Broadband Tech > General Questions > Which do you think is better?

Which do you think is better?

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Define "better"

There is a third option for telephone service you didn't list; Cellular

reply to Dude111
landline wins hands down, but once you factor in cost voip wins.

reply to 61999674

reply to Dude111

reply to Dude111
VOIP is less expensive but also less reliable. You also need a broadband connection and usually a constantly running computer.

Switched POTS lines are more expensive but very, very reliable. And they do not need any special hardware, computer, or external power source.

Both typically have good audio but VOIP can be degraded by net congestion. VOIP does not play well with security alarms and sometimes caller ID.

To answer your question, VOIP is nowhere even close to traditional phone service if you need quality and reliability. If you factor in cost, then it becomes a judgement call of what you're willing to give up to keep expenses down.

mocycler

reply to Dude111
C) Neither

Cable Telephony!

Traditional landlines are more reliable then traditional VoIP. I personally have never used VoIP and never will. I don't care how cheap it is, nor if it was free, never will I use it. But both suck ass. Had POTS with NYNEX/Bell Atlantic/Verizon forever and made the switch to Digital Phone from Time Warner this past April. Just as reliable as POTS without those scumbags at Verizon getting a dime of my money. Our landline bill with Verizon was less than $20 a month. Lifeline service, pay per call, no long distance access and the only additional feature we had was Caller ID with Number only. I’m paying more with Time Warner, not to the tune of the advertised $40 a month due to my bundling discounts, probably more like $30 including taxes and fees. But I’m also getting a hell of a lot more features.

What really did it for me was back in 2006 when here in the Buffalo area we got hit with a surprise snow storm in the beginning of October. The weight of the snow on the fully leaf covered trees combined with the winds took down many many trees which took down many utilities. I personally wasn’t affected by Verizon’s piss poor response, but many of my coworkers went without phone service for weeks and weeks, one guy didn’t get phone service restored until 2 weeks before Christmas. I was one of the lucky ones, only without power and phone service for about 20 hours. No electricity and no dial tone on my corded phone, but I was able to surf the internet using my cable broadband until my APC UPS ran out of juice. Verizon dropped the ball big time and showed in an ‘emergency’ situation they cannot be trusted. They are an evil evil company and the day I got the notice in the mail that my address was now Digital Phone serviceable I was jumping for joy and called up TW to set up an install appointment immediately. Not to mention sound quality is better with Digital Phone. People on the other end sound richer.

I'll never do bsuiness with an el cheapo VoIP provider who more then likely will go out of business or the spawn of Satan aka telcos.
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Time Warner Cable Subscriber, Fanboy, Shill & Lover - Providing an advanced fiber network since before fiber became popular
Sprint Subscriber, Fanboy, Shill & Lover - America’s most dependable 3G network, first 4G network, best push to talk network

reply to thegeek

good point. i actually use neither, cell phone only. it has enough bullshit fees that i don't need landline or voip bullshit fees also.

reply to 61999674

reply to Dude111
Landline...in my opinion.

I do have a few VoIP lines but I will ALWAYS have at least one landline, delivered by Ma Bell herself...haha.

reply to Dude111
Cellphones FTW!

reply to Dude111
Come to where I live and say cellphone only. You should say cellphone or no phone.
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Caddy

reply to Dude111
VOIP wasn't around in the 80's, so it really shouldn't be on the poll.

Cost: VoIP. I pay $14/mo for my Vonage line, after 'fees'.

Reliability: Impossible to answer as a 'generic' question. Depends on what the local services are like.

As far as 'if the power goes out', well, that also depends on your local situation. With my Vonage setup, i'm good for a few hours due to UPSs, and longer if I pull out the Genny. Keep in mind many providers (Comcast, Verizon) are already VOIP depending on the services you have.

If there is a power outage, Cellular will continue operating probably as long as the POTS stuff, as it's all on battery. Though there's a good chance the POTS stuff may go longer depending on how their generators are spread out.

Audio quality: Again, too generic to answer. I have yet to have someone ask "Are you on an IP phone" when I call them from my Vonage line. Nor can they tell when I'm calling through our SIP Provider at work, even though the call is bouncing through two VPNs before it even hits the SIP lines.

Conclusion: Neither is better than the other. Audio quality depends on too many factors. Reliability depends on too many factors. If it's cost, VOIP.

reply to mocycler

reply to Dude111
Wouldn't "land lines or VOIP?" been a much more logical subject line?

reply to Dude111
VOIP here all the way here, when I look at the bigger picture. I pay $15 a month for far more features than Verizon or stupid digital phone could provide. I have also had more outages with TW service in 2 years than I have in the 6 years I have been with Voicepulse.

Sure the power goes out and internet goes down, Voicepulse automatically forwards all calls to our cell phones so we never miss a beat. I assume since I can still get my calls regardless of what happens, reliability is very high and the price is right.
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Usenet Block Accounts | Unlimited Accounts

reply to Dude111

Re: Which do you think is better?

reply to mocycler
I use Teliax and never had an outage that I noticed.
Teliax does not have the BS fees.

As far as a running computer all the time, not sure where that idea comes from? Magic jack?

I have many UPS boxes in my home.
I have one on my TV (it takes one alone) and one on the receiver. I like to have UPS on as many things as possible (makes them last longer and lets me do stuff like watch TV or use the computer while the power drops). I only have laptops in my home so nothing needed there for power.

Phone:
I have one UPS on my ASA (Cisco), my Linksys ATA and my cable modem.
If the power goes out, which is rare, it goes out for under an hour which is fine for my UPS. If it goes out longer and my UPS dies, it rolls over to my cell.

However, I do not value having phone service that much. If there is an emergency I can use my cell if or home line.

I have not had a landline in a long time (7-8 years or more). I have moved 3 times since then and still have one number that I had a long time ago. I have had that number for over 15 years. I have added a local number for the area I live in to. VOIP has a lot of features that I can control without having to talk to ANYONE.

So VOIP is better in the way of features, cost and control.
POTs line is only really good in one way, power, and even then it is questionable. Technology advances have begun to move away from the traditional power over the wires systems. FIOS is a good example and telcos are really moving toward a different type of structure.

So everything has its advantage and disadvantages. Call quality, my VOIP is better (static sucks). POTs, I see little advantage there.