Land Line Phone option?

[cgarr]

We still have our original phone land line and number with at&t and I really see no reason not to just cancel it and save about 30 bucks a month. The wife really wants it left alone. Are there any options where I can get something installed a lot cheaper but keep the same phone number? That's all she is concerned about is certain people only have our land line phone number. I said just give them your cell number, Not an option with her.

Help!

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by cgarr

...Are there any options where I can get something installed a lot cheaper but keep the same phone number?...

You could go with the Consumer Cellular "free phone" and $10/month plan (I think it's only 100 min. though) and port your home phone # to it (easy to do). I've got several phones (family members and non-free phones) and a higher plan but with no contracts, no gimmicks, and I've been pleased. If 100 minutes aren't enough, take the calls and call 'em back on another phone...

[gizmofixer]

VOIPO.com
unlimited local and long distance.
two lines on one number.
lots of cool programmable options.
$184/yr including about $30 taxes.
'port' your existing number into voipo.

[Moses]

Ooma. Amazing quality. Keep your old number. No phone bills. No telemarketers. I couldn't be happier.

[TheMentat]

You could probably get AT&T to simply disconnect the landline and forward the old number to the cell for a few bucks a month.

[TimT]

I did that with the land line number I had for 30 years..

Verizon called it "porting" there was no fee

[intakexhaust]

Set up a g-mail account. Calls anywhere in N. America are free. The free Google internet phone works perfect, providing you leave a PC on while home. When away, the PC is off but you can forward the number up to any 5 numbers, at the same time... ex: your mobile, wifes, kids, office, etc. Program your own voice mail message. The incoming calls are also converted to text and into your email. You select your own number and even the area code or it will do it for you. I used the national phone number search and did some homework before selecting a number.

The downsides are no 911 and another issue in my community is remote opening a security gate entrance for guest (requires land line).

For fun, I have an original big wooden phone from the early 1900's (no dial) and internally wired a bluetooth to the mic and ear piece. A tablet or PC using the gmail online phone is wireless connected via bluetooth to the antique phone. As long as the PC or phone is within 25 ft it works.

[fuelie600]

+1 on google voice.

Just did this with our home phone. Moved it to vonage several years ago, but price and fees kept going up. We hardly used it anymore, but wanted to keep it. Had to port it to google in a two step process, because you can't port from vonage to GV. Used a $10 t-mobile prepaid SIM as an intermediate step.

You can use the Obi gateway to connect your house phones to google. No PC needed.

The only downside is no 911 support. You have to call the local dispatch center phone number instead.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Google voice is good, so is magic jack (I have both, no land line and standalone "dry" dsl). Don't think you can port a number to magic jack but might be worth a look. There's no reason to have a land line anymore - total waste of $$$ IMHO.

[Zeke]

MJ does not port. If you use a fax, you need the land line or go electronic fax. What's the point of that? Some say faxes are dead. I find them useful. Quick, easy to use, easy to find, lots of pluses.

[Crowbob]

With a large power outage, you may lose cell phone service but landline is maintained IIRC.

[id10t]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

With a large power outage, you may lose cell phone service but landline is maintained IIRC.

Until the batteries in the UPS in the big grey box down the road die 3 days into a 8 day power outage...

[island911]

Some VOIP give a big old battery with the router (for power outages). But still, I have yet to hear VOIP or cell deliver the same level of fidelity as standard land lines. ...signal delays and compression annoy me.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

With a large power outage, you may lose cell phone service but landline is maintained IIRC.

I used to keep an older no-frills phone around just for this purpose, before I gave up my LL. If one has a plug-in base...it's a moot point.

Originally Posted by island911

... But still, I have yet to hear VOIP or cell deliver the same level of fidelity as standard land lines. ...signal delays and compression annoy me.

On a high quality Intranet, VOIP is fantastic...I have no expierience on "Al Gore's Internet" though