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Old 09-22-2017, 06:30 PM
 
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
10,329 posts, read 7,910,017 times
Reputation: 27666

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tonyafd View Post
The advantage of a land line is that a corded phone can be attached, and is independently powered through the phone line.
Not always. I still have a corded phone connected to what the phone company calls a "landline" - but in my old condo building, in order for that line to work a phone modem has to be plugged into one of the phone jacks, and if the power goes down, so does the phone line. It's a nuisance.
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Old 09-22-2017, 07:02 PM
 
10,599 posts, read 17,821,575 times
Reputation: 17351
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aredhel View Post
Not always. I still have a corded phone connected to what the phone company calls a "landline" - but in my old condo building, in order for that line to work a phone modem has to be plugged into one of the phone jacks, and if the power goes down, so does the phone line. It's a nuisance.
There's something wrong with that. A traditional telephone landline never needs a modem - it's called POTS line. Plain Old Telephone Service.

It's possible your HOA or previous owner had a reseller or something and not direct service from the real phone company. Or some extra piece of equipment you couldn't see that should have been removed. Like for an alarm or something. Or DSL for your computer? A modem is for transmitting computer data. Converts digital signals generated by the computer into analog signals.
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Old 09-22-2017, 07:39 PM
 
Location: NY / Fl.
387 posts, read 512,684 times
Reputation: 810
Yes I still have a landline or wired phone service. It takes the brunt of sales calls, or computer hang up calls. My cell phone number is the important number, I'm careful who gets that.
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Old 09-22-2017, 08:18 PM
 
Location: Wasilla, AK
7,448 posts, read 7,531,130 times
Reputation: 16456
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tonyafd View Post
The advantage of a land line is that a corded phone can be attached, and is independently powered through the phone line.
Only if you still have copper wire service. VoiP, fiber optics or cable, nope.
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Old 09-22-2017, 09:47 PM
 
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
10,329 posts, read 7,910,017 times
Reputation: 27666
Quote:
Originally Posted by runswithscissors View Post
There's something wrong with that. A traditional telephone landline never needs a modem - it's called POTS line. Plain Old Telephone Service.

It's possible your HOA or previous owner had a reseller or something and not direct service from the real phone company. Or some extra piece of equipment you couldn't see that should have been removed. Like for an alarm or something. Or DSL for your computer? A modem is for transmitting computer data. Converts digital signals generated by the computer into analog signals.
Nope, it's not an issue with my unit. Every unit in the building is like this. It has something to with the main switchboard in the building. And it caught me by surprise, because the building dates to 1964. My previous house, built in 2003, had a real landline that functioned perfectly.
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Old 09-23-2017, 01:07 AM
 
Location: Washington state
6,972 posts, read 4,829,614 times
Reputation: 21747
Quote:
Originally Posted by matisse12 View Post
landline is free with xFinity/Comcast triple package of internet and cable TV.

But even if it were not free, I'd still keep it.
I'm not about to pay over a hundred bucks just to have a landline. For that, I'll pay $20 and add minutes to my phone. The nice thing about that is if I don't have the money, I don't have to worry about it. And I'm not someone who's glued to her phone. I often I forget to check it and when I go somewhere, I never remember to take it with me. I don't miss it when it runs out of minutes. If I can't talk on the phone, then I can't talk on the phone. No big deal. A landline would just be for convenience. One I can do without if it's too expensive.

I don't have a TV anyway. I watch TV and movies free online and without commercials.
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Old 09-23-2017, 05:18 AM
 
Location: Concord, CA
7,140 posts, read 9,227,275 times
Reputation: 25408
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlaskaErik View Post
Only if you still have copper wire service. VoiP, fiber optics or cable, nope.
That's correct.

Recently, when we lost power for a few hours I tried to use the wired telephone connected to my old POTS wired copper line. It worked fine.

If your telephone service is VOIP transmitted over the co-ax cable and you lose power, you're done. However, it's likely that your battery powered cell phone would still work as long as the cell tower was still working. I think many of those do have battery backups.
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Old 09-23-2017, 06:14 AM
 
Location: So Ca
26,631 posts, read 26,545,988 times
Reputation: 24641
Quote:
Originally Posted by rodentraiser View Post
I'm not about to pay over a hundred bucks just to have a landline.
Yeek. Ours is about $20 now (was once nearly $70 with the previous provider)....I think it's all how they package this stuff, e.g. Internet, landline, cable, etc. Cell phones are under a different provider, unfortunately.

Quote:
I'm not someone who's glued to her phone. I often I forget to check it and when I go somewhere, I never remember to take it with me.
Agree with you there. I tend to forget my cell phone in my purse but check the landline messages first. Habit. My sister's cell phone is like an appendage. And kids are never without theirs.
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Old 09-23-2017, 06:17 AM
 
Location: Coastal Georgia
50,099 posts, read 63,480,500 times
Reputation: 92723
We do not use our cell phones much. We keep a landline as part of a bundle with Internet. If we got rid of the landline our internet would go up $10. so we'd only be saving about $10.

We like that we can screen calls on the landline.
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Old 09-23-2017, 06:29 AM
 
Location: SW Florida
15,199 posts, read 10,204,988 times
Reputation: 32140
I haven't had one in about 5 years but I may consider getting one when I move into my own house next month. Depends on what it costs. After hurricane Irma hit us many of the landlines weren't working but the cell phones were. I always thought it would be the opposite.
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