I saw an article that more then 20 million homes have cut the cord on landline phones.
With this trend I guess my wife and I are ahead of the curve, having not had landline phones for over five years. We rely strictly on Cell Phones.
I do remember initially giving up a landline phone wasn’t an easy decision to make, especially five years ago. You have to get past feelings of insecurity being without one. But I have to say there hasn’t been a moment that we’ve regretted out decision.
For us, I think once dial-up Internet went away and Cel Phone service became more widespread, reliable and affordable it was inevitable that landlines would go the way of rotary phones.
A national Cel Phone family plan with reasonable minutes seems to be the way to go if you live in a good service area.
Even the newer IP phones over Cable or DSL aren’t attractive to me under the current circumstances.
I’m giving up my age here but I remember when I was younger my parents having a party line that was shared with the neighborhood, and of course this was using the old black rotary phone. ;-)
I’ve thought about giving up mine. I have DSL and a security system, both of which rely on having a land line. I believe that one can get DSL without having a home phone, but you still need a telephone line. Further, some security systems use cellular technology, which is better as it cannot be cut from the outside, but they charge more per month, negating the savings of not having a land line.
While I’m working away from home, my apartment here in Charleston does not have a land line and I have cable Internet service, which is quite a bit slower than my DSL at home. I’ve had cable service at home and it was horrific. Time Warner, at least in our area, has abysmal service, to say the least. My service was down more than up!
Lastly, there’s the advantage of having 911 with your address, should you need it and having access to a phone that doesn’t depend on a rechargeable battery.
Oh yeah, I need it for my Dish Network account to order Pay-Per-View movies, too. I could call the 800 number, but they charge a convenience fee if you use the number. :-( I think that I’ll be keeping my land line for the foreseeable future.
We use Time Warner Cable with Internet at their fastest 12 mbs and have only had minor problems. The few problems we have experienced have been quickly solved by TW. It doesn’t sound like we’re talking about the same company does it?
I do movie rental via AppleTV (Wifi – Internet) or NetFlix. Security is cellular and as far as 911 goes, since I always carry my Cell Phone I would say it’s more convenient then having to run into the house to use a phone in an emergency.
Bonnie and I both have heavy duty batteries on our Phones so they can go about 3-6 days of normal use before charging. As a habit we charge them each night.
It’s all what you get use to and how you’ve set up you life processes but there’s really nothing we’ve had to give up that I would miss. ;-)
There was a phone-focused Cath… fullreply.com/10