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twhiting9275
join:2002-08-30
Waterloo, IA

twhiting9275 to jojosuburban

Member

to jojosuburban

Re: Mediacom To Start Charging For Phone Modem

Mediacom's never been competitive in the 'phone' market. Then again, who has a 'home phone' any more, anyways? Cell reception is pretty much off the chart anywhere!

RyanThaDude
Indiana's No. 1 Zero
join:2004-01-24
Walkerton, IN

RyanThaDude

Member

Are you sure about that? There's quite a bit of areas have poor cell coverage on ALL carriers, including mine. Drive less than a mile in either direction and full signal. Nevertheless this isn't stopping me from dropping phone service.

danawhitaker
Space...The Final Frontier
Premium Member
join:2002-03-02
Thorndale, ON

danawhitaker to twhiting9275

Premium Member

to twhiting9275
You convince my 96 year old grandma to switch from a landline with a number she's had for almost 20 years now to a cell phone. We have four people in our household, three of whom are adults, all of whom would need phones. Mediacom's phone service is way cheaper than three wireless plans.

That being said, I would love to know if there's an update on the supported equipment. I have my spare modem sitting there waiting to get it provisioned.

lhollow
join:2010-12-02
IL

lhollow

Member

Verizon has a home phone connect device (»www.verizonwireless.com/ ··· ct.shtml). $9.99 add to a CURRENT family plan (shares minutes) or $19.99 unlimited on its own. I have a cell phone and bluetooth gateway that do the same thing. My plan is grandfathered, not current, so unless I want to pay $10 extra, I can't use this device until I change my plan. It has an external antenna, so that may help with reception.

thedragonmas
Premium Member
join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA
Netgear R6300 v2
ARRIS SB6180

thedragonmas to danawhitaker

Premium Member

to danawhitaker
said by danawhitaker:

You convince my 96 year old grandma to switch from a landline with a number she's had for almost 20 years now to a cell phone. (..snip..)

port? ive had the same "home" number for 12 years, ported it from att landline (formerly bellsouth, ah how i miss them) to mediacom, then when i dumped mediacom phone i just ported it to another line on my cellphone.

MediacomChad
Mediacom Social Media Relations Team
Premium Member
join:2010-01-20
Gulf Breeze, FL

MediacomChad

Premium Member

lhollow, I still, unfortunately, do not have a confirmation of which modem will be used for the EMTA's. There are some rumors but we have not gotten official confirmation.

danawhitaker
Space...The Final Frontier
Premium Member
join:2002-03-02
Thorndale, ON

danawhitaker to thedragonmas

Premium Member

to thedragonmas
Even assuming that part would actually work (every phone I've showed her, including the most basic prepaid phones with large buttons, she deems too "complicated" and too difficult for her to see easily), it still doesn't change the fact that for three adults in one household, it would cost more than the current cost of Mediacom's phone service. Then there would be the fact that I would be the one who would end up dealing with keeping the phone charged up (corded landlines don't need this) and making sure it didn't get misplaced (it's hard to misplace a corded landline phone). It wouldn't be worth the extra hassle. I already have to make sure my Mom adds minutes to her prepaid phone every few months. Adding a third phone into the mix would make my head explode.

If I lived alone with my daughter, it would be a no-brainer. I'd be a cell only household. But I don't. So I have to think about which option is best for everyone in the household. And actually, even then, I'm not sure that would be the best option. If something happened to me and my daughter needed to call 911, I wouldn't really want her to have to chase around the house to try and find where I left my cell phone. She's not old enough to have her own at six.

It's not really that cell phones are even cheaper (especially smartphones, with their mandatory data plans that, on non-prepaid services, are usually at least a $60/month commitment), it's just that they're more convenient for a lot of people. I have a cell phone, but it's T-mobile prepaid, I put on maybe $20 worth of minutes a year since I'm a Gold Rewards member and my minutes last for a year every time I add them. But if I were using my cell as a primary phone, I'd be using considerably more minutes, definitely more than the $30/month for Mediacom phone (since it's currently bundled with two other services).

thedragonmas
Premium Member
join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA
Netgear R6300 v2
ARRIS SB6180

thedragonmas

Premium Member

not what i meant sorry, i thought by this comment...
said by danawhitaker:

You convince my 96 year old grandma to switch from a landline with a number she's had for almost 20 years now to a cell phone.

that you meant she got mediacom phone and got rid of her old number (i.e. got a new one from mediacom) was pointing out she could have ported it to mediacom and not lost the number. sorry if i misunderstood.

danawhitaker
Space...The Final Frontier
Premium Member
join:2002-03-02
Thorndale, ON

danawhitaker

Premium Member

We ported our number from Qwest to Mediacom. If porting had not been an option, she wouldn't have been willing to do that. But that switch didn't change the way in which she dials the telephone or things of that nature.
WhatHappened
join:2004-08-06
Waseca, MN

WhatHappened to danawhitaker

Member

to danawhitaker
said by danawhitaker:

I have a cell phone, but it's T-mobile prepaid, I put on maybe $20 worth of minutes a year since I'm a Gold Rewards member and my minutes last for a year every time I add them.

I do the exact same thing with T-mobile pre-paid for myself and I pay $15/month for my son's unlimited T-mobile pre-paid text plan (teens don't talk on phones any more, just text).

$20/12month + $15/month is less than $17/month for two cell phones. I would like to know how you can get cheaper than Mediacom unlimited phone at $29.99/month + $17/month two cell phones. For $47/month you couldn't even get one decent smart phone plan.

If anyone wonder how I can get by with so few minutes on the cell phone, the answer is google voice. I only give out my google voice # and any calls are answered on my work phone or home phone when ever I am located there. My SMS messages are sent to my email and an application on my google chrome browser at no cost.