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cell phone instead of landline?


grynche

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I have a TracFone cell phone for emergencies. I've never had to use it, thank goodness, and truth be told I can barely figure out how to make and receive a call. And I forget to charge it, frequently. I put about $10 a month or so on it to keep it active and eventually call someone/anyone to use up the minutes. The ads I get for cell phones have plans that are way less than my landline, but then I read about horror stories when trying to cancel a cell phone contract and the need for an advanced degree to program the danged phone.

Anybody here who gave up their landline ... any regrets? Words of wisdom? My dollhouses need to be kept in the manner to which they'd like to become accustomed. :)

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The only reason I keep a landline is that I have to in order to have my dial-up internet service (sic!), I rarely make or receive phone calls. Well, I'm online all the time - DUH!!

That said, an awful lot of people I know in this small town have gotten rid of their landline phones and have switched to having a cell phone only. Haven't heard any real complaints, but I'll ask around for what plans people have and why they love/hate whatever they have. The only real problem I've heard people had with their cell phones was occasionally having to go outdoors to make/receive a call, because so many buildings here have tin roofs and sometimes that interferes with reception, though not always; another thing that interferes with reception is the ham radio operator down the street who has an enormous set up - apparently when he's operating that causes problems. If it ain't one thing, it's something else!

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I work with a lot of people that only have a cell phone, as does my daughter. They swear by it. They also text a lot - it seems to be a generational thing. DH & I have often contemplated getting rid of land line. There is something called a blue tooth bridge that you can get that you put your cell phone in & it connects to any regular telephones in your house. That way you can use the extention in your bedroom, for example, rather than carrying your cell everywhere. I have no idea what they cost. Last year, we had a devastating ice storm in NH & the land lines were down - only cell phones worked.

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When Katrina hit, our cell phone was the only line of communication available. We have AT&T. It worked in New Orleans, Houston, Missouri, and points in between. And since we had an unlimited minutes plan at the time, we used it for two solid months and didn't have additional charges. It was a godsend.

We now have both land and cell, but most of the time the land line is tripped to ring on my cell phone. I've been considering getting rid of the land line, but Lloyd's pacemaker is checked periodically over the land line; the test mechanism won't talk on a cell phone.

I think most of the major cell companies require a 2-year contract. If you plan to have this as your only phone, that's not big deal, as you're unlikely to be changing phone numbers that soon unless the service is really yukky. And after the two years are up, you'll be eligible for a new phone at a reduced price. Plan details vary.

The main thing to find out is what company has the best service in your area. The dueling AT&T and Verizon commercials with the little red and blue dots all over the map are somewhat misleading -- advertising at its finest. :)

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If we can ever get wifi or satellite internet access it'll be the end of our landline, since I opt to run in to my cardiologist's office twice a year, rather than have to be at home every three months to get my pacemaker checked. Right now the only reason we keep the landline is for the computer.

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I was always told 911 could trace landlines if you called but were unable to speak - HOWEVER - the one time I used my landline to call 911, they needed me to tell them where I lived... and even then we watched as the ambulance meandered down the road that paralleled ours! You'd think ambulances would have GPS standard.

Anyway, following that little episode, we canceled the landline, and I have no regrets. I never answered the thing, it was always sales calls - I actually disabled the ringer. The only real fear now is a need to call 911 and misplacing my cell phone. But everyone in the house owns a cell phone, so the chances of misplacing all three are small.

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We wanted sky and broadband and needed a landline for that, so have it, but last flat (apartment) we lived in we had cable tv and broadband and so didn't have the landline. The only thing that annoys me is that the special numbers, like freephone or local charge numbers aren't free/local charge from the mobile (cell), they get charged a higher rate and aren't included in 'free' minutes you get when you're on contract. I don't use those numbers often, but usually if I do, it is because somethings broken and then I'm on hold for a long time, so on the mobile it adds up pretty quickly.

I don't know if this applies to the US too, but here in the UK that is one reason to have a landline...but then you gotta think does the monthly landline rental cost less than you'd spend phoning those numbers from a mobile?

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Our landline is bundled with our cable tv and internet, so actually costs less than ten dollars a month, so I don't bother. Also, if it does ring, the number shows up on our tv, so you know if it's worth getting up to answer. We never use it and only our one DIL calls us on it. We use the cell phones for everything as we have plenty of minutes and everywhere in the us is local calling, no long distance. If the phone actually cost anymore than the 6 or 7 dollars we pay for it, I'd get rid of it.

By the way, you're right about the coverage. We have ATT and the only place we have problems with reception is when we are in very deep valleys in the Rocky Mts. or in very very isolated places out here in the west.

We thought about getting rid of the satellite phone with Onstar, but can't bring ourselves to do it. When you are in such isolated areas, it's so reassuring to know that General Motors knows where you are and if you are ok. LOL!!! But seriously, there are areas out here where you could run off the road with an accident or heart attack and be there for a lonnnnnng time before another person drives by. I'm willing to sacrifice a steak, or a couple of movie rentals a month to pay the $20 for it.

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We have a landline-internet and phone.We also each have a cell phone.I'm afraid if we had to call 911 on a cell phone we wouldn't know where the call would go to.So for now

we have both. :)

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Lots of good information. :) I make one long distance call a week to my sister, that's it. Tend to jump and go "What's THAT?" when the phone does ring. I didn't know there might be a problem with 911. After the holidays I'll do some investigating.

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I know a lot of people getting rid of landlines, but I live in a rural extremely hilly region with steep hills and valleys and dead signals are common no matter who is your carrier...doesn't matter if it's Verizon, AT&T, etc., they all have that problem here. My sister tried the cell phone only option. She kept getting all the house calls on her phone and I think it annoyed her. So everyone has a phone in her family, but she has the barebones basic landline service.

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Lots of good information. :) I make one long distance call a week to my sister, that's it. Tend to jump and go "What's THAT?" when the phone does ring. I didn't know there might be a problem with 911. After the holidays I'll do some investigating.

It's OK grynche......I know where to find you :(:p:wave:

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Actually, the 911 feature does work on cell phones. I was driving between small towns out here once, and got behind a driver that was obviously ill or drunk, weaving around at about 20mph. I was afraid someone would run into him, so I stayed behind him and put on my hazard lights, and called 911 to tell them what was happening. It wasn't long until a highway patrolman showed up and took care of the situation. That's the only experience I've had with it, but even in the country it worked.

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I don't know much about not having a landline.

But, I wanted to mention a new phone service that I love. I have always been too cheap for a contract and had prepaid. I got Straight Talk prepaid about 7 weeks ago, and it is perfect for me.

I get 1000 minutes, 1000 texts and 30mb of web for $30 a month. They also have unlimited for $45/month, but when I added another month they rolled my minutes over. (not supposed to, so they may disappear, but it's been a few weeks and I still have them)

My dad just got it, too and he loves it. He travels around the state and has had no problems anywhere with getting a signal. It uses Verizon towers.

The web is not 3g, but I can check my gmail, surf here, Etsy, etc. and that's all I really wanted. You do have to buy one of their phones. But, I love it. I get a signal everywhere I go, and that's great in places where I used to not be able to with T-Mobile.

Just a thought for those looking to save.

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We have the Trac phone and buy minutes every year. We have the most basic service on our landline phone (local calls ONLY) and we still have to get after them every so often when they try billing us for long distance service (we have a calling card DH uses for that, or our cell).

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A representative to the Maine legislature wants the state to pass a bill that cellphones should have brain cancer warning labels.

"Boland's bill........... would require a permanent, nonremovable advisory of risk in black type, except for the word "warning," which would be large and in red letters. It would also include a color graphic of a child's brain next to the warning........The warnings would recommend that users, especially children and pregnant women, keep the devices away from their head and body."

Representative Boland does have a cell phone, but she uses it with a speaker, and only turns it on if she's expecting a call.

We use 2 cellphones and a landline in conjunction with our cable & internet service at our house. At one time DH wanted to get rid of our land line, but I wanted to keep it. I pointed out that cell phone conversations are not secure, knowing that would get him to keep the land line, and I was right.

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I saw the headline about the cancer warning, and remember having seen similar concerns about cell phones over the years. A friend of mine has always used an ear-piece with hers.

I looked at a few plans today, very confusing trying to compare minutes and roll-overs and the like. A couple with free long-distance (family is all long-distance) would cost as much as my land-line.

I'm going to do what my heroine would do and "think about that tomorrow."

Happy Solstice, y'all.

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