 yockTFTCPremium
join:2000-11-21
Miamisburg, OH
kudos:3
1 edit | No More I'll never be without a landline anymore after the events of this week. Plain old telephone service with a plain old telephone was my only line to the outside for about a day and a half. My cell phone worked intermittently for receiving calls, but it could not make calls and I couldn't charge my battery without running my car engine to charge off the cigarette lighter.
IMO, for as long as I've lived without a landline, I now consider that decision to have been shortsighted and foolish.
[edit]Corrected a typo
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Laughter is the closest distance between two people. --Victor Borge
Lynch All Liars |
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| Have to agree with yock. The realization of having an almost total blackout which does also effect cell towers has shown me that I will at least keep a landline at the house. It will not have the options I pay for on the cell service but it will be there in the slight chance that my area loses power like it did over the weekend. |
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 DaveDudeNo Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey
kudos:1 | reply to yock
The landline is still vital, When the storm hit a month ago, cellular was very busy, but i picked up the phone and everything was good. Verizon really isnt trying to keep customers though |
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 RARPSL
join:1999-12-08
Suffern, NY | reply to yock
said by yock:I couldn't charge my battery without running my car engine to charge off the cigarette lighter That is what having a spare battery (or two) is for. Just like having a spare for your laptop so you can use it without needing to be tied to a wall socket (such as on a trip/plane). |
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Absolutely, its also nice to get messeges when they were left, not 3 days later!
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The "Lifetime" channel is responsible for 83% of all divorces...Robert Ginty |
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yockTFTCPremium
join:2000-11-21
Miamisburg, OH
kudos:3 | reply to RARPSL
said by RARPSL:said by yock:I couldn't charge my battery without running my car engine to charge off the cigarette lighter That is what having a spare battery (or two) is for. Just like having a spare for your laptop so you can use it without needing to be tied to a wall socket (such as on a trip/plane). Rechargeable cells discharge over time whether you use them or not. It's also an investment of some $50 - $100 per battery, plus the time and effort of charge cycling them regularly to keep them well conditioned. Then I'm still out of power once they die in the course of a week.
My girlfriend had a landline that we used extensively through our storm outtage. It costs her $15 a month and it never went out. It doesn't require any electricity that isn't already provided by the telephone company and their facilities have backup power generation. Did I mention that it never once went out? Never. |
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| $15/month? Doubt it. Not with all the other fees added on.
But really, it just wouldn't hurt me to go without a phone for a week. My life simply doesn't evolve around it like that. |
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 wifi4milezBig Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY | reply to yock
said by yock:said by RARPSL:said by yock:I couldn't charge my battery without running my car engine to charge off the cigarette lighter That is what having a spare battery (or two) is for. Just like having a spare for your laptop so you can use it without needing to be tied to a wall socket (such as on a trip/plane). Rechargeable cells discharge over time whether you use them or not. It's also an investment of some $50 - $100 per battery, plus the time and effort of charge cycling them regularly to keep them well conditioned. Then I'm still out of power once they die in the course of a week. My girlfriend had a landline that we used extensively through our storm outtage. It costs her $15 a month and it never went out. It doesn't require any electricity that isn't already provided by the telephone company and their facilities have backup power generation. Did I mention that it never once went out? Never. Totally agree. I was "that guy" without a landline for almost 10 years, and I used to even argue how pointless they were. It wasnt until an incident occurred that required dialing 911 did I realize the error of my ways. Now we have a handful of cell phones, one VoIP line for my wife, and of course a trusty landline for the sole purpose of (God forbid) dialing 911 again. The recent storms should only serve to convince people that they need a landline, regardless of how "techy" you are. Things (unfortunately) happen and when you need police/ambulance/fire department you want to pick up the phone and know they will answer.
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If history teaches us anything, it teaches that simple-minded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly.
-Ronald Reagan-
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 swhx7Premium
join:2006-07-23
Elbonia | reply to yock
Generally a landline is more reliable, but in my case it was less reliable. ATT just wouldn't maintain the lines well enough. Every few weeks, there would be no dial tone, and I'd have to call ATT and have them fix it.
Of course they threatened big charges if they decided the problem was in the customer's premises. But I checked that carefully first. So they'd come out and fix it, and then after 10-20 days, the same thing would happen again. And so on, over and over.
I was missing so many calls I had to cancel it. Another factor was repeatedly getting stuck in some place where I needed to make a call and there were no landlines.
BTW, this news is only about consumers. I don't envision businesses replacing all the desktop phones with cells. |
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| reply to Uncle Paul
said by Uncle Paul:$15/month? Doubt it. Not with all the other fees added on. But really, it just wouldn't hurt me to go without a phone for a week. My life simply doesn't evolve around it like that. My ATT landline is $33 a month after taxes. It's not about having your life liesurely revolve around the phone, it's about having a basic maintenence free telecommunication line thats in service 99.99% of the time even without electricity. So for the price of 6 lattes at Starbucks (without tip), why wouldn't I want that type of insurance? |
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 dsldude08Premium,VIP
join:2008-01-03
La Crosse, WI
kudos:2 | I agree with you. But most people don't get it. |
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dsldude08Premium,VIP
join:2008-01-03
La Crosse, WI
kudos:2 | reply to wifi4milez
I couldn't have said it better myself. |
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 quetwoThat VoIP GuyPremium
join:2004-09-04
East Lansing, MI | reply to Uncle Paul
Many CLECs offer service for the $12 - $15 ($17 after taxes, unfees).
Many ILECS also offer 'lifeline' service for about $11 - 15 a month (depending on the region). Lifeline service is often regulated through your Public Service Commission. |
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yockTFTCPremium
join:2000-11-21
Miamisburg, OH
kudos:3 | reply to Uncle Paul
said by Uncle Paul:$15/month? Doubt it. Not with all the other fees added on. But really, it just wouldn't hurt me to go without a phone for a week. My life simply doesn't evolve around it like that. Your life may very well rely on 911 service. This is exactly the shortsightedness I'm talking about. |
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| You are absolutely correct, thank goodness my cellphone works and probably wouldn't turn it on except to make such a call. |
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 DavidNow accepting new patientsPremium,VIP
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL
kudos:70
 ·AT&T Southwest
 ·DIRECTV
·AT&T Midwest
 ·Google Voice
| reply to yock
said by yock:I'll never be without a landline anymore after the events of this week. Plain old telephone service with a plain old telephone was my only line to the outside for about a day and a half. My cell phone worked intermittently for receiving calls, but it could not make calls and I couldn't charge my battery without running my car engine to charge off the cigarette lighter. IMO, for as long as I've lived without a landline, I now consider that decision to have been shortsighted and foolish. Ironically, there were many on my block as well that were just as foolish and shortsighted as well. They were all charter customers and ironically I happen to catch up with a few neighbors as they were complaining about not having service. That's when I became a really popular neighbor and told them "Really? Mine's working just fine." They asked who I had and I said "SBC/AT&T" at the time. I (or I should say my phone line) became rather popular for about a week.
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If you have a topic in the direct forum please reply to it or a post of mine, I get a notification when you do this.
Koetting Ford, Granite City, illinois... YOU'RE FIRED!!
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Ohh if so much in life could just be rendered down to the price of a Starbucks latte. But then I see the price of a Starbucks latte as to much too.
With all that said, I still have a land line myself. |
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DavidNow accepting new patientsPremium,VIP
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL
kudos:70 Reviews:
·AT&T Southwest
·DIRECTV
·AT&T Midwest
·Google Voice
| reply to dsldude08
said by dsldude08:I agree with you. But most people don't get it. Because they see savings... or they use the terms "screw the phone company... Vonage...." and that's all they see. They are not told what would happen if the power went out in that commercial. What they don't bother to mention is that as long as you can connect to Vonage's servers then you have a phone connection.
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If you have a topic in the direct forum please reply to it or a post of mine, I get a notification when you do this.
Koetting Ford, Granite City, illinois... YOU'RE FIRED!!
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wev567
join:2006-02-25
Pittsburgh, PA | reply to Uncle Paul
Budget LUM service will run you about 12-15, depending on the area. |
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kruserPremium
join:2002-06-01
Chesterfield, MO | reply to yock
said by yock:I'll never be without a landline anymore after the events of this week. Plain old telephone service with a plain old telephone was my only line to the outside for about a day and a half. My cell phone worked intermittently for receiving calls, but it could not make calls and I couldn't charge my battery without running my car engine to charge off the cigarette lighter. IMO, for as long as I've lived without a landline, I now consider that decision to have been shortsighted and foolish. [edit]Corrected a typo
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Laughter is the closest distance between two people. --Victor Borge
Lynch All Liars We also had bad weather just before you did but this time cell service stayed up. A couple years back however we had a bad storm with high winds that came from the North/ NorthEast and it wiped out most power as well as cell service for many. My pots lines stayed up as well as my DSL until the UPS units died 20 hours later.
I can run my DSL stuff for 20+ hours but if I throw a machine in the mix then that time shortens to 6+ hours or so. I knew we were in for the long haul that time so I killed everything except the modem and router and used a laptop when needed. We were without power for 4 days.
So I also would never give up a good ole pots line that has power supplied from the CO in my case by huge racks of batteries as well as a couple large generators that keep those batteries charged!
Of course I'm lucky in that my phone is underground from home to the CO. |
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