Anyone drop their landline phone ?

DaveH

DaveH

Joined
Dec 2, 1999
Messages
12,249
Our land line phone bill runs about $60 a month, a significant portion is various BS taxes and fees. I'm thinking about just dropping the the line completely and switching totally to cellular.

I have two concerns: 1) I'm not used to being totally cellular 2) There are very few occasions when the hardwire phone works and the cell doesn't, usually of course when you needs comms, like bad weather, bomb scares, etc.

So have you transitioned to cell only use? Any regrets?

Thanks
 
There's no possiable reason to have a land line if you get good cell reception in your house.
we dropped our land line about 3 years ago and never looked back.
why pay for two phones?
 
i dropped mine a year ago or so- 60 bucks a month for a phone is assinine if you cant take it with you imho-

i use a 200 minute a month deal and cant be happier
 
It's crossed my mind. But I rarely have a cell phone handy; they're usually in the truck and/or have dead batteries. DSL internet comes through the phone line, as does the dial-up I use with the older computers. And my cell phone numbers would be a long distance call for the people who call the most often.

Something we did years ago that's saved a ton of money, we rarely use our long distance service. Instead we by cheap AT&T phone cards from Sam's Club.

a significant portion is various BS taxes and fees.
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Don't get me started on that! I used my cell phone for 35 minutes last month, and still paid a small fortune in gov't taxes and regulatory fees! Pure BS.
 
I got married 2 years ago (bought my house 3 years ago), and have never had a landline. We were saving money until my wife wanted a smartphone ($400 for the phone with a 2 year CON-tract) which cost us $140 a month for two lines!!! My butt hurts!
 
I've only used cellular for years.
I have a lap top with high speed Internet cellular as well.
It's not near as fast as a cable modem but much faster than dial up and works on job sites.
Works on You tube and plenty fast for surfing.
I'm on it now.
 
Bob W said:
It's crossed my mind. But I rarely have a cell phone handy; they're usually in the truck and/or have dead batteries. DSL internet comes through the phone line, as does the dial-up I use with the older computers. And my cell phone numbers would be a long distance call for the people who call the most often.
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You can still have DSL if you don't have land phone service, ask the company to set up a dry loop.

I don't know how you guys rack up $60 each month on land line thou, mine's $30.

There are definately times land line is better, like when you are on hold waiting for the stupid customer support.
 
Thanks, a little more info. I have cable provided internet so web access is not an issue. I have a little bitty GSM phone, which is handy to carry, but is a little small when trying to dial numbers and isn't loud enough for high noise level areas, like waiting outside an airport for your ride.

SO I think if I do this I need a phone more suited to me, and all I want is a phone, I don't want to play games, nor check my email, nor play music, etc. just a phone.

Oh and our current two line cell service is $60 a month too, though we would probably need more minutes.
 
I don't know how you guys rack up $60 each month on land line thou, mine's $30.
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I think our's is about $50-$60 also, but that's including DSL.

You can still have DSL if you don't have land phone service, ask the company to set up a dry loop.
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That's a good tip. Thanks.
 
DaveH said:
Thanks, a little more info. I have cable provided internet so web access is not an issue. I have a little bitty GSM phone, which is handy to carry, but is a little small when trying to dial numbers and isn't loud enough for high noise level areas, like waiting outside an airport for your ride.

SO I think if I do this I need a phone more suited to me, and all I want is a phone, I don't want to play games, nor check my email, nor play music, etc. just a phone.

Oh and our current two line cell service is $60 a month too, though we would probably need more minutes.
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Just a suggestion: there is a device that you can plug your cell phone into once you are home and it will drive all the land line phones you have including answering machines. Just disconnect from the land line phone company, that way you can use cell when out, but when at home, all the phones (old land lines) ring and you can answer on any of them.
James
 
DaveH said:
Our land line phone bill runs about $60 a month, a significant portion is various BS taxes and fees. I'm thinking about just dropping the the line completely and switching totally to cellular.

I have two concerns: 1) I'm not used to being totally cellular 2) There are very few occasions when the hardwire phone works and the cell doesn't, usually of course when you needs comms, like bad weather, bomb scares, etc.

So have you transitioned to cell only use? Any regrets?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Done it for near 2 years and have not looked back , I have no use for a landline so why pay the extra dough ?
:)
 
Something else to consider with the land line phone. Dump the long distance. That saves you a good chunk of fees and taxes and just use your cell for long distance.

My phone bill including DSL runs about $40 since I dropped long distance and use my cell for that. It does depend a bit on your long distance ussage but I was paying more in taxes and fees than usage so it was an obvious solution for us.

Phil
 
rosconey2 said:
if you have internet service -what about vonage?
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+1 on Vonage. All the bells and whistles the phone companies charge extra for with no long distance for the lower 48 all for $30 a month.
 
Living in storm country as I do, I like to have some redundancy in equipment. Also, my DSL internet connection (billed separately from a local DSL provider for just under $30 a month) is via my hardwired home phone. My home phone bill runs less than $30 a month, though, because we don't have a long distance carrier selected. All long distance calls are made on my cell phone, which costs me a little over $40 a month for about a thousand "any time" minutes. It's a great deal I've had that's rolled over from AT&T to Cingular and now back to AT&T as my service has changed hands back and forth over the years. It seems to work better for me than others tell me Verizon and Sprint do for them. We have Comcast cable TV service, but I'm not that happy with them, so there's no way I wanted high speed internet service from those yahoos. I keep threatening to get one of the two dish TV services in this area. Comcast is simply ridiculously expensive, and it's been going up a few bucks at a time for years now, and for no good reason!
 
Moved into an apt. 8 years ago - do I get a land line? Or do I go cell?
I'm only home from time to pass out to time to wake up, and I don't talk on the phone much... In light of the option of having a phone with me all the time, and one I could take on trips - I thought I'd go CELL!

Only to find out I don't get but spotty reception at best!!! :mad:
However, as I have upgraded phones over the years, reception has gotten better. So, I don't regret NOT paying duplicate taxes for services not needed, not to mention lining the phone company's pockets!

As it is, I don't have cable, no land line, no online services or dish... just a cell and a laptop capable of picking up wireless networks... Several of which are accessible from my apt! For free!!! :D
 
Haven't had a landline in 6 or 7 years and never missed it. The idea of having a landline actually seems odd to me now.

I look at it this way: Someone tries to call me... not my house. By being cellular only people are able to do just that... call me. There's really not much reason to call the house.

Other pros:
You have one number to be reached at instead of two.
Overall price significantly less.
Telemarketing calls SIGNIFICANTLY reduced (almsot eliminated).
Much more normal to turn cell ringer off or not answer than not answering a landline.

At this point, in my opinion, landlines are for businesses where you don't want phones migrating around the office. There's a reason why the big phone companies are scrambling to get into the cellular business IMO.

People used to may more and more money for cordless phones at home with longer and longer ranges. The logical jump is to simply go to a cellular set-up with 'infinate' range.

This is all assuming you have proper cellular reception at home.
 
I've thought about it, but I'll won't do it unless there is a bulletproof (read hurricane proof) cell system. I've been here through three hurricanes, and the landline was the only thing that didn't get knocked out by any of the storms. In '04 I had no power for three weeks. Cell systems were down for several days, and cable was out for a long time according to those who have it. With the landline I was accessible to worried family and friends, and I even used dial-up a bit with my laptop.
 
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