TheApprentice Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Trying to figure how to cut some costs in the new year and I know that many have gotten rid of their landlines. If you have, what are the drawbacks/benefits? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Will be watching this. I still have mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 A lot of people in my area just have cell phones. I have never seen a downside to it for them. We have one because it is cheaper to get a long distance plan here for the landline than it is for the cell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perogi Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I haven't gotten rid of my landline but just the other night we went out and left the kids with a babysitter and it crossed my mind that without the landline the sitter wouldnt have had a way to call us and/or emergency services. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perogi Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I haven't gotten rid of my landline but just the other night we went out and left the kids with a babysitter and it crossed my mind that without the landline the sitter wouldnt have had a way to call us and/or emergency services. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perogi Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I haven't gotten rid of my landline but just the other night we went out and left the kids with a babysitter and it crossed my mind that without the landline the sitter wouldnt have had a way to call us and/or emergency services. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWOB Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I often use my landline to call my cell when I cannot remember where I put the stupid thing. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I live in hurricane country. We have found landlines to be more reliable than cells in weather related emergencies Some friends who were landline-less for several years recently went back to the old technology which they found to be more reliable in their new home. Some places seem to be cell wastelands. They had to perch themselves in one of their windows to use their cells--and then they only worked if the weather cooperated. I don't think that there is a hard and fast rule here. It really depends on your geography and your circumstances. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I don't think that there is a hard and fast rule here. It really depends on your geography and your circumstances. Agreed. My children are too young to use the phone, so my dh and I each have our own cell phones and no landline. It has never been an issue. I do try to be careful not to lose it in case I need to call 911 or something, but other than that, it has worked for us for over 6 years now. We might someday get a VOIP type landline, but I don't see that happening soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMA Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Keep in mind VOIP landlines (these are through cable, not the old fashioned wire) die after an hour or two of no electricity, so they are no help when a hurricane or an ice storm comes through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MollyAnn Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 We were just cell phones for about 3 years to save money. Then I signed up for Vonage , but hated that if my cable went out so did my phone. We now have an old fashioned landline. The kids are old enough to stay home by themselves and they need it then. Adding 2 cell phones to plan raises the bill and I am not ready for that. The landline is needed for the security system. Finally, we live far from family and I spend a lot of time talking on the phone. To me the landline is more comfortable and I can hear better on it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 We haven't has a landline in 3 years. I've yet to find a drawback. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 We have no plans to get rid of the landline. As others have said, in case of emergencies, having an actual landline is an advantage. FTR, we don't bundle anything. We have Verizon for cell phones, ATT for landline, UVerse for Internet (which is part of ATT, but we'd had DSL through ATT for many years anyway); we'd have Dish Network if se still paid for something other than Netflix. IOW, all of our devices don't go down at the same time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5of5 Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Our power goes out far more often than the cable, so, for VOIP, we have a UPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 To me the biggest drawbacks are in emergencies. So if you have good strong reliable service at your house then that part is partly checked off. The other part of emergencies is during those in which you loose power. A lot will depend on your area as to how often this happens as to whether it should be a large concern or not. Similarly in an emergency situation like 9/11 cell phones were problematic in being able to get through to relatives. Lastly, when you leave children at home alone they will need some sort of phone that you can call them on or they can call you on. It would need to be sufficiently attention getting to get the child's attention if they were in some other part of the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I want a landline because my cellphone-less dc can be home alone -- even if I am leaving them for a brief period, I still want them to have a way to communicate. I did cut down options/plans to the minimum though, because we use our landline so little. Another reason to keep landline -- if your dc are old enough to want to chat with (local) friends, it can be less expensive on a land line that on a cell (if you have limited cell minutes). Plus, as other posters have mentioned, cell towers can lose power, or be very slow. ETA And I just have to add my personal peeve: why are the taxes (at least mine) almost half the bill on a landline? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheApprentice Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 Keep in mind VOIP landlines (these are through cable, not the old fashioned wire) die after an hour or two of no electricity, so they are no help when a hurricane or an ice storm comes through. This is why I'm considering getting rid of it. And 4 out of 5 of us have our own phones, the charge stays longer and we have car chargers if the electricity goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheApprentice Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 Keep in mind VOIP landlines (these are through cable, not the old fashioned wire) die after an hour or two of no electricity, so they are no help when a hurricane or an ice storm comes through. This is why I'm considering getting rid of it. And 4 out of 5 of us have our own phones, the charge stays longer and we have car chargers if the electricity goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 We haven't had a landline in almost ten years and have yet to find any drawbacks. The benefits are cost savings and almost no telemarketing calls. As soon as our boys were old enough to stay home alone they got their own cell phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 We've been without a landline for five years. So far we've experienced zero disadvantages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butterflymommy Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I am another person whose cell phone has proven useless during emergencies (9-11 and the recent hurricane). For the former we had no service for 24 hours, for the latter we had no service for 48 hours. I really don't know what we would have done if we'd needed emergency assistance... walk to the hospital or nearest police station? I'd keep the landline if at all possible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I have terrible cell phone reception inside my house, so I won't be getting rid of the landline anytime soon. Also, I seem to have a lot of conversations with people that have no landline, where I am constantly saying, "What??" because they have bad reception. I feel totally annoying, and I've given up on understanding half the things they say to me over the phone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I have a child with a disability. I have been told due to reliability for EMS purposes I should not get rid of my Iandline. I guess the savings is not worth the possibility of 911 services not being able to locate my home. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest submarines Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I often use my landline to call my cell when I cannot remember where I put the stupid thing. Or you can use your computer instead: http://www.wheresmycellphone.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansmama Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I often use my landline to call my cell when I cannot remember where I put the stupid thing. This is too funny! We recently upgraded to smartphones so we got rid of the landline. I was never using it and the taxes on a landline here are pretty high, almost as much as the service itself. Our cell plan covers unlimited calls including long distance. Any babysitter we've ever had (though honestly we don't use them very often) has always had their own cell phone so that hasn't yet been an issue. One issue I can see coming up though is once my oldest is able to stay home for an hour or so by himself I'd need him to be able to contact me for any reason. He can text free from his iPod touch using the house wi-if, but I've never really left him home alone. So, Dh and I will likely get a house regular cell phone and add it to our plan. A regular cell that just texts and makes calls costs less to add each month than a landline. Verizon also offers a home unit that can function as a landline but is tied to your cell plan, and it's less than a landline. But, if we go for a third phone to add we would rather have it be a cell so my oldest can take it with him to sleepovers and other things so we kno he can always reach us. Another thing to consider is if your landline is bundled with your Internet/cable. For a long time it didn't make sense to cancel the landline because it was part of the service package. Once we cut cable tho it did make a lot of sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansmama Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I often use my landline to call my cell when I cannot remember where I put the stupid thing. This is too funny! We recently upgraded to smartphones so we got rid of the landline. I was never using it and the taxes on a landline here are pretty high, almost as much as the service itself. Our cell plan covers unlimited calls including long distance. Any babysitter we've ever had (though honestly we don't use them very often) has always had their own cell phone so that hasn't yet been an issue. One issue I can see coming up though is once my oldest is able to stay home for an hour or so by himself I'd need him to be able to contact me for any reason. He can text free from his iPod touch using the house wi-if, but I've never really left him home alone. So, Dh and I will likely get a house regular cell phone and add it to our plan. A regular cell that just texts and makes calls costs less to add each month than a landline. Verizon also offers a home unit that can function as a landline but is tied to your cell plan, and it's less than a landline. But, if we go for a third phone to add we would rather have it be a cell so my oldest can take it with him to sleepovers and other things so we kno he can always reach us. Another thing to consider is if your landline is bundled with your Internet/cable. For a long time it didn't make sense to cancel the landline because it was part of the service package. Once we cut cable tho it did make a lot of sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansmama Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I often use my landline to call my cell when I cannot remember where I put the stupid thing. This is too funny! We recently upgraded to smartphones so we got rid of the landline. I was never using it and the taxes on a landline here are pretty high, almost as much as the service itself. Our cell plan covers unlimited calls including long distance. Any babysitter we've ever had (though honestly we don't use them very often) has always had their own cell phone so that hasn't yet been an issue. One issue I can see coming up though is once my oldest is able to stay home for an hour or so by himself I'd need him to be able to contact me for any reason. He can text free from his iPod touch using the house wi-if, but I've never really left him home alone. So, Dh and I will likely get a house regular cell phone and add it to our plan. A regular cell that just texts and makes calls costs less to add each month than a landline. Verizon also offers a home unit that can function as a landline but is tied to your cell plan, and it's less than a landline. But, if we go for a third phone to add we would rather have it be a cell so my oldest can take it with him to sleepovers and other things so we kno he can always reach us. Another thing to consider is if your landline is bundled with your Internet/cable. For a long time it didn't make sense to cancel the landline because it was part of the service package. Once we cut cable tho it did make a lot of sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juniper Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 We have not had a landline in about 5 years. The only down side is as kids age they need a cell phone to be home alone. I am not comfortable leaving them alone for a minute without them having the ability to call 911 in an emergency. We just keep a small pay as you go line for when we go on dates or I run to the store. Also, if your kids want to talk with their friends they will need to use your phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrg Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 THe only downside I have experienced is the inability to FAX a document with a wet signeture on it. Otherwise, moving to cell only has been cost cutting and convenient. I kept our long-time phone number for my mobile phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 When I looked at how many minutes I'd need to add to our plan, the savings was $2-3/month. Not worth it. I really don't want doctors, dentists, etc calling me wherever I may be. I'd just as soon they call the house. If I'm not there, I'll call them back. I'm not going to discuss whatever they want to discuss when I'm out & about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I'm about to drop ours. Landline service seems to be going downhill fast and getting more expensive. The latest issue is we can make, but not receive calls on it. They also like to add little charges. I have a voicemail I never asked for, and don't know how to access. I'm SO done with it. Our cell plan only charges $10 for an additional line. The landline runs about $60 month. We are actually contemplating getting smartphones and a data plan with the savings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Our cell plan only charges $10 for an additional line. The landline runs about $60 month. We are actually contemplating getting smartphones and a data plan with the savings. Wow, that's an expensive landline! Ours was around $35, with all the fees/taxes. That included voicemail, call waiting, etc. I kept it because adding the extra minutes to the cell would have been only slightly less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoVanGogh Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 We have kept our landline, though solely for emergency situations. If the caller is not able to tell 911 their exact location (either due to stress or injury), it can take quite a while to track down the caller's exact location in either remote areas or densely populated areas. My child knows our address, but I am not sure he would be able to recall it if he needed to in an emergency situation. (Heck. I was just in a car accident last week and didn't even know my name when asked and I wasn't even hurt, just so shaken.) We had a relative in ICU earlier this year. The hospital said they wouldn't discharge if the home did not have a landline, as it can cost too much time to get help from a cell phone if the caller is unable to provide address. Shortly after that, we had a lady stabbed by her estranged boyfriend. She called 911 from her cell, but was unable to give her adress. It took 30 minutes to track down her exact location. My peace of mind is worth more than the savings. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Wow, that's an expensive landline! Ours was around $35, with all the fees/taxes. That included voicemail, call waiting, etc. I kept it because adding the extra minutes to the cell would have been only slightly less. That's what it should be. It used to hover around $40. Rather than deal with them, we're just leaving their service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I don't always want to give my cell number out, so I set up a Google Voice account and have any calls to that number sent right to voicemail (you can also set it up to forward to your phone). Voice emails me and usually transcribes the call, so I know if it's worth my time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quad Shot Academy Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 We got a cheapie cell phone added to our plan for an extra $10 a month so that a phone will always be plugged in on the kitchen counter. The only real drawback, so far, is that I went to fax someone and realized that I couldn't! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somo_chickenlady Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I haven't gotten rid of my landline but just the other night we went out and left the kids with a babysitter and it crossed my mind that without the landline the sitter wouldnt have had a way to call us and/or emergency services. I didn't read the other replies, but if this is the case I would just leave one of our cell phones with the sitter (assuming he/she didn't have their own phone) while we are gone. That is what we do with DS when we go somewhere and he stays home. Just tell the sitter which number to answer (your other cell number) and to ignore all others. We used to always have a land line, but no one other than telemarketers would call us, and half the time it didn't work with the one we had at the house we live at now, so we just got rid of it. We haven't had a problem without it at all, nor do we miss it. We get free nation wide long distance on our cell phones, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somo_chickenlady Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 DP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyr Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 My house is in a cell phone dead zone but I could not justify paying the $80 per month the phone company wanted for local only no frills service. We ended up switching to Ooma which only costs about $4 in gov't taxes and fees/month. I can use it to fax; from the research I did when we switched it was the only VoiP that you coould fax with at the time. I have a prepaid smart phone that cost $15 per month for unlimited talk & text. I have found that there is wifi everywhere I need it so have opted not to pay for a data package. Between the 2 we have been very happy, In a power outage I just need to go to the end of the driveway to make a call and we have a good generator to keep it charged The emergency situation was one of the biggest factors that kept us from switching sooner, but e911 seems to be improving and that $80/month was really adding up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 We switched from a landline to VOIP 9 years ago. Then we switched from VOIP to cell phones three years ago. When we switched from three cell phones and a VOIP to five cell phones, our phone cost actually went down by $10/month. Those were basic phones with unlimited texting, but no internet. Now we all have smart phones, so our cost is higher. If we lived in earthquake or blizzard or hurricane territory, I'd want to have a landline (not just VOIP, but an actual landline), but since we don't, cell phones are fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMV Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 We actually have two landlines (because one is a dedicated fax line). If I am calling someone to talk I rarely call from my cell (and I prefer that our children do this as well) so our landlines get used a fair amount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheApprentice Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 THe only downside I have experienced is the inability to FAX a document with a wet signeture on it. Otherwise, moving to cell only has been cost cutting and convenient. I kept our long-time phone number for my mobile phone. Good point. Didn't consider that. We have great reception in our house, so that wouldn't be a problem. But the EMT concerns makes sense as well. I'm going to have to put some thought into this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 I don't always want to give my cell number out, so I set up a Google Voice account and have any calls to that number sent right to voicemail (you can also set it up to forward to your phone). Voice emails me and usually transcribes the call, so I know if it's worth my time. This is helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
provenance61 Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 We've been without a landline for maybe 5 years. We renovated completely our house, and never even got wires into the house. Problem is kids are older, and without a cell phone I can't/won't leave them in house alone. Also, even with me home -- what if in an emergency they had to call for help and couldn't find my phone? So, we need either a cell phone for older child (which is an issue b/c he can lose things) or, a landline. DH says he's going to do something to use a computer for calling, but it hasn't happened. So I'm not happy with the situation. By the way, loved the "where's my cell phone" web site recommendation above. That's happened to me! But I just tried it for kicks and got this message: There was a problem with sending the call: There was a problem with your call request: An internal server error occured. - Unhandled Internal Server Exception Nothing's ever easy, is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Ugghh! Zombie thread. :zombiechase: I thought Parrothead was back for a second and was happy. Then, I saw nmoira and was sad. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 We got rid of our landline and we're going to be going back to a landline shortly. In my area, the reception is very spotty, especially in bad weather, and we just don't have reliable phone service in the event of an emergency without that landline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apple Bean Tripod School Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 We got rid of our landline years ago and don't miss it at all. My cell phone is so much cheaper (but wifi is include in our rent, if I needed a better data plan, it would cost much more). All of my family is out of state and paying for long distance was too much (do landlines still have a long distance charge?). My kids are old enough to be home by themselves for a bit, and I never go more than 2-3 miles away. We have 911 service, which is free here. We live in Maine, but our power has never gone out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dina in Oklahoma Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 My family lives in tornado country and we dropped our landline in May after being without service for four weeks. This was not the first time this had happened. AT&T sent out a tech who told us their line was decrepit but they didn't want to replace it. We live in an older neighborhood in which many services such as sewers etc. are being replaced. We chose Consumer Cellular through AARP and couldn't be happier! DD, DH, and I all have phones plus our security system is monitored for less than we paid with AT&T. No looking back or problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 We haven't had one in over ten years I think. We have never missed it. We have our cell phones and a VOIP line that uses our internet connection, which is a radio canopy service, and very reliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Girls' Mom Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 We haven't had a landline in 5 years, and I don't miss it. Before we got rid of it, the only use it ever got was telemarketers..lol. Our current house isn't even wired for a landline. We just didn't see the point when we built it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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