace and quiet

 

[Eddie_T]

I don't text either and just have a flip phone. On it a text runs by like a ticker tape and that's not the way I read. I read sentences or even paragraphs not individual words.

Landlines and handsets have far greater clarity than smartphones. It's too bad that a cellular desk phone isn't available. I wouldn't mind paying for a second phone service that could be carried room to room like my cordless. I saw the review of a cell phone that looked like a Bell handset but the review wasn't very good.

 

[Eddie_T]

I did another handset search finding one with good reviews. It's made in Germany soI may give it a try.
https://www.amazon.com/Opis-Technol...643592324&sprefix=handset,aps,208&sr=8-8&th=1

 

[billshack]

I am also thinking about letting my land lie go .

 

[bigoskii]

I use magic jack $35 for a year or $99 for 5 years no computer needed but it needs internet.

 

[Eddie_T]

I had Magic Jack several years for long distance and in-state calls outside my LATA. It worked very well but if I go totally to Magic Jack I would have to provide a UPS for the modem, router and a cordless phone as my current wiring has DSL on it. It could be done I just need to think it through.

 

[tomtheelder2020]

I just discovered that my landline has not been operable for at least a few weeks - and none of us noticed. I think that means our cell phones are sufficient and it is time to cut the cord.

 

[Eddie_T]

This is cordless phone, I wish they would make a cell phone like this for home use. Of course if it becomes available in US I could put it on MagicJack.

 

[RedneckGrump]

Yeah, we gave up our landline a number of years ago, then went to a system that works online, can't remember the name of it, started with an O... I think it was called Omma was with them for a few years, and then when we moved to our last house, after about 5 years we just went to our cell phones and have been there since... Now we never miss a call unless we ignore who'd calling... Just made more sense...

 

[BuzzLOL]

Yeah, we gave up our landline a number of years ago, Just made more sense...

The Magic Jack landline is so cheap, I like to have it... and I don't like getting calls while out on the road, just let the answering machine handle them...