Anyone Ditch Their landline?

That and two of my kids at home do not have wireless phones, and my
wife refuses to give her wireless number to her work.


RH wrote:
> I would in a heartbeat, but SBC won't let me......that is if I want to
> keep my DSL
>
>
> On Sun, 2 Oct 2005 17:22:43 -0400, "Ric" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>I've been thinking of cutting the cord. If you've done it...any regrets?
>>

---

› See More: Anyone Ditch Their landline?

I don't know about him, but for me, I first would have to get cable.


Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In article <j2_%[email protected]>,
> Lee <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>I would like to except for the following 2 reasons
>>
>>1. I have to call overseas monthly
>>
>>2. I have Bellsouth DSL.
>
>
> Number 2 is a political problem. Switch to cable modem and get rid of
> the phone company.
>
> For number 1 above, how about Packet8 or some other VoIP provider?
>

Per SAA:
> I always look up their phone number
>and put it in (so when they do telemarketing, they are essentially
>calling themselves).

I like it.
--
PeteCresswell

Per Ric:
>I've been thinking of cutting the cord. If you've done it...any regrets?

I haven't done it for one reason: multiple extensions.

I pick up; it's somebody for my wife; I just holler upstairs for her to pick up
the phone..... and vice-versa.
--
PeteCresswell

Per Lee:
>1. I have to call overseas monthly

We use calling cards. 3.7 cents per minute to Germany, 3.5 cents per minute to
China...
--
PeteCresswell

Per Lee:
>Would you care to tell me about your calling card and do you use it with
>a land line or a cell phone? If cell phone do you still have a per
>minute deduction for your calls OS? I understand it is a state side
>call but I guess I mean you still get charged for minutes plus what you
>pay for the calling card right? Plus what are the charges if you don't
>mind me asking.

It's not a physical card. It's just a two numbers: A PIN and the 800 number
that is called to initiate the call.

I sign up via Internet and charge it to my credit card. Typically, I'll buy a
$15.00 calling card that's good for maybe 400 minutes to Germany and different
numbers of minutes to different countries. The numbers arrive in an email.

I dial the 800 number, enter my PIN, and then enter the number I'm calling. The
only restriction on my end is that the call be made on a network that can get to
the 800 number (i.e. something in the USA).

The card doesn't know whether I'm on a cell phone or a land line. All it knows
is that somebody has called that 800 number. So if I'm making the call on my
cell phone, I'm using minutes just as if I called any other 800 number.

There are a lot of vendors selling such cards. The vendor I use, for some
reason, hasn't seen fit to translate their web pages into English...
(http://www.cybercalling.com/ .... I don't understand Mandarin either, but my
son-in-law does and he gets the cards for us...) but you sb able to find
another one pretty readily.
--
PeteCresswell

Per (PeteCresswell):
>We use calling cards

I should add that, since being scammed a couple of times, we disabled all known
means of charging our landline. i.e. the only thing that can be done with it
is make local and 800 calls. It's not quite as simple as telling the phone
company "disable everything".... you have to sort of tease it all out of them...
something like a half-dozen potential ways to charge your phone account, some of
them not at all obvious.... but I *think* I've got it locked down 100%.
--
PeteCresswell

I just moved and have not installed LL.

In my previous house I had a phone in almost every room.

Now in my new house, I can barely hear my cell phone ringing downstairs
when I am upstairs, or vice versa, then I have to run downstairs to
answer the phone.

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Fact: if he spent $2500 over three years on a land voice line, he spent
> $67/month for that.

You are overlooking the fact that politicians are for sale; just varying
prices.

In the DFW area, SBC charges around $40/mon, including mystery charges like
$s for rural, deaf, poison control, etc., for a landline that will only call
within the county. A 'local' call stops at the county line. Add services
like caller ID, etc. for $20 as a 'package' and 'metro calling' of $30. You
are at $90/month without long distance.

Then we had calls to the same area code, but not our county, now referred to
as 'local long distance'. A different tier was long distance inside Texas
and outside Texas.

When ATT started digital voice service over cable modem lines, the first
line was $30 plus fees and taxes. But lines two through four were only
$7/month, not $40. All the service was digital, so quality and features went
up as cost went down. But ATT withdrew from the business, we sold the house
in that service area. Metro calling that had been $20/mon, SBC started
charging $40/month per phone line.

Bottom line is SBC in DFW charges $40/mon for the same service my sister
receives in Las Vegas for $13/month.

SBC has to since they bought Pac Bell that had a cap on what they could
charge the customers. As I understand it, the referendum capped the price
low enough PacBell couldn't make a profit. So dumbass president of SBC
bought PacBell. Now Texas subsidizes California callers.

That's probably why reports show 13% of Texans do not have a landline. After
running Vonage over Charter Cable for two months, I have cancelled land line
long distance.

Verizon now runs fiber to the house in selected areas. With that pipeline in
place, the infrastructure is set for a single bundle of communications
including telephone, video, radio, long distance, ISP, etc. Austin, Texas
bought all the utility poles in their city pre-1996. In 1996, they started
laying fiber to every household with the idea of attaching ~20 servers run
by UT Austin, Austin ISD, Austin Community College and City of Austin. The
payback appeared to be ~24 months when the city rented the fiber pipeline to
competing utility companies.

Then the politicians got involved.

I did it for a few years when I had Adelphia as a ISP, But cable in my area is now slower than DSL so I went to Verizon for Phone/DSL and DishNetwork for the Tube....

I would go back to no phone at home in a minute.....

Originally Posted by Ric

I've been thinking of cutting the cord. If you've done it...any regrets?

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on 3 Oct 2005
02:27:11 -0700, "ST" <[email protected]> wrote:

>I just moved and have not installed LL.
>
>In my previous house I had a phone in almost every room.
>
>Now in my new house, I can barely hear my cell phone ringing downstairs
>when I am upstairs, or vice versa, then I have to run downstairs to
>answer the phone.

PhoneLabs Dock-N-Talk
<http://www.anything4wireless.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=31>

The patent-pending Dock-N-Talk allows you to dock your cell phone and
use your normal corded or cordless phones to make and receive your
cell phone calls. Effectively turns your wireless service into
"wired" service while docked. The Dock-N-Talk can be used in your
home, office, dorm room, weekend home, boat, RV or any other location
where cell service is available.

Features & Benefits

Make and receive cell phone calls using Dock-N-Talk with normal
wire-line cordless or corded telephones;

Get better reception by docking your cell phone in your "hot spot"
for strongest signal and talk anywhere in your home;

Gives consumers the choice of cell phone service for the home or
office with the same functionality as wire-line service;

Universal design supports an unlimited number of handsets with
currently over 350 cell phone models supported including some of the
most popular phones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Siemens
and more;

Use local number portability to move your land line number to a cell
phone and keep using your land line phones;

Charges your cell phone while docked ensuring your cell phone is
always fully charged;

Have the convenience and audio quality of a full-sized handset,
speakerphone or headset for extended calls;

Utilizes and transfers features such as voice recognition, one-touch
voicemail dial-back and SMS message alerts from your cell phone;

Place your cell phone in your best area for cell phone reception and
use regular corded or cordless phones throughout the house;

Use the free unlimited nights, weekends and mobile to mobile calling
plans to their fullest while fully utilizing unused peak minutes;

Bluetooth Module interfaces wirelessly between the Dock-N-Talk and
cell phone with no need for a cable;

Sends Caller ID and Visual Message Alert from cell phone to
compatible home phones;

Switch an active call seamlessly from cell phone to home phone (and
vice versa);

Eliminates cell phone radiation for extended conversations or
extensive calling;

Docking Stations will also be available integrated into a telephone
with the Enterprise telephone or also with a full wire-line telephone
built-in, the Unity telephone.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

"Lee" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:j2_%[email protected]...
>I would like to except for the following 2 reasons
>
> 1. I have to call overseas monthly
Depends on the service level you've signed on to; otherwise, as has already
been suggested by other respondents, the use of a calling card should take
care of that.

> 2. I have Bellsouth DSL.
I got 2-way satellite and have blown off both SBC & ComCast (our local
albatrosses).

Our entire family's been LL free since 1999. So go for it. You'll wonder
why you've not done that sooner, and you'll never look back...


Later all,
Dusty
San Jose

>
> Lee

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> I just moved and have not installed LL.
>
> In my previous house I had a phone in almost every room.
>
> Now in my new house, I can barely hear my cell phone ringing downstairs
> when I am upstairs, or vice versa, then I have to run downstairs to
> answer the phone.
>
>
I would think that's the single biggest problem with only having a cell
phone. I for one do NOT want to carry my cell around my own house and I
can't hear it ring more than 20 feet away (the loudest ring on old Nokia
phones aren't very loud). If you're lucky enough to have a phone
supported by vox2/dock-n-talk/cellsocket etc. devices you could use that
to feed a "line" to a multi-extension cordless base (for example) and
have handsets all over the house. Too bad my GAIT phone is one of the
ones that nobody supports due to Cingular stripping out several critical
function codes when they ordered the Nokia--grrrrr!
--
Jud
Dallas TX USA

PhoneLabs Dock-N-Talk
<http://www.anything4wireless.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=31>

The patent-pending Dock-N-Talk allows you to dock your cell phone and
use your normal corded or cordless phones to make and receive your
cell phone calls. Effectively turns your wireless service into
"wired" service while docked. The Dock-N-Talk can be used in your
home, office, dorm room, weekend home, boat, RV or any other location
where cell service is available.

FEATURES & BENEFITS

Make and receive cell phone calls using Dock-N-Talk with normal
wire-line cordless or corded telephones;

Get better reception by docking your cell phone in your "hot spot"
for strongest signal and talk anywhere in your home;

Gives consumers the choice of cell phone service for the home or
office with the same functionality as wire-line service;

Universal design supports an unlimited number of handsets with
currently over 350 cell phone models supported including some of the
most popular phones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Siemens
and more;

Use local number portability to move your land line number to a cell
phone and keep using your land line phones;

Charges your cell phone while docked ensuring your cell phone is
always fully charged;

Have the convenience and audio quality of a full-sized handset,
speakerphone or headset for extended calls;

Utilizes and transfers features such as voice recognition, one-touch
voicemail dial-back and SMS message alerts from your cell phone;

Place your cell phone in your best area for cell phone reception and
use regular corded or cordless phones throughout the house;

Use the free unlimited nights, weekends and mobile to mobile calling
plans to their fullest while fully utilizing unused peak minutes;

Bluetooth Module interfaces wirelessly between the Dock-N-Talk and
cell phone with no need for a cable;

Sends Caller ID and Visual Message Alert from cell phone to
compatible home phones;

Switch an active call seamlessly from cell phone to home phone (and
vice versa);

Eliminates cell phone radiation for extended conversations or
extensive calling;

Docking Stations will also be available integrated into a telephone
with the Enterprise telephone or also with a full wire-line telephone
built-in, the Unity telephone.

NOTE: This is posted as a public service. I have no interest in or
connection to either the product or the dealer.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

Per Elmo P. Shagnasty:
>with cell phones, they call her directly.

Not cost-effective in our (unusually fortunate?) case.

That would mean another cell phone at about $40/month, whereas the landline is
only about $14.

OTOH, it would have the benefit of segregating calls. If her phone rings, it's
probably for her and if mine rings it's probably for me....

The PhoneLabs Dock-N-Talk
<http://www.anything4wireless.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=31>
that JohnN refers to would alleviate the issue of two people on our end being
able to participate in the same call at the same time.

OTOOH, my wife is the archetypical technophobe.... I can't even get her to leave
the prepaid phone that I got her on....
--
PeteCresswell