Why have a phone line?

[Kim in Appalachia]

We've been debating dropping our land line. I think we would need to increase our minutes on our cell, but we would still come out ahead.

 

Is there a reason to keep the land line? It barely gets used.

[Mama Geek]

We don't have a phone line, we only use cell phones. The one disadvantage is that we can't send or receive the once in a blue moon fax that can't be done over e-mail.

[mrs.m]

Do you leave the kids alone with the 13 yo? Does she have a cell? They need something to call you in an emergency. But if the kids have cells, drop the land line!

 

We don't have a land line connected but have an extra cell phone that belongs to all the kids if I have to go out without them or if I'm dropping one off someplace.

[RegGuheert]

We ditched ours years ago. The cell phone bill got higher, but the sales calls completely went away! :001_smile: And we just reduced our cell phone bill on five phones by $80.00 this week due to the great deal T-Mobile (our carrier) has going on.

 

I will recommend the XLink Gateway for when you drop your land line. This device hooks into the telephone wiring in your house and when you set your cell phone next to it (linked by Bluetooth), it will ring all of the phones in your house. This allows you to continue to use all your cordless phones and allows you to place your cell phone in the spot which has the best reception. (BTW, there is also a version of this product for people who also still have a land line.)

 

I hope this helps! Good luck with your decision!

[DawnM]

We dropped out landline several years ago.

 

We do have a home phone, but it is internet based. I talk a lot! :D and we don't have unlimited cell phones. So, my internet based phone gets used while home and cell while out.

 

It is called Ooma. I bought the "hub" for $199 from Costco. It is currently $179. We pay $11 per YEAR in addition, but the cost will be going up to $33 or so per YEAR! It includes unlimited long distance, caller ID, call waiting and voicemail for that cost.

 

They do have a premium version for $99 extra per year which includes a 2nd line, call forwarding, call blocking and a few other features we really don't need.

 

Dawn

[CalicoKat]

My in-laws don't have a land line. And when my FIL had an accident that required us to call and ambulance they couldn't find the address for his cell phone.

 

It was also difficult for us to find a phone in their home to use in the panic.

 

The ambulance did arrive eventually but it took longer because we had to get the address to them and then give directions because it was a new subdivision and no on google maps yet.

 

We have a land line now for the purpose of emergencies and for when we leave the kids with a sitter.

[Jane in NC]

Those of us who live in hurricane prone areas tend to keep our land lines. Power can go out for a while but an old fashioned wired phone keeps us connected.

[RegGuheert]

We don't have a phone line, we only use cell phones. The one disadvantage is that we can't send or receive the once in a blue moon fax that can't be done over e-mail.

We used to use eFax to do this for free. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be free anymore. Fortunately faxing is going the way of the dinosaur, so it is not a big deal anymore.

[littlebug42]

We still have ours because I hate cell phones. I have one but I don't want every call coming straight to me when I am out and about. The people who really might need to talk to me have my cell number but the others can wait until later. Also, I want to have reliable 911 service that could make it to our home in the event that the caller is unable to give the address.

[Kim in Appalachia]

That device looks neat. If we drop the line we'll have to get that.

[jennsmile]

I have a landline so I can have DSL with my telephone cooperative....:glare:

[Kim in Appalachia]

That is what's stopped me before, but I could add an extra line to my cell for much less what I pay for a land line. I would need an extra cell line to leave at home. But that with that device mentioned would work.

[TeaCookiesBears]

We ditched our landlines a few years ago for Comcast but ever since the earthquake where nobody could use their cellphones or VoIP, I am rethinking our decision and getting a simple land-line phone.

[Parrothead]

Over the years we have ditched our land line at various times. The last time we had a land line we had no cell coverage so there was no option but to keep the land line.

 

We have phone service now, but no phone. We keep it because it is the cheapest way to have internet service.

[RegGuheert]

My in-laws don't have a land line. And when my FIL had an accident that required us to call and ambulance they couldn't find the address for his cell phone.

This is an important point. Our carrier (and I assume they all do) allows us to associate an address with each of our five cell phones. This address is used by emergency services for response.

It was also difficult for us to find a phone in their home to use in the panic.

Please see my previous post about a product which allows you to connect up to three different cell phones through your home home phone wiring system. In that way, making a call from our house today is no different than it used to be when we had a land line.

[Jane in NC]

We still have ours because I hate cell phones. I have one but I don't want every call coming straight to me when I am out and about. The people who really might need to talk to me have my cell number but the others can wait until later.

 

Hear, hear! I carry a cell but usually have it turned off. ;) It drives my sister nuts that she does not have instant access to me 24/7.

 

Jane (obviously not a phone person)

[Wheres Toto]

We have a land line with minimum service in case of emergencies. Our cell signals are a little iffy in parts of our house plus we get fairly regular power outages. MIL, FIL, DH and I are all on the same account and all calls between us are free. We have roll-over minutes and we have thousands of minutes.

[Kim in Appalachia]

We have DSL, does that mean I have to keep my land line?

[nukeswife]

We ditched ours years ago. The cell phone bill got higher, but the sales calls completely went away! :001_smile: And we just reduced our cell phone bill on five phones by $80.00 this week due to the great deal T-Mobile (our carrier) has going on.

 

I will recommend the XLink Gateway for when you drop your land line. This device hooks into the telephone wiring in your house and when you set your cell phone next to it (linked by Bluetooth), it will ring all of the phones in your house. This allows you to continue to use all your cordless phones and allows you to place your cell phone in the spot which has the best reception. (BTW, there is also a version of this product for people who also still have a land line.)

 

I hope this helps! Good luck with your decision!

I did not know about this, but I'm going to get one. We've been cell phone only for about 8 months and we still are wel within our minutes, but only having one phone in a 2600 sqft. house was sometimes a pain ifyou had to run for it because it got left some where else. Thanks for the tip Reg.

[RegGuheert]

We have a land line with minimum service in case of emergencies.

We did that for about five years. I kept reducing the service and Verizon kept jacking up their rates. When it got to the point where we were on their minimum deal (50 local calls per month or some such) and the bill was coming in at $27.00, we said goodbye.

Our cell signals are a little iffy in parts of our house...

That's one benefit of using the XLink Gateway: You can place your cell phone where it has the best reception and still use it.

plus we get fairly regular power outages.

Cell phones should work during a power outage, since many (most? all?) towers have backup power sources. East-coast earthquakes are a different story! :tongue_smilie:If you want to use your landline during a power outage, you need to make sure you have a phone which does not need power. This is not true for most phones sold today, including cordless phones.

MIL, FIL, DH and I are all on the same account and all calls between us are free. We have roll-over minutes and we have thousands of minutes.

It's amazing how few calls are to someone outside the household! Edited October 6, 2011 by RegGuheert

[hsmom]

We no longer have a land line, but this last month has made me really want it back. We went a full day with no service due to a storm taking out towers. Sucked.

[mrs.m]

My in-laws don't have a land line. And when my FIL had an accident that required us to call and ambulance they couldn't find the address for his cell phone.

 

It was also difficult for us to find a phone in their home to use in the panic.

 

The ambulance did arrive eventually but it took longer because we had to get the address to them and then give directions because it was a new subdivision and no on google maps yet.

 

We have a land line now for the purpose of emergencies and for when we leave the kids with a sitter.

 

You can plug any phone into a wall and have emergency service available if the phone company didn't pull the wires. Plug a phone in and see if they have a dial tone. (but a new neighborhood, did they not have phone service installed at all?)

 

You would think you could give them your address and they would find you. They used to do it that way. That's crazy and scares me for if there is an emergency away from home and I have to use my cell!

 

And I could never find the phones when I had a land line. :glare: We still used cordless.

[MIch elle]

Landlines have reverse 911, cell phones don't.

[RegGuheert]

 

Landlines have reverse 911, cell phones don't.

As mentioned, each cell phone can have an address associated with it. Of course this does not help if you are away from home. However, ALL cell phones are required to have a location capability for just this purpose. Here is a Wikipedia article on Enhanced 911 which explains newer location technologies for cell phones.

[CalicoKat]

Landlines have reverse 911, cell phones don't.

 

Very important. They did this a lot at our previous home.

[LaxMom]

We keep ours so politicians and telemarketers can call us, apparently.

[Jen in PA]

Landlines have reverse 911, cell phones don't.

 

Not always true -- we have a landline but are off the 911 grid. When I had a small kitchen fire a few years ago I had to give the dispatcher our street address. DH insists on keeping our landline as an emergency measure in case of power outages, Oddly enough, we have had the phone out for multi-day stretches regularly since moving here, but that has only happened once with the electricity.

[KerriBerri]

We only have a phone line so our alarm system can call in if it goes off. Some systems are going wireless though so the land line isn't even necessary anymore.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Persistent power outages or internet connections would be one reason. Reliability of your alternative is another. Some alarm systems use phone lines.

 

Another is that with some of the internet/tv/phone packages these days you can have a land line as cheaply as an internet service such as Vonage.

 

For some it is the persistent rumors of heath problems associated with excessive cell phone usage. (Don't pick a fight with me on this one-I'm not a true believer on either side of the argument-just a reason I've heard.)

 

Some cell phones do get solicitation calls too so that may not be a solid argument for cell only.

[katilac]

*Reverse 911; in many emergencies, the caller may not be able to speak (intruder in the home, stroke) or may not be heard (fires are surprisingly loud)

 

*Cell phone lines get jammed quickly when there's an area-wide emergency

 

*We would need at least one more cell phone, b/c the kids don't have one and I wouldn't leave them home w/o a phone

 

*Dead batteries; with a land line, we always have at least non-portable phone if we forget to charge the others

 

911 would be my biggest reason.

[Matryoshka]

Is there a reason to keep the land line? It barely gets used.

 

In your case, probably no reason. In my case, we need a land line because there's a Cone of Silence over our house when it comes to cell reception. Simply pull into the driveway and *poof!* - No Service. :glare:

[edelweiss]

We keep our landline for various reasons:

 

-- For emergencies

 

-- So that the whole world isn't able to reach me by cell phone. This is a biggie for me. I *like* the fact that I mainly give out my home phone number and that all of those calls go through my Caller ID and then to my answering machine. I would absolutely HATE it if my cell phone was constantly ringing with every Tom, Dick, and Harry calling.

 

-- There is inconclusive evidence about the safety of frequent cell phone use. My daughters are at the ages that they want to talk on the phone more often. I don't like the thought of them using a cell phone all of the time.

[Unicorn.]

We still have ours because I hate cell phones. I have one but I don't want every call coming straight to me when I am out and about. The people who really might need to talk to me have my cell number but the others can wait until later. Also, I want to have reliable 911 service that could make it to our home in the event that the caller is unable to give the address.

 

Hear, hear! I carry a cell but usually have it turned off. ;) It drives my sister nuts that she does not have instant access to me 24/7.

 

Jane (obviously not a phone person)

 

:iagree: I hate cell phones except for emergencies. I much prefer to use my land line. And it's more reliable than any cell.

[abacus2]

Landlines have reverse 911, cell phones don't.

 

As long as you have a phone plugged into your landline, you still have 911 service even if you have canceled your home phone service.

 

Our increased cell minutes cost to drop our landline would be equal to our landline cost, so for now we're keeping our landline.

[RegGuheert]

-- There is inconclusive evidence about the safety of frequent cell phone use.

I agree, even though I work in this industry.

 

However, do your daughters talk on a corded telephone? If not, then I would argue that the risk of using a cordless phone might be similar to a cell phone since they transmit at a similar frequency and power level.

[QueenCat]

I have one but I don't want every call coming straight to me when I am out and about. The people who really might need to talk to me have my cell number but the others can wait until later. Also, I want to have reliable 911 service that could make it to our home in the event that the caller is unable to give the address.

 

:iagree:I do like my cell but I don't want doctors, dentists, etc calling me when I'm out and about. Our land-line costs almost exactly what it would cost to add the next level of minutes to our cell plan so I don't really see the point. The difference was about $2.

[Crafty Mathy Mom]

Those of us who live in hurricane prone areas tend to keep our land lines. Power can go out for a while but an old fashioned wired phone keeps us connected.

 

Same here. When the power is out for days, the cell towers can go out too. Besides, all other internet providers in my area cost almost double what we get through the phone company. I'm not happy with the service, but can't afford the upgrade.

[RegGuheert]

*We would need at least one more cell phone, b/c the kids don't have one and I wouldn't leave them home w/o a phone.

Agreed this is an issue. But with our current cell plan, adding one more line costs only $5.00 per month.

[Karen in CO]

We have a bare minimum land line with no long distance or anything. It is for emergencies when you'd need to call 911 and cellphone service is out. When my ds was in an earthquake last year, payphones were the only way to communicate because cell service was completely out and everyone only had cellphones. I've had the same thing happen after a hurricane. I typically feel like I'm paranoid to want a land line just for emergencies, but paying $20 per month for it lets me sleep a little bit better.

 

btw - the phone I have connected isn't even cordless so that it works when the power is out too.

[WeeBeaks]

We dropped a land line years ago. The only issue we have had is during power outages (two in the last couple months here, city wide or large scale). During the big one when most of Southern California was out, the cellphone lines were completely jammed and people were told not to use cellphones to leave them for emergency personnel. That would have been fine had we had a land line, but we didn't. Of course, the people with only cordless phones and such were out of luck too.

 

Now, the chances of an entire city without electricity aren't great but seem on the rise with all the disasters recently. And then cellphones are useless as everyone in the city tries to use them.

[Virg]

We have one but only because (1) we leave our kids home alone and even though they have a cell phone we have children with anxiety and also speech disorders, I want 9-1-1 to be able to trace the address and (2) DH works at Comcast so it is free :D

[Amy in NH]

We don't have cell service at home, and our family only owns 1 tracfone between us.

[Susann]

My in-laws don't have a land line. And when my FIL had an accident that required us to call and ambulance they couldn't find the address for his cell phone.

 

It was also difficult for us to find a phone in their home to use in the panic.

 

The ambulance did arrive eventually but it took longer because we had to get the address to them and then give directions because it was a new subdivision and no on google maps yet.

 

We have a land line now for the purpose of emergencies and for when we leave the kids with a sitter.

 

:iagree:

This is exactly what happened with my dh a couple of years ago!! When your dh is laying passed out on the floor, the last thing you want to worry about is where is the da###n cell! Also, he was hit by a hit/run driver earlier this year in a major city. For some reason his call was repeatedly dropped (never happened before) & he finally called me at home to call the police. I know that second didn't have anything to do with landline, however, after the first episode it made me feel better having the landline.

 

Alos, I register people for cards at our local library which is in a good size city. I repeatedly hear that people keep landlines for emergency only because of similiar situations. Besides, I don't also have my cell on me or it's not fully charged. I always know where the landlines are & don't have to worry about them being charged. I'd rather pay the small price for peace of mind!!

[ScoutTN]

We keep ours for emergencies. With only cells, there could be a no-way-to-call-911 situation. Not likely, but possible.

 

Our cell phones are both riders on family members' accts. so we don't pay for them,freeing up some $ for the landline.

 

When our kids are older, we may drop it.

[bettyandbob]

I have a child with a disability. I will not be dropping my landline. We have one phone that operates just by being hooked up to the wall (most phones now have to draw from your regular electricity and won't work in a power outage). We have other phones, but they are cordless and all seem to have disappeared, so whenever the house phone rings, we have to run to the one stuck to the wall. :ack2:

 

I looked into the FIOS bundle for cable/internet/phone about a year ago. The salesperson learned I had a child with a disability and advised against it. The phone service in the FIOS bundle may look like a landline, but it operates like a cell and is less reliable.

[J-rap]

For us, several reasons:

 

1) Cell reception where we live isn't always clear. Land line reception is ALWAYS reliable and perfectly clear.

 

2) We need our land line for internet service. That is, there ARE other internet options, but the shared land line option is the cheapest here.

 

3) We always seem to have a child or two living out of the country. They carry international cell phones, but if they call our cell phone, both of our phones are charged for international minutes. If they call the land line, our land line phone is not charged anything, as the receiver of the call.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I thought foster care would require a land line, but they don't.

My big kids had cells before we got rid of the land line.

The only thing I miss it for is for faxes (rare).

 

We have the lowest family rate available. We didn't need to raise it. As of today, we have 300 minutes left but only two days of the billing cycle. I think we've gone into our roll over minutes once since we've had the phones. I use the phone more now because of foster care related things. We still get nowhere near our limit. So it really depends who you are calling, when and the like. For us, it just isn't necessary to have a high number of minutes even with two teenagers and two adults.

[Forget-Me-Not]

I've considered dropping my landline, but it's cheap and I like the convenience of giving out that number and only giving my cell number to people that I really want to hear from :D

[melmichigan]

I keep our land line for 911 tracing. I turned off all other call features, including long distance years ago. I also prefer my DC to use landline versus cellular. I don't like the results of some of the European studies on cell phones and young children's brains and would rather be cautious. Our power does go out on occassion and the line land is nice for that too, I just pull out the old phone and dial.

[Tigger]

We keep our landline for two reasons - one is the towers sometimes go offline in our area in high winds, so we'd have no ability to call out if needed (our landline lines are buried, so since we've moved her, like our electricity, we've never had an outage); the other reason is it's dirt cheap since it's bundled in with our dish and internet....I get hosed on the internet, but the landline is only $13 a month with unlimited calls, including long distance.