Anyone AT&T Landline without Internet?

[bobandsherry]

Is anyone using AT&T phone service without internet?

Background: FIL is looking to set-up new service for phone. Rural area, no services currently installed at the house (phone or internet). We got him a simple cell flip phone (his choice, he refuses to use any smartphone). Unfortunately he is confused on how to use a simple flip cell phone, so we are looking to get him a landline.

He has no interest or need with internet. Talked with AT&T and they said they can only offer phone with internet, approx $90/mo (a lot for something that he only needs for handful of calls per month). I've seen mention of "traditional landlines" offered by AT&T but salesperson has no idea what I'm talking about. Is the traditional landline now gone by way of the dinosaur?

 

[Sunset]

We have an At&t phone without internet from them, but we have had it for 20 yrs.

However I say BS to the salesperson, as they are Federally regulated.

Seems like it can be ordered online.

https://www.att.com/home-phone/landline/

 

[bobandsherry]

We have an At&t phone without internet from them, but we have had it for 20 yrs.

However I say BS to the salesperson, as they are Federally regulated.

Seems like it can be ordered online.

https://www.att.com/home-phone/landline/

That's the website I found originally, but talked to 3 different reps, each telling me the same thing. No option to order online either.

I also went through his DirectTV account and looked, no option there for phone without internet. 80 year old guy who has never used internet isn't going to start now

 

[easysurfer]

How about one of those flip phones for the tech challenged. Like a jitterbug or something similar from another provider?

 

[Telly]

........Is the traditional landline now gone by way of the dinosaur?

The old wired phone cable through my neighborhood is no longer supported. When everyone went to Cable only, or in my case to FIOS (fiber to the home), the phone cable down the street under my front lawn went inactive. No going back. I have a "wired" phone still, but the wiring is just from the ONT (Optical Network Terminal) on the side of the house, to inside. It is not an "internet" phone, as it connects via data into the company's local central office. An "internet" phone would be VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol).

A gizmo I have seen in the past, they may still be out there, the service offers a "home phone" via cellular service. It's a small box inside that in effect has cell service, but presents a phone jack to the user, which acts exactly like a wired phone connection. Just plug in wired phone, or a phone cable to the house's phone jack outlet for distribution through out the house. Or plug a cordless phone base station into it. Maybe someone here knows the names of some of those things/service.

 

[Telly]

We have an At&t phone without internet from them, but we have had it for 20 yrs.

However I say BS to the salesperson, as they are Federally regulated.

Seems like it can be ordered online.

https://www.att.com/home-phone/landline/

But if everyone can be convinced to drop off, the service can be un-tariffed area by area.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

“Traditional” phone service can only be provided by the local telephone company that owns the copper wires that run from the phone company central office (the exchange location). I’d be surprised that this would AT&T since they sold off most of that business years ago.

Internet mostly comes via the coax cable (not copper) that also provides the cable TV. Local telephone companies usually offer a slower internet via their copper wires called DSL. The problem with DSL in the past was that you had to physically live within a short distance from the companies equipment. Like within 3 miles or so. For rural areas, this is a problem. However DSL providers may now offer better capabilities. But they largely lost the marketplace to cable tv/internet providers.

So the question is, what company owns the wires going into his house? If it has copper telephone wires connected to the phone lines along the road, that is who can sell him phone service. If he has coax cables from a cable tv company, they can probably offer him phone service, but they may indeed force you to get TV too. Like I said, I thought AT&T was out of that business in rural areas.

In my rural location, I can get traditional phone service from a company called Windstream. They were formerly owned by Alltel. I can only get my cable tv and cable internet from a company called Armstrong Communications. I can also buy cable phone service from Armstrong.

Edited to add: from the posted link above, AT&T still clearly sells phone service in several states. But that does not mean they sell it everywhere in those states. It is very service area specific.

 

[bobandsherry]

How about one of those flip phones for the tech challenged. Like a jitterbug or something similar from another provider?

He's got a flip phone, says he can't figure out how to dial, especially his contacts (which we loaded for him). He's been shown multiple times, by multiple people. He's just totally anti-tech and figure this is his way to not use it. Here's phone like he has, don't think we can get it much simpler.

 

[Sunset]

How about getting him internet, and then an internet phone device ( https://www.obitalk.com/obinet/ ) to plug into the router.

Use a phone with wireless remote phones and he can have phones all over the house.

This type of thing:
https://www.amazon.com/PANASONIC-Expandable-Cordless-Answering-Blocking/dp/B01HXMJ14S/

I have this as a second phone. Advantage is it is free long distance, and free calling to Canada and Mexico. Costs $0 per month, except for the internet.
An internet speed of 10 Gbs or faster is plenty.
Bad part is they won't work during a power failure.

 

[bobandsherry]

How about getting him internet, and then an internet phone device ( https://www.obitalk.com/obinet/ ) to plug into the router.

Use a phone with wireless remote phones and he can have phones all over the house.

This type of thing:
https://www.amazon.com/PANASONIC-Expandable-Cordless-Answering-Blocking/dp/B01HXMJ14S/

I have this as a second phone. Advantage is it is free long distance, and free calling to Canada and Mexico. Costs $0 per month, except for the internet.
An internet speed of 10 Gbs or faster is plenty.
Bad part is they won't work during a power failure.

He'd still have a router, so trying to avoid that. As when router stops working and needs reset I'm sure he'd be lost. The phone portion is what's cheap with AT&T (about $20), they internet is the expensive part ($70). But not finding any other options.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Can't you bluetooth his cellphone to a cordless phone that he can use and be happy with?
Seems that was a thing a few years back.

https://www.amazon.com/Cell2jack-Ce...tCea&pd_rd_i=B089984QRT&psc=1#customerReviews

 

[bobandsherry]

Can't you bluetooth his cellphone to a cordless phone that he can use and be happy with?
Seems that was a thing a few years back.

https://www.amazon.com/Cell2jack-Ce...tCea&pd_rd_i=B089984QRT&psc=1#customerReviews

Good thought, imagine explaining bluetooth connection to a man who has a hard time with a flip cell phone. My wife is banging her head against the wall in dealing with him on this

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Woud he be able to handle this?

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Good thought, imagine explaining bluetooth connection to a man who has a hard time with a flip cell phone. My wife is banging her head against the wall in dealing with him on this

Someone would need to set it up for him I'm sure but just a thought.
I'm assuming once it's setup once it never disconnects but.....

 

[bobandsherry]

Someone would need to set it up for him I'm sure but just a thought.
I'm assuming once it's setup once it never disconnects but.....

I appreciate it, seems like a simple solution. But problem I see is him needing to remember to plug in his cell phone when he's back at home. Trying to make this as SIMPLE as possible for the guy. Seems like losing battle. Thanks again.

 

[CoolRich59]

Is anyone using AT&T phone service without internet?

Background: FIL is looking to set-up new service for phone. Rural area, no services currently installed at the house (phone or internet). We got him a simple cell flip phone (his choice, he refuses to use any smartphone). Unfortunately he is confused on how to use a simple flip cell phone, so we are looking to get him a landline.

He has no interest or need with internet.

Had a similar situation earlier this year with my 82-year-old MIL. My FIL passed in March and the DW and I started helping her Mom sort out the bills and finances as my FIL had always taken care of everything.

They had AT&T landline and no internet. In looking over the bills, AT&T was charging them different amounts each month with no explanation why. They were supposed to be on a ‘flat fee’ plan. After spending way too many hours pouring over billing statements that were designed to be incomprehensible, we finally got a hold of someone at AT&T. They had screwed up the billing for a couple of months and, without a word of explanation to my in-laws, increased their bill by different amounts over several months to make up for their own error.

To get to the point: AT&T sucks and doesn't deserve your business.

We moved my MIL to a cheap cellphone plan with Consumer Cellular (just talk, no data) that is less than half what AT&T was charging. Yes, acclimating her to a simple flip phone was a laborious process, and frustrating for MIL, DW, and me. But, slowly and surely she adjusted. She gets a simple, easy to understand bill every month without unexplained adjustments or hidden fees.

 

[ERD50]

Good thought, imagine explaining bluetooth connection to a man who has a hard time with a flip cell phone. My wife is banging her head against the wall in dealing with him on this

Someone would need to set it up for him I'm sure but just a thought.
I'm assuming once it's setup once it never disconnects but.....

bobandsherry - I set something up like this for my DM, and it worked flawlessly. You don't even mention Bluetooth - he doesn't even have to know there is a cell phone involved, in fact, I wouldn't tell him that either.

Get it all set up ahead of time. Get the BT paired, and connect to the charger port, just leave the cell phone on all the time. You could hide the box and the cell phone on a shelf somewhere, or put it in a nice wood box or something decorative. You'll just need a phone line cable from the box to the phone base. Then show them the old style phone (heck, it can even be a dial phone for some of these). He doesn't need to know the "magic" behind it.

I think that will increase his acceptance, especially if you use the old phone/base he was used to (what was he using?).

As I said, the one we got worked flawlessly. Even when you took the cell phone out of range (which you won't be doing), it reconnected when it saw it again. I was expecting glitches, but it was truly flawless. It was a little different, the feature to pair to multiple cell phones was built into the base. Unfortunately, that made the user interface a little more complex, you had to select which cell or "home" line you wanted, so I would avoid that based on your description.

I never used the one linked, but I think that's the right direction.

Good luck!

-ERD50

 

[steelyman]

Anyone AT&T Landline without Internet?

I think that any solution that involves cellular connectivity requires reliable cell service (not always the case, especially in rural locations). Long time landline users expect constant connections without having to mess around.

 

[CoolRich59]

Someone would need to set it up for him I'm sure but just a thought.
I'm assuming once it's setup once it never disconnects but.....

I explored that with my MIL at one point. My thinking was that we’d plug in the cellphone, connect to the cordless phone via Bluetooth, then just leave it.

But then the woman who said she hated the cellphone, swore she’d never use it, and would never remember to bring it with her when she went out, says: “Well, if you do that, how can I go out without my phone?”

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I know you said FIL would not use a smartphone but I remembered another member in this group had a similar issue with his elderly relative.
A quick update: I got a used unlocked Moto phone from amazon and installed a launcher called baldphone which offers simple but highly customizable layout for elderly.

There are quite a few senior phone app launchers in the play store, you might want to check them out, everything will be bigger on a smartphone screen

 

[ERD50]

I explored that with my MIL at one point. My thinking was that we’d plug in the cellphone, connect to the cordless phone via Bluetooth, then just leave it.

But then the woman who said she hated the cellphone, swore she’d never use it, and would never remember to bring it with her when she went out, says: “Well, if you do that, how can I go out without my phone?”

That's why you don't tell them!

For OP, just tell him you're taking that cell phone back, and will replace it with a "real phone".

-ERD50

 

[bobandsherry]

For OP, just tell him you're taking that cell phone back, and will replace it with a "real phone".



-ERD50

He'd say GLADLY. [emoji39]

 

[RE2Boys]

Connect your old land line phone to this box which acts like a cellular adapter. For $20 or so per month, you can get the cell phone service. https://www.consumercellular.com/shopping/details/home_phone_base/overview

 

[bobandsherry]

Connect your old land line phone to this box which acts like a cellular adapter. For $20 or so per month, you can get the cell phone service. https://www.consumercellular.com/shopping/details/home_phone_base/overview

No old land lines to connect. His original place was destroyed by a small tornado that blew through there. Even the original pole was destroyed. He built a new place.

Update: I see it has plug for phone directly. So looks like something to explore. Thanks

 

[easysurfer]

He's got a flip phone, says he can't figure out how to dial, especially his contacts (which we loaded for him). He's been shown multiple times, by multiple people. He's just totally anti-tech and figure this is his way to not use it. Here's phone like he has, don't think we can get it much simpler.

View attachment 39875

I can see the contacts being confusing. Especially on a flip phone.

How about compromise and ditch the contact list put print out a phone list and keep in a binder. That way he can just dial the old fashioned way (if he can figure out how to dial using a flip phone).