Do you still have a landline? Why? Why not?

[stuvian]

I'm sentimentally attached to my land line number

[Augie]

Just now, stuvian said:

I'm sentimentally attached to my land line number

 

I don’t WANT to get rid of it. I just want to get rid of the robocalls, which made me realize how virtually useless it is. It’s more trouble than benefit, yet I still hang on for some reason. It just seems like you should have a home phone.  @plenzmd1 will tell you how old I am. I still remember party lines and the early days just before the wheel. 

[Doc Brown]

Yeah.  It's a good backup through the Spectrum bundle.  If I can't get a hold of my wife or kids on their cell I'll call the landline.  It's also useful to give out to older relatives.

[ExiledInIllinois]

2 hours ago, stuvian said:

I'm sentimentally attached to my land line number

This too.

 

I got Wife and I cellphone numbers 20+ years ago.  The last 4 numbers of those are same as last 4 of landline.  The exchange* is just first number different.  I am on the "3", she's on the "5."  

 

Landline has local area exchange first three numbers.

 

 

*Exchange is NOT area code.  Not last 4... But middle 3 or so I always thought going back to named exchanges.

 

My inlaws are in 80s... That's all they really know is our landline, but MiL is starting to call the cells...

Edited November 20, 2019 by ExiledInIllinois

[/dev/null]

8 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

How do cells work with 911 systems? Are VOIPs handling them properly now?

 

Once again... Safety.  A landline is 24 volts. How do you charge your cellphone in case of an emergency.

 

Landline can provide emergency power:

 

 

 

8 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Want E-Lighting?

 

 

That's assuming POTS distribution node still has power

 

But yeah, Ma-Bell is sending out quite a bit of free electricity.  Even if you're not a subscriber

[Mark80]

Cheaper to get cable package with phone than without so we have one still.  The ringer is on mute and the phone hasn't been used in over 5 years since I've lived in this place.

[Greybeard]

16 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

Went from Verizon landline(~$65 a month for basic service) to Time-Warner Triple Play, to no landline.  Been without for 4-5 years now.  Don't miss it.  Anyone who needs to reach us, has our cell numbers.

      I've got the same thing but I interpreted any phone connected to any solid line, like cable, as land line. 

[row_33]

management made a notice to entire for possible landline damage due to construction

 

i let them know i haven't had one for 12 years now.

 

[Say When...]

i work from home 3-4 days/week.

 

call me old school but nothing frustrates me more than one of my team has a poor cellular connection whilst on a conference call, facilitating, presenting or otherwise so i got a land line specifically for company use, it's negligible, $29/mo bad thing is it runs through fiber so internet goes down so does the phone so it's not a true landline IMO.

 

i don't force my team to have them but i highly recommend it, you're saving $$ from working at home so you can reconstitute some of the cost.

[Augie]

4 hours ago, Mark80 said:

Cheaper to get cable package with phone than without so we have one still.  The ringer is on mute and the phone hasn't been used in over 5 years since I've lived in this place.

 

Turning the ringer off may just be the answer for us. I don’t know how it happens, but once in a blue moon we get a “real call” on the home phone. That just might be the price we have to pay. Leave a message and I’ll call you back and give you my cell #. 

 

Robocalls LIE, btw. They say “we’ve been trying to reach you. This is your LAST CHANCE.” But they just keep calling! 

[Gugny]

18 hours ago, row_33 said:

just to the bullpen

 

 

Please don't let Familia answer.

[The Jokeman]

I have a Spectrum Home Phone but it's more of a VOIP then traditional landline. Yet only 4-5 people know the number. 

[row_33]

37 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

Please don't let Familia answer.

 

i was in a packed to capacity NYC sports bar and whathizzname... oh yeah.... Armando Benitez was throwing and it seemed like 1,000 people shouted out at the same time:

 

 

SIT THE ****** DOWN!!!!!!

 

a treasured moment of my life....  

 

 

[Gugny]

1 minute ago, row_33 said:

 

i was in a packed to capacity NYC sports bar and whathizzname... oh yeah.... Armando Benitez was throwing and it seemed like 1,000 people shouted out at the same time:

 

 

SIT THE ****** DOWN!!!!!!

 

a treasured moment of my life....  

 

 

 

That is classic.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

21 hours ago, teef said:

we do but it's not even hooked up.  i think it was one of those deals with spectrum where it would cost more if we didn't get it.  

same. I tried to cancel my land line but it would cost me more. We have about 1000 voicemails on it that are the sound of a fax machine screeching. 

[row_33]

when i cancelled my landline they still hit my credit card for 3 more months, had to call them 4 times to get this to stop and issue me a full credit

 

disgusting

 

[thenorthremembers]

We just got one.  My wife stays home with the kiddos now, and we share a cell phone.  Aside from the calls I get from her, the only time the land line is used is when my mother in law calls.

 

Its kind of an incasestuff phone, but without separate cell phones its helpful.

[gomper]

We got one last year because her oldest gets home from middle school at least an hour before anyone else. It's an in case of an emergency thing. Once both boys can be trusted not to lose a cell, out it goes. 

[Augie]

2 hours ago, gomper said:

We got one last year because her oldest gets home from middle school at least an hour before anyone else. It's an in case of an emergency thing. Once both boys can be trusted not to lose a cell, out it goes. 

 

My kids rarely lost a cell phone, it was virtually attached to them. They would break it instead. The youngest got a new cell phone for Christmas one year. He went to a friends to compare loot, and dropped it in the pool. It lasted less than 4 hours. That insurance comes in VERY handy with kids! 

[stuvian]

16 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

This too.

 

I got Wife and I cellphone numbers 20+ years ago.  The last 4 numbers of those are same as last 4 of landline.  The exchange* is just first number different.  I am on the "3", she's on the "5."  

 

Landline has local area exchange first three numbers.

 

 

*Exchange is NOT area code.  Not last 4... But middle 3 or so I always thought going back to named exchanges.

 

My inlaws are in 80s... That's all they really know is our landline, but MiL is starting to call the cells...

I've had the same number since 1986

[LabattBlue]

Not to nitpik, but I would not consider those with a phone using VoIP(phone service through cable provider) to be a "landline".

[bills_fan]

I don't have one any longer.  But it sure came in handy when NYC had the blackout in like 2003.  Nothing worked except the landlines.  Cell phones did not work at all.  I often wonder if I should get one just for emergency purposes.

[Virgil]

What the hell is a landline?

[ALF]

On 11/19/2019 at 5:29 PM, Not at the table Karlos said:

Cable and internet are cheaper with it. It rings 25 times a day because of robo calls or scams. 

 

If Spectrum triple play use there nomorobo  ( one ring ) and peace and quiet . Block numbers that get thru.

 

If I don't recognize a number on caller ID let it go to voice mail . A scam rarely leaves a message.  

 

Numbers and names on caller ID can be faked.

[/dev/null]

5 hours ago, Virgil said:

What the hell is a landline?

Okay boomer

[SoTier]

I was an "early ditcher" of the landline, about 10 years ago.   I got tired of paying to give telephone solicitors and political robocallers easy access to annoy me.

[Punching Bag]

3 hours ago, /dev/null said:

Okay boomer

Can't be a boomer. Every boomer I know knows how to use google to make themselves not look silly when asking questions.

 

Maybe a buster?

[The Jokeman]

3 hours ago, ALF said:

 

If Spectrum triple play use there nomorobo  ( one ring ) and peace and quiet . Block numbers that get thru.

 

If I don't recognize a number on caller ID let it go to voice mail . A scam rarely leaves a message.  

 

Numbers and names on caller ID can be faked.

It works great for me that and the Do Not Call.gov list. 

[row_33]

17 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

Not to nitpik, but I would not consider those with a phone using VoIP(phone service through cable provider) to be a "landline".

 

you are  one who boasts about cutting cable but has 12 other online services that run up twice the cost of cable?

 

[Augie]

12 hours ago, Virgil said:

What the hell is a landline?

 

It’s that thing on the wall above your phone book. 

[Virgil]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

It’s that thing on the wall above your phone book. 

What the ***** is a phone book?!!!

[Augie]

18 minutes ago, Virgil said:

What the ***** is a phone book?!!!

 

Please try to keep up, it’s right below the landline on the kitchen wall.

 

It only works of you know your ABC’s. How are you there? 

 

It’s like your contacts in your phone, except it has everybody, so it’s much less exclusive. Some people opt out of being included, which is what I want from these stinking robocallers!  (Just got another!) 

 

To be serious, I really don’t remember when they went away. I remember we had them, then at some point we didn’t. Maybe now you could find one at a pay phone? You know, if you could find a pay phone.......

[shrader]

My house was built 4 years ago.  I did have phone connections placed in a couple rooms.  But now that I think about it, those lines aren't actually connected to anything.  Whoever it is that actually provides the service for a landline nowadays would have had to come out and connect that line to the house the same way my internet provided did when I signed up, right?

[KD in CA]

4 hours ago, Virgil said:

What the ***** is a phone book?!!!

 

It's the fat book with the white pages that is sitting under your Yellow Pages book.

[LabattBlue]

8 hours ago, row_33 said:

 

you are  one who boasts about cutting cable but has 12 other online services that run up twice the cost of cable?

 

Huh???

[Augie]

45 minutes ago, KD in CA said:

 

It's the fat book with the white pages that is sitting under your Yellow Pages book.

 

It was the original booster seat, as I recall. 

[Keukasmallies]

Yep, have a landline.  Wife has an implanted defibrillator that communicates with her cardiologist over the phone line.  That's the sole reason for a landline in my mind; my wife is firmly grounded in the 50's and can't imagine living w/o a landline.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

On 11/19/2019 at 3:30 PM, Augie said:

Do you still have a landline? I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and my wife brought up ditching the home phone just last night after yet another robocall. I average 4-6 robocalls/day and they seem to be getting worse. I don’t need a car warranty, I don’t have any federal student loans and I don’t need a lower interest rate on my credit cards. Half the time there isn’t even anything on the other end, just silence. I block the numbers, but I don’t think that even slows them down. 

 

For us it’s not the cost (but that IS is a real thing), just the annoyance of robocalls. We still have the home phone for two reasons. We can call our cell phone if we can’t find it (very rare) and it will tell emergency services where we are if we ever need to call 911 (has NEVER happened, and hope it never will, but....)

 

It’s gotten to the point that legit calls come in (very rarely) and I start out with a nasty, disgusted  tone until I realize it’s real and someone I need.

 

How about you?  

 

We still have our landline phone number, but it's no longer a landline.  It's a free Google Voice VOIP number.  We've had this for years - maybe 5?

Advantages:

-keep the landline number various blast from the past friends and relatives have

-EXCELLENT spam blocking.  Google Voice keeps a registry, and the robo-calls have plummeted

-unlimited call blocking

-messages and transcription

-can forward landline calls to a cell phone and take your landline calls from anywhere in the world that has cell service

-still have 911 location services for a small annual fee

-ditch the costs of the landline

 

Disadvantages:

-if your internet goes down, so does your landline

-occasionally get poor voice quality and need to reboot router to make it work (maybe 1-2x a year, usually after a storm)

-occasionally need to upgrade firmware on Obibox to keep it working

-you do need some degree of technical savvy to set it up - not much, but some.

 

The expenses involved are internet service (which we would have anyway) and a $12 or 15 yearly fee to Anveo for 911 location services.  (The local 911 dispatcher kindly verified for us that it works).   Setup required a 1x-purchase of a device called an Obibox that plugs into the router and the landline phone to allow Google Voice to work on ordinary house phones (about $70) and a 1x expense of a sim card for a cell phone (about $5, we used an old Blackberry Pearl cell phone and just bought the card). 

 

There are several blurbs that describe how to do it if anyone wants to give it a try.   You need the cell phone sim card to keep your landline phone number because you can't transfer a landline number directly to Google voice.  You initially transfer the landline number to the cell phone sim card, then transfer it to Google voice.

 

I consider it a best-of-both-worlds solution.  Sounds like Hypnotoad has a similar setup but he didn't mention the 911 thing.

 

On 11/19/2019 at 7:16 PM, KD in CA said:

Why do so many of you have robo calls?  
The Do Not Call registry still works.

 

True story.  Used to get next to no robo calls on my cell phone.

Registered cell phone number with state and federal DNC lists

Now get dozens

 

I swear, unscrupulous telemarketers mine those lists as sources of verified good phone numbers.

[Augie]

I am up late watching my college hoops team in a tournament. It’s far from over. I was up late last night after watching the same tournament. The robocalls started at 9:02am this morning. They don’t even have anyone one the other end, they just ring the phone, invade my house and wake me up! Then silence.......nobody to yell at! That’s just wrong! 

[KD in CA]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

True story.  Used to get next to no robo calls on my cell phone.

Registered cell phone number with state and federal DNC lists

Now get dozens

 

I swear, unscrupulous telemarketers mine those lists as sources of verified good phone numbers.

 

Huh.  I was actually being serious...haven't had a spam call on my home phone in years.

 

Cell phone is getting bad though -- I never answer a strange number.  But most of it is not scam/spam type of stuff, it's jr sale reps trying to sell me ***** since my cell phone doubles as my business number.

Edited November 23, 2019 by KD in CA