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I read somewhere that over half of US households no longer have a landline. We got rid of ours about three years ago. We were paying $50 a month/$600 a year for something we didn't really need. And that $50 a month did not include "long distance" charges, because we always used our cell phones to call out of the area friends, relatives and businesses. We pay $90 a month for our two smartphones and I am quite sure our long distance charge savings well exceeds the $40 "extra" we pay for our smartphone voice, text and data had we only relied on our landline for calling.
I feel there is a false economy with some folk who believe that having a cell phone/smartphone is a waste of money or they boast that they only pay $100 a year for a prepaid service and rely on their landline for all calling.
So why keep a landline?
My home is equipped with a Lifeline emergency call unit and it can only be connected to a landline phone jack. I don't own a cell because I don't need one. Tried it out but couldn't operate it. I see how handy they are. Maybe one day...
Sure do and used it Sunday. I was talking to a brother on the smart phone, the signal went dead (no bars), and I finished the call on the land line.
I use it about every night of the work week to call in when I awake for my shift. It is the surest way to get a signal out and for people to get a hold of me.
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Originally Posted by goofy328
If you have access to Internet you can get a call anywhere. But if you can see the tower there may be other issues worth looking into.
Plus there are landlines that you can plug into your router. The cable companies offer a similar setup but it is really expensive dealing with them. Something like the Obi may be something of interest to you.
Beliefs like this are great if one is in the city but they are nowhere out in the country. What cable company? If I want TV like it was on cable, I have to go to satellite. My internet is satellite and darn limited, 5 Gs download a month so assuming the above is true, there is a reason of why not to go that direction.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Williepaws
My landline was canceled because the state of Ma gave verizon permission to cancel landlines because verizon refused to maintain copperwire lines anymore. This is happening in other states too. Hidden from the consumer until it happens to you. We didnt have a choice........
That would just about suck. About the only good thing to me about that is that it would re-enforce my perceptions of living in remote areas in the 60's.......or in the 40's such as in Lynda Carter's "Wonder Woman".
A real land line using copper phone lines? Who knows, I don't know anybody that still has one. As far as a land line using your internet connection, that starts at about $10 a month. Basictalk is $9.99 a month.
If it uses your internet connect, VOIP, how is that "landline?"
If it uses your internet connect, VOIP, how is that "landline?"
It uses a land based connection, is stationary, not mobile. The "old" way of doing it would have been a copper line, now it's coax or fiber and it's digital not analog. It's still a physical connection though.
My home is equipped with a Lifeline emergency call unit and it can only be connected to a landline phone jack. I don't own a cell because I don't need one. Tried it out but couldn't operate it. I see how handy they are. Maybe one day...
Most modern lifeline systems use wireless. And do you ever leave your house?
It uses a land based connection, is stationary, not mobile. The "old" way of doing it would have been a copper line, now it's coax or fiber and it's digital not analog. It's still a physical connection though.
Here we go again. I just had this discussion with someone else.
THE TERM LANDLINE REFERS TO THE OLD TELEPHONY SYSTEM. Period. This is not up for debate.
Just because it still has a cable attached to the phone does not make it a landline! Does not. Does not. Does not. This is what the other person I discussed this with could not get past.
"But my phone is connected to a cable" DOES NOT MAKE IT A LANDLINE.
Just because it runs over your cable internet connection does not make it a landline.
A landline is a dedicated circuit that will not be interrupted because your cable internet is down.
land·line
ˈlan(d)ˌlīn/Submit
noun
a conventional telecommunications connection by cable laid across land, typically either on poles or buried underground.
^^^Really? Did you just make that up? I wonder sometimes. Argue all you want with Wikipedia. Not that it's the authority on anything but I would tend to go with them instead of you. Where did YOU get your information and by the way what I posted, I posted from my head. When you chimed in, I googled it. Check the bolded section.
Quote:
A landline telephone (also known as land line, land-line, main line, home phone, landline, fixed-line, and wireline) is a phone that uses a metal wire or optical fiber telephone line for transmission as distinguished from a mobile cellular line, which uses radio waves for transmission. In 2003, the CIA reported approximately 1.263 billion main telephone lines worldwide. China had more than any other country at 350 million and the United States was second with 268 million. The United Kingdom has 23.7 million residential fixed homephones.[1][unreliable source?] The 2013 statistics show that the total number of fixed-telephone subscribers in the world was about 1.16 billion.[2] The number of landline subscribers continuously decreases due to upgrades in digital technology and the conveniences that come with switching to wireless (cellular) or Internet-based alternatives.
Here it is from Merriam Webster if you want to get technical. It doesn't say anything about the OLD TELEPHONY SYSTEM!
Quote:
Definition of landline
1 : a line of transportation or communication on land; especially : a telephone line that transmits signals from one station to another directly along a wire without the use of radio waves
It reminds me of the tipping point several years ago when people realized they no longer needed a telephone landline and would do just fine with their cell phones. —Rana Foroohar
—often used before another noun a landline phonea landline network
2 : a telephone that connects by wire : a landline telephone
Of course, if you're really worried, you could ditch your cell phone for a quaint landline. —Kiera Butler
For awhile the term "landline" vs. "cellular/mobile" worked to differentiate the 2 types of service. But with the later advent of VOIP service, the distinction became muddied.
Perhaps the term "POTS" (as in Plain Old Telephone Service) better describes the old-school "Ma Bell" wireline service as a distinction from both VOIP or cellular.
For awhile the term "landline" vs. "cellular/mobile" worked to differentiate the 2 types of service. But with the later advent of VOIP service, the distinction became muddied.
Perhaps the term "POTS" (as in Plain Old Telephone Service) better describes the old-school "Ma Bell" wireline service as a distinction from both VOIP or cellular.
And now we have telephone access via WiFi to add to the mix. ;-)
In my opinion landline means copper wire and cable. VOIP requires you sit at your computer. Landline. Mobile is mobile. I can sit at a mountain top or in my car going 60mph as a passenger (to be legal) with my iPhone. That is not a landline. We dumped our sit at home telephone. Why go cable, copper or VOIP when our iPhones do the job well? They also do WiFi if needed.
In my opinion landline means copper wire and cable. VOIP requires you sit at your computer. Landline. Mobile is mobile. I can sit at a mountain top or in my car going 60mph as a passenger (to be legal) with my iPhone. That is not a landline. We dumped our sit at home telephone. Why go cable, copper or VOIP when our iPhones do the job well? They also do WiFi if needed.
Because in many parts of the US, not everyone has cell phone coverage. Even in heavily populated areas, cell coverage can be intermittent at best. Old copper wire landlines were mandated by the fed govt to cover the country many decades ago. Nobody mandates cell phone coverage.
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