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Has anyone else cut the landline off completely?
- Thread starter A.Nonymous
- Start date
Martimus
One bite at a time...
As an employee of an RBOC (Regional Bell Operating Company), I can say without hesitation that residential landlines are slowly but steadily going the way of the dinosaur. Our residential landline business has been steadily decreasing year after year.
For me personally I keep a single landline at the house for use as a fax machine... with no voicemail. I make sure to only give out that number to creditors and retailers. This way any incoming telemarketing or political spam goes straight to the scream of a fax modem... LOL
For me personally I keep a single landline at the house for use as a fax machine... with no voicemail. I make sure to only give out that number to creditors and retailers. This way any incoming telemarketing or political spam goes straight to the scream of a fax modem... LOL
SineQuaNon
Lurker
Landwhat?
What if your kids also have a cell phone?
No land line anymore... had one through my cable company for a couple months but never used and got rid of it...
Martimus
One bite at a time...
The advantage to keeping a landline is that, depending on the area and the telco, it rarely goes down. With a cell phone if the tower goes down, or there's interference in the area, or the battery on the phone dies then say goodbye to dialtone.
Beyond this are the 911 issues... Most 911 PSAP's (the local 911 call center) are running legacy 911 equipment that's a few years old now. This equipment doesn't necessarily handle the newer E911 services all that well. As providers upgrade their equipment to support E911, the PSAP can then determine the mobile callers location with much more precision.
Enhanced 911 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beyond this are the 911 issues... Most 911 PSAP's (the local 911 call center) are running legacy 911 equipment that's a few years old now. This equipment doesn't necessarily handle the newer E911 services all that well. As providers upgrade their equipment to support E911, the PSAP can then determine the mobile callers location with much more precision.
Enhanced 911 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
330D
From My Cold Dead Hands
What if your kids also have a cell phone?
No land line anymore... had one through my cable company for a couple months but never used and got rid of it...
Umm, they are 3, 6 and 11 yrs old. When they are older they can have one. But I am totally against kids having cell phones when they are too young.
Roze
Hiding behind a mystery
+1 I agree with you there. My niece and her friends all had cell phones when they were 12 and it's a trend where they get better and better phones each year. 15 and they all have BBs or iPhones.
nyydynasty
Android Expert
i dont have any landline in my place nor have I had any for about 4 years. No reason anymore
My daughter is 12 and has a cell phone. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Of course it isn't a smart phone, she ain't getting something with a 30 dollar data plan untill she can pay for it herself
IOWA
Mr. Logic Pants
Right. My (future) kids are all getting dumbphones until at LEAST 14, unless they take up a genuine interest in them, like me
I did, but when I got my droid back in March, I started tethering and decided to drop my internet (all I had was cable and inet, no home phone) I simply didn't use the home phone. But when I also tried to drop inet (in lieu of just tethering for my inet) they said my cable bill was either going to be $95/month (still down from the $125 I was paying for cable/inet) or, if I got a home phone too, it would be $75/month.
So basically, they give me a $20/month credit to KEEP a home phone. lol ok.
I wouldn't even have it hooked up if it weren't for the novelty of having a rotary phone hooked up to it. People see the phone and wonder if it works... and I'll call them from it.
home phone is absolutely useless at this point in time as far as I'm concerned. To me, the overinflated cost of cable is the only way that companies offset this relic of communication. It's like having a telegraph machine in your house
So basically, they give me a $20/month credit to KEEP a home phone. lol ok.
I wouldn't even have it hooked up if it weren't for the novelty of having a rotary phone hooked up to it. People see the phone and wonder if it works... and I'll call them from it.
home phone is absolutely useless at this point in time as far as I'm concerned. To me, the overinflated cost of cable is the only way that companies offset this relic of communication. It's like having a telegraph machine in your house
Roze
Hiding behind a mystery
I think getting a kid a dumb phone is OK, but when parents give them smart phones...I question what they are thinking.
Right. My (future) kids are all getting dumbphones until at LEAST 14, unless they take up a genuine interest in them, like me
I think that's where my baby niece is heading. She's 2 and she can 'wiz' through my phone. I'm trying to teach her how to unlock my phone without locking me out. Not sure if that's the smartest thing. But once in, she navigates to her folder, opens it up and plays her games. She knows how to 'back out' of an app she accidentally open or 'go home' if the back button doesn't work.
When asked what she wanted for christmas, she says, 'auntie Roze's phone' XD
Recent convo I had with her:
Roze: Do you love me, Viola?
Viola: Yes
Roze: why do you love me?
Viola: your phone!!!
So I think I'm turning her into a techie baby, lol.
I live in a big family, so we still have a landline. Don't think we'll get rid of it any time soon, even though all of the adults have cell phones.
I didn't have a landline for several years but I have one now. I moved in July and had to switch from FIOS to Cablevision (yes I live in NJ and lost Fox for about 2 weeks last month) and their Triple Play forces you to get a land line. I get a great deal on it but I barely use it, only get recorded messages from the local middle school and miss the fact that I didn't need to get one when I had Verizon.
I suppose it's useful to have but I don't use it much.
I suppose it's useful to have but I don't use it much.
A.Nonymous
Extreme Android User
Lopped it off last night. The faster cable service is sweet. I downloaded a 500 mb file just to test it out. It downloaded in like 5 mins.
I've never had a land line. I remember as a kid thinking that I would have the coolest wireless phone in my house and when the time finally came for my own place? uh yea... $30+ a month for basic phone service? No thanks. I've never had a problem with cell service and now that I live with someone else, we have 2 cell phones between the both of us in case one of them is dead or crashes. There is literally no point to a land line and I cannot believe how much comcast and qwest charge for theirs. You would think when demand goes down that price would drop too but obviously not.
IOWA
Mr. Logic Pants
The landline could have just as easily been knocked out (if not easier) so how is it a handicap???
