Finally dropped the landline

[foxcreek9]

I use Ooma with the optional (not free) call blocking feature. I set my blocking to only those on my accepted list of callers. Others go to voicemail. I very seldom get spam calls this way.

We use OOMA with this handset set to silent mode from 12 am to 11:59 pm, only numbers in contact list will ring while the other calls will light up the handset set, there is no noise. No need for the premiere call block feature.

https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Li...TFXS4CN/dp/B0BTFHM2GZ/ref=dp_ob_title_ce?th=1

 

[easysurfer]

We use OOMA with this handset set to silent mode from 12 am to 11:59 pm, only numbers in contact list will ring while the other calls will light up the handset set, there is no noise. No need for the premiere call block feature.

https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Li...TFXS4CN/dp/B0BTFHM2GZ/ref=dp_ob_title_ce?th=1

Nice!

 

[CincyDave]

OP here. Interesting all the options people use. Our house has been a lot quieter since we dropped it and saving about $58 a month. I don't think we'll miss it a bit.

 

[Golden sunsets]

We ported our landline number of 40 years to Magic Jack about 3 years ago. Annual cost $43.

 

[Time2]

I wonder who has my long ago dropped phone number. I think I'll call, maybe we can bond over having the same telephone number.

 

[Aerides]

We had one until a few years ago, primarily because our security system needed it (their wifi version was an upcharge....) and we've been thru enough hurricanes where we lost cell for a day or 3.

But we switched to a new security system that is wireless by default, and between that and the LL we're saving about $1k per year.

For the day or 3 every year or three where we might lose cell in a storm? Eh, usually don't have to go farther than I can walk to get some signal

 

[jollystomper]

We use fiber internet as our "landline" and as a back up-to our cell phones.

We have cable (Xfinity), that is an option I am considering. For my last several years at Megacorp, they paid for a work VOIP line using Vonage over cable, as well as a portion of my cable bill. I did not have any issues with the line itself, but we had enough cable service and electrical outages that it was not as reliable as I wanted.

Xfinity has upgraded their cable lines in our area over the last year, and their have been much fewer outages, so I need to revisit this.

 

[brett]

Landline?

What's that

It has been at least 15 years since we had one.

 

[Gumby]

We still have the twisted copper wire landline and rotary dial phones. How else would we be able to get all those nice robocalls?

 

[Kwirk]

We each have a cell phone and we have a seemingly reliable internet connection. We see that as more than enough redundancy. Our landline number from 1983 was transferred to our second cell phone many years ago when the POTS became unreliable.

 

[O2Bfree]

We each have a cell phone and we have a seemingly reliable internet connection. We see that as more than enough redundancy. Our landline number from 1983 was transferred to our second cell phone many years ago when the POTS became unreliable.

What made your POTS become unreliable?

 

[Kwirk]

What made your POTS become unreliable?

Lots of crackling/static in the line. Missed calls. Verizon wasn't interested in maintaining the line. I suspect that there was water infiltration into the cables from the local collection point but I don't actually know.

 

[REWahoo]

Lots of crackling/static in the line. Missed calls. Verizon wasn't interested in maintaining the line.

Remember the old Lonely Maytag Repairman TV commercials? DD#1 lives next door to a similar version of this - the Lonely AT&T Landline Repairman. He doesn't get much work - not because the service is all that reliable, because so few people still have land lines.

He's been expecting be laid off for several years, but they keep him around. My guess is it is due to so many thefts of copper cable that he has to replace. Don't know why he hasn't found other employment other than inertia. He's about 50 and I doubt he's financially able to ER.

 

[braumeister]

because so few people still have land lines.

I'm sure that's true. I asked Bard how many homes in the US still have landline phones and got this:

According to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, 28.7% of U.S. households had a landline phone in 2022.

This number has been steadily declining in recent years, as more and more people rely on cell phones for their communication needs. However, landlines still have some advantages over cell phones, such as more reliable service in rural areas and the ability to work during power outages.

Landline ownership is also more common among certain groups of people, such as older adults and those living in older homes. For example, 75% of householders aged 75 and older had a landline in 2022, compared to just 5% of householders under 25.

While landlines may not be as popular as they once were, they are still an important part of the communication infrastructure for many Americans.

 

[Major Tom]

As long as someone sets it up, there is no 'adapting'. Her old standard POTS phone plugs right into the VOIP adapter. If no one told you, you wouldn't know if you were on POTS/copper, or VOIP. Heck, you could even connect an old two-cassette answering machine to it.

-ERD50

This is what I was hoping. She doesn't like using voicemail, so being able to continue using her old answering machine could be a deciding factor for her. I just called the ISP and confirmed this with them.

It turns out that a VOIP landline, along with 10GB/s fiber service will be about $20/month less than what AT&T is currently charging her for her landline alone. I didn't know landlines had become that expensive.

 

[calmloki]

This is what I was hoping. She doesn't like using voicemail, so being able to continue using her old answering machine could be a deciding factor for her. I just called the ISP and confirmed this with them.

It turns out that a VOIP landline, along with 10GB/s fiber service will be about $20/month less than what AT&T is currently charging her for her landline alone. I didn't know landlines had become that expensive.

Make sure you have them port her number so it stays the same when you switch her to VOIP.

 

[Car-Guy]

VOIP is unreliable here and cell service is much, much worse. So it's pretty much land lines for us which is fine by me. Much prefer the quality/clarity of a land line anyway. I have a hard enough time hearing on the phone as it is. But with so many folks using cells and VOIP on the other end of the conversion, it's usually crappy anyway.

 

[badatmath]

Since blocking all junk calls on my cell, I haven’t gotten one in months.

How do you do that? I think only allowing contacts would be a problem like right now when I am getting quotes for things I expect strangers to call that I want to talk to . . . I guess I could add them to contacts first but it seems silly when they won't be staying. I get more junk texts than calls but still annoying either way because there are SO MANY. People go ape sh*t with no phone.

My landline isn't expensive IMO. I suppose it depends where you live.

I (briefly) supported VOIP and POTS at w*rk -- VOIP definitely had more complaints though whether it was our specific configuration IDK. I HATED doing it.

 

[karen1972]

I dropped my landline in 2007, but my mom still has hers and I don't see her getting rid of it as she never charges the cell phone we gave her, so if you want to reach her it has to be the landline.

 

[Music Lover]

I'm sure that's true. I asked Bard how many homes in the US still have landline phones and got this:

However, landlines still have some advantages over cell phones, such as more reliable service in rural areas and the ability to work during power outages.

Am I missing something? My cell phone works during a power failure.

 

[karen1972]

Am I missing something? My cell phone works during a power failure.

Depends on what type of power failure, I've had the cell towers go down when transformers blew and they had rolling blackouts during the summer spike that took them out. You also have the issue if everyone uses their cell, the coverage shrinks and you can get in a donut hole where you have no bars... it happens, it shouldn't but it does.

 

[John Galt III]

Lots of crackling/static in the line. Missed calls. Verizon wasn't interested in maintaining the line. I suspect that there was water infiltration into the cables from the local collection point but I don't actually know.

Same here. I have a land line and it is very staticky sometimes. Sometimes it's clear. Doesn't seem to be related to the weather.

 

[TXBev]

I dropped my regular landline phone but got a "911" phone line. It is cheap. I can call 911 or 800's only, people can call in. I have not gotten one call since I got this line. When the power is out, usually the phone works.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

This is what I was hoping. She doesn't like using voicemail, so being able to continue using her old answering machine could be a deciding factor for her. I just called the ISP and confirmed this with them.

It turns out that a VOIP landline, along with 10GB/s fiber service will be about $20/month less than what AT&T is currently charging her for her landline alone. I didn't know landlines had become that expensive.

You sound like a good friend, have you ever sat her down and shown her how easy it is to make a call with a cellphone?
I'd also sell her on the fact that she can take it with her everywhere in case of emergencies and keep a backup charger in her car. She could get a cell service for less than $10 a month easily with a T-mobile or Verizon MVNO but would need to buy or inherit a cell phone. She could also buy a Tracfone bundle with a years allowance of minutes data texts for less than $100 including a brand new phone.
With either option she could also port her landline number over to the cellphone once she's had a chance to try it out for a few weeks and is comfortable using it.

 

[ArmchairMillionaire23]

We still have the twisted copper wire landline and rotary dial phones. How else would we be able to get all those nice robocalls?

We still have rotary dial phones & copper wires, too. We sign up regularly for the "do not call" list and we don't get too many 'robocalls'. Maybe 3 or 4 a month. Next year we'll probably get a few more since it's an election year.