 
Jerm
join:2000-04-10
Richland, WA | pots can die die die I don't care. VOIP is the future. | |
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Quake110
join:2003-12-20
Ottawa, ON
 ·Velcom
| Re: pots can die die die In Canada, I don't feel the same way. Pots are the most reliable, I don't even trust the cable companies because the battery in the devices will last a few hours at most.
Imagine if I had VoIP During the big East American-Canadian blackout?... We will be cut off. Only the pots stayed working. | |
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| | Blackened
Your Freedom Fries Are Stale
join:2003-09-29
| Re: pots can die die die It's a bit of a paradox, Joe consumer's options are
VOIP is good because it isn't POTS.
POTS still works when the power is cut.
VOIP does not work because it likely needs a router/network or working transmitter which goes with the power.
POTS has an advantage, but almost everyone nowadays with that uses a phone system that will only work when the power is on. Better have backup phone like I do.
--
Moore/Alexander 2008
Conservatives love religious-like aphorisms so here's one: "Freedom isn't free. It's Made in China." | |
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| | | | Blackened
Your Freedom Fries Are Stale
join:2003-09-29 | Re: pots can die die die I haven't ever known a person to change the battery in their alarm clocks that they use every morning, never mind their phone.
We're all just a lazy bunch.  | |
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| | | 
anonycoward
@sbcglobal.net
| said by Blackened  :POTS still works when the power is cut. This is certainly not true. When the RT loses power, so does the POTS. My cell-phone is far more reliable in power outages with its ability to pick up multiple towers. | |
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Quake110
join:2003-12-20
Ottawa, ON
·Velcom
| Re: pots can die die die said by anonycoward :said by Blackened :POTS still works when the power is cut. This is certainly not true. When the RT loses power, so does the POTS. My cell-phone is far more reliable in power outages with its ability to pick up multiple towers. What will you do if your cell-phone battery was already low on power and there was an outage that lasted for hours?
I can confirmed during the major blackout that lasted hours, even a day, the POTS stayed strong. People were relying on them to contact others. So for me, POTS (with a regular phone) has the best reliability. | |
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| | | | | wentlanc
You Can't Fix Dumb..
join:2003-07-30
Maineville, OH
| Re: pots can die die die Charge it from your car? I know, it all seems too simple.
And who are you calling all this time while the power is out? Let people know you are safe. I'm sure there are more important things to do than jabber on the phone during a disaster.
cw | |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County | Re: pots can die die die I would use it for emergencies - police, fire, police when the power is out. | |
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| | | | sbcretired
join:2006-01-07
Scottville, MI
·AT&T Midwest
| said by anonycoward :said by Blackened :POTS still works when the power is cut. This is certainly not true. When the RT loses power, so does the POTS. My cell-phone is far more reliable in power outages with its ability to pick up multiple towers. Well, the RT's have battery back-up, monitored by digital link 24/7 and technicians that run generators out to the RT's (in ATT Midwest anyway) | |
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NOCMan
Verizon Fios User
Premium
join:2004-09-30
Flower Mound, TX | I have to agree. However, line powered VOIP should be what the telephone companies move to. They're ignoring it completely though.
Perhaps if they got in touch with pricing. 30 dollars a month is plenty for a rarely used line. | |
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| | | FAQFixer
Premium
join:2004-06-28
Powder Springs, GA
| said by NOCMan :I have to agree. However, line powered VOIP should be what the telephone companies move to. They're ignoring it completely though. That's because it is a stupid idea peddled by charlatans. | |
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CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
·Speakeasy
| said by Quake110 :In Canada, I don't feel the same way. Pots are the most reliable, I don't even trust the cable companies because the battery in the devices will last a few hours at most. Imagine if I had VoIP During the big East American-Canadian blackout?... We will be cut off. Only the pots stayed working. Same here - I use pots nearly every day if not multiple times a day if needed. With 2 kids and a wife - I want the phone working when the power goes out without worrying about batteries.
Cell phone can really suck for long distance calls and even local ones can be pretty crappy not to mention having to keep up with battery charging. | |
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insomniac84
join:2002-01-03
Schererville, IN
| said by Jerm :I don't care. VOIP is the future. Say goodbye to unlimited plans when ISPs successfully charge you based on usage. And once there it is only a matter of time before they lock up ports and charge to use certain ones and charge more for bandwidth on certain ports. If they can get away with per megabyte fees, they easily can get away with charging different rates based on the kinds of traffic. | |
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Madness
A flea circus at a dog show.
join:2000-01-05
Quincy, MA
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: pots can die die die That's been my major pet peeve about POTS. My cheapie PAYG cellphone includes call waiting, ID & voicemail as part of the basic service. Why should it cost about an extra ~$12-15 or so to add those to a basic POTS line (or require a more premium package)?
Another peeve was when the VZ started this "minimum long-distance usage" charge for their LD service. Getting charged $2 (later $4) whether or not I made that amount in calls. That's largely what made me go to DSL dry-loop.
Not to say that cellphones are the end-all solution, either. My peeve about a lot of them is very short battery life (even in standby). If there was an emergency & my phone was dead, there's a payphone (remember them?) directly across the street from my house. As long as myself or anyone else here was able-bodied, we could make the call from there. | |
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POTS4Life
@verizon.net
| said by Jerm :I don't care. VOIP is the future. Yeah, until that day you need an ambulance.
E911, Voip, Cellular 911 does not work.
Don't wait until its too late to find out.
POTS is worth every penny. | |
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Bobcat
Cablevision sucks donkey balls
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ | I love my POTS It's cheaper than the cable company's voice service. | |
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| rob316
join:2005-10-17
Carteret, NJ | Re: I love my POTS Funny I just switched back to Verizon landline and DSL, I use to have Comcast but there HD lineup for tv was horrible. So i took the Verizon package of DTV, DSL and landline. I save around 70 bucks a month now. | |
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Bobcat
Cablevision sucks donkey balls
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ
·Verizon Online DSL
2 edits | Re: I love my POTS My POTS bill is $18.44 per month including all taxes. Cable would cost $29.95 per month (actually, it would be a lot more than that, because the cable company would make me pay for other services that I don't want, like their Internet service and digital cable boxes). | |
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Ikyuao
Pro. debian Linux
join:2007-02-26
Wichita, KS | Re: I love my POTS What which one you're on? Like cox, comcast, RCN and other cable name band company. | |
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Bobcat
Cablevision sucks donkey balls
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ
1 edit | Re: I love my POTS See the text near my username and avatar? I have Cablevision. They're much more expensive than Verizon. | |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·Cox HSI
·AT&T Southwest
1 edit | They still don't get it.... The reason Landlines are dying enmasse is because the Telco's don't or won't price them competitively given the new market paradigm.
Personally, I'd love to have a plain old POTS line--- If the price wasn't so high. POTS lines, with all the fees and junk tacked on, are around $35 a month here... ie Base rate for no calling features (just dial tone) is around $20. So approx. $10-$15 of that price is fees, surcharges, USF, etc etc but still....
Give people a POTS line for $10 a month (incl. Caller ID, yadda, yadda, yadda) + fees and I think they'd do a lot better.
--
"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) | |
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| jarthur31
join:2006-04-14
Carlsbad, NM | Re: They still don't get it.... Heck, $30/month for all those extras would be good enough for me as long as you can sign a contract that doesn't increase that price (including those extra bogus fees) for a year or two. | |
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NOCMan
Verizon Fios User
Premium
join:2004-09-30
Flower Mound, TX
| Re: They still don't get it.... Good for you. Base line here costs 29 ish.. after taxes and fees/unfees it was nearly 60. 3.95 for touch tone dialing, 4.95 for keeping me out of the phone book.
It's crap.. Just switched it to Vonage so the security system can still dial out.
What sucks is that I could get a 30 dollar a month Cell system for the security, but they will not monitor fire alarms anymore if I went that way. It's POTS or VOIP..
I told them that my phone lines come in where the power is and if lightning struck the house and fried the line out, how's it going to dial..
sheesh | |
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old_dawg
"I Know Noting..."
join:2001-09-22
Westminster, MD
| Re: They still don't get it.... said by NOCMan :It's crap.. Just switched it to Vonage so the security system can still dial out. I told them that my phone lines come in where the power is and if lightning struck the house and fried the line out, how's it going to dial.. sheesh Doesn't Vonage rely on someone else's (ie, ISP) physical plant for your VOIP?. After many years in outside plant, I'll betcha paychecks that all things considered, telco service drop and plant is better isolated to protect
you from a lightning strike than cable plant.
--
"Our network engineers are aware of the problem..." | |
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bobjohnson
Premium
join:2007-02-03
Titusville, FL
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: They still don't get it.... said by old_dawg :said by NOCMan :It's crap.. Just switched it to Vonage so the security system can still dial out. I told them that my phone lines come in where the power is and if lightning struck the house and fried the line out, how's it going to dial.. sheesh Doesn't Vonage rely on someone else's (ie, ISP) physical plant for your VOIP?. After many years in outside plant, I'll betcha paychecks that all things considered, telco service drop and plant is better isolated to protect you from a lightning strike than cable plant. with cable you are more likely to see an outage from the headend than you would with POTS bc of lightning, but at the drop... that is a whole other situation... even here in the lightning capital of the world, they (att, embarq) only ground 2 out of every 5 nid's and the other 3 homes get fried wires occasionally.. the problem with voip is the equipment usually is what gets fried during lightning around here...
--
Any unauthorized copying or distribution of the opinion above constitutes stupidity and you should probably be punished
| |
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| | | | | bogey780
join:2004-03-19
Here
| Re: They still don't get it.... 'even here in the lightning capital of the world, they (att, embarq) only ground 2 out of every 5 nid's and the other 3 homes get fried wires occasionally...'
I doubt it. Every NID is required to have a grounded protector going back to a power ground, power ground rod, ground bar in meter pan, or the meter pan itself.
If it's not grounded then AT&T has to send a tech out to ground it. That's why they have yellow tags telling the customer to call if it's not attached. | |
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bobjohnson
Premium
join:2007-02-03
Titusville, FL | Re: They still don't get it.... I don't doubt it.. ive seen it many times before on a daily basis... they don't ground like they should and most ppl switch to digital phone when they find out that replacing a phone line is $75 without the service plan | |
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| | | | | | | bogey780
join:2004-03-19
Here | Re: They still don't get it.... What I'm saying is what you're saying is mostly nonsense. Good luck with that digital phone system working of a cable modem that's grounded with braided 14ga wire to a water pipe. | |
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Broken Back
Premium
join:2002-05-19
Dallas, TX | My don't you get a cellular uplink for your alarm and drop LL>
--
Over The Hill | |
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| | | | moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: They still don't get it.... said by Broken Back :My don't you get a cellular uplink for your alarm and drop LL> said by NOCMan :It's crap.. Just switched it to Vonage so the security system can still dial out. What sucks is that I could get a 30 dollar a month Cell system for the security, but they will not monitor fire alarms anymore if I went that way. It's POTS or VOIP.. | |
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| EPS
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA | In some places, POTS is still regulated, which makes pricing competitively difficult. | |
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See 6 replies to this post |
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meh37
@verizon.net
| Totally. Does it cost $7 to provide CallerID? No... more like 7 cents (less actually). Outrageously priced features and "taxes" and "fees" that are little more than robbery (with the assistance of govt... can you spell U-S-F?) are what's killing landline service. A "recovery" fee for long-distance in order to NOT have a long-distance provider? Geez! | |
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sivran
God Save The Suite
Premium
join:2003-09-15
Arlington, TX
clubs:
·RoadRunner Cable
| Base price for POTS here is $10/mo. Then they pile on the taxes and fees. I've had it for years.
Comparing base price, POTS is cheaper than Vonage. To get unlimited local you have to pay at least double, plus whatever taxes and fees are on a typical Vonage bill. Granted you get a few extra services with it. Last I looked Vonage started at $15/mo, for a limited plan.
I'll not be leaving my landline any time soon, even though I don't use it much at all:
* I'd rather have a phone that doesn't rely on my consumer-grade UPS.
* I'd rather have a phone that doesn't rely on my ISP. All throughout Southwestern Bell, SBC, and AT&T, my phone has worked without a hitch. If my phoneline's had any downtime, it didn't occur at a time I'd notice it. 100% uptime is something my ISP can only dream of.
* I've got um, other things to do with my upstream bandwidth. Yeah.
--
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon profitable cause... | |
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See 6 replies to this post |
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| 
BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| said by KrK :The reason Landlines are dying enmasse is because the Telco's don't or won't price them competitively given the new market paradigm. Personally, I'd love to have a plain old POTS line--- If the price wasn't so high. POTS lines, with all the fees and junk tacked on, are around $35 a month here... ie Base rate for no calling features (just dial tone) is around $20. So approx. $10-$15 of that price is fees, surcharges, USF, etc etc but still.... Give people a POTS line for $10 a month (incl. Caller ID, yadda, yadda, yadda) + fees and I think they'd do a lot better. Where I live you can get a POTS line form at&t no long distance plan no caller ID or anything for $17 tax and all total. Add caller ID with name and your total is about $27 a month. That's actually less than I was paying for Packet 8 after taxes and such were added. VOIP is only cheaper if you use a lot of long distance which I never use. | |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | Re: They still don't get it.... That's a good price.
Here, the basic line (POTS Dial-Tone) is about $35 a month, period. (Yes $15 or so is the fees.) | |
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theDUDE
vote with your wallet
join:2008-05-10
Wytheville, VA
 ·HughesNet Satellit..
| I cancelled landline because... EMBARQ kept promising dsl but never delivered so i stopped giving them money for a service i don't need. I have a cell phone and when the power goes out i can still use it! I wonder what percentage of that 2,000 a day. I won't be an EMBARQ customer again until they actually spend some money on the infrastructure and offer me the dsl, without phone service would be preferred. Forcing your customer to bundled services is like a smack to the face. They don't like it.
I just can't help but think this could all be fixed by improving customer service and above all else spend some money on that infrastructure instead of wasting it on other things! | |
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See 9 replies to this post |
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Phil
Rojo Sol
Premium
join:2001-06-11
Camarillo, CA | No POTS here... Dropped Verizon about 3 weeks ago after piss poor service and high prices. Now using Vonage. | |
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| 
dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
1 edit | Re: No POTS here... said by Phil :Dropped Verizon about 3 weeks ago after piss poor service and high prices. Now using Vonage. Dropped (then) SBC 16+ years ago for piss-poor service.
Went digital(AT&T).
Comcast bought out AT&T, cruiased along for a few more years, now on CDV.
Got the 10 hour battery with the eMTA.
Got two cells on different providers just incase.
Screw POTS!
NOTE: Living in a Block 50 area so power is restored pretty fast.
No worries!
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera | |
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NellyV
join:2008-07-07
Taunton, MA
| The Great Landline Exodus With stories like this it's no wonder why telcos are bundling in pots lines with other services...ie, dsl, or in my case Fios. The pots line cost me under $10/month with the triple play. If the price jumps too high after a year I'll be going to VOIP. | |
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Foolish
@sbcglobal.net
| POTS The Internet and ancillaries is an eggshell, easily broken. Putting you eggs all in one basket (to coin an very old adage) is a big mistake. Kinda like getting all your news from the web (or cable TV). I consider myself a tech-savy user & will not drop POTS for cell-only or VOIP.
Keep your options open. Or ? | |
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tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Floral Park, NY
| $15 just to walk in the door, AKA TAXES AND FEES! The $15 barrier just to pony up to a telecom for POTS is cost prohibitive these days when an unlimited voip phone line can cost only a few dollars more than that, provided you have a broadband connection or a cable dual play service. For all the negatives of having a VOIP service, the all mighty dollar will trump them nearly every time!
A non-comparable Voice service from a telco STARTS at around $40 per month non-bundled with few, if any features. This is what will kill the POTS industry. | |
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Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA | What else did they expect When they have bullcrap fees like the "you didn't use enough long distance" fee?
They actually think people would put up with being dollared to death? | |
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gtoken
join:2003-12-28
Fort Smith, AR | The reason at&t can die is..... because they are a total bunch of a-holes..... at&t formerly sbc.
at&t formerly Cingular may it live long and prosper. | |
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MrSpock29
join:2008-02-09
Hammonton, NJ
1 edit | To correct the text at the top. Verizon did NOT leak anything.
»www.investorvillage.com/mbnews.a···d=480723
They filed an 8-k, which always accompanies a FORMAL announcement, as this adheres to Reg. FD.
I feel this is very important to clarify, as leaks are in the same light as rumors, which are at issue in some sectors especially, at the present time.
edit: here is a link that shows the televised interview on CNBC today.
»cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/···=4043681 | |
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bobgwen
join:2001-07-07
Bartow, FL
·Comcast
| pots and shorelines response "It's a bit of a paradox, Joe consumer's options are
VOIP is good because it isn't POTS.
POTS still works when the power is cut.
VOIP does not work because it likely needs a router/network or working transmitter which goes with the power.
POTS has an advantage, but almost everyone nowadays with that uses a phone system that will only work when the power is on. Better have backup phone like I do."
I went through several hurricanes and the latest one was hurricane wilma and lost every utility except my pots line. My cell was out as well as all my neighbors cell phones. dsl was out so, so much for having voip during a power outage. cable was out. so much for their version of voip. Called the family up north to let them know we were ok over my pots line that worked perfectly during power outage which lasted for 2 weeks. I would love to tell verizon and at&t to take a hike and use T-mobile's $10.00 a month plan but being in a hurricane prone area I am leery to take that chance.
--
brought to you by Carl's Jr.
Esteban Colberto for President of Cuba | |
|
| n2ubp
join:2007-07-13
Middletown, NY
| Re: pots and shorelines response said by bobgwen :POTS still works when the power is cut. Maybe if you have a direct feed from the central office or brick switch house powered by battery and genset. If your POTS comes from a fridge sized box on the street corner that remote switch only lasts as long as it's batteries hold out.. again 4 to 8 hours depending on load. | |
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lead cable man
@swbell.net | Re: pots and shorelines response Not true. Those RT sites are monitored so when the NOC gets an alarm that the battery system has kicked into gear they dispatch a technician who in turn can stay at that site and proved power via a generator until the power is restored. | |
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| | | dieman
Premium
join:2002-08-02
Minneapolis, MN
| Re: pots and shorelines response Bahahahah. Bahahahaha. Bahahahaha.
Last time that happened here POTS was down for at least a day. My neighbors tell me that at least. Embarq just didn't have enough generators to go around for the amount of damage in the area. They had the gall to send out great flyers about how reliable they are after that.
You know what works all the time? My amateur radio. If I can't get the Amateur Radio working, I'll get worried, otherwise I'm not going to bother trying to get any of this telco or internet stuff 'reliable', because we honestly don't have any utility companies anymore that give much of a crap. Xcel told us that some outages we had in the last week (17k~ customers) was due to 'demand', not equipment failure. Yarg. | |
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justbits
More fiber than ATT can handle
Premium
join:2003-01-08
Chicago, IL | Re: Its POTS or no Phone when Power Dies !!. How about this alternative?
HAM radio: $$$
Gas power generator: $$$
Outdoor antenna: $$$
Communication when the power goes out: priceless | |
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| | dieman
Premium
join:2002-08-02
Minneapolis, MN
| Re: Its POTS or no Phone when Power Dies !!. You can also just use a good AGM or SLA battery that you float all the time if you can't bother with the gas generator. I keep a 85ah battery charged 'just in case' along with an inverter that can drive my internet/phone stack alongside the ham radio. Cable plant here seems to stay up in most power outages so far. | |
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toplevelpot
yes it is, no I don't share
join:2008-04-19
Los Angeles, CA
·AT&T Yahoo
·DSL EXTREME
| Pots will not die for as long as there are... Pots will not die for as long as there are poor people, and non-tech-savvy people. When our power dies all but our cordless keep goin'. My dsl, well it takes a little for them to powercyle on their side, but otherwise it's up w/in a hour.
And someone mentioned block 50. Is that still relevant? Most of the time, in residential areas, it's not worth browning-out 1000 homes for the 500 Kw you'll save, worth more to brown-out a commercial or industrial area. And anyway, the power shortage was artificially created and masterfully manipulated, but is what 5 years past?
--
"Sir, I protest! I am not a merry man!" | |
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sivran
God Save The Suite
Premium
join:2003-09-15
Arlington, TX
clubs: | Re: Pots will not die for as long as there are... I'm not poor, POTS is just flat-out more reliable in my area. Can your ISP do 100% uptime? | |
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MisterMarcus
join:2001-11-10
San Diego, CA
| Re: Pots will not die for as long as there are... Problem with POTS is this (and I speak as a former PacBell/SBC employee):
- "Local Toll" should be abolished if it hasn't already. It's ridiculous to be (theoretically possible) charging a fee for me to call someone that's 2 miles away. Simply ridiculous. And I don't mean some promo that gives you "free toll calling" I mean make it go away altogether.
- POTS should be mandated to clearly identify all charges, if they haven't done this already. SDG&E gives me a full page explaining every fee, every tax, and what it's for. The only one that was ambiguous was actually a credit - and they were willing to explain that to me.
- Long distance carrier plans and charges should be abolished. Cell phones can do it, why not POTS? They could, they just don't want to because it's free money. I'll never forget my younger days racking up ~$400 monthly phone bills so I could call a friend in Bakersfield.
- POTS should never require a credit check OR a contract. Period. No payment = cut it off, simple. There's no "credit" being extended.
- POTS should never exceed $10/month for basic unlimited service. There's no reason to charge any more than that, really. And I'm including calling features. Metered rate should be no more than $5 base. Lifeline rate should be audited (I know it isn't, trust me), because AT&T will likely get a rude awakening if they did. I know they won't, because they want customers any way they can have them, but that further solidifies the fact that they COULD charge less if they wanted and still survive. | |
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cngr96
join:2005-03-05
El Paso, TX
| I like my vonage I have had Vonage since around 2002. I have had very little issues with it and have a UPS backup that will last around 8 hours. I dropped POTS because they WILL NOT deal. They nickle and dime you to death for features, have to have bundles to save any money, most bundled features you don't need, and "unlimited" long distance is unheard of without a hefty costing bundle. Every time it rains here, people complain about loosing their pots line or it gets so noisy, it is unusable. As someone else stated above, Telcos now use remote distribution points that have battery backup,but it is only for 4 to 8 hours. Gee, same as my UPS... | |
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suncet
join:2001-02-01
Lehi, UT | 100% uptime? If your ISP can't keep a 99.9% uptime then you need to find another ISP...
If you can't afford a decent UPS (they're pretty cheap now days) then I feel for you. | |
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tmh
@comcast.net | What, you mean people still use wired phones? How primitive.  | |
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benc
Premium
join:2007-06-17
Glen Carbon, IL
·Charter Pipeline
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
·Callcentric
·AT&T Midwest
| I Will Never Cancel ...unless the service ceases to exist.
I pay $72 (after taxes/fees, $55 without). That's just for POTS, AT&T isn't going to get my money for anything else. If I wanted to use DSL I'd use DSL Extreme or Covad. I'll also explain why I don't think it's a bad deal, though I frequently wonder if it really should cost that much. I suspect AT&T could charge me $30 (before taxes/fees) and turn a profit.
NOTE: The $55 includes the $5/mo. option to get cheaper International calls.
If anyone's interested, in my area it costs I think about $25 (after taxes/fees) for basic POTS + Caller ID.
My arguments:
1)It doesn't consume your Internet bandwidth. This argument has been getting weaker as speeds rise. Hopefully speeds keep rising.
2)It doesn't rely on your Internet connection. My connection is "best effort," which is the best I can afford right now.
3)It has line power. Sometimes I still have power failures. Where I live is better than my parents (despite having the same company), but line power is very helpful. This is one of the chief reasons I insist on using it. I also have a rotary 500 set to use with the POTS. If anyone wants a basic phone I'd recommend the Cortelco 2500. It's the touch-tone version of the 500 I have.
4)It's the most reliable service I've ever had. Some people have reported different experiences, but this is mine. I did notice that service went out for like, 3 seconds once. But that was only ONCE in the entire YEAR. My Internet connection can't hold a candle to that. This is the other chief reason I keep it.
5)Carrying on with reliability, it's not just uptime that counts, but how well it works when it's up. I've never had better voice quality with anything else. If there's poor voice quality, it's always because A) my phone itself has a problem, or B) I called someone's mobile phone and something is going on over there. If I call another POTS line or some digital line (ISDN BRI/PRI) it's always perfect.
6)Dial-up/Faxing: I have to fax from time to time, which is problematic on VOIP. Plus if my cable Internet goes out, dial-up really is better than nothing. It's somewhat upsetting though that the money I pay to the dial-up provider is almost pure profit for them. If I could get DSL I'd drop the dial-up in an instant, and use dual WAN, since DSL isn't much more. I've even explained before that DSL is cheaper than relying on dial-up exclusively.
So why is the cost so high? Why do I get the L.D. through the phone company, instead of using VOIP for L.D.? Well, if you assume you're going to have POTS, then the marginal cost to have L.D., Caller ID, and so on is comparable to unlimited VOIP. Having unlimited VOIP might be slightly cheaper, but...
What can I say, I like to call my mother (a L.D. call) if the power goes out, so it's great that the call doesn't cost me anything extra. I think that's worth just a couple bucks a month.
However, if I wanted additional voice lines, but I didn't need them ALL of the time, I'd seriously consider VOIP for the additional lines. The application I'm thinking of here is if I use a PBX. And yes, I know that to use line power I'd need a basic phone, like the 500 or 2500 and bypass the PBX.
I'm an example of a tech-savvy person who continues to use POTS despite the higher cost. | |
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FLengineer
Premium
join:2007-06-26
Leesburg, FL
·Vonage
·Comcast
·T-Mobile US
·Embarq
| Re: I Will Never Cancel You said you pay an extra $5 to get cheaper international calls. To what country? Below is my response to each of your arguments.
1) It's only consumes 90Kb/s and only when you are on the phone.
2) If you have a cell phone which most people do, Vonage has a free feature called network availability number. If your internet drops out all incoming calls are forwarded.
3)EVERYONE needs to stop talking about line power really. cellular AND LANDLINES have a 4-8 hour backup. If it's truely that important then I suggest a APC1000 backup supply with will run your modem, router, and VOIP device for 18 hours. Cost is around $100.
4) Vonage is the most reliable service I've ever had, including POTS. "Most reliable" is based on your area, I'm sure the Verizon customers in Florida won't agree with you
5) I can't tell a difference between my VOIP and POTS. No one I have ever talked to on VOIP has said anything, most are shocked when I mention I have VOIP.
6)A completely separate fax line with phone number cost like an extra $5 to $10. You have DSL, why dialup?
L.D. ---
Unlimited local and long distance in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico
FREE calls to landline phones in Italy, France, Spain, UK and Ireland
I pay $31 after taxes+fees
You pay $72 after taxes+fees | |
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snowman03
@cox.com
| what they're not telling you is that the 'mass exodous' is that they are counting the subs that SWITCH to say fiber from copper or from copper to wireless. example: i have pots copper service and ''upgrade'' to fiber service (voip) with the same provider... that counts as a loss of pots service. so yes, they are losing thousands of subs a day, but don't feel bad for them, they're gainging back thousands a day in a different service environment. | |
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| benc
Premium
join:2007-06-17
Glen Carbon, IL
·Charter Pipeline
·Future Nine Corpor..
·Callcentric
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: what they're not telling you said by snowman03 :
is that the 'mass exodous' is that they are counting the subs that SWITCH to say fiber from copper or from copper to wireless. example: i have pots copper service and ''upgrade'' to fiber service (voip) with the same provider... that counts as a loss of pots service. so yes, they are losing thousands of subs a day, but don't feel bad for them, they're gainging back thousands a day in a different service environment.
There's another thing to consider:
How about people who move away from dial-up? No more dedicated POTS line is needed. | |
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kyler13
Is your fiber grounded?
join:2006-12-12
Arnold, MD
| I don't think it counts if you're switching to fiber service with the same provider. It's still billed like POTS and once your fiber line hits the CO, it's still on the POTS network, so it counts as POTS. The telco is just changing the transmission line (and method) from the CO to your home. | |
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| | EPS
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA | Re: what they're not telling you On Verizon, perhaps. But I believe the U-Verse Voice product is a dedicated VoIP-based solution. | |
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| | | fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| Re: what they're not telling you said by EPS :On Verizon, perhaps. But I believe the U-Verse Voice product is a dedicated VoIP-based solution. It is? I thought they said it was pots bundled in with the data and iptv services... the phone remained pots. (At least that's what the press release, and BBR here, stated in the past) | |
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The Great Landline Exodus Continues
