Hold everything -- did you have
any idea surging cellphone use was putting a damper on landline utilization? Oh, right, common knowledge. Anywho, a recent study conducted here in America found that three in ten households actually relied solely or primarily on their mobile to communicate. In the latter half of 2007, it was discovered that 16-percent of domiciles didn't even have a landline, while 13-percent had one but took all (or nearly all) of their calls via cell. Just to put things in perspective, only 5-percent of US homes were cellphone-only in 2004, while 1.082-percent had not yet surrendered their can-and-string. If you're one of those number lovers, hold your head up high and hit the read link for lots more data about this totally engrossing topic.
[Image courtesy of
Preston LNO]
posted May 15th 2008 10:31AM
For many people the main reason for having a land line these days is adsl, not voice calls. I use my mobile all the time, but the land line is the only way I can get fast internet at home.
There is a concept, which may or may not be available in your area, called "naked DSL," which only has DSL and no phone service.
Agreed! When comcast lowers it's internet access prices, I won't even want a landline!
Cellular Companies are charging users MORE for their data/voice per month than I am paying for voice/FIOS with Verizon.
I pay just $80 a month which should be about $100 when my area gets FIOS TV.
"When comcast lowers it's internet access prices..."
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!! That was a good one.
I can't even get DSL at my house.
My cousin doesn't have a landline because the phone lines don't reach his house.
The only reason I have VoIP and a landline are overseas calling (VoIP) and emergency situations (Landline) - cellphones don't work during/after a hurricane typically, but landlines generally do (unless it's very bad).
But it does indeed make sense to switch to cellphones entirely if you're already just on VoIP. Tmo's 9.99 hotspot at home stuff is awesome and replaces VoIP (as long as you're not calling overseas) entirely.
POTS biggest issue is taxes. I have a bare line, as I said because I just want to be able to make/receive calls if there's some emergency so my service is $13 - that ends up at 25 dollars after taxes. $25!
I don't think I am alone here when I say that landlines are far more dependable. I mean, I don't worry about dropped calls, too few bars, dead batteries, or out dated equipment. During the barrage of hurricanes that hit the south a few years ago, my landline kept ticking while Cell Phone Towers were not taking calls. When I am away from home, I can have all my calls to my home forwarded to either my cell phone or the place where I am staying.
Cellphones: They just make more sense.
Exactly! In the same way that Marconi & McCaw make Bell and Brown look like schmucks!
PS ask me what that means if you don’t know ;^)...
I'll bite. What does that mean? :)
Guglielmo Marconi = Radio
Alexander Graham Bell = Land Line Telephone
Charles L. Brown = Ma Bell CEO that back in the day said cell phones were a “gimmick and we don’t need em”.
Craig McCaw = the visionary (and billionaire x times over) that knew better.
Oh, and when his wife took a billion (yes billion) in the divorce settlement, he simply popped his collar, jumped in the plain, transformed and rooooled out!
Please everyone knows Cable is better.
Sure, everyone knows cable is faster, but DSL is much cheaper and more widely available in rural areas.
Not to mention that my DSL uptime and service consistency on Verizon, SBC, and ATT was FAR superior than my Charter cable is.
AND, when I called the phone companies, I got an American, sometimes even in my region instead of some Indian chick who could only say "pleaze ristart jew cobble mode m", even when my entire area was down and restarting my cable modem wouldn't make any difference at all.
man, I wish I had the DSL option.
I have Comcast I have had almost 0 downtime with my cable line. I had to have the line replaced from the road to my house once due to an old line that had been cut and patched. I just like the simplicity of setting up a cable connection. Not to mention the cable modem works so much better with Wifi setups than DSLs annoying modem router setup. My one complaint about my cable connection that has since been resolved was when Comcast was throttling bandwidth on bittorrent downloads, they have since quit doing this. I still have my old Bellsouth/AT&T landline but for other reasons than internet.
Tarnation - if the context is area-specific service, that's not always true. If your local cable company SUCKS ASS, then DSL can actually be much better.
Actually DSL is faster than cable at 8pm on a Tuesday. DSL has consistency, even if it's peak speed is much less than cable's.
Dsl may be more consistant, but it doesn't matter when no one else in your area has cable :D
Who needs landlines anyway...
I recently canceled my Bell Canada Digital home line and now only use my bberry & skype for voice communication. I use Bell Optimax so my line was converted to a 'dry loop' in order to keep my service.
When a telephone company has a geographical monopoly, the only way out is through cell phones. I had my entire family switch to AT&T, and we're dropping our local landline service, soon.
I only see a land line useful for business. Telemarketing calls is the biggest reason I don't use a land line. Have you ever noticed how often people (particularly 30 and under) with landlines don't even pick them up anymore?
I've been cell-only for personal communication since '98; but, I've kept my landline for emergencies.
Sometimes a hardline is the only thing still working after a disaster (I'm from SF and remember Loma Prieta). Phone lines also have their own independent power source which can be tapped in an emergency.
Pay $100 for unlimited calling plan with AT&T, so no need for landline phone.
I pay $100 for land line, Cable TV w HBO, and DSL.
The only cell phone I carry is supplied by work. I would not have one, if I had to pay for it, as they don't provide enough benefit for the cost for me.
Cable + Vonage + Cell phones + Grand central = major win. My wife and I each have 1 number that rings our cell, work and home. works great.
Similar system in our household: Virgin Media 20Mbit + Vonage + Cellphones for all = win.
Over in India, the landline looks even more extinct (mainly due to crappy quality). I have several family members there who exclusively use cellphones, my grandparents included(!)
+1 to no landline....we should start a poll to see how many of us have a land line. I havent had one in probably 3 years.
Okay, I haven't had one in about 4....
Don't have a cellphone, probably never will. I wish that cellphone topics could be split off into a separate blog (EngadgetCell) for those that care about such things.
Ever heard of EngadgetMobile?
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/
And no one is forcing anyone to read or reply to anything here either! If you don't want a cellphone don't get one!
What about in case of emergency? At least get a prepaid for that! If you get stuck somewhere without a phone, it could be dangerous.
he's probably like a friend of my mother's. she wont get a cell because she thinks the government has nothing better to do than track where she is all day. i want her to get stuck in the middle of nowhere far away from home. i bet before she does anything els she stops by at&t. or he could just be a grumpy old hermit who never leaves the house.
cell only for 8+ years now.
I've been without a land line phone for 8 years. As others stated, 'It just makes sense'. Why would I pay for a land line when I can get a cell phone that I can use all over the place for the same amount of money?
I must confess, I just had 2 land lines installed... but not by choice. I just started working from home and the company is paying for them. My current mission is to convince them to start using VOIP......
Just do a cost-benefit comparision for the top brass. They'll come around to VoIP instantly ;)
Landline ? ... I gave up my landline 8 years ago when I realized it was mainly a device by which telemarketers could annoy me ( half the time it being the phone company it self trying to sell me more services ) anyone that knew me called me on my cell.
Same here. I tried a landline for a couple of months a few years back, but people still had better luck reaching me at my cell. When my landline rang, it was telemarketers, the phone company (also my cable/internet company, so they were common phone calls), and wrong numbers, mainly bill collectors looking for the people who had the number before me.
$30 a month wasted, especially when I pay $50 a month for my cell phone that I can use anywhere.
I charge my cell phone every night and therefore leave my cell in one place. This makes it difficult to answer when I am in a different part of the house. How would one go about resolving this? I was thinking about a bluetooth connection to my home phone so all the phones around the house would be using teh cell connection. Is that feasible?
I ran into this exact same scenario. My solution? VOIP. I use MagicJack (http://www.magicjack.com). The VOIP line costs me $20/year for unlimited calling to anywhere stateside. When I'm at home, I forward my cell phone to my VOIP number and use a standard cordless phone for my VOIP line.
IntelliTouch XLink Cellular Bluetooth Gateway
http://electronics.pricegrabber.com/other-miscellaneous/m/37172969/search=xlink/st=query/
Description: Turn your home corded and cordless phones into a cellular multi-line phone system. The XLink family of products makes it possible to send and receive cell phones calls using regular telephones. No more searching for your cell phones – just use regular phones at home or in the office. Almost any cell phone with Bluetooth wireless technology will work with XLink. The XLink can simultaneously connect to three different cell phones one for each family member! As many standard telephones as desired can be plugged into the back of the XLink. Whenever any of the connected cell phones ring, all the standard telephones ring also!
Try Dock 'N Talk
I am a Skype and Cell user here. Really besides calling faimly and friends a couple of times a week I never talk to (or want to talk to) anyone else on the phone.
What does VOIP count towards? It's not really a landline, but a line is involved...
My wife and I haven't had a landline since she graduated university and we bought our house. It's one less bill we have to pay, though it does leave us stuck with Comcast for our internet service.
Before we bought the house we only had a landline because it came with the apartment we lived in on campus. Only people that ever called us on that landline were professors and other university staff.
Wish someone offered naked DSL in the UK, I'd junk my landline in a heartbeat.
My house isn't connected with a phone landline at all. I have cable and use Vonage exclusivley for my phone service.
My cable company keeps trying to sell me their phone service but they can't even come close to the price that vonage offers for my needs.
Count me as a cellphone-only household. When I moved and Bell wanted to charge me $55 to move my phone service and couldn't do it for two weeks after my move date, I said bye-bye to the land line.
Not only has the cell-phone only been more convenient (only one number, no forwarding to setup), it's also CHEAPER to have a cell phone with a moderate plan than to have a land-line plus a cell-phone with a minimal plan!
The only wired connect I have going into my home is cable, and that's only for internet (no television services).
At any cost a landline is a waste of my money.