# Landline, Cell, or Both



## Edna (Apr 30, 2011)

I've lived happily without a landline phone for almost 3 years. There was one moment when I wished I had a landline, but for the most part cell alone has been great. I was wondering where others fall on the phone spectrum. What are the advantages/disadvantages of your phone solution?


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## dmarcus (Apr 30, 2011)

I haven't had a landline since 2000 so it would be hard for me to even considered getting another one. I would be worried that I would get a ton of telemarketers calling me if I had a landline..


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## jaizei (Apr 30, 2011)

I actually got a land line for the first time yesterday, though it's mostly for fax/business use.


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## coreyc (Apr 30, 2011)

We have both but thinking on gettig rid of the land line all we get on that are telemarketers getting sick of that


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## Edna (Apr 30, 2011)

When I lived in Northeast Montana, my Verizon wireless service was not a given. I could watch the service bars go from nil to 5 bars every morning at about 8:00. I might get notice of a missed call 8 hours after missing the call. I felt like I had to have a landline there, and am enjoying pretty good wireless now that I have it!

Telemarketers are much more persistant than an ex-spouse's creditors. *Voice of Experience* When asked, "Is Mrs. Hansen there?" or "Are you the lady of the house?" I learned to always say NO. Creditors won't talk to a child, so my alter-persona was Honey Hansen, 14 years old. Worked every time The best thing for telemarketers is the national do-not-call list.


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## Torty Mom (Apr 30, 2011)

I know, I know, I am behind the times....  I just refuse to get a cell phone!


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## Balboa (Apr 30, 2011)

I get the temptation of going cell only, we've discussed it many times, in penny pinching moves the wife brings it up frequently.

After our last decent sized quake, many years ago, I decided to always have a landline. The cell phone was useless, but the landline still worked. Need to remember to actually keep around an "old-fashioned" non-cordless phone though in case of concurrent power outage.


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## dmmj (Apr 30, 2011)

I have a land line, what's a cellphone?

As for telemarketers I just speak gibberish until they hang up it's lots of fun. I wish I had the guts like that guy on youtube who pulls all types of pranks on telemarketers.


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## bettinge (Apr 30, 2011)

I only have a cell. I would only want a land line for 911 emergency reasons.

These two links are great for when you loose your cell phone (in the couch cushions) and don't have a land line to call it.

http://wheresmycellphone.com/
http://www.icantfindmyphone.com/


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## ALDABRAMAN (Apr 30, 2011)

When I retired I done away with any type of landlines. No need, cell phones are perfected and reliable!


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## DeanS (Apr 30, 2011)

Still dragging my feet! I was prepared to get a cell phone when I thought I was a shoo-in for the Department's Air Rescue Team...well! So go the races! Now I can wait for the damn things to project holographic images...


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## Yvonne G (Apr 30, 2011)

I'm a phone company (bell system) retiree, so I'm faithful to them as they pay my pension. One of the ways we got our raises and bonuses was from how the phone co. grew, and the way they determined that growth was by how many lines they had added to the system (lines= new phone customers). I retired before they took over the cell phone end of it, so I don't know how that effects their growth and bottom line. But a cell phone to me was just money going out the window every month for something I never used.


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## Jacqui (Apr 30, 2011)

ALDABRAMAN said:


> No need, cell phones are perfected and reliable!



I just have to say, "You don't get out much do you?" As somebody who is (except for rare and very cherished times) on the road all the time, I will say in all honesty, cell phones suck at lot of the time... like at my own home.

At our house, none of our cell phones will work, unless you count going up on the second floor roof and hanging close to the edge. When at home, I have to leave the house, go up the hill, leave the village and either sit on the side of the highway to make a call or the cemetery has great service, too. (I guess that means the cemetery has no dead zone, huh?)

There are lots of areas across the country where service is spotty. I have learned from experience, never believe those maps they show you where service is suppose to be. They are just not always true. Then there are the messages that often take a day to reach you, both text and voice mail.

Because normally nobody is home and to save money, we got rid of our landline years ago. Would I want it back once I stay home again all the time? Only if I went with the package deal of landline, computer line, and cable. Have to admit, would be nice to be able to watch TV, as it has been years since we had an actual TV at home, too.


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## Edna (Apr 30, 2011)

Jacqui said:


> ALDABRAMAN said:
> 
> 
> > No need, cell phones are perfected and reliable!
> ...



LOL Jacqui!! I wish I had back all the hours I've spent driving to the tops of hills trying to get a signal. There are stretches of road here where I just turn off the cell because I know searching for a signal will pull the battery down. My service here in town is great, and I really appreciate it. I haven't watched TV in the last 15 years, but we do have cable internet.


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## Jacqui (Apr 30, 2011)

I should maybe also point out the highway one works as long as I am holding the phone and I don't move my head.  How many of you do what almost amounts to gymnastics to use your cell phones?

It's sorta sad and yet funny, how we learn where we can use the cell and where to just forget it. Plus some places the text will work, but not an actual voice call. Then again there are the voice only, not texting spots. Plus to ad more to it, sometimes my husband's phone will work and sometimes you need to use mine. 

With internet, we use two companies, switching back and forth to find one that works, even then we often have large gaps in coverage on the internet too. I should mention that one of the worse areas for us to get internet is going down I80 in the great state of Nebraska.


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## Laura (Apr 30, 2011)

we still have a land line, we both have cells too. you cant find a working pay phone on the road anymore.. and if you do, its a credit card one.. i was on the coast, Big Sur area...my dad was taken into emergncy.. i had to get a hold of family.. cells were no good. .. found the one pay phone for miles, it was a credit card one.. $60 for the two calls that one went to a cell phone! rip off!!! ,, I did make it home to be with my dad before he passed.. no thanks to ATT...
At home, they dont work great, so we keep a landline as well. My cell only costs $30 per month. no fancy plans. I have to be near a window, not walk around, or go outside. free long distance.. wen it works.


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## dmmj (Apr 30, 2011)

pay phones a dying breed, like the yellow emergency phones on the freeway, they are also slowly being taken out.


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## Floof (Apr 30, 2011)

For the longest time, I was land-line only. Never saw the purpose in cell phones. Yep--a modern day teenager that didn't understand cell phones! These days, though, the whole family is cell phone only. I never once thought I'd ever use a cell phone so much... But, tbh, I don't miss having a land-line one bit!


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## Tom (Apr 30, 2011)

I gotta have both for a multitude of reasons, including business and emergencies.

For telemarketers I ask for their name, home phone number, what time they eat dinner, and tell them I will call them back then. Shockingly, not one of them has ever given it to me... I guess they don't wanna sell their stuff that bad.


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## Neal (May 1, 2011)

Personally I'd rather have none. Ask anyone that has ever talked to me on the phone...I'm not much for phone talk, I'm a face to face kinda person.


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## Edna (May 2, 2011)

It is interesting to me how much phones/phone service/our relationship with phones has changed in my lifetime. 
This week my literature piece is about simple machines. Next week we read about Alexander Graham Bell and the invention of the telephone. When I first started teaching, I could tell my students that back when I was a kid, if the phone rang while you were away from home you didn't know about it because there were not answering machines, it was just a call you missed. They'd say, "Really?" For the last few years, when I mention answering machines they say, "What's an answering machine?" Most of my students' homes are cell-only. 
My cell phone serves me; I don't serve it. When I'm at home I lay it on my dining room table. If I go outside or the basement and miss a call, so be it. At work my phone is in my purse, deep in my closet, and I never hear calls. I just return calls when I have a break. The only time I carry my phone is when I am expecting a call.


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## Jessicap (May 2, 2011)

Need a landline for internet service.


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## CtTortoiseMom (May 2, 2011)

I have both, I am notorious for not charging my cell phone. Thank goodness you do not have to charge a land line. As a matter of fact when I am not on TFO it is usually because my Ipad is dead or misplaced I have a computer but I can not drag it with me following one of the 3 kid's.


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