Cell phone only?

fruitbat

fruitbat

Joined
Dec 17, 2003
Messages
1,275
I hope I'm putting this in the right place.

My wife and I just got a really good cell phone plan(at least for us). We really don't talk on the phone much. Most people we know are long distance, so we use our cell phone to call them to cut cost. Now we have a new plan with lots of min, nights and weekends free, 10 numbers we call for free, all for almost the same price as our old plan. It's got us to thinking about getting rid of our home phone. Has anyone else here done this?
 
Yep I rid myself of the landline almost 3 years ago.

Havent really regretted it. Just make sure you invest in a backup phone or an extra battery. I have a wireless internet provider so that isnt really a concern either.

Be aware that any national emergency or any type of local crisis will give police/fire/paramedics/military priority over your own voice conversations. In other words. expect cell networks to be flooded.
 
I use a cell phone only, as do both of my best friends. I don't talk much on the phone, so I've got one of the cheapest plans.
They have cable, I only had DSL available, so I had to get a phone line for internet access-I moved last December. I don't even know the number, have to look on the bill.

The only landline service available for my area is Alltel, whose phone service sucks horribly. It's long distance to call my grandmother and my parents, 10 and 12 miles away). I can't even call my own cell phone, since I didn't opt for a long distance plan.
My DSL works great, and is even faster than my friends' cable(which are faster than my old DSL..), so I'm happy with that part.
 
I tried to talk my wife into going with no land line. She had some excuse not to. I think we had to have the phone for the internet, but now we've gone to some internet\cable deal so I don't think we still have to.

Some say that 911 can trace a land line but that cell phones don't have an address attached to them. Of course, if its so bad you can't even give an address, you're probably screwed anyway.

Can you have more than one phone with the same number? i.e. leave a cell phone plugged in at the house all the time and carry the other? My Mom house sits for us and would need a phone when we travel.
 
Shann said:
....Can you have more than one phone with the same number? i.e. leave a cell phone plugged in at the house all the time and carry the other?...
Click to expand...

You mean a "clone"? I used to have one phone hard-wired into the car and a portable with the same number "cloned" to it that I would carry with me. But our service providers got greedy and decided that they were "losing" money this way and put a stop to it. I thought it was a very handy thing to have. I was actually talking MORE (therefore spending more on air time charges) when I could just shut down one phone and turn on the second one (you couldn't have them both on at once) when I left the car.

Maybe someone with a technical background can explain this so we can ALL understand it. Personally, I thought "clones" were a great idea. All you had to do was remember to turn off one phone before you turned on the other one so there'd be no confusion as to which phone was to receive the call.
 
Shann said:
Some say that 911 can trace a land line but that cell phones don't have an address attached to them. Of course, if its so bad you can't even give an address, you're probably screwed anyway.
Click to expand...
I've thought about that. I've called in wrecks, but not using 911. Here we have *HP for that. A couple of these have occurred in an area that is on the edges of several jurisdictions, and sometimes there is confusion over where the call should go to, and I've actually been transferred several times.

For anyone familiar with Birmingham, AL-right around the 59/459 interchange, plus highway 11 right before getting into Trussville, a call can get batted around between Birmingham police, Trussville police, and Jefferson County Sheriff. It can be a little frustrating.
 
Same boat. I only had a cell till I moved here and got DSL and a phone line........ Still don't use the home phone though.
 
Only three main advantages to a land line.

1) Self powered in the event of a short term Blackout. Cell towers only run on generator for so long, which out weighs your backup battery solutions for your cell phone. Long term (more tha a week) blackouts would most likely take out the CO as well.

2) Trunk capacity is much more than a cell tower's capacity. As mentioned above, in times of emergencies, your call will most likely get through (provided it's not to another cell phone).

3) E911 not 100% rolled out. All land lines by FCC mandate must list an address when calling the 911 Emergency line. Something the cell firms and Interner VoIP providers have not fully complied with. With the exception if your phone is GPS enabled.

A lot of my friends do not have a land line. And given the low frequency of blackouts and emergencies, it's a fairly safe bet.
 
i agree with the majority. landlines are becoming obsolete. since i got my cell, i have yet to need a landline for any siginificant purpose. this setup works well for me, however, as i have and will likely continue to relocate 1-2x/year.


why don't you keep your landline for another few billing periods just to make sure? slowly, start to redirect all of your phone calls to your cellular number(s), like your banking and credit card contact numbers, etc. then keep an eye on the history on your billing statements-- you'll be able to moniter the usage of your landline over the next few months. if the use seems to diminish significantly, then it's clear you haven't a need for it.

one thing to remember is the clarity and connectivity of landlines is considerably better than cellular. provided you're making calls to other landlines, it sounds and is less frustrating that cellular connections.
 
and DO make sure you've got enough minutes on your cellular plan! know that if you convert to only having a cellular line, that you'll be using it a lot more (think about all those times you've been put on hold-- those minutes count). overrage fees SUCK!
 
Shann said:
Some say that 911 can trace a land line but that cell phones don't have an address attached to them. Of course, if its so bad you can't even give an address, you're probably screwed anyway.
Click to expand...

Using triangulation from cellphone masts, the authorities can pinpoint you to within a metre irrespective of whether your phone is on or not. In the UK a number of criminals have been caught this way. Of course if you are out of ranged altogether you have to go to Plan B, whatever that is.
 
I have a land line only for the dsl. I have never used this landline or given out the number. Thing still rings! Answered it one time, telemarketer:mad: Gave 'em the ol' no hablo inglais and unplugged the phone from the wall.

Andrew Taylor said:
Using triangulation from cellphone masts, the authorities can pinpoint you to within a metre irrespective of whether your phone is on or not. In the UK a number of criminals have been caught this way. Of course if you are out of ranged altogether you have to go to Plan B, whatever that is.
Click to expand...

The phone must be on, There is no radio broadcast from a dead phone.
 
Right now we have the land line and voice mail to take care of non-urgent calls and telemarketers. That, and the hopefully unused emergency call. Family members have the cell phone numbers, should they need to reach us quickly. Otherwise, the home phones are disconnected.

It's a lot quieter that way. :)

Although the thought of cutting the landline is enticing, there have been times when I've left my cell phone at work. :o Then what would I do if I needed to call out??
 
Wireless-only here for the past 18 months. Have not missed the old land line one bit!

AJ
 
Damn the phone and let the answering machine do the work. One other thing the phone fees turn into one heck of a bill. Save that money for that sweet knife you've been wanting for so long.
 
Well you guys have almost settled it for us. The land line is probably not something we are going to keep. We sort of have a plan. We are in the process of selling our house and building a new one. We are switching everything over to our cell phones. Depending on how fast our house sells we may move the phone service to the apartment we're going to go to while our house is being built. But no service at the new house. Our new house will have a auto generator so we would be able to charge the phones in case of a power outage. As long as the tower has power, we're good to go.
 
If a person wants to keep a landline for an emergency or some peace of mind, be sure to ask your phone company to give you the "tariff rate" (the lowest rate). They won't care to divulge it, but will only if you ask. It is a Federal mandate that they do so. Also, kill the long distance service and use a calling card or cell phone.
 
I have a cell, and enjoy using it (as my primary), but I keep a landline. I never thought minutes could go so fast, until I started using my cell;)
 
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