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Anyone still has a land-line?

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Do you still have a land-line?

  • Yes

  • No

  • Skpe/Vonage/MagicJack

Results are only viewable after voting.
There is something about a fed subsidy for voice lines that actually makes it cheaper to have a dial tone with DSL than naked DSL in some areas, at least that is how I understood the convoluted explanation given to me by my telco.
 
crashtech said:
There is something about a fed subsidy for voice lines that actually makes it cheaper to have a dial tone with DSL than naked DSL in some areas, at least that is how I understood the convoluted explanation given to me by my telco.
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A "dial tone". Jesus. Haven't heard one of those in like 10 years or something.
 
akugami said:
I chose yes, but it's a FIOS line.
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same here, FIOS line.

- the triple play is a better value than the double play (without phone).
- the home security system needs a line. I looked into cellular but it is more money monthly. And someone mentioned the cell towers may be unavailable in regional emergency situations. We're in NY so it has happened.
- other than that, 90% of the calls I get on the landline are fricken robo-calls. So annoying. The only legit calls are the things we sign the kids up for and they don't happen to use email (ie. swimming).
 
CPA said:
Have you asked about naked DSL?

I still have a landline because I don't answer my cellphone, if I even have it on me. If you want to get ahold of me, leave a message on my landline and I'll get back to you (I screen all landline calls). I rarely pick up my cellphone calls and don't even know my cell mailbox password - lol.
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no. they stopped giving the dryloop option years ago.

heck, they no longer offer DSL starting this year.
fios only in my area (northern VA).
Verizon sucks!
 
Counting my office (separate location) I have three land lines, two internet providers, two cell phones and fax over the internet. The only thing I hate more than using the phone is paying for it-over and over again.
 
I haven't had a landline in over a decade, aside from a brief period 8 years ago when DSL was my only internet option at one of my prior apartments.

I used a VOIP provider at home (Phone Power; they were terrific) a few years back when I had AT&T, but only because the coverage was so spotty indoors. When I switched to Verizon, I no longer needed it; just cellphones in the house now.
 
I don't have a land line. I literally cut the cord because a tree I wanted to keep was growing up into it. When I remodeled my house a few years ago I also stripped out the 50 years of various phone wiring in it and didn't replace it.

I do have a crawl space and installed a conduit from the roof, through a media cabinet, and into the crawl space so it would be easy to add if necessary. My feeling though is this house will never again be wired for telephone.
 
No landline here, but it certainly has its uses and its reliability. A VOIP, Skype, etc is not a landline. A landline is a proper copper POTS. That means if the power goes out, your phone still works. A wired handset that doesn't depend on a battery will continue working indefinitely unless the CO gets shut down or a cable is physically cut.

All of these VOIP solutions work great under ideal circumstances, but offer little robustness compared to a real line. It is just a data signal traveling over the IP infrastructure and subject to all the potential issues that come with it, not to mention your phone stops working once the battery backup is out.

VOIP is worth it if it's free or extremely cheap, otherwise you're better off paying for a real line if you need it.
 
Also re: squirrel, nobody would start a new ISP over copper lol. They still exist because they've already laid out that infrastructure, and continued developing it to remain competitive with new technologies, but the copper DSL infrastructure has a smaller footprint and higher total cost per footprint. Even so, that is almost a moot point as any new deployments are FFTN, so that's the box right outside. The only part that is still copper is from that box to the houses (the "last" part of the last mile, if you will). Everything else is already all fiber even for DSL subscribers, with the exception of areas still on legacy equipment.

It would be cool to start an ISP on a smaller scale, but there is a lot involved there. You ready to deal with incumbents and peering? 😀
 
Yes, but it's bare bones feature wise; only call-display and voice mail. Good idea to have one. In a power outage it still works while cell won't and depending on where you live and what sort of cell you have, it's a better line to use in the case you need to call 911. A land line is actually always the best line to use to call 911 from home with.

When I'm on call for work I'm also expected to provide a land line and a cell, has to be both.
 
I have Comcast digital voice, and I put yes. I am required to have oneone to buze people into my gated community.
 
Fun fact: since almost nowhere in the UK has a cable network almost all internet connections here are DSL, and come with a manditory landline. Mine has never rung.
 
Grooveriding said:
Yes, but it's bare bones feature wise; only call-display and voice mail. Good idea to have one. In a power outage it still works while cell won't and depending on where you live and what sort of cell you have, it's a better line to use in the case you need to call 911. A land line is actually always the best line to use to call 911 from home with.

When I'm on call for work I'm also expected to provide a land line and a cell, has to be both.
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Geez if my job required me to have a dinosaur landline then they are paying the bill.
 
Yes for several reasons:

1. I'm on VDSL2. I could get dry loop but then I'd be paying several bux a month for a dry loop. May as well put that several bux towards a functional land line, esp. since:

2. I have a home security system. To go with wireless would mean a significant up front cost for the alarm system upgrade, plus ongoing costs for the GSM service.

3. I have a home office with fax machine. VoIP and GSM are useless for this purpose.

4. Landlines are more reliable.

BTW, my cell provider had an interesting deal a while back for existing users. Home phone service over wireless with unlimited nationwide long distance for just 10 bux per month. That's less than what I pay for the long distance package I have for my land line alone. However as explained above, cell service simply doesn't cut it.
 
ATT, Verizon..etc is trying to do away with land lines. Often to the point of not maintaining the copper lines anymore except for cell towers and where it's required but we're doing more and more fiber.. Expect this trend to get worse....I work for ATT, I know.
 
lxskllr said:
I don't get much of that. If you aren't in my contact list, I don't answer the phone. If it's important, they'll leave a message.
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I was doing that even when I had a landline. No caller id or I don't recognize the number, they can leave a message.
 
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