Cell Phones replacing Land Lines ???'s

[Marge]

Wondering about the pros/cons of eliminating land line.

Fax ability with cell?

911 issues?

Other issues?

Anyone have experience with the electronics that allow use of your physical land phones to cell number if cell phone plugged in at home? Saw a couple articles about that but not much review info.

[Sponsored Links]

[Brad Denny]

Hiya Marge,
For a good while I relied on cell phone for home use, but now I live inna a valley and must have the land line. :(

[Marge]

Brad, our house has limited cell zones....kitchen on the right of the island...two feet left of patio door...and the famous center of the firepit...though not popular during cold nights....can relate. :)

[jondon]

Hey Marge,

Eliminating land line,,,,,,,haven't most people already done tht....lol

911,,,,isn't that an excuse people who you never thought would own one, own one

Issues,,,,yes people trying to drive efficiently while having a conversation efficiently, seems the conversations win out because people trying to drive an talk at the same time never seem to realize your right behind em and wanting them to get over so you can pass them. They should have new cell phone cafe's, where you pull over get some coffee talk on the cell phone but driving and talking, even hands free, people are dieing from some a these accidents cause from cell phones, senselesss. Talking on a cell phone and driving is like driving under the influence of alcohol, cause you can't talk and drive at your best, they should start giving tui's!!! lol:D

[jgleason]

For faxing, get an eFax number (efax.com). If you have really good cell phone reception then I think its worth dropping the land line.

I get crappy cell phone reception around my house so still have the land line. I also have Skype, useful for making virtually free calls to anyone not in my local calling area. (getting the wife to use it is difficult).

I bought the Zoom model 5900 phone adapter for Skype. Works really well, allows using all my regular phones with my land line and to make Skype calls. Only $30 at Best Buy.

[davem]

We use Vonage for our land line. It's been very reliable, has nice features and is pretty cheap. I am on the 500 minutes/month plan because we're not that chatty, but my 14 year old daughter is pushing us towards unlimited. :D

Like Joe I also use skype, it's great when I'm traveling for work. I can skype home for free from anywhere in the world and talk for hours. Sometimes I just leave it on so the kids can ask me homework questions while I'm doing work in my hotel room. :)

[Bellsfloors]

Marge,

I still keep a Landline with just the local area barebones basics. Wife and I both have cell phones for most calls and Long Distance service. Keep the landline just for business and telephone directory listing.

If not for business and longtime ownership of the phone number, we would drop it in a heartbeat.

[jgleason]

Dave, I went with Vonage for a year but we really hardly ever used it. To use Skype with the little Zoom adapter you do have to keep Skype running on a PC (not a problem for me). Skype to skype calls are free but there are a few folks that I need to call that don't have it. Skype Out is dirt cheap, $3 month for unlimited minutes anywhere in the US and Canada. I use it enough to make it worthwhile. Vonage service was very good when I had it, just didn't like spending the $ and not using it so much.

[davem]

I use skype-out too, but so far have been buying credits. Seems a $10 purchase lasts me for 6 months or so at the rate I use it, since it's just me. I'll get a subscription if I can find one of those adapters you mentioned. If I did that I could give Jamie her own cordless phone to use. ;)

[jgleason]

Here's a review for the Zoom adapter (http://www.voipplanet.com/reviews/article.php/3728151) I havea cordless phone with multiple handsets. I just programmed the numbers in to the handset directory to make it easier to dial.

[Bellsfloors]

Oh Yeah,

Skype is great! My wife makes a ton of international calls everymonth and the overseas rates are cheap compared to anything else we have tried.

I did open two accounts with Skype, one for her and one for myself. Skype and PamFax have a partnership that works well if you want to send Fax's through Skype. Not used it but have tested it. Pretty much straight forward through a third party.

Oh BTW before thinking of using anykind of VOIP phone system, you should check to see if your server provides the bandwidth.
This link will test your internet connection capabilities and quality. Found with a relative that Satellite webservers may not be compatible.

http://myvoipspeed.visualware.com/servers/mci.html

[stullis]

Anyone tried magicjack?

[ceramictec]

with my Treo and Sprint free and clear plan of $99 for unlimited everything why use anything else ?

I have used Skype for years. I found a deal a while back for $14.99 for the year.
I still can call anywhere on it to this date.

I also have Skype on the Palm Treo by using iSkoot
http://www.iskoot.com/

you can also use the Skye for mobile
http://www.skype.com/intl/en/download/skype/mobile/

[muskymike]

I have a friend that got rid of his land line and just uses his cell. He has been slow with work so it's saves him money. Now everytime someone that I know needs carpet they call me fer his #. :rolleyes:

[ob1kanobee]

Did you know that most every cell phone can be turned into a listening device. I don't know exactly which levels of our government have this power but I'm sure one is the NSA and I think another is FBI.

They can simply call your cell phone so to speak but it will not ring or light up. It does not have to even be on. The only way for it not to work is for you to take the battery out. This is not a joke either it is true.

I actually purchased before it was made illegal a perfectly working cell phone with this type of capability built in on purpose for a friend who worked as a closer in sales (I won't name what industry). You simply leave the phone on the table, tell the customer/clients you will be right back, go call a special number and start listening in. Spooky huh?

I record conversations all the time with my Iphone but it is not the same as the other 2 options mentioned above.

http://www.xomba.com/mobilecell_phone_technology_listening_device_authorities_spying_us

[sandbagger]

I believe you need a landline if you have Dish or DirecTV. Other than that..... :shrug:

[Dave Taylor]

I considered ditching my land line for "all cell".... but now would ditch my cell instead.... for a number of reasons. Of my top ten reasons for keeping a land line...... (and I prolly’ do have ten)...... number one follows:

When "911 - 2001" occurred in NYC and DC my cell (and everyone else I worked with and knew) had all service somehow pre-empted (completely cut off) for hours..... while the land lines we all needed still worked.

[John Bridge]

"Sometimes I just leave it on so the kids can ask me homework questions while I'm doing work in my hotel room." -- Dave M.


Like you really know the answers to the questions. ;)

[Theold--scottyb]

I have to keep a landline in the biz name for corporate credit purposes.

[gueuzeman]

Just switched to all Skype with a local phone #. $60 ANNUAL cost. This will save us about $800 this year alone. Business # is the cell phone.

911? Let it burn.......


gueuze

[ceramictec]

landlines are going to be a thing of the past in 10 years.

[bbcamp]

Landlines are going to be a thing of the past in 10 years.To rephrase: In the future, landlines will be a thing of the past.




:D

[ddmoit]

I'd get rid of my land line if I didn't need it.

As it stands right now, I get my Internet through DSL. I don't have cable or satellite TV, so I'm stuck with a land line. I have no long distance phone service associated with it, though.

I doubt today's new college graduates see much point to establishing a land line these days.

[irish tileguy in michigan]

We have two landlines coming into the office, one is phone only and one phone/fax but only used for the fax and then i have my trusted cell phone,
I was going to switch to vonage like Dave said, cause they have free calls to Ireland but never did.---YET---

[sandbagger]

I don't have cable or satellite TV, so I'm stuck with a land line.my reference to satellite was not as a connection method, but the fact that both systems must be connected to a phone line to communicate with the control station. It's not a full-time connection so you don't loose TV if the phone line goes out. At least not immediately. Cable is bi-directional so doesn't need the phone.

I suspect that very soon - if not already - the satellite folks will have a box that piggy-backs your cell account.

[ob1kanobee]

Another reason I keep a land line is for the call quality and much less chance of a call getting dropped. I make a lot of work related calls out of my house and the last thing I need is to be on the phone with a client and I drop the call or start to get crappy reception.

Plus I am not using my plan minutes when I'm talking on my land line.

[7echo]

A friend has MagicJack and it works well. The sound isn't always crisp, but it works fine.

I work in higher ed and it seems very few students get a landline. I think, like cermictec mentioned, land lines as we know them will go away. Seems like the 20 something generation haven't even used phones with dials. I guess instead of fax they get an email and print it.

I remember my first giant cell bag phone. Looking back they were pretty bad, but at the time it was the thing. Now, I have a black berry and send and receive email, text, make calls, and get online from most anywhere.

[jgleason]

HughesNet satellite internet service does not require a phone line. It is a bidirectional system. I don't know of any current satellite provider that still requires a phone line to work.

That said, satellite internet service still has some limitations. Any data services that require low latency will have trouble if you've got a satellite connection. VPN connections are not recommended.

Satellite may still be your best choice if you live in the boonies and can't get DSL or cable broadband service.

http://www.satellitefamily.com/hughesnet-faq.aspx