doing away with the "home phone"

[centerhill condor]

Season's Greetings Ya'll,
I want to do away with the old land line home phone...I've held on to it for the last couple of years because every now and then I get a fax.
what experiences have you had with making the change and what would you have done differently?
thanks, CC

[DelawareDave]

We no longer have a house phone, either. My wife and I both have cell phones, and mine has had the same number for 9 years, hers for 5 or 6 years. The kids each have their own cell phones. The house phone rarely ever got used, so why pay for it to collect dust? Most people always called our cell phones, that way they didn't call the house phone first, then call the cell phone anyway. Mine is always in my pocket anyway. I don't have to look up phone numbers, or worse yet, try to remember them!

[Howie Feltersnatch]

Got rid of mine about 4 years ago when I sold my last house. Nobody ever called it except telemarketers anyway.

[mickeyfinn]

I did it. Was a good thing. Got one of these for the house so we could still use normal phones and not worry about dead spots inside.
http://www.phonelabs.com/prd05.asp

[BoatPI]

If you have hign speed net like most everyone condider going to a VOIP phone. I use three SUnrocket modems at two houses. They have unlimited calling in North America for $199 a year ($16.90 a month). They work great and have many calling features. i use the dual ringers, the business line rings and it also rings my cell phone. The system can ring up to 5 numbers for free at the same time.

[Trailer Park Casanova]

We have a hill behind our home that blocks cell signals.
We did for a spell eliminate the land line and even then we barely missed it.
Some SANDINAVIAN countries are eliminating hard wire home phones entirely.

[HocusPocus]

we still have a house phone but we took long distance off of it. seems relatives were using our phone to make calls when we were not at home.. :hammerhea :mad:

[KLEPTOW]

Internet Phone users should keep two thing's in mind, the frist one is a big one.
1. There are no Laws protecting your privacy.
2. The internet is not optimized for Voice calls (Qos) so during peak hours your voice quality will suffer.

[Mrs.Killer]

Have not had a house phone in 2 years....
Saves a little cash..
And do not really miss it either

[RitcheyRch]

We only have our house phone for our DSL line and incase need to make a 911 call. We all have cell phones and use those.

[KLEPTOW]

I'm not dealing drugs or plannning terrorist attacks so they can listen away. I've got nothing to hide.
as far as preformance goes. As long as your connection to your ISP is good, your fine. The amount of bandwidth on the providers backbone is rediculous.
It's not the pipe ''backbone'' that's going to drop your IP Packet, that will happen at the many routers, switch's, & yes those good old repeeeeeeters.

[KLEPTOW]

[QUOTE=Forensic;2297784]I'm not dealing drugs or plannning terrorist attacks so they can listen away. I've got nothing to hide.
So when someone comes up with a hack that will allow them to remotely turn your IP speaker phone on and then listens to everything going on in your house that's ok with you?

[BOBALOO]

I also dropped the long distance from my land line but need the line for my DSL. Verizon said I could have the line switched so that I could still use my DSL but would not be able to make any calls.
I would do this but they said I would be without DSL for about 1 MONTH....ARE THEY FRICKING NUTS?
Here is what I want to do but need the cheapest route.
I want Direct tv ( but I need a phone line right? ) I also heard somewhere that I would be ok if I had the receiver hooked up to the internet thru my modem or something
I need an internet connection, dont need blazing fast
DONT need a house phone.
I cant imagine all of you that have no house phone line are using cable for your tv and internet. From what almost everyone says cable SUCKS.
does anyone have the lowest cost solution?

[Windy]

Have not had a house phone in 2 years....
Saves a little cash..
And do not really miss it either
Same here...I didnt think anybody had land lines in their homes anymore, except my parents.:)

[Desert Rat]

We use it for the alarm and the DSL, that's pretty much it.

[djunkie]

Just curious but what happens if there is an emergency and you call 911 from your cell? I know around here it goes to CHP then they do the transfer. It may not sound like a big deal to some but if you've ever been in an emergency and need police/ fire department then the small bill for the land line is worth it IMO.

[cruser]

Verizon here is offering phone/dsl/direct-tv as a package. You can mix/match any combination of the 3. You might want to check that out in your area.
I also dropped the long distance from my land line but need the line for my DSL. Verizon said I could have the line switched so that I could still use my DSL but would not be able to make any calls.
I would do this but they said I would be without DSL for about 1 MONTH....ARE THEY FRICKING NUTS?
Here is what I want to do but need the cheapest route.
I want Direct tv ( but I need a phone line right? ) I also heard somewhere that I would be ok if I had the receiver hooked up to the internet thru my modem or something
I need an internet connection, dont need blazing fast
DONT need a house phone.
I cant imagine all of you that have no house phone line are using cable for your tv and internet. From what almost everyone says cable SUCKS.
does anyone have the lowest cost solution?

[acatitude]

then theres us non baller types who still live in an old lathe and plaster house built with all that chicken wire and the damn cell doesnt work in the house= land line

[LeE ss13]

The Winds of Change are blowing in the Telecommunications world. The big Telcos are in trouble and they are scrambling to just stay in business. WiMax is coming and will replace all ground base telcom soon. China, along with many other countries, are moving forward to implement 4G Wireless service in 3 years. At that time they will surpass the US in communication technology. The Wimax IEEE 802.16 and ETSI HiperMAN wireless MAN standards will provide complete Telecom services to say a city with no underground wiring.They will have Telephone, Internet, IP Television, Video Conferencing, anything you want with 1/10 the overhead. Rumor has it the Verizon was granted serveral billion dollars to lay up as much fiber optics around towns to counter the wireless threat to their income base. They tearing up the streets in my neighborhood right now. Check it out....
http://www.wimaxforum.org/home/

[BoatPI]

We have had Verizon FIOS fiber optics for over one year. Works excellent, very fast, NO slow down like DSL, and the VOIP phone work perfect. On my FIOS line I have 2 VOIP phones, and two computer modems running two P4 computers. I expect HDTV soon from the same line.

[Devil's Advocate]

Ditched my home line about 5 years ago or so. Didn't miss it at all. But now I have a home line that my work pays for so I can work and fax out of my home. I have it set to ring in to fax so no calls come in.

[Parker Dreamin]

Just curious but what happens if there is an emergency and you call 911 from your cell? I know around here it goes to CHP then they do the transfer. It may not sound like a big deal to some but if you've ever been in an emergency and need police/ fire department then the small bill for the land line is worth it IMO.
I believe that has changed and now gets sent to the local authority, it is changing but dont know what areas have changed yet.

[John.]

We only have our house phone for our DSL line and incase need to make a 911 call. We all have cell phones and use those.
my next door neighbors are cops and recommended that we keep our land line for the same reason. if we ever have to call 911, they will know where we're at. with a cell they won't know.

[djunkie]

I believe that has changed and now gets sent to the local authority, it is changing but dont know what areas have changed yet.
Hasn't happened here yet. Just last week a buddy of mine called 911 from his cell when he witnessed a bad car wreck. Went straight to CHP. Hopefully they straighten it out. No cell works at my house here anyways, so a land line it is.

[HammerDown]

my next door neighbors are cops and recommended that we keep our land line for the same reason. if we ever have to call 911, they will know where we're at. with a cell they won't know.
Hmmm, I just har a chat (not but an hour ago) with Verizon wireless about the very same topic.
I was told ANY cell phone purchased after 2004 had some type of 911/GPS dealeo built into it for the very purpose of locating a cell user when 911 was used.:confused:

[Desert Rat]

Verizon here is offering phone/dsl/direct-tv as a package. You can mix/match any combination of the 3. You might want to check that out in your area.
Pretty much what we have

[Jim W]

I went cell only almost a year ago.
I pay something like $10-15 per year to have my cell # published in the phone book.
Otherwise, someone looking for your # cant get it.
Be good, Jim

[RitcheyRch]

The exact reason we kept our land line. Cell phone 911 calls go to the Highway Patrol.
my next door neighbors are cops and recommended that we keep our land line for the same reason. if we ever have to call 911, they will know where we're at. with a cell they won't know.

[BOBALOO]

The exact reason we kept our land line. Cell phone 911 calls go to the Highway Patrol.
This is not the big deal everyone thinks it is. On our cell phones we just put the LOCAL police department phone #'s into our phones. We put them on speed dial and also we have the phones ICE'd. What the ICE stands for is In Case of Emergency. We put a family members # under ICE so if there is a problem a stranger will know the best # to call.
Home phones suck and only receive junk calls. and my DSL for now

[RitcheyRch]

We thought about doing that but figure we needed a phone line for DSL anyways.
This is not the big deal everyone thinks it is. On our cell phones we just put the LOCAL police department phone #'s into our phones. We put them on speed dial and also we have the phones ICE'd. What the ICE stands for is In Case of Emergency. We put a family members # under ICE so if there is a problem a stranger will know the best # to call.
Home phones suck and only receive junk calls. and my DSL for now

[squirt'nmyload]

I want Direct tv ( but I need a phone line right? ) I also heard somewhere that I would be ok if I had the receiver hooked up to the internet thru my modem or something
unless you want to order pay per view with your remote, you don't need a phone line hooked up to it....also you don't need it for sunday ticket either, dtv told me that you had to but i don't and i get sunday ticket just fine......we havn't had a home phone 3 years.

[John.]

Hmmm, I just har a chat (not but an hour ago) with Verizon wireless about the very same topic.
I was told ANY cell phone purchased after 2004 had some type of 911/GPS dealeo built into it for the very purpose of locating a cell user when 911 was used.:confused:
neighbor said that the important part is that when you call 911 from a land line, your address immediately pops up. Even if you ring and hang up and don't talk to someone...they still have your address. This is not the case for cell phones.
if all cell phones have gps, then that's pretty cool...but I'm not buying it. I know that some nextel phones have it, but I doubt that all phones have it.

[lalhc]

I have kept a landline for 911 purposes because I live in a rural area. GPS services on cellular phones have to be activated by the carrier. Not all cell phones have GPS capabilities and in times when every second counts, I feel much safer having my address pop up if and when I have to dial 911 from my home. I use a combination of Vonage and my cell phone for everything else, including running my 800 business line and fax line.

[C-2]

Alternative companies like Mpower offer landlines and Nationwide service for about $25 a month, so it’s no biggie to keep one. In fact they’re so cheap, the TAXES cost almost as much as the service.
There are so many cool telephone numbers to play with on the Internet. “Portable” numbers are unbelievable. You can get a number for $2 a month and use it as a “disposable” number – meaning you never give out your true cell number. You give out the portable number and forward it into your cell. If the number falls into the wrong hands, you simply “block” the incoming number, have it ring busy, have it answer the number has been disconnected (even though it hasn’t) or simply get another $2 number. Plus, they offer unstoppable caller ID which will reverse a number to name and address for .10, the numbers can receive faxes too, all sent into your email or IM, and everything is available in real-time format on the PC.
Killer for sales and even if you wanna be a playa at the club but are worried about giving your cell number out. Wicked stuff if you know how to use it.
I have my landlines channeled thru portable numbers – I know exactly who is calling, before I pick up, even if their number is blocked – all without the incoming caller’s knowledge.

[THATJEFFGUY]

my next door neighbors are cops and recommended that we keep our land line for the same reason. if we ever have to call 911, they will know where we're at. with a cell they won't know.
Not completely true. Most departments are switching, or have switched over to the "Lat/Long" systems, which allows dispatch to pinpoint your exact location, within a few feet, when you dial 911 from your cell.