Electronics

[Zhills]

How do you get internet without a landline?  

It would cost me as much to get just internet.  The phone is a nominal cost.

[I am still oxox]

Yes, its not a DSL or dial up.

Internet is not phone dependent

[jaxs mom]

There is DSL internet which is offered by telephone companies and use telephone lines, and there is cable internet which is offered by cable companies that uses cable lines and also offer a wired phone using VOIP ( voice over internet). VOIP is not a landline though. 

[noodleann]

You get internet with cable or DSL. I don't know anyone who's still using dial-up; it's too slow for most sites, and was as of several years ago.

The cost for a stand-alone landline in my area, provided by old-fashioned phone companies, is about $30 or $35 for a bare-bones phone. The cost for a voice-over internet phone line, or VoIP, through the cable company, is $35 for me when added to my basic internet service.

In my world, nearly $400 a year is not "minimal." That's why I ordered an Ooma Telos device yesterday and will port my number over to it when it arrives and terminate the cable company's phone service. I'll have to pay around $5 a month in taxes and surcharges, but that beats $35 (and imminent inreases).

I just got a notice from the water company that they're requesting a rate increase that would amount to 17% more on residential bills. I doubt they'll get that much, but they'll get something. It never stops.

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@Zhills wrote:

How do you get internet without a landline?  

It would cost me as much to get just internet.  The phone is a nominal cost.

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[Mominohio]

We have no cable service in our area, so that is out for us. We do have satellite tv, but it is sketchy sometimes, so I wouldn't want my internet provided through that method. 

We keep a landline for the internet service, as it is the only or most reliable available to us. I also do don't like to talk on a cell phone. Our service is sketchy in certain parts of our house (like the basement) for cell service, and until just a couple of years ago, we had to go outside and up the road just to get any kind of signal. 

I prefer to talk on my landline phone as the reception is better, I don't have to hold the phone and the speaker option is much clear and louder. I still spend a lot of time on the land line phone with family and friends. I really get annoyed by some people who call me on their cells, and I can't make out half of what they are saying, due to poor service, or sometimes all the stuff (cases) the put on their phones interferes with the microphone and they sound like they are talking under water. 

[Zhills]

I have DSL but it requires a phone line.  Why not use the phone, it is as cheap as just internet.

[CrazyDaisy]

For $20 a month I added a hot spot accessory to my cell phone plan.  I get unlimited data on both my cell phone and computer.  I am not a heavy user of my computer at home so the little bit slower speed is not an issue.  I can also take my computer with me and get Internet access anywhere I can get cell service.

[millieshops]

@noodleannPlease come back and tell us about your experience with ooma once you've installed it and used it for a while.  My next-door neighbor has it and she's still working out kinks - the initial experience was 3rd world, but she's way more tech savvy than I am and seems to be working her way through those kinks, so I'm watching.  In the meantime, my house phone comes from my cable company - it's fine as long as there's electricity.

[2blonde]

@Mominohio  Yes, I still have a land line because I can hear so much better on it (don't need it for internet, as there are other options).  I can really identify with your comment about hearing people when they call from their cells.  I work in an office where we have to answer calls all day long, so you can just imagine.  Most of them are already talking like they have marbles in the mouth anyway, but I'm here to say that practically no one under the age of 60 uses a land line to call here.  The part I really love is when they ask for our email address and when I start to tell them, they say......."Well I can't write it down right now because I'm driving".........what! Get off the darned phone and drive!

[noodleann]

@millieshops, I promise I'll come back and report on it, warts and all.

Just an FYI, I wouldn't have leapt on yesterday's Ooma offer on Amazon (1-day special knocked down to $63.35) if I hadn't explored Ooma's website extensively to make sure I could hook it up. I don't have a router, and it took a while to find the alternate instructions for my setup. Based on that, it should work. I called my cable company to make sure I could port my number and keep the internet service alone, and got the okay there. I also signed up with Ooma to get their emails, which is why I got yesterday's notice about the Amazon special.

If you're considering this jump yourself, I'd recommend doing a little bit of this investigation, too, especially if you want to keep your phone number. Ooma has a utility on their site that lets you plug in your area code and prefix to see if you can port an existing number.

I'll be back, but it may take a while.