I think by “landline” on this thread, most people are referring to having a separate house phone number and service in addition to cell phones. I don’t think we are strictly talking old-fashioned landlines. It could be VoIP or not.
I thought “landline” referred only to the old fashioned type of phones we used before cell phones. I didn’t think the discussion included cell phone options, except as an alternative to house phones. I didn’t think you could have a cell phone as a home number, in the old fashioned sense.
There are three types of phone:
- old fashioned landline (the phone plugs into the wall to a line that the phone company has run to your house
- VOIP -- regular phone handset, phone plug into your modem and the voice signal is actually transmitted by the internet
- Cell phone.
Some of the people posting here have been using landline/VOIP interchangeably – but they are technically two different things. However, in both cases it would use a physical phone inside your house-- as opposed to a cell phone that you carry with you wherever you go .
Phone numbers can be ported just about everywhere … so if you want to keep using a preexisting number there are many options. But I think a cell phone can have only a single number – if someone wants a second number to forward to or ring through to a cell phone that would be accomplished separately.
I call it home phone (vs mobile phone). My home phone is an internet phone. It has all features of the old land line. 911 is supported.
I use Ooma for my home phone. I pay only $4.30 per month, an amount required by the FCC.
I ditched ATT at least 5 years ago.
Our all-in-one printer/copier/scanner/FAX machine is on our landline, so we’re not in a hurry to give it up. I did a lot of of faxing when selling my mother’s house a few years ago.
Pros: (1) one less voice mail to check.
(2) one less ringing phone to answer since no one but me answered it if I
Cons: (1) My phone is my calendar and address book. Hard to use either to make appointments when on the phone and away from a computer that could also display my calendar and address book. (2) Being on hold for long periods of time really drains a battery and makes you glad you have unlimited phone minutes. (3) If my kids forget to turn their ringer back on after school it can be very hard to reach them quickly.
One cool feature is that I can make and receive calls on my VoIP line via my cell phone.
Faxing over a VoIP line is a tricky setup but is easily doable. Requires some info that is beyond the scope of this thread. With VOIPo, outgoing faxes are easy, incoming is tricky.
My cell phone can also make calls over VOIP, without having a separate VOIP configured. It’s just a feature that comes with the phone. It can work whenever the phone has a wifi connection-- and is supposed to kick in automatically if cell phone reception is poor.
I have RingCentral as my biz phone and faxing in or out is easy. Inbound faxes come to my email or can be downloaded from their portal, outbound can be uploaded from my PC. If I need to fax something that isn’t on my PC I either take a picture with CamScanner or use my printer to scan it and then upload it from my PC. I can make/take calls on my computer or hook up a traditional phone.
I also have a home phone that came with my triple play. However, I don’t have a physical phone attached. I use that number for all kinds of things where I don’t really want to speak to the person/organization. I get messages via my cable portal.
I like the landline and am OK with having it a part of my bundle and paying up to $20/month for it via our local phone company. It is useful for faxes which I DO send. It is also nice for longer phone calls and reception quality is excellent. If we were scrimping and figuring out where to save AND they switch us from an actual copper phone line to digital, we will drop it. Right now, our phone still works when we have power outages (which are fairly frequent, though fortunately not too long lasting).
Another landline because of bundle here. Last time I checked, it was cheaper to have the landline and internet and cable service even though we don’t have a box and don’t actually use cable, than to have internet only. Ringer off most of the time on the landline as most calls are telemarketers/surveys/sales pitches. I do use it for important calls because the sound quality is soooooooo much better!
I do miss copper wire. Our neighborhood is all Verizon fios. There is a backup battery that is supposed to be good for about 8 hours if the power goes out, but the last time that happened was due to a nearby lightning strike that fried the fios battery, so I don’t know how good the backup really is.
the reason we still have a land line is that any call to 911 using that line AUTOMATICALLY shows the street address with emergency services… even if 911 is called and then the call is ended. 911 will l call back immediately.
The police/ fire dept KNOW where the call came from without having to have the call re-rerouted…
Just last month DH had to call 911 cause I was vomiting blood. Ambulance got here in 3 min.
As we are getting older, that peace of mind is worth keeping one land line.
@doschicos, what speed is xfinity offering for internet only? We have 30 mbps which has been fine for 2 or 3 people streaming video. I haven’t noticed any slowness with that speed.
@CTmom2018 Does you landline cost more than $6.95/month? Because you can get an online fax service for that amount.
Aside from quality of sound, hearing the phone ring throughout the house, the convenience of being able to have more than one person on an extension, land emergency availability, and relatively low cost to keep, the jury is not completely and entirely out relative to health risks, especially to younger people.
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/cell-phones-fact-sheet
I’m not overly concerned, but I think it’s a good idea to take common sense steps to limit time with the cell phone held directly to an ear.
I predict we’ll be hearing even more about health issues and cell phones 10 years or so down the road…
My land line is still in place for a variety of reasons. Though I was irritated when it was switched to cable based by AT&T. The point was to keep a land line for extended power outages of greater than the 8 hours battery life in the box. Regardless, I hear the land line all over the house when it rings, it helps me find the cell, limits the radiation exposure, is more comfortable to use for long phone calls while doing chores around the house, has better reception in my kitchen, and is a safety measure when cell batteries die. I have no messaging feature, as anyone who I want to reach me can call the cell and I am tired of calls pleading for money or votes.
the other reason we are keeping 1 land line is in case of an earthquake [ or what ever] we will be able to make calls , even if we loose power to the house, because the power and the connection comes through the wired phone line, and is not dependent on wireless towers still being in service.
Maybe, but I remember very definitely that after the Loma Prieta quake in 1989 we lost phone service. It was all landlines back then. The phone lines couldn’t get a dial tone.
I remember similar problems trying to get through to my son’s landline in New York after 9/11-- and by that time more people were using cell phones.
I think the problem was lines being jammed, and maybe now that no one is using landlines any more it would be less of a problem…but back in the day, the landlines definitely failed during times of crisis.
Our landline is part of a bundle, My spouse and I work from home regularly and find that quality of the congference calls is significantly better.