Do People Still Have Home Phones?

[impactbumper]

Just realized, canceled my service back in 2008 and never had home phone since then.

[GH85Carrera]

I would dump mine in a heartbeat. My wife wants to keep it. We still have it but I changed to Ooma and only pay $3.95 per month in taxes for the honor on having a home phone.

[Pazuzu]

I have 2 home phones! Ha!

I use the cordless (not wireless...) most of the time because it's 100x more comfortable than talking into a cell phone. We also have an actual corded wall phone because they still work when the hurricanes hit

[Deschodt]

Home phone ? Not as of this week, either way. I kept a vonage line for a local toll # and cheap international calls. But now with whatsapp and facetime all long distance calls are free anyway, and cheap cell phone rates no longer make area codes irrelevant... The only use for one would be a solid ground line anyway, not VOIP, for say an earthquake...

besides personal # are so much more useful, I don't need to accidentally talk to say, my mother in law anymore, she calls my wife directly ;-)

[rwest]

of course, how would the tele-marketers get ahold of me otherwise?

I still have mine because I like the clarity better- cell phones seem to have an echo to them, although I rarely use it any more. I don't have my own cell phone, just a work one, so I would have to buy a cell phone if I got rid of it.

[pete3799]

No choice......no cell service here.

[Amail]

I have the line, but no phone attached. It turns out if I want to drop the land line, my cable bill goes up because I no longer have a bundled package. Go figure!

[aigel]

Been without for almost 10 years. People say it works better in an emergency such as an earthquake, but who is going to pick up at the other end, if 8000 people all call at the same time? Also, some of these "landlines" are actually through cable / fiber etc. now, aren't they?

G

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by aigel

Been without for almost 10 years. People say it works better in an emergency such as an earthquake, but who is going to pick up at the other end, if 8000 people all call at the same time? Also, some of these "landlines" are actually through cable / fiber etc. now, aren't they?

G

All of your loved one calling YOU to see if you are OK. Or you calling the loved ones to tell them come help you are in need of assistance.

[id10t]

Dry DSL is more expensive than landline serve plus DSL for me

[jyl]

Our home phone is an $11/mo extra cellular line, with cellular box plugged into a cordless phone system.

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by aigel

Also, some of these "landlines" are actually through cable / fiber etc. now, aren't they?

G

Some are, yes, and those are useless when the power goes out. But, most homes still have copper going to them, and can get actual hardwired phones.

[GH85Carrera]

There is one major problem with cell phones only. In times of crisis or a major event there is not enough bandwidth to allow phone calls. Even texting is a challenge.

[Evans, Marv]

We don't have cell service either. The land line still works during times when the power goes off, which isn't often. When we get cell service, we'll probably drop the land line though.

[oldE]

Up until two years ago, we had a land line and one cel phone. We dropped the landline when we got a second cel and saved $30/month.
Even after two years, I sometimes walk into the house thinking: "I should check the messages"
You can teach an old dog new tricks, but it takes at least a couple of years.

Best
Les

[Nickshu]

We still have one but it's VOIP thru Xfinity. We have it for two reasons, one our cell service can be spotty when the weather is bad, and two it's bunded with our internet/TV package and doesn't cost much.

But we just about never check the voicemail on it, when we do we find all the messages from people who say they called us and never got a hold of us...LOL. Recently changed the voicemail to say don't leave a message on this line.

[Pazuzu]

I'll add some grief to this. Not only do we have a landline, we also have...an actual answering machine. A real honest to goodness separate machine that the phone plugs into, and takes our messages for us, with a flashing red light and everything.

Ha!

[rwest]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

I'll add some grief to this. Not only do we have a landline, we also have...an actual answering machine. A real honest to goodness separate machine that the phone plugs into, and takes our messages for us, with a flashing red light and everything.

Ha!

Bonus points if it uses a cassette tape! I was using one up until a couple years ago- wish I still was. Come home see blinking light, hit play, carry on with whatever and listen to the messages. Now, you have to *68, hit 11, then enter code, hit #, listen while holding phone...technology doesn't always make life easier.

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by rwest

Bonus points if it uses a cassette tape! I was using one up until a couple years ago- wish I still was. Come home see blinking light, hit play, carry on with whatever and listen to the messages. Now, you have to *68, hit 11, then enter code, hit #, listen while holding phone...technology doesn't always make life easier.

We went to a digital one about 7, 8 years ago because the cassette tape ones just sound like crap, that tape can't record over and over so many times.

[fastfredracing]

Originally Posted by pete3799

No choice......no cell service here.

Same here. We live in a valley. If I drive 3 miles down the road, I get perfect cell service, but at home, nada.
I have a landline for my business also .