QuirkyKapers Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 If you wouldn't get rid of landline: What company do you work with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We ditched our landline and cell contract and got Virgin Mobile pay as you go phones. We've been incredibly pleased thus far. It's been...3 months, I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 I have a child with a disability. I was advised that if I had someone in my house that had health issues I should keep my landline. 911 is more reliable with a landline. We additionally have one regular phone that needs only to be plugged into the phone outlet with no additional electric power. It uses only the power from the phone line, so it can be used in a general power outage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We pay a ridiculous amount for our landline with caller id and such but I still won't get rid of it because of 911. The 911 operator can locate a land line geographically but can't, as far as I understand, with a cell phone or other service. We also have a plain old phone plugged directly into the wall jack so when the power is out we still have phone service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma23peas Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We went with magic jack..you must buy the new adapter that does not need to be plugged into a computer!! It's about $69 I believe but we've had no problems..saving over $50 a month and it's worked great! I like that we can have 911 if we need it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellers Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 If I ditched the landline, I would use my cell phone. We have five working cell phones. My DH won't let me get rid of the landline and we haven't used it in years. I have our home phone forwarded to my cell so I can get calls if we are traveling. The only landline phone we have in the house is located in our master bathroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We only have cell phones. Ds has his own. We're in a small town and had to call 911 recently. It was a non-issue, they were here in less than two minutes. Granted they are about four blocks away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We didn't get anything to replace the landline. We had cells already. Oh, and we called 911 just last Thursday (took ambulance to hospital) without any issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We got rid of our landline for a few years and went cell-phone only (DH and I each have our own). We now have a landline again for my business, but did fine without it from a personal standpoint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in Florida Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 I plan to get rid of my landline in the next few months. We all have cell phones with unlimited texts and free long distance. We really don't need a house phone. To those who are concerned about 911, I have heard that a leftover handset plugged into a jack can make a 911 call even if the line is no longer in service. That may no longer be true. I plan to check it out, but really I would just use my cell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stansclan89 Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We have used Ooma for the last two years without issues. For 911 you have to make sure to fill out a form on their site to link your address to your phone number, then it works fine. You do have to have internet and electricity for it to work though (thinking of emergencies). Your cell would probably work in that case. At the time we bought Ooma, Magic Jack had to be plugged into the computer and the computer and internet had to be always on for it to work. Since then Magic Jack has the other option that is more like Ooma and a lot less money, so I voted with Magic Jack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 When our house was built, they didn't set up our phone ahead of our move (despite our ordering service in plenty of time) and the phone was never connected to the box (when we moved and complained, they claimed there was no capacity and that it would be six weeks before we had phone service. We went with cells and never looked back; couldn't have a land line if we tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 I would not get rid of my landline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We pay a ridiculous amount for our landline with caller id and such but I still won't get rid of it because of 911. The 911 operator can locate a land line geographically but can't, as far as I understand, with a cell phone or other service. We also have a plain old phone plugged directly into the wall jack so when the power is out we still have phone service. Yep, landline person here too. The sound quality is far better on the landline, so I use that at home unless the call is long distance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We have had Ooma for over 2 years without problems. I just read that until Dec. 31, you can call Vonage and get their service for $9.99 for life if you sign up by the end of the year. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 I have a child with a disability. I was advised that if I had someone in my house that had health issues I should keep my landline. 911 is more reliable with a landline. We additionally have one regular phone that needs only to be plugged into the phone outlet with no additional electric power. It uses only the power from the phone line, so it can be used in a general power outage. :iagree: I hate having the landline and would cheerfully get rid of it, but we've also seen how in disasters it can be useful to have multiple ways to get contact. If power is out for a while I couldn't charge my cell and certainly wouldn't have Internet access. We'll keep the landline and I'll curse BellSouth monthly for their rates. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We are cell-only but we do have an alarm system that has an emergency button on it. I've never had cause to use it (knock on wood!) but I feel safer knowing that it's there. One of our next-door neighbors is retired and they have a landline so that's another back-up if we need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhschool Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We have AT&T. We pay a huge amount each month and hardly use it. But I get nervous in case one day there should be no service reception on the cell phones (some catastrophe God forbid). My thinking is that maybe landlines will still work. We are forgetful about cellphones: Also if we forgot to charge our cellphones (which we sometimes do) and if we forgot where they were (my son often leaves it in his coat pocket upstairs and I often leave mine in my car), and we had to call 911 we wouldn't be able to if we had no landline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staceyobu Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We ditched the landline and only use cells. We had a land line that used our internet connection for awhile, but we eventually ditched that too. 911 in some places can locate you with a cell phone. You can plug in a cell phone with no service plan in a central location. It will call 911 with no paid for service. Then, you always know where a phone is and you can always call 911. I am more careful to keep my cell charged and either in my pocket or in a specific location so I'm not digging under the couch searching for it in the event of an emergency. I do not miss our landline at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuirkyKidAcademy Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We also ditched our landline over six years ago. It may not be the right option for everyone, but it works for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We got rid of our landline this week. We chose to go with something not connected to our internet. If the internet is down, I did not want to be without a phone. We kept our DSL/cable tv package--who knew you could dump your landline and still keep DSL?! We chose to go all cell phones. We are not big tekkies here. Dh and I traded our more $$ plans, and we bought an extra phone for ds/a spare around the house. Dh: Cricket phone, 300 mins., unlimited text, $25/mo. Ds/spare: same plan as above, $25/mo. Me: Cricket phone, 1000 mins., unlimited text, $35/mo. Dd: T-Mobile, text only, $15/mo. The Cricket phones have unlimited web too, but I haven't played with it much. I need to figure out GoogleMaps, it will surely be more reliable than my GPS. I'm excited; it's taking some getting used to. I worry that we'll miss an emergency call in the middle of the night (not that anyone's ever called). Dh keeps getting his phone mixed up with ds's. The Cricket phone choices are very limited, and all three of ours look the same. If our power goes out for an extended period of time, we can use the car charger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Since 9/11, the 2003 Blackout, and a local ice storm that kept us without power for close to a week this past February, I have seen the convenience of a landline. Cell phones were useless to us in each of the above events and our trusty landline came through. We will not be getting rid of it...until they make it obsolete :tongue_smilie:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 we ditched our landline 3 years ago because there was a terrible static on the line and numerous calls to phone company got us no where. We went with Vonage, but then after 18 months we started having problems where it would drop entire parts of the conversation, they kept telling us things were fine, so we ditched it and added a cell phone to our plan that is a family phone. It sits plugged in almost all the time and is linked with a bluetooth thing that I can plug a phone into. I bought a cordless phone set with satellites to plug into the bluetooth thing and now it's just like having a land line phone, without all the hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 I am going to do this next month. A friend of mine in our town switched a few months ago. It was a bit of a hassle, but she's happy with it. It was a hassle because she needed to run a new, separate DSL line, and she wanted to keep her old number. It took a bit more work, but she got it all done. And I checked on it, you still have 911. After our vacation I will start on it. I can't wait to drop the phone bill. There are just too many bills; land line, cell phone, internet, and cable. The land line is the first to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calledtobehome Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 We got rid of our landline about months ago but we can still dial out 911 for emergency. That was very important to me. We use our cell phones for everything! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwjx2khsmj Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 We've had cells only for three or four years now. No need for a landline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 We had tried Magic Jack before but the call quality was just not the best. We tried it again and it was better but still not as good as a landline. Our only (reasonable) option for highspeed is through our phone company which we also have unlimited long distance- so I have unlimited ld, caller id, call waiting, and high speed internet for $65, well worth it to me. When I talk I like to go on and on and just don't like the cell-phone for that anyway. To get the equivalent number of minutes I talk with on a cell wouldn't make it a bargain anyway. So, I'd say test out an option first because it might not work as well as you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuirkyKapers Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 We have had Ooma for over 2 years without problems. I just read that until Dec. 31, you can call Vonage and get their service for $9.99 for life if you sign up by the end of the year. Dawn Where do you find this offer? I can't find it anywhere on the website. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuirkyKapers Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 What is the option for not having the phone line go out when the internet goes down? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 We are all cell phones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceman Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Other: cell phone only Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 We unhooked the landline and used cell phones exclusively for about five years, but this past year we reinstalled a landline. We are with Frontier (Verizon) and it is really nice to have a home phone once again. One of the biggest issues for me was the fact that if someone was at home alone and did not have a cell phone, they were left without a way to get help in an emergency. We also prefer to use a landline for 911 calls. If we have to cut back on costs, we'll opt to give up extras like going to movies, eating out, or giving up text messaging packages or even cutting back on the number of cell phones in the family. It's amazing how we have become so convinced that we HAVE to have these things. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I won't get rid of our landline because if there is a serious emergency (natural disaster or war/terrorist incident) a land line is far more likely to work than a cell phone. We use AT&T and our phone bill averages $50/mo. I don't have a cell phone, although dh uses a pre-paid one on a limited basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Only a handful of people have my cell phone #. When I get a call on it, I know it's someone whom I actually want to talk to, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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