* * Have you ditched your house phone ? * *

[mezz]

Not sure how it works up there, but I have never lost phone service on my cell when power went out. Internet on phone still works too. I havent had a landline in 8-9 years. No telemarketers ever call me either. Tether internet off cell phones.

Not sure about that either? I would dump land line in newyorknanosecond if I could get cell signal at the house.

In my area, we just got a tower that will now provide us service. We have had a number of power outages here lately & a few of them have taken out the power to the tower, therefore, no Cell service. Now, if we had a network of towers, that would be different, but we don't. To get service in a situation like that, I would have to drive 5-6 miles to get a signal. For now, I will hang onto the land line.-Mezz

 

[hotfingerz]

Dry loop DSL, Google Voice

For the people here saying that you "need" a home phone line for DSL, is not entirely true. You can have what is called "dry loop DSL". This is DSL without having phone service. Call up your local phone provider and ask about it. You could be saving yourself some good money. That is if you only want to use your cell phone for calls.

Also, if you don't want to have telemarketers having your cell phone number, and you have a fancy new smartphones, use Google vioce and get a new phone number. It is like having a seperate email account for signing up for things. You then have two phone numbers associated with your cell phone. Also, when you make a phone call out, you can use either your real cell number or your Google voice number. In case you don't want the person on the other end to have your real cell number.

-Hotfingerz

 

[averagejoe074]

I have cell and a landline...rarely use the landline...but can't get myself to dump it seeing I work for the phone company...scary times at my job...

 

[98panther]

Problem with cells only, not everyone keeps theirs with them.
DW leaves hers by the door and never check it until she leaves.

Mine is always in my pocket

 

[upbarleyboy]

Have both cell and landline. However, I work for a communications company that provides phone service, and I get a crazy discount on the landline (free) as part of my benefit package-that's the only reason I still have it. Otherwise it would have been gone long ago. Still do use the landline alot though.

 

[toolmaker]

We dropped the home phone as of Oct. 31st. The only important calls were from my mother, neighbor, doctor and dentist offices. Good bye to all the crap calls with all the political garbage going on in this state.

 

[ss440]

I bought my house 2003, never had a house phone.

 

[snocrazy]

Wish I could drop the house phone. Hiawatha telephone company wil not let me have DSL (my only internet option besides satellite) with out a phone line. 100$ a month for internet...

 

[racerx]

I use both but the cell usage is limited since it is a company phone and I do not want to be called on using it for personal business. I did ditch my personal cell since I got tired of having to carry 2 phones and since I have to carry the work phone 24/7 why have both, especially since I can use the work phone in a limited capacity for personal calls.

 

[lvr1000]

No long distance or call package at main residence, so mostly use cell. Have phone for recieving calls. Other place, need the long distance for the temperature monitoring system; calls me when the temp falls below 45 degrees.

 

[maj16]

IMO it's very important to keep the "landline". In the event that you need emergency services and are unable to speak, a dispatcher is provided with your name and address. With a cell they would have to triangulate to get your exact location, time consuming and potentially life endangering if you are in need of immediate assistance.

 

[polaris4me]

Dropped the home phone 9 years ago. Have not missed it.

 

[mezz]

IMO it's very important to keep the "landline". In the event that you need emergency services and are unable to speak, a dispatcher is provided with your name and address. With a cell they would have to triangulate to get your exact location, time consuming and potentially life endangering if you are in need of immediate assistance.

Another very good point!-Mezz

 

[lofsfire]

Both. Have had my house phone number too long to ditch it, and there are people/companies/telemarketers that I don't want having my cell phone number.

Check out Google Voice its free except for international calling. You can set it up a few different ways. One as your only number basically you cell number would get sent/ ported to you GV then sent to your phone. Or (the way I use it) As another phone number that forwards to my cell or to as many numbers as you want. I give this out my GV # to people form Craigslist or companies. One nice thing with it is I can block any number I do not want to ever hear from again.

I can see ditching the land line in a few years but with 2 young kids in the house I feel better having a land line that is always there...

My kids are getting old enough this is going to be a problem for me soon. I have thought about a few options:
-Magicjack
-Another pay as you go Cell for just at the house Still might get pricey with Daily access fees
-There are some service that you can get in conjunction with GV that will make it more like a real phone, but you have to be creative they are pay service but only charge for some features and by using it with GV you can have phone for free over the internet.

Got rid of the landline 10 years ago no one in the house answeared the landline because we all had cell phones. Now you can port your landline number to be your cell number and no one will even no you dont have a landline anymore. Tried Magicjack did not care for it discontinued after first year.

Why did you not like Magicjack?

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]

IMO it's very important to keep the "landline". In the event that you need emergency services and are unable to speak, a dispatcher is provided with your name and address. With a cell they would have to triangulate to get your exact location, time consuming and potentially life endangering if you are in need of immediate assistance.

[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Actually it may not be that important anymore, a lot of the 911 Centers or going to E-911 which allow you to go on there website a fill out you info for you phone numbers then bases your location and info you provide and can give exact address or general location plus all kinds of extra info you want to provide. My dispatch has been using the system for a few years now and had just opened it up to the general public a few months ago. I get a TEXT message with all of my Page information 15 sec before my Fire Pager goes off sometime with more info than they give over the radio. Such as Contact phone numbers, specified medical info. etc.[/FONT]

 

[j57snow]

Did have landline bundled with charter cable/internet until couple months ago but they finally gave me a decent price on service w/out phone,Have had a Magicjack for 2 yrs now use it mainly as a craigslist/ebay number it works ok,they do recommend you have hi speed internet. for the $19.95 a yr it works

 

[polarisrider1]

Land Line will be gone Dec. 25th. We just got Att Uverse fired up in the neighborhood. High speed goes from 6GB's per second to 12 GB per second. I bundled it with Direct TV (yes AT&T and DirectTV are working together). Ultra high speed will be $24.95 per month for first year. $48 per month there after. Heck I will loose the home phone and 6gb service that cost me $70 per month, go to 12 GB for 24.95 then to $48. currently paying $40 per month for 6GB service. I was going to hook my unlimited internet Verizon cell phone to computer but it would run at 1GB per second (much slower). New modem is on its way! Now I have to learn how to type. Had fax line turned off last year. run Business on E mails and Cell phones.

 

[EXCESSIVE FORCE]

After reading this thread ,and learning that i can get DSL without the landline i'm going to have to change my vote to no landline. I'm officially "off the hook" at a savings of $75.00/mo !!!!!!.......... THANKS JOHN DEE !!

 

[t660redrocket]

I have a Verizon Wireless home phone connect that works with the minutes of my mobile plan. It's a wireless box with an antenna on it. It plugs into my house lines so all my phones work. I was able to port my local landline number and yet pay only $9.99 per month and share my mobile minutes. Way way cool. See it here http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/...t&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=5561

 

[JimAndros]

I don't have a cell phone & don't like when the phone (the kind with with a coiled cord) rings at home.

But I really hate when I get the solicitors calling me at work to sell me yellow pages, web sites, refridgerator magnets, license plate frames and such. I was winterizing a boat with my head in the bilge and one called. Kids comes looking to get me & I say... "tell him I died". So he did just that, he told the guy "I'm sorry, he died last week"

 

[sconnierider]

Dropped the land line and cable TV at the same time. Realized how crazy it was to supposrt the 170.00 to Charter each month. I get local channels now and supplement through the net. Only thing I subscribe to yet. Works FINE! Amazing how much more time i have on my hands not watching crappy programming in and effort to justify paying the bill.
Want movies? Redbox or Netflix instant thru the internet.