End of the Line for Landlines?

[Flyer_PE]

I still remember my mom running through the house to catch the one phone in the house when it rang.

We still have the LL, but still use dialup, too. i suspect at some point in the near future we're goign to have to look at complete overhaul on the commo gear.

Mom and dad have satellitle TV and internet, cells, and LL. I asked about the LL and why they keep it, and the answer was, 'four generations of your family back to 1939 have had this phone number and we aren't letting it go. There are lots of old friends who have this as the only contact number." Guess they have a point. They've had people they haven't heard from since the fifties and sixties call them.

A buddy of mine transferred his land line number to a cell based gadget connected to his home phone system. Pretty nice little deal when he moved. He just unplugged the gizmo and plugged it in at the new house. No number transfer or anything required.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I still remember my mom running through the house to catch the one phone in the house when it rang.

We still have the LL, but still use dialup, too. i suspect at some point in the near future we're goign to have to look at complete overhaul on the commo gear.

Mom and dad have satellitle TV and internet, cells, and LL. I asked about the LL and why they keep it, and the answer was, 'four generations of your family back to 1939 have had this phone number and we aren't letting it go. There are lots of old friends who have this as the only contact number." Guess they have a point. They've had people they haven't heard from since the fifties and sixties call them.

A buddy of mine transferred his land line number to a cell based gadget connected to his home phone system. Pretty nice little deal when he moved. He just unplugged the gizmo and plugged it in at the new house. No number transfer or anything required.

Yeah, I mentioned that, but they got the cells years before that option was offered. I think they're paying 25 bucks a month for it and it gives them peace of mind when the power (and cell tower about 500 feet from the house) goes out.

 

[civengPE]

I have been on Vonage from about 2003 or so. The one thing I like is that I can take the little box with me while traveling and just plug it into the hotel Ethernet adapter. I then have my home number and can make free calls from anywhere in the world.

 

[Flyer_PE]

Yeah, I mentioned that, but they got the cells years before that option was offered. I think they're paying 25 bucks a month for it and it gives them peace of mind when the power (and cell tower about 500 feet from the house) goes out.

^That's not bad logic. During a power outage, the vented cell battery at the phone company switch is going to last a lot longer than the "maintenance free" string at the cell site.

 

[mudpuppy]

^except they both die eventually. . . that's why during storm damage assessment I'll often come across a little honda generator chained to a telephone pole feeding the wired phone system. Not a very reliable backup.

 

[envirotex]

I like the idea of putting cordless phones on battery backup...

For longer term situations though, we have a generator that could probably power our entire block as long as we had gasoline.

 

[Chucktown PE]

They've started doing DSL without requiring the land line where I live. I'm sure it was due to market pressure, since we do have a lot of other options for internet, but it is possible to have DSL and not be required to have a land line.

That was required by the FCC when AT&T merged with BellSouth. As a condition of the merger the DOJ allowed the FCC to require that AT&T sell "naked" DSL, i.e. you can buy DSL and you don't have to pay for phone service.

 

[MA_PE]

^Is that through a cable company? Most of those phone/cable/internet bundles around here actually use VOIP, in which case you do NOT have a land line.

I have a home phone # but it is the VOIP offered in the bundled package through my cable company, I get the innerwebs via cable as well.

My phone is bundles through RCN. I just consider any phone connected to a jack inside my house as a "land line". I never really gave it a lot of thought. If the power goes out, the phone will still work (assuming it's not a cordless phone). So where is the physical connection from my phone lines to the cable company?

 

[Boomer01 PE]

We haven't had a LL in years, but got talked into it a few months back. Cox called and told me to add it and get the bundle discount. Now I have a LL, faster internet, and a slightly cheaper bill.

 

[Boomer01 PE]

security systems... we have a phone line, just no phone hooked up to it...

Same here.

The alarm companies charge an additional fee (something like $10/month) if you use a wireless system and you have to buy some equipment to make it work which I think was around $150.

 

[mudpuppy]

^Is that through a cable company? Most of those phone/cable/internet bundles around here actually use VOIP, in which case you do NOT have a land line.

I have a home phone # but it is the VOIP offered in the bundled package through my cable company, I get the innerwebs via cable as well.

My phone is bundles through RCN. I just consider any phone connected to a jack inside my house as a "land line". I never really gave it a lot of thought. If the power goes out, the phone will still work (assuming it's not a cordless phone). So where is the physical connection from my phone lines to the cable company?

Can't speak to their specific installation, but when I had VOIP, you just plug the modem into any phone jack in your house and it backfeeds all the other jacks, however you have to disconnect from the telephone company wires first.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I hate the phone.

I'm beginning to think I'd be a lot happier without the TV and internet, too.

 

[MA_PE]

^Is that through a cable company? Most of those phone/cable/internet bundles around here actually use VOIP, in which case you do NOT have a land line.

I have a home phone # but it is the VOIP offered in the bundled package through my cable company, I get the innerwebs via cable as well.

My phone is bundles through RCN. I just consider any phone connected to a jack inside my house as a "land line". I never really gave it a lot of thought. If the power goes out, the phone will still work (assuming it's not a cordless phone). So where is the physical connection from my phone lines to the cable company?

Can't speak to their specific installation, but when I had VOIP, you just plug the modem into any phone jack in your house and it backfeeds all the other jacks, however you have to disconnect from the telephone company wires first.

Not in my house. The coax cable is the only connection to the modem. The phone jacks are independent. Not sure if they did some connection when the cable was originally installed.