Posted on 02/25/2011 9:38:54 AM PST by teenyelliott
I don’t have a phone line to my satellite dish.
I got rid of my land line in Nov last year and have not looked back. I saved 45 a month. Unless you really need it I would get rid of it.
Thx for the link. Kind of expensive? Guess I was hoping for something small, portable, powerful AND cheap! LOL
Do you have Dish Network?
As I understand, this is how they keep up with events/movies you order.
Still love that show!
In town, though, where I work, I haven't had a land line in over two years. Don't really miss it. In either case, you aren't just buying the unit, you're buying the infrastructure. Thirty bucks a month is not bad for a secondary infrastructure when I'm 15 miles from town. When I'm a couple blocks off Main street, it's too much. YMMV.
I’d never heard of solar cell phone chargers until I got into this thread, so I did some Googleization....from what I see during my very few minutes, most of ‘em have been “discontinued” - apparently due to virtual worthlessness.
My ADT system is cellular, and all the sensors are wireless. It was installed for the whole house in under an hour. They didn’t even ask if I had a landline when I had it installed. It has a backup battery and three little antennas coming out of the main box in the utility room.
I got rid of the landlines 5 years ago.
Fortunately, I have no need nor desire for a smart phone, so we just do the Tracphone thing...if you spend over 99 bucks, you get a free phone yearly if you like, plus double minutes for life, etc......we’re in our third year, and I’ve amassed 47 hours worth of talk time; way more than I’ll ever use, but 100 bucks a year makes the package worthwhile.
Outdoor outfitters carry solar charging devices for all manner of electronic equipment - and are quite capable of charging cell phones as well as running & charging other devices. Keep googling.
I think everyone should have an emergency radio, and most have a solar charger for cell phones. You can get a red cross radio on amazon for thirty bucks.
In re: answering machines and landlines, get a MagicJack. It is a phone that runs through your computer, $20 a year, and it has a 911 feature.
When the power goes out around me, my cell still works. I'm not certain if cell towers have a mandate for alternate power sources, but I've not lost a cell signal yet.
A small solar cell can charge your cell phone, but won't do squat for your cordless unit, unless you can set the base unit where the sun shines.
We've been land-line free for more than five-and-a-half years (we had a land-line for alarm purposes, but not phone). Got rid of the alarm and bought a shotgun. The alarm won't keep determined folks out, regardless of whether I'm home or not, so the best deal is protecting my family while we're home. Things can be replaced. My family can't.
With the limited amount of calls I make/receive my pay-as-you-go Tracfone + Skype is adequate enough for my needs.
Dropped my landline years ago. No regrets.
I hope you don't think that is what I was doing. I realized that the odds of all my arguments for keeping the line would not likely occur all at the same time. If all the cell towers and satellites go out, I think everyone is in trouble, landline or not!!
No. I didn’t. You don’t bait people.
A secondary option is using a phone that supports VOIP service. My Android phone from T-Mobile does that, and now when I'm up in the mountains, there may not be a cell phone tower, but oddly, there's wifi service to call through. :)
Another concern is what happens if the wife goes on a trip and takes her cell phone with her. I also have a cell phone but it has a different number of course. So if she is gone (and assuming we use her number for the credit cards, stores, internet sites, etc.) then those type of calls would be going to her. And she and I both travel so the problem exists for each of us.
We faced a similar issue - which phone would become the 'main' one for messages? We decided to just simply use Google Voice and use the voicemail feature there, which also will transcribe and email the message if you'd like, or you can have it forward to your phone, her phone, etc. Very good during political seasons where we get buried by calls.
If you have high speed Internet, the NetTalk (dot com) device hooks to your router and provides all the phone service you need for $30 a year. I like it better than the Magic Jack because I don’t have to have a computer running to use it.
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