Community Chat

[BunSnoop]

There are still plenty of reasons to justify keeping a landline in your home.

1. Cost. Depending on your phone service provider, the cost of a landline might not add up to much on your bill when it is coupled with TV and internet. In fact, some plans can be more expensive if you nix the home phone.

2. Emergencies. Landline phones should work even when you experience a power outage. This could come in handy if you live in an area prone to hurricanes or other inclement weather.

In the event of an emergency that requires a call to 911, the operator will quickly track a call from a landline, but a cellular device cannot necessarily be traced. This may seem absurd in the era of GPS technology, but, according to the FCC, emergency call centers can only track a cellular call to the nearest cell site. Even if the operator can deduce a more specific location from a cellular call, multi-story buildings can present a further challenge to emergency response, whereas a call from a landline phone is easily traced.

3. Quality. Consumer Reports found that sound quality on a cordless home phone was better than any cellular device. This can be a pertinent asset if you spend a significant amount of time on the phone or if you suffer from hearing loss.

4. Simplification. Many people may find they enjoy the ability to use a telephone without the trappings of modern technology. Your landline doesn’t provide a way to play Candy Crush or check your e-mail, but that might be okay at a time when “60 percent of college students admit they may be addicted to their cell phone,” according to a Baylor University study.

5. Security. Home security systems use your telephone line to connect to an emergency call center. Although there are more options for wireless security services, these present similar challenges that cell phones do during storms or in areas with bad signal.

6. Teaching responsibility. If you have children who aren’t quite old enough to have cell phones, maintaining a landline can be a good option for giving them some responsibility and teaching phone manners. Instead of borrowing your cell phone to contact their friends you can encourage them to use the landline. They will have some access without possessing the world at their fingertips.

7. No contract. Many phone service providers offer landline service without a contract. This can be refreshing to anyone who has been trapped in an expensive cellular contract.

[Spurt]

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@ID2 wrote:

I ditched my landline over 10 years ago and couldn't be happier. One poster said that you may get more spam calls with a cell phone...um NO. Not at all! I rarely get any spam calls. And if I do I block them easily. WHen we built our cottage (5 years ago) we didn't even include a line coming in for a phone. Love using my cell only.

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@ID2 

It depends on your cell phone, your service, and your area.....My friend has an Android cell with AT&T and she showed me where she got 10 spam calls in a 15 minute span WITH a call blocker......Now someone said they have an Iphone and they dont have a problem with spam calls....

[NickNack]

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@Spurt wrote:

@NickNack 

Another thing to consider is your area prone to electrical outages due to storms OR simply the power goes out often. If so, you won't be able to re-charge your phone until electricity is restored.  If you have a landline, and an old phone (not a cordless the old fashion type that you plug into a phone jack---ebay has these, I have one I keep in a desk just for emergencies) you can still plug your phone into the wall jack and make calls even if the power goes out.  This is important if you need to make a call if the power is out to call--- the electric company to find out status of outage, or 911, or hospital, or doctor's office, or to check on a family member with health issues etc.....

During Hurricane Sandy in Long Island, N.Y., every single cell phone tower eventually failed, leaving an entire community holding worthless cells phones.  Landline phones, assuming they are not wireless, generally work during a power outage. This is because power is sent to the phones through the phone line from the power companies. The power companies have battery backup and backup generators so that their operations can continue for well over a week during a power outage. The lines often are underground, preventing them from being damaged during a storm.  

And these days I get more nusance calls on my cell phone (android) than my landline even with a call blocker on my cell phone....

And if you have cable and bundle you will lose the bundle discount....

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Thank you @Spurt  and everyone.  I've decided to keep my landline.  Thank you for mentioning that I needed a corded phone. I think about that every time the power goes out.  I just ordered one from Amazon for $19.95 with caller id and call waiting.

My friend told me that her Comcast bundle was going to go up if they dropped their landline.  I have a Comcast bundle, too.  The argument about 911 being able to locate you with a landline was persuasive, too.  I'm happy with my decision and very much appreciate everyone's feedback.

[Lindsays Grandma]

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@kitcat51 wrote:

I have a Verizon wireless home service that I use for my landline, it's $20.00 a month with unlimited calls & free long distance...I have it hooked up to an answering machine, I screen calls & plan to keep it for 911. I also have a basic flip cell phone that's for my convenience, only family has that number & I like not being pestered by endless chit chat, texts & spam...I love that old flip workhorse, it was free with my first Tracfone card purchase & I have no interest in updating. I don't have a call blocker on my phones but I'm down to 1 or 2 spam calls a week...it's taken years using call screening, limiting my phone number to businesses & updating Do Not Call or who knows why they stopped calling...maybe it's just plain ole good luck or they think I'm dead.

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@kitcat51... I dislike cell phones with a passion!!  I keep telling my daughter I am going to get my landline back and she reminds me how costly it is...so what, it's my money and even though we live together it won't affect her.  The problem I find with the cell phone is that not all calls are the same, sometimes it cuts in and out, other times I have difficulty understanding what others are saying or a call just drops for no reason.  My question to you is,  do you have Verizon bundled with anything or is it strictly for the phone only?  I would want it only for the phone.  Your answer may make the difference, cell goes and landline comes back.

[Bridgegal]

I haven't read all of the reponses so may be late to this game but.... NO you do not need a landline.   We dropped ours in 2007 and not one thing has come in in 12 years that made us say  "gee, we need to get a land line again.".  Not one.   We have done just fine without it.   It is quieter without one.  No constant  phone ringing from unknown callers.   No reason to have one.  Not one.

[kitcat51]

My Verizon service isn't bundled, it's just for the home phone. I purchased the Verizon wireless unit at Radio Shack, set it up & started saving ...I was paying AT&T $55.00 a month with limited calls & no long distance vs Verizon $19.99 a month with unlimited calls & long distance. The service works great, sounds great & I'm pleased with it...had it for 8+yrs. Hope this helps & Good Luck @Lindsays Grandma.

[Shelbelle]

I have thr Comcast Triple Play, I wound never consider ditching my land line, I would be lost without it. 

[CelticCrafter]

@NickNack we have one corded phone but when the power goes, Cablevision goes out and so does the phone.

[Allegheny]

May-be I am confused.  I have home phone service thru a bundle provided by Comcast (internet/TV/phone) (Xfinity)  I do not consider their phone service "landline" compared to what I had previously from Windstream.

It is a different technology.  I preferred my old "landline" service. Even when the power was out for days; I was still had phone service.  Communications were much clearer.

Generally when there are problems with Comcast, you lose phone service also.  Definitely when the power goes down you have no phone service.  The modem Comcast rents to us has the capability for battery back providing up to 8 hours for phone service; but they no longer sell the battery.

[CelticCrafter]

@Allegheny Even though it's different technology,  when people say landline they are talking about the phone hanging on the kitchen wall, be it corded or cordless. 

There are times when I will say house phone.