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Hi All:

While out at my son’s dorm after taking him back to school two weeks back, it dawned on me there are no phones in the dorms anymore. And why would there be given all the kids have Cell's nowadays.

Then after receiving literally hundreds of political calls over the past three weeks through election eve, I told my wife I have had it and I am shutting off the phone for good. With the Cell phone(s), what is the purpose?

So last Friday, I called up AT&T and dumped the home phone and the $50/month phone bill that went along with it. About 24-hours ago, it went silent. My mid-speed DSL went from $20 to $35 but it is almost refreshing not having the phone ring in the past 24-hours. I wonder if I am going to have a withdrawal as I do not remember a time in my entire life that I did not have a home phone.

With cell phone in hand, I am all but wireless (other than the DSL) and it actually feels refreshing. I still have to unplug all the phones and their vampire loads from the sockets and remove the cords from the jacks but I guess you can call me free from the tether that has had its grip on me for over 40 years.

A new era has dawned in the Gerdes household and although a scary one, there is no turning back… How about you?

Wayne

No home phone, no cable tv. Cell Phone & Skype number only since Sept. 2009!

We still have a phone in the house. And I mean only 1 phone. I almost have my wife convinced to get rid of it. We don't even have long distance service on it or any other options and it is a little less than $17 dollars a month. After numerous taxes and fees it raises the total to over $32. We don't answer it and only use it to make a few local calls or maybe to 800 numbers. Hopefully it will be leaving soon.

No home phone here, and my company pays for my cell. :woot:

...what's a home phone :confused:











:p Last time I had a house phone was in 06, since then, it's been cell. With cell phone capabilities advancing as fast as they are, I wouldn't be surprised if home computers start phasing out as we know them. I know of a few people who don't have home computers, just smart phones.

I've never had a home phone line since not living with my parents. Now you can use google voice for a free phone number. You can make and receive calls straight through your PC with it, and you can also setup you cell phone to make and receive calls from that same number.

Anyways, if you decide you still need a land line, you can always just get something like the magic jack, hook it up to your computer and just leave it on 24/7. The electricity cost should still be less than that old $50 phone bill.

Land lines are more reliable. We've occasionally had our local cell phone tower knocked out after a bad storm went through.

Two pairs of friends are cellphone only.

We have a home phone service through our internet provider. It's not the cheapest but it is at least an intrastate company.

I'd like to consider a different TV option but there are local channel issues and Fox Soccer Channel on satellite is only included in more expensive packages. Besides I've even been hesitant to upgrade to HD because the HD boxes are even bigger vampires.

I dropped my home phone line back in 2002. I only reacquired one when I purchased my house in '06 because my fiancee insisted that the house had to have an alarm system. So I went with phone service provided by the cable company since I already had internet through them.

I almost never use the home phone but I don't want to switch the alarm system over to a cellular based one because cell towers still go out more easily than the hard wired cable system.

I went that route and I have turned back, at least partially.

When my ex-wife and I split in 2002, I figured I'd try living without a landline phone. It worked great until a family emergency. I was awakened about two years ago by a loud banging on my front door. It was my fiancée. My mother had called her to say she had tried to call me to tell me my father had been taken to the hospital by ambulance. (He's fine now.) I hadn't heard my cell phone, which was downstairs, from the upstairs bedroom. So my fiancée, who normally doesn't drive at night because of eye problems, drove 15 miles, largely over dark country roads, to my house to awaken me.

Yes I could carry the phone up and down the stairs as I go, but that's a nuisance and easily overlooked. And the battery could die. And as others suggest, the cell system can -- no, make that will -- get knocked out or overloaded in an area-wide emergency when the need for urgent phone calls is high. I was traveling when Hurricane Isabel hit our area in 2003, and I couldn't reach anyone in my family to verify their well-being until the next day when I got back into town.

So I now have a no-frills, no long-distance home phone plan with cheap $10 phones, upstairs and downstairs, that work even in a power outage. It's an unlisted number and I give it to no one except family. I still list my cell number as my "official" home number with most people and organizations. Between this and being on the "no-call" registry, solicitation calls are rare. And I have the peace of mind knowing I can make and receive calls in an emergency.

No land lines in this house. When we came off the full-time road a year ago, we just set the cell on the kitchen table and continued business as usual. I think the land line is probably more reliable, but not worth the extra cost and the soliciting hassle.

When we moved in here last October 10th, we never had a phone line hooked up. We all have cell phones and we have Comcast internet so we didn't need a phone. Back in March, we had a guest move in and she needed a phone line for her job so we had it hooked up but, it wasn't in our name and we didn't use it. Our guest has since moved out so we are back to no landline service. I believe it was right around $40 for the landline.

So last Friday, I called up AT&T and dumped the home phone and the $50/month phone bill that went along with it....

I still have to unplug all the phones and their vampire loads from the sockets and remove the cords from the jacks but I guess you can call me free from the tether that has had its grip on me for over 40 years.

You were paying too much. The landline portion of my bill is $15. Most people get call waiting and various packages, and pay more than need to. I have considered dropping my landline several times, but landlines are rock-solid reliable. I only recently had an outage for the first time in 15 years, which was presumably a software issue at the local central office, since I still had DSL.

The other minor issue is 911. When you pick up a landline and dial 911, there's no ambiguity where that call is coming from. Also there is value in having a number that friends and family know and has be constant over a long period of time. If my land line number was portable and I could move the number to mobile, it would be tempting though.

Vampire loads are easily remediated. Keep an old-school corded phone, which everyone should have at least one anyway in case the power goes out. The other issue is that this summer my neighborhood had a nasty storm and power was out for 3 days. People were going out and sitting in their cars (running) to charge their mobile phones, which is kind of dumb. Landlines never went out.

Anyways, if you decide you still need a land line, you can always just get something like the magic jack, hook it up to your computer and just leave it on 24/7. The electricity cost should still be less than that old $50 phone bill.

We use Magic Jack. But we don't really give the number out. Not even all of my immediate family has the number since we all have Verizon cell phones and call each other for free. The main reason we have the home phone is for emergencies. Since we only have one working car whoever leaves the house takes the cell.

ETA: Although we have gone without a home phone for a while before we got magic jack, and if we could afford another cell phone we would drop the home phone again.

For the last two or three years we had a home phone but it served as nothing but a target for junk calls. We ditched the land line when we moved last spring and haven't missed it. $50+ for basic phone service is an insane price to pay these days.

The other minor issue is 911. When you pick up a landline and dial 911, there's no ambiguity where that call is coming from.
A valid point that I completely overlooked. I should know better, too, working in public safety. It's not unusual for someone with a medical emergency, a house on fire, or an intruder confronting them to do little more than simply place the 911 call without having the time or the ability to articulate their situation and address. We're a ways off from having the equivalent of universal E-911 coverage for cell phones.

I would... but. Verizon, Sprint, ATT, TMobile have almost ZERO coverage in my house. We're in a bit of a depression geographically, and relying on a cell for an only line would be suicide. The other concern is the loss of 911 location tracking. I've looked at getting naked DSL and some form of VOIP, but the cost difference is only about $10/mo.

I've never had a home phone line since not living with my parents.Ditto. I've been a Skype user for a little over four years now, and it's great. My phone bill is something like $50 a year, while some people don't bat an eye at paying over $300 a year for essentially the same service.

Actually, Skype outperforms a landline phone in a few ways. The call quality is better, unless you're calling a landline phone of course. I love my wireless headset, and so do the people I call. And I can get my voicemail and place calls from my phone number anywhere I have an internet connection.

I remember an interview with the founder of Skype where he says that it will soon be impossible to charge money for a phone call, just as it's impossible to get people to pay for having an e-mail box. Google Voice is proving that to be true. I'm still playing Skype $50/yr just so I can hold on to my phone number.

I'll probably go the opposite way...once we get our own place, I'll most likely quit carrying a celly and get a real phone w/ answering machine. I don't care for talking on the phone, and I figure that between work and home, I'll be around a phone enough of out the day anyway that anyone who really wants to get ahold of me, can.

i gave up a land line when i moved last year. my significant other kept his to use for a fax number. in the house i am in now, i think there is a land line connection, but i don't have a phone on it. it's for the television.

you generally can transfer a land number to a cell, at least my ex did that when i moved out.

SKYPE and MagicJack is all a person needs for home. H:D

When I live on my own I'll use a cell phone instead of land line.

I dropped my land line but kept the number on a cell AT&T family plan. The phone number has been in my family since 1974 and many relatives and friends only have that number. The phone can stay in the house, be a back-up if a cell phone breaks, can be answered, take a message, text, and it only adds ~$13 extra on my family plan. Another good feature is it is an extra cellphone number and it has a separate contract date. If someone on the Family plan needs a new phone, chances are better getting a new phone without paying full price because of their contract date. The simms chips can be moved around from phone to phone, so that's good also.

We have three other iPhones with internet, Comcast for basic Cable TV (4 TV's) and fast internet. Comcast reran upgraded cable about 8 years ago and I had them leave the existing cable for an antenna system. I just installed one of those dual cable wall connectors and run the antenna cable and Comcast to both the connectors on the TV's. This way all my TV's can get HD free with a push of the remote. If the cable goes out, I can still use the antenna. I take down the top of antenna during hurricanes and put it in the garage so I can watch TV after the storm if the cable is out.

GaryG

Still using a land line. Three reasons:

- 911 service is still far superior for land lines than it is for cell users.
- Health. No doubt many will argue passionately against me, but I am yet to be convinced of the safety of long-term heavy cellphone use. Most of our home-based calls are and will continue to be made using the landline. Even if heavy long-term cellular use is "proven" "safe" for adults, that won't necessarily mean they are safe for children's developing brains. We have a young child, and when he starts using the phone we want him to be able to use a landline.
- Our internet service is through Qwest and bundled with the landline.