Thread

Ditch the land line?

MacNN Troubleshooting 18 posts Jun 30, 2004 to Jul 1, 2004

#1 Wed, 30 Jun 2004 - 23:32 MacNN

my wife and i are moving soon, and we both have mobile phones. i am thinking of not getting a land line at the future abode.

i have heard that other people are taking this plunge, but are there any downsides?

do most new mobile phones have the 911 GPS tracking built in?

we send occasional faxes, but it's not a big issue.

of course, i'd have to get a wireless adapter so our TiVo can get the schedule information (and tell them what kind of products we might buy in the future).

i just want to hear lots of people tell me that it's ok, and it saves a few bucks.

Thanks y'all.

#2 Wed, 30 Jun 2004 - 23:35 MacNN

Most new phones have 911/GPS, but not every 911 system is capable of homing in on you...something to ask about wherever you're moving to.

#3 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 02:04 MacNN

Four years without a land line. Haven't missed it a day. People call people, not houses.

#4 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 02:15 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by - - e r i k - -:
Four years without a land line. Haven't missed it a day. People call people, not houses.

Hear Hear. 3 years without a land line. Why be tied to a location. Get a reasonable plan that you can talk on and go from there. Land line=old tech! *(unless you need it for DSL or some such)

#5 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 02:25 MacNN

I keep my landline for my ADSL only (Cable is too big of a big brother in Canada). I have truly unlimited calling (use over 2,000 minutes/month and mostly during day) and pay only $30/month US add in $4.50 for call display and 50 message/3 minutes/message voicemail. I also pay no S.A.F. (System Access Fee). I also pay $17/month for 850 US/Canada minutes billed by the second! Roam outside of my City? 20�/min billed by the second.

www.fidozone.ca I love Fido

#6 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 06:56 MacNN

going on almost 8 years, no landline (minus 5 months for DSL before cable was in the area). don't miss it a bit.

#7 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 08:47 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by Mac Write:
[B]I keep my landline for my ADSL only (Cable is too big of a big brother in Canada).

i'm not moving to canada, but it is very possible we will be getting DSL when we move to LA. I generally prefer it to cable because of the upstream speed.

but you don't have to buy local phone service to get DSL, right? or is that the catch?

#8 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 09:04 MacNN

My Dad did the no land line thing a while back. Only problem he ran into was with some close minded companies like Blockbuster who wouldn't give him a membership without a landline they could call...I don't know how prevalent this is with other companies.

#9 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 09:29 MacNN

Hmmm... Looking at my phone bill and the calls to one of my friends who hasn't got a land-line (mobile only), it'd actually be cheaper for me to buy him a land-line and call him on that rather than call his mobile.

#10 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 09:39 MacNN

I think I read recently that certain DSL providers no longer require local phone service so you should look into that.

Like someone mentioned, there are only a couple reasons to keep land line service:

911 - Although you can call 911 with your cell phone, its not exactly perfect. There are tons of routing problems and such. I heard a couple people here in MA that called 911 and it called Minnesota state police and other random places like that.

Long Distance - You might have long distance for free on your cell phone but that doesn't mean other people do. If you move to a different area code and your neighbor or someone needs to call you, they might have to pay long distance to call you.

Does anyone know if calling 800 numbers counts as free minutes? That could be a problem if you ever have to call tech support and wait on hold.

I am sure I missing something.

#11 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 09:42 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by John F. Smith:

i have heard that other people are taking this plunge, but are there any downsides?

Last year in September, when hurricane Isabelle hit Virgina, my broadband and electricity was down for many days.

Luckily, my iBook (recharged in the car) was able to dial-up.
So I had internet in midst of chaos.

That was great

-t

#12 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 10:21 MacNN

whoa... wtf?

i started this thread, not John F. Smith.

there's a duplicate of it with my name at the top, but what's up with this?

at first, i thought they were exact dupes... just realized that John is cutting in on me...

#13 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 10:28 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by Casper Crane:
whoa... wtf?

i started this thread, not John F. Smith.

there's a duplicate of it with my name at the top, but what's up with this?

WTF is going on here ?

-t

#14 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 10:32 MacNN

Would love to ditch SBC. However, TIVO and DirecTV require a dedicated phone line attached.

#15 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 10:55 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by turtle777:
WTF is going on here ?

-t

It's just John F. Smith's latest effort to be funny, I suspect.

#16 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 11:07 MacNN

We still have a landline for DSL, no cell phones get good service in our apartment, and for emergencies.

#17 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 14:02 MacNN

Quote:

Originally posted by rhansen_x:
Would love to ditch SBC. However, TIVO and DirecTV require a dedicated phone line attached.

DirecTV+TiVo may require one, but normal TiVo only requires a phone line for the initial setup, so do that at a friends then go home and enjoy broadband.

#18 Thu, 1 Jul 2004 - 15:53 MacNN

See Mr.Smith copy a thread.
See Mr.Smith chuckle behind his monitor.
See Mr.Smith spill Mt.Dew on his stonewashed jean shorts.
See Mr.Smith use foul language.
See Mr.Smith post a furiously blinking eye to rack up more bad karma.
See Mr.Smith sit smugly.
See Mr.Smith's mother bug him to take out the garbage.
See Mr.Smith pout.
Pout Mr.Smith, pout.