Thinking of canceling my landline and going cellphone only. Anyone regret doing this? (Skype, laptop)
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Are you completely unhooked? I'm thinking seriously about unhooking from satellite once my contract is up and just going with a rooftop antenna and a purchase of an HD-DVR that will work with over the air antennas.
I have cable internet because it's the fastest thing in the area and we need it for work.
Other than that, just our cell phones.
We watch TV shows by streaming them off Hulu, Netflix, or buying our favorite series from iTunes or Amazon.
It's nice.
ETA: My kids don't mind it. They are unplugged from the constant barrage of commercials for crap they don't need.
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It's nice not hearing the phone ring randomly. And it's nice not being bothered by robo-calls or solicitors.
I do get yelled by friends, because my cell phone is on silent most times and I don't pick up. That's the downside is that sometimes I forget to turn it back up. Eh.
Unplugging the POTS is becoming more and more popular and has been discussed on here in the past. I chose to move my landlines to VOIP (OOMA - no monthly fee and free long distance). I was using the VOIP system when I initially got it quite frequently. Now I rarely use it. I still have it hooked up because it doesn't cost me anything.
I dropped my landline when I moved in early 2002. Back then, explaining to the phone company what a "dry loop" was when trying to get DSL turned on was fun...
We have a POTS line at the office for faxing, but that's it. Everything else at the office is VoIP, as is my home phone (it's basically just there just for voicemail - everyone that knows me personally has my cell number).
No regrets. Make sure your cell service is solid at home before giving up your landline, though.
Another thing to consider is 911 service. A POTS line works when the power is out, and they have a physical address associated with your number. Locating a cell isn't nearly as reliable. If solid 911 service is important to you, keep your land line - it's cheap insurance.
I don't recall when I gave up the landline but I bought this house 3.5 years ago and never hooked up. Advice, sign up for a Skype account - just in case - like losing the cell, letting it go without charge, the dog eating it.... Put a few bucks into the Skype fund so you can make those outgoing calls. You don't have to load the app with the PC, just know how to launch it. And you can put that number on forms and such, give it to strangers, since you're not going to answer it. Or if you want to have along talk with mom or dad you can hook up a head set.
And Swagger, I can send faxes from my PC, something like ten cents a page. I could become a Pro account and receive faxes as well. Of course if you're a heavy fax user that might not be to your benefit. I use Fax1 dot com. I used it in the doc send for my real estate purchase.
I dropped my landline when I moved in early 2002. Back then, explaining to the phone company what a "dry loop" was when trying to get DSL turned on was fun...
We have a POTS line at the office for faxing, but that's it. Everything else at the office is VoIP, as is my home phone (it's basically just there just for voicemail - everyone that knows me personally has my cell number).
No regrets. Make sure your cell service is solid at home before giving up your landline, though.
Another thing to consider is 911 service. A POTS line works when the power is out, and they have a physical address associated with your number. Locating a cell isn't nearly as reliable. If solid 911 service is important to you, keep your land line - it's cheap insurance.
Power outages is a real concern. I remedied this with backup power. I witnessed this reality during Hurricane Irene. While I was fortunate to live in an area with minimal physical damage to structures, the wind took down power lines and we were without power for 4 days.
I could save $20 a month on my cable bill by dumping my landline and making my cellphone my only phone. Has anyone who has done this found any downside to not having a landline anymore?
I have not had a landline since about 2003 or so. I got my first cell phone in 1998 through work. Had that until around 2000 and used the landline for about a year until I got another one. Outside of that year, I haven't used a landline more than a handful of times since I got my first cell phone.
Incidentally, I have been thinking of getting a landline lately to use for non-personal calls and the like. It really irks me when my phone vibrates (or rings if I forget to put in on vibrate) at odd, awkward, or just generally at the "wrong" moment. Plus since moving to Maryland, my power has went out twice over the last year. Each time was roughly 5 days.
From 2003-2010 I didn't have a landline. Part of that is college... you'd be hard pressed to find someone in college with a landline. Now, I work from home and actually have two phone lines, although one of them is VoIP. The second line is really just there because videoconferencing is still kind of flaky so having the audio coming in off a old-fashioned conference call actually works better. Of course, a growing number of people these days think a conference call is setting their iPhone on speakerphone on the middle of the table like that's going to work worth a damn.
From 2003-2010 I didn't have a landline. Part of that is college... you'd be hard pressed to find someone in college with a landline. Now, I work from home and actually have two phone lines, although one of them is VoIP. The second line is really just there because videoconferencing is still kind of flaky so having the audio coming in off a old-fashioned conference call actually works better. Of course, a growing number of people these days think a conference call is setting their iPhone on speakerphone on the middle of the table like that's going to work worth a damn.
I have a headset. And a Jawbone Jambox. Works better than most of the TC speakerphones at the office.
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The only thing I can think of is if the power is out for a long time, a phone line can still be used, but your cell phone will go dead. Of course you need an older non-electronic phone for that to work.
We do not have a landline, but we kept our old number with a VOIP line because too many people had that number and we woudl never figure who they all were to notify them of a change. However we do not really used hte voip lines, we hardly ever even answer it, just check the messages.
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