Posted on 02/07/2024 7:12:37 PM PST by thecodont
A proposal by phone and internet service provider, AT&T, to end landline service for most Californians is drawing backlash.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
In our area we often lose cell phone service during major storms—while the landline still operates.
I keep one of those ancient dial phones in my garage for just that reason.
It has never gone down in three decades.
“But our Spectrum service is three to four times faster than Comcast AND is almost 100% rock solid reliable!”
Same situation for my own Spectrum service. No complaints.
“But our Spectrum service is three to four times faster than Comcast AND is almost 100% rock solid reliable!”
Same situation for my own Spectrum service. No complaints.
Well it does give double posts sometimes 😂
LOL...yeah, common problem with Spectrum Spectrum.
My Dad was a 45 year Telco worker who started out replacing old crank magenta phones with rotary ones back in the late 1940's. From there here became a central office repairman in the long distance switching office called 4A. When it went to Electronic Switching in 1980 he went back outside and maintained data circuits including 911 center until retirement in about 1993 or so.
Landlines are or rather used to be until AT&T stopped maintenance the most reliable phone service. If maintained properly it still would be. Cell service will never reach landline reliability for several reasons most of which is being done by cell companies. Cell companies will not build a true nationwide grid of towers. They put them up in more densely populated areas and along the interstate system. In states from Maine going southwestward to northern Alabama meaning the Appalachian, Cumberland, Blue Ridge etc mountain ranges and foothills is very hit and miss in service.
I guarantee you if you buy a cellphone you will see yet another generation replacing it within five years and no additional towers in outlying areas added. Meaning what you knew as 3G, 4G, 5G, and now planning for 6g and still no true national cell grid. The higher the frequency spectrum the lower the coverage area UNLESS more towers are put up closer together. My 3 G worked most of the time at my home. 4G was very hit and miss and except in dead of winter with no leaves 5G is impossible. So I use WIFI calling through my VIASAT satellite internet system. It works better than the cell towers but has its own issues.
I lost my landline for good about 4 years ago. Tree's would fall on the ariel line serving my road which is a quarter mile long and 4 houses. The first time it happened they came out and ran about 100 ft of drop wire on the ground to connect two pole spans of line. They left the cable on the ground and the splices unprotected. Each time it rained I lost service. I'd call it in and not get past the automated system who said someone would be dispatched because it saw trouble on the line. Before dispatching maybe a week later it tested it again and if the line was dry did not dispatch and ZERO human interaction. Finally after another tree fell and cut the line again they never came back. If my Dad had left a mess like what was done on my road he would have been fired. Ma Bell had it's issues and he even took his employer to the state Public Service Commission to get buried cable to replace the old rural paper insulated ariel lines. That was in 1978 when he was at South Central Bell aka Bellsouth.
When Judge Green who ordered the AT& T split that in turn destroyed AT&T reliability, they bought back all their previous Bell system companies they were split from, then more. They eventually laid off or forced retired about 90% of their entire technicians each time they bought a former asset back.
For those who don't understand AT&T used to be the parent company of most phone companies which operated as The Bell System under different regional names, as well as Western Electric. I have not seen an AT&T van nor truck in Knoxville, TN area in over a year.
The one company who has come the nearest to putting a true national grid in place is SpaceX if they also go cell but at least it can work inside the home of WIFI. The cell companies just like the Cable companies are going to continue cherry picking areas and call it coverage. COMCAST BTW wanted $15K to run service on my road. I do live in a rural area but they came up the main road and cherry picked the ones there likely while using Rural Interne=net connecting funding. As a nation we need reliable communication and up until about 15 years ago we had it. Not any longer.
That too they gave up by taking out their emergency back up generators. Phones work on 48 volts DC and AT&T used battery banks located at the phone company that were kept charged by utility power and if needed diesel powered generators for back up. The old system could go forever meaning weeks if utility power was lost.
A lot of that copper is aging and the costs of maintaining it are rising. A lot of folks get their internet via DSL over copper.
Good for you. I’ve always been a gadget freak, so they had my number
when it came to today’s cell phones.
I guess you didn’t watch the video. The residents say that the cell service goes out when they have these storms.
That’s something that needs to be dealt with, I agree.
The only reason I ever kept a LL so long was because of my alarm system to use to call in alarms. I finally told ADT that I wanted to cancel my service because of the high LL cost. They put me in a basic cell phone link unit that replaced the LL for free.
I have a ridgetop parcel which would provide coverage for hundreds of people. The county refused me a permit. Their position was that those nasty signals might harm song birds.
You can bet that if they, or a council member owned the land, the songbirds would not have mattered.
give them blankets and wood for smoke signals, oh cant burn wood, well give them 2 cans and a string
I never even touched a cell phone until I started working at the military museum close by. Visitors sometimes hand me their phone and ask me to take a pic of them standing next to a display.
But hand one to me and tell me to turn it on and I wouldn’t be able to do it. LOL
I don’t have one.
Lifeline was mentioned. Those are the devices seniors wear to push the button if they fall. Lifelines connect through landline services.
I must be one of the few person still around that has used autovon.
I don’t have a cell phone,never did. I use a land line still. My oldest brother never had a cell phone either and still enjoys his land line.
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