Posted on 02/25/2011 9:38:54 AM PST by teenyelliott
We are thinking of getting rid of our landline. We no longer use our fax machine and our internet is a five spot. We have scaled down our one remaining phone line to just the dial tone. We called to cancel the line completely and at&t threw in free caller ID/call waiting for a year, so we still have the line.
We are trying to cut costs everywhere we can, and we rarely use the phone. Not to mention that at&t is aligned with satan and always overcharges us (we keep changing companies to get away from them and then they buy the company we chose), and I simply cannot stomach all the taxes and fees.
I keep thinking we need it for security reasons, i.e. landlines almost always work even when the power is out, what if the cell batteries are dead (I have a solar cell charger, so don't know if that excuse holds), etc. etc.
Have any of you taken the plunge, and for those of you who have not, why not?
if you have a good cell plan, cool. if you have a fast internet connection (at least 1M down and 512 up) MagicJack can work fine; plug the phone formerly known as landline into that ~$20 a year.
oh, and get ready for none of it to work in an ‘emergency’ remember CB radio? “Be Prepared,” as the Boy Scouts say...
MagicJack here for $20/year... so I have cell service and VoIP both.
Pulled the copper line over two years ago.
LOL I forgot about that.
That's awful lot to go through just to ditch a safety net for a questionable one.
Cell phones come with voice mail.
A cheap low volume cellphone plan is ATT pay as you go. Don’t muck with their auto-refill every three months though. If you have minutes left over at the end of the year and you refill JUST BEFORE the minutes expire, the minutes roll over.
$100.00 plus local tax for 1000 minutes a year comes to about $9.00 a month with tax for me. $.10 per minute.
Don’t be cheap and try to due the quarterly refill. Trust me. They will find someway to muck it up.
Use this cheap home cell phone for a single repository for credit cards, internet ordering contact numbers and have the calls forwarded to the traveling cell phone.
Canceled ours about 18 months ago. Weird at first, but haven’t regretted it. We all have cell phones, so the land line was just superfluous.
I do the bills/make appointments, etc, so we give out my cell # for doctors, etc. Actually, it’s much better because we didn’t have caller ID on our land line and now I can just see who is calling and either pick it up or let it go to voice mail for later.
The more communications mechanisms unconnected from satellite and cellular based systems available the better.
I have been without a land line for about 3 years now. Don’t miss it at all.
I disconnected from Verizon land line two years ago. It was about $40 per month, half of that is government fees & taxes.
I have a Virgin's Mobile (sprint) pre-paid plan, the two “kids” each have TracFone. Total for all three probably averages $40 per month.
No problem calling 911 from either carrier, the call ends up in the correct county 911 service center.
The phone should run 6 days w/out charging (assuming minimal talk)
Unfortunately there is no DSL or IP/cable on my street. My Internet access is via AllTell EVDO (now a part of Verizon). The contract I have specifically excluded voice over Internet.
If I had DSL or IP over Cable, I would use G-voice for additional calling. (Free calls in US and Canada) Find the non-911 phone numbers for your local emergency service providers if you do. No idea where Google would send the call.
Reasons to keep wireline:
Over against cellular:
Far better full-duplex sound processing when hosting conference calls in my home office.
Better, cheaper, wireline speaker phones.
Better voice quality.
Uniformity of sound/signal quality.
Over against VoIP:
Mitigating the risk impact of losing either power or internet connectivity.
QoS (Quality of Service) issue:
Using the same residential internet pipe for voice and data while handling conference calls and hosting web-based meetings may degrade voice quality.
Bandwidth upgrade would eat into supposed cost savings.
Overall Risk Management:
Why have”all eggs in one basket” if the phone is used for more than ordering a pizza and the daily chit-chat with my buddies?
So it becomes a QoS and Service Disruption risk-based cost/benefit calculation.
Just my thoughts.
Would a hand held cb be sufficient during shtf? Or do you need a scanner like truckers use?
Solar chargers work in daylight, which keep the phone going in the dark hours... but that should have been obvious... obviously, I was wrong to think such a thing... Keep your friggin’ landline if you can’t handle the responsibility to take care of your own needs to charge a cell phone without utility power if that makes you feel good.
Thanks DJ, I think I just found my answer.
Buh bye, landline!!!!!! Thanks everyone for your feedback.
I don’t know about DirecTv, but you don’t have to have a phone line for Dish Network any longer.
I’ve been cell phone only for about 7 years and got Dish about six months ago. No phone line, no extra charge.
By the way, I’ve also never looked back. Ditching the landline is a no brainer.
Yes. If not for that, I too would have gotten rid of my landline years ago.
Im in a dead zone, no cell service at my home. I have internet phone service when the power goes out its out never had that happen using land line.
Hope you won’t bite my head off, lol, but do you have a suggestion for a good, inexpensive solar charger? Thanks.
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