Landline Phones

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

How is the WiFi in your house? Many cell phone providers provide the option to auto switch to WiFi when making and receiving calls if the WiFi is strong enough. This feature is also great when traveling, particularly abroad as there are no foreign roaming charges if you make phone calls over WiFi.

Facebook is great for WIFI calling, my sisters and I call back and forth over Facebook all the time, they're in the UK. Even on a two hour call, rarely does the signal deteriorate and if it does we just hang up and call back and Facebook always asks us to rate the call when it's over. When I first came to the US, we were paying $1.50 a minute to call back, needless to say these calls were pretty short back then..

[Teacher Terry]

All we ever got on the house phone was junk calls so got rid of it 6 months ago.

[Lucie]

We use magic Jack at home. I like having a landline phone in most rooms in case of an emergency. I don’t always know where my cellphone is located.
I find it frustrating that many people assume that all business phones are cell phones. I’ve had many clients say “ I texted you” when I call to see why they are not at their scheduled appointments. It’s not like my large commercial phone is not sitting in plain site on my desk. ��

[TrvlBug]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan How is the WiFi in your house? Many cell phone providers provide the option to auto switch to WiFi when making and receiving calls if the WiFi is strong enough. This feature is also great when traveling, particularly abroad as there are no foreign roaming charges if you make phone calls over WiFi.

Until earlier this year, our wifi sucked. We live in an area where technology arrives last. AT&T fiber just came in and we switched, but still only get 100-150 mbps unless we hardwire. We are looking at Orbi or similar to enhance our wifi as we'd like to install a wireless alarm system.

[TrvlBug]

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Originally Posted by KenZ71 Most "landlines" are actually VoIP packages these days. Sure the traditional looking line going into the wall is there and may still work in a brief* power outage... ...

Can be either traditional POTS or VOIP. We had switched to VOIP but after our last 4 day internet outage and basically no phone capability (cell reception sucks), we switched back to POTS landline.

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrvlBug Until earlier this year, our wifi sucked. We live in an area where technology arrives last. AT&T fiber just came in and we switched, but still only get 100-150 mbps unless we hardwire. We are looking at Orbi or similar to enhance our wifi as we'd like to install a wireless alarm system.

I have a wireless alarm, works fine on my WIFI. Just checked my speed on my laptop, 50mbps down and 10mbps upload and I stream all my TV as well.

I have 100mbps Spectrum internet.

[cathy63]

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Originally Posted by Senator It is pretty tough to send a fax without a landline. I have a Magic Jack.

Our all-in-one printer/fax works fine when connect to an Obi via Google Voice. No land line needed.

[cathy63]

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Originally Posted by target2019 ...If we were rural with no wired internet or spotty cell coverage, then I guess we'd really need a landline.

This is the reason that some of our family members have a land-line ... no cell coverage at their home and somewhat frequent power outages. They have cable Internet and cell phones work on wi-fi, but the router requires power, so they like to have a land-line in case of an emergency during an outage.

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cathy63 Our all-in-one printer/fax works fine when connect to an Obi via Google Voice. No land line needed.

Last time I called Staples I think they wanted $2 a page to send a fax, it used to be so cheap. I had looked into setting up the OBI faxing before and wasn't able to find out how, I will have to look into it again.
Thanks

[Car-Guy]

Land line for use at home (prefer the voice quality) and cell phone (better than nothing) when traveling.

[cathy63]

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Originally Posted by RetiredAndLovingIt Last time I called Staples I think they wanted $2 a page to send a fax, it used to be so cheap. I had looked into setting up the OBI faxing before and wasn't able to find out how, I will have to look into it again. Thanks

I didn't do anything to set it up. Just ran a regular phone wire from the obi to the printer/fax and another one from there to the phone.

[pjm-7]

I still have my landline number. Through Consumer Cellular I have a box that feeds off of my computer modem for $10 per month (box was free). Total for the two lines is $35 per month. I like having my legacy number.

The main reason for keeping two numbers is I do not have any backup phone number; no w*rk number, no other household member phone number. For me $10 is cheap insurance to have access to another phone line.

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrvlBug Can be either traditional POTS or VOIP. We had switched to VOIP but after our last 4 day internet outage and basically no phone capability (cell reception sucks), we switched back to POTS landline.

There's no doubt that POTS is super reliable. And clear.

We had a week-long outage due to a hurricane a few decades ago. AT&T rolled in generators to their distribution boxes. (They have batteries for shorter outages.) It was nice to have phone. Just make sure they are not all cordless! Keep at least one old fashioned one handy.

With VOIP, we're on the AT&T fiber network. They make almost as good effort at uptime on the fiber as the POTs. Problem is, I need battery backup on the fiber termination in the house. My current battery can only do about 6 hours. It is a trade off.

As for clarity, the mobile carriers are getting better. However, it can still suck. When my parents were alive, they couldn't hear well. That was a compelling reason to keep our land line back then. Oh, and DW and I could both get on the line very easily.

[COcheesehead]

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Originally Posted by Senator It is pretty tough to send a fax without a landline. I have a Magic Jack.

Oh irony.
There are apps for faxs all over the place. The most basic is take a picture of the document and email it. There are free scanner apps too.

[JoeWras]

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Originally Posted by COcheesehead Oh irony. There are apps for faxs all over the place. The most basic is take a picture of the document and email it. There are free scanner apps too.

FAX on POTS is arguably much more secure, however.

[TrvlBug]

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Originally Posted by JoeWras There's no doubt that POTS is super reliable. And clear. We had a week-long outage due to a hurricane a few decades ago. AT&T rolled in generators to their distribution boxes. (They have batteries for shorter outages.) It was nice to have phone. Just make sure they are not all cordless! Keep at least one old fashioned one handy. ... ...

Should have been clearer...our long outages are always only to the house, not neighborhood wide. AT&T determined it was our router and sent us a new one. Nope, not the problem. Sent out a tech and it was a problem on a nearby pole. That's usually what we go through, we got tired of it and went back to POTS.

[MrsHaloFIRE]

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Originally Posted by Lewis Clark Hard to send or receive a fax from home on a cell phone, if someone uses fax machines. We do on occasion.

I snap a pic with my cell phone and use a website to send faxes for free qhen I need to (approx twice a year?)

[Alan]

I’m surprised to hear so many folks still needing to send and receive faxes. I remember a few years ago when my online bank asked me to fax through a document to them and I asked if they seriously couldn’t accept a PDF and would require me to go to a public place like Kinkos and pay to send them a fax when I could send them a PDF from the privacy and convenience of my home. They accepted a PDF.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredAndLovingIt Last time I called Staples I think they wanted $2 a page to send a fax, it used to be so cheap. I had looked into setting up the OBI faxing before and wasn't able to find out how, I will have to look into it again. Thanks

For occasional faxing, there are free services. You just submit on-line, you don't need any fax capability. I've used:

faxzero.com

Search for others, there are quite a few.

You can pay to get added features, but this has been fine for the few times I've needed it.

-ERD50

[JoeWras]

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Originally Posted by Alan I’m surprised to hear so many folks still needing to send and receive faxes. I remember a few years ago when my online bank asked me to fax through a document to them and I asked if they seriously couldn’t accept a PDF and would require me to go to a public place like Kinkos and pay to send them a fax when I could send them a PDF from the privacy and convenience of my home. They accepted a PDF.

Just last year, when I ER'd, I needed some stuff from Megacorp's contracted benefits department. They would ONLY fax it to me, or I could wait 2 to 3 weeks for snail mail. Well, what I needed was time critical for coordinating with DW's health plan.

So, I had to give them the Fax number of the local UPS store and run over there and pick it up for a few dollars.