Yep, that is a problem.
Try this.
Posted on 02/27/2011 8:52:16 AM PST by Brookhaven
At one time, having a dedicated land-line phone in your house was a requirement. Like heat or air conditioning, every house had it. With the advent of cell phones I have found it impossible to justify the cost of keeping a land-line phone—I just don't use it that much anymore. When you include taxes, the minimum cost of having a land-line phone in the house (in my state) is $45 a month ($540 ayear). I only used the land-line phone for 5-10 calls a month, which worked out to be over $5 per call.
I thought about getting a land-line phone through my cable company. At $30 a month it was a savings over the phone company, but it still worked out to be at least $3 a call. So I dumped my land-line and went just with my cell phone. This has met all my needs, but it has added a few inconveniences:
(1) I despise carrying my cell phone with me when I'm at home (at home I want to kick back and relax).
(2) I don't want to race across the house to answer my cell phone.
(3) I often don't hear the cell phone across the house and miss calls.
(4) My spouse complains about inconveniences 1, 2, & 3.
So I've started looking for for someway to solve these problems. I've come up with several. I'm going to discuss the first one now: the XLink phone box.
In a nutshell, this box lets you use all the old style land-line phones in your house to talk over your cell phone.
---excerpted text---
The cost of the unit is $99 on the XLink web site, but runs $80 on Amazon. It pays for itself in two months. After that it saves you $540 a year.
(Excerpt) Read more at munydews.blogspot.com ...
I am now getting telemarketing calls on my cell phone.
The digital service from the cable company is not always reliable.
Cell reception in our rural area is spotty at best.
We are rather elderly and must have a reliable phone. So here we are being ripped off by Embarq/Century Link.
GGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Well, I have been in telecom since we broke up the phone company in 1984.
If you want to save money, fine. Get the “Crap in a Box” solution.
You will still need to turn on your computer and if the boot up process is particularly lengthy, then you will be at risk in the event of a 911 emergency.
There advantages and disadvantages for each position and neither one is the superior alternative, as humans prioritize what is important to them.
Yes you can save money buying from your cable provider but.... if one does not need voice mail, call forwarding, etc. then you can actually cut your costs down to a basic service plan of around $7 per month. From there you can add the services you require for only $3.50 per month.
smart decision.
Yes, cell phones do carry E911. But, if you are in San Jose, CA and make a 911 call it will automatically be routed to the California Highway Patrol Call Center in Fairfield, CA, some 60 miles away.
Your E911 call, using a cell phone, will not determine your location. I can give you more info as to why later but when you make that call using a cell phone you run a greater risk of sitting a que for a longer time than a landline customer and they have no way to figure out where you are.
If you don’t know where you are specifically, you are going to remain on the phone answering a bunch of questions.
Scenario : Disconnected landline..ADT attempts to call you on your landline number...no answer...they roll FD & PD.
Have ADT or another company such as Brinks, you must have a landline.
The answer to point #1 is:
In the event of power failure your cell phone tower is subject to power failure. In fact, the best the cell tower can do to maintain power is somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes via battery backup.
Multiply that scenario times the number of cell towers in a given area and the problem is exponentially large.
Compare that to the local telecom who can keep their CO’s powered for as long as 96 hours off the electrical grid.
Part of the issue with the writer is his unavailability due to his roaming the house.
If he in the living room but his cell phone is in the office or bedroom he might miss a very important opportunity.
The cost for using home security without a home line is more expensive than using a landline.
Doesn’t make that decision inferior or is it superior.
It a priroity of the individual.
What’s a important to them.
Bookmark.
For those of you who may need to keep a land line for various reasons, give your provider a call and tell them you’re going to switch to a cheaper alternative if they can’t reduce your bill, and you thought you’d give them one shot at keeping your business. You can even tell them how much you’re willing to pay. Tell them you can no longer afford to pay whatever annual cost you are currently paying.
If the first line person can’t help, ask to be bumped up one level to a customer retention specialist or a supervisor. Be pleasant. Be chatty.
RBOCs are hemorrhaging land lines and they are desperate to keep your business, and yet they never call you and tell you that they have a cheaper package than you already have.
You have nothing to lose with this approach and you may be surprised at how willing they are to dicker.
I did this with Qwest and knocked my bill from $78 to $54 per month, and have unlimited long distance, excellent quality, excellent repair service, two directory listings, three numbers with custom ring, practically every other custom service known to man, working fax, every call blocking feature known to man, E911, Caller ID, and service not dependent upon house power
Yesterday I cancelled all the extras on my land line after 14 years. My monthly bill dropped from $67.60 to $24.00 a month. I need the extra funds more than caller ID and my new vehicle has blue tooth for ease of using the cell. That $43.00 monthly savings amounts to 2 full car payments a year and knocks a year off the car loan.
(Going bald has saved me $144 a year in haircuts... That’s gross)
Alarm systems can use cell or there is radio transmitter receivers. Check:
http://www.security.honeywell.com/hsc/solutions/alarmnet/index.html
Those are the reasons we have kept ours.In any emergecy situation the first thigns that fail are power and cell towers.If you want to be out there on your own forsake the landline but do relaize that this is what you are doing to yourself.
. The landline will not fail in the event of power failure.
2. In the event of 911 type emergency your call will be routed to the closest PSAP and answered by local service who will know where you are.
These are the standard selling points by the phone company to get you to keep paying big money for a landline phone.
(1) The one time when I absolutely needed my land-line it was out.
This was a while back. A policeman came to our front door and said my Dad had been in a traffic accident. We were needed at the hospital to OK surgery. They had been trying to get through to us by phone, BUT THE LANDLINE PHONE WAS OUT.
(1b) Cell phones also work in case of a power outage. In fact (imho) a cell phone is superior to a landline phone in this regard. If I need to abandon the house (say because of fire) I can take the cell phone with me.
(2) 911 is being instituted for cell phones, so I think this is a non starter.
(2b) With the GPS functionality being added to cell phones (currently “there’s an app for that,” but it’ll be standard soon), it won’t be long till emergency services can pinpoint your location no matter where your are. In your home or on a lonely dirt road, they’ll just look up your location via gps.
Yep, that is a problem.
Try this.
www.donotcall.gov
Home phone or cell phone. New regs say you never need to renew if you apply now.
I have been without a land line for a long time now. To really save money carefully research your cell phone needs. I used to pay big monthly bucks for the contract phone with the “free phone” every two years that came with a 2 year contract extension. No more. I now use prepay Net 10 phones exclusively. If you buy off their web site the phones come with minutes equal to the cost so the phone is still “free” or disposable. No more being over a barrel when the kid breaks his screen. Net 10 is a subsidiary of the aforementioned Tracfone. Some people will be better off with Tracfone especially those that use very few minutes. The big name big price cell phone carriers can all kiss my grits along with the cable and sat providers. I am close to a major metro area so with an outside antenna I get some 30 odd TV stations so I would pay for cable why? There are savings to be had from ISP’s as well.
I am constantly getting telemarketing calls on the home phone. Same ones too. I report them to no avail.
Thank you so much. I had no idea I could register my cell phone.
Just did it!!!!!
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