Land Line Telephone Provider?

[Erma]

We have Verizon for everything and are quite happy. We have the land line because we both have elderly parents and our families live out of state where in-network calling is non-existant, except where my brother lives. Our cell phones go off at 8pm, so if an emergency arises with the folks, we know what's going on. Chessie has the right idea. Our kitchen phone is not a battery phone and we still have service when the power goes out.

[telemonster]

FreeFreq - why would you say Cox isn't true dial tone? Is Verizon service that is provided by a multiplexer such as a SLC96 (Suffolk lol) true dial tone? FIOS is similar to Cox telephone in that the dialtone is created at the customers premises, would you insult your company's FIOS offerings?

In the area Verizon is the baby bell. They provide the standard land line service.

Cox, the cable TV provider sells phone service through the cable network. The voice quality is fine. The one thing is that the power for the equipment they use for the phone service (a box on the outside of your house). In some areas their equipment in the neighborhood has both battery backup and a natural gas generator to keep the service up during an extended power outage. Normally you will see 2 dark green boxes, one with natural gas piping going into it. That is the backup power. In other neighborhoods there is no generator. So their network runs for around 20 to 24 hours before all the phones go dead (I'd imagine TV goes as well since the fiber mux is in the cabinet). So this is a downside. Also when getting a quote, ask what the full bill will be. Normally the taxes drive the costs up it's similar to Verizon.

There is FIOS, which is where Verizon runs fiber to the house. It operates like Cox, only the power comes from your house. They provide a battery backup to help keep the unit up, not sure how long it lasts. Here you could power it from a generator if you needed to. Once Verizon moves everyone to FIOS, there will be no copper lines anymore. Once there are no copper lines there will be no...

The last phone provider is the CLEC, or competitive local exchange carrier. These are independent telephone companies that buy access to Verizons older copper infrastructure. They can offer a cheaper rate. Verizon employees are known to HATE them. Verizon has to maintain the copper cable from the outside of the residence back to the phone switch. They don't like to fix CLEC issues, because they aren't really their customers. Verizon has priced their DSL service so cheap that it's the exact amount a CLEC has to pay just to get access to the copper lines, making it impossible for the CLECs to compete price wise. They've done other things.

Also, there is a "poor people" phone line. It's ment for low income people, but it might be a path to a cheap land line for e911 use. Incoming calls are free but outgoing calls cost per minute, or something. Seems ideal if you use a cell phone for all long distance. I think it's called economy service.

Note, I've never worked for a telephone company or cable provider. But know a bit about their networks.

[hurdboy]

Have had Cavtel for about 18 months. Other than a billing glitch when I decided to cancel their TV service (they were going to shut it off, anyway), I have no complaints.

Yes, they do lease from Verizon. It's Verizon copper to the CO. After the CO, however, all bets are off. Their DSL service is three to four times better than what Verizon offered me.

Have nothing nice to say about Cox's phone or internet (reliability on both has been shaky, in my experience). TV is fine.

[CubFan73]

That's exactly why I asked the question. I want a true landline phone. Not VoIP. I want to be able to still call out if the power goes off for a while. No power, no internet, no cell phone charger. But still a dialtone on a landline.

I thought verizons service was also VoIP. Its not? Its a true landline, FREEFREQ?

[Trevor92]

Originally Posted by CubFan73

That's exactly why I asked the question. I want a true landline phone. Not VoIP. I want to be able to still call out if the power goes off for a while. No power, no internet, no cell phone charger. But still a dialtone on a landline.

I thought verizons service was also VoIP. Its not? Its a true landline, FREEFREQ?

Cox digital telephone and Verizon FiOS both carry calls over their data network. Verizon FiOS doesn't use VoIP, it's called POTS, but from what I understand from wikipedia, it's basically the same thing designed for Verizon's equipment.

With your main concern, if the power goes out, Cox digital telephone, and Verizon FiOS both utilize a battery backup which will give you about 8 hours of phone service. So if the power goes out for a little while, any company should still give you phone service (as long as your phone doesn't need power). Most cell towers in the nation also have backup generator power (just charge it before the storm! ). So being able to make a call in a power outage shouldn't be a problem regardless of who you choose.

[Trevor92]

Originally Posted by Trevor92

Cox digital telephone and Verizon FiOS both carry calls over their data network. Verizon FiOS doesn't use VoIP, it's called POTS, but from what I understand from wikipedia, it's basically the same thing designed for Verizon's equipment.

To make a correction (since I was rushing yesterday), it looks like in some areas FiOS uses digital voice and in others it uses Plain Old (analog) Telephone Service (POTS). But the end result is the same as I said before. According to Wiki on FiOS, "Since fiber-optic service does not carry power from the exchange as copper service does, the customer's power is used instead. This means that if there is no electricity at the premises, telephone service will be interrupted."

So I guess the point is the same with Cox digital voice or Verizon FiOS, if there's a power outage, you'll have about 8 hours of battery backup with either.

[ChessieMom]

Originally Posted by CubFan73

That's exactly why I asked the question. I want a true landline phone. Not VoIP. I want to be able to still call out if the power goes off for a while. No power, no internet, no cell phone charger. But still a dialtone on a landline.

I thought verizons service was also VoIP. Its not? Its a true landline, FREEFREQ?

My Verizon landline is a true landline. During one hurricane we lost power for 4 days - my parents for 2 weeks. We both have Verizon land lines and had full phone service the entire time.