Landline

2,133 Views | 22 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by UmustBKidding
oldvalleyrat
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I currently have a landline at the house from ATT. I really hate ATT and would like to find a different provider. Anyone have any suggestions?
All organizations are perfectly aligned for the results they get.
DallasTeleAg
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You are probably limited to whoever has the contract for your area. The other option would be a VOIP option.

But really... landline? True POTS will not be available in the future, so there is no reason to have a landline at the house.
Jasomania
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I can only assume you are a time traveler from the 90's. 2020 would definitely not have been in my top 5 years to time travel to, but to each their own.
PooDoo
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I transferred my # to Magic Jack and split the line out to all my wall outlets. Works just like the old landline.

They also have an app to make calls from your cell with your home number, voicemail, and etc.

$30 year is a bargain, even with the $50 something voip router cost.

oldvalleyrat
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You guys didn't look carefully at my name.... OLD valley rat! (very old). I don't own a cell phone. My wife has one and I use it occasionally but I hate using that thing. Need to be retro and have a land line!!!
All organizations are perfectly aligned for the results they get.
FatZilla
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oldvalleyrat said:

I currently have a landline at the house from ATT. I really hate ATT and would like to find a different provider. Anyone have any suggestions?


Ooma, after buying unit, its like $5 a month for the line. Requires internet connection since its voip. Actually have a Ooma Telo Air 2 like new for sale id let go for well under new price if interested.
IrishAg
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Jasomania said:

I can only assume you are a time traveler from the 90's. 2020 would definitely not have been in my top 5 years to time travel to, but to each their own.
saw em off
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If you don't mind changing your number, Obitalk coupled with Google Voice is free other than the upfront obitalk device which is cheap. We've been using it for years and the quality is great. For about $15 a year, you would need to add E-911 with a third party. Can't remember that company's name at the moment.
The Fife
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If all you want to do is use a land line phone you can just get an Xlink bluetooth gateway. I have a 60 year old rotary phone plugged into it just for sh*ts and giggles and it's fully functional. I can even use it to dial out, and it's kind of nice having something that rings loud so I don't play hide and go seek when I hear someone calling and my phone isn't nearby.
IslandAg76
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But, but- you can't take pictures with your land line
DallasTeleAg
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"Landlines" don't exist anymore.

You need to work with your internet provider for a phone line or get a voip line from a provider, if you want a physical phone at home.
SandmanAg
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This is what I did about 10 years ago and it works great. But, you can just port your number via a wireless service.
MGS
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I hear that Worldcom has great rates for long distance service
Gus
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I had the same problem several years ago when I had a landline and AT&T would charge me $70/month. At the time I had Verizon and they had something that could serve as my landline and not change the #. I had to pay $100 upfront but then my landline bill was only $20/month and I was able to keep my same #. Worked great
oldvalleyrat
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Gus said:

I had the same problem several years ago when I had a landline and AT&T would charge me $70/month. At the time I had Verizon and they had something that could serve as my landline and not change the #. I had to pay $100 upfront but then my landline bill was only $20/month and I was able to keep my same #. Worked great
Thanks for the info. I had just about given up hope of finding something. I really need something different than ATT. They are impossible to deal with. The only way they let me pay my bill each month is that I have to drive down to their office and pay the bill in person.
All organizations are perfectly aligned for the results they get.
Bunkhouse96
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FatZilla said:

oldvalleyrat said:

I currently have a landline at the house from ATT. I really hate ATT and would like to find a different provider. Anyone have any suggestions?


Ooma, after buying unit, its like $5 a month for the line. Requires internet connection since its voip. Actually have a Ooma Telo Air 2 like new for sale id let go for well under new price if interested.


I have the original Ooma and it works great. If you don't cancel you home phone first you can port it to the Ooma and then cancel. Mine is over 10 years old and going strong. Plus when I got it the service was free, so I have a home phone for $0 a year for over 10 years for an initial investment of $150. You will also get email sent to you when you get a voice message that you can check online from anywhere.
Oh Four Five
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I'm actually thinking about adding a landline soon. I have kids that are getting close to the age where we can leave them home alone for a while. Figured a landline is going to be better/less likely to be lost than an emergency cell phone for the house.
ThunderCougarFalconBird
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oldvalleyrat said:

Gus said:

I had the same problem several years ago when I had a landline and AT&T would charge me $70/month. At the time I had Verizon and they had something that could serve as my landline and not change the #. I had to pay $100 upfront but then my landline bill was only $20/month and I was able to keep my same #. Worked great
Thanks for the info. I had just about given up hope of finding something. I really need something different than ATT. They are impossible to deal with. The only way they let me pay my bill each month is that I have to drive down to their office and pay the bill in person.
Maybe show up with a tub full of pennies a few times and that will solve the problem?
Ag_of_08
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There's actually some merit to having a landline if you have elderly, very young, or disabled folks in the home. 911 from a landline provides location data, cell phones may or may not get close if you are between towers properly. Be careful with VOIP lines, make sure they set them to go to the right 911 psap, and have your information entered correctly.
kyledr04
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Bunkhouse96 said:

FatZilla said:

oldvalleyrat said:

I currently have a landline at the house from ATT. I really hate ATT and would like to find a different provider. Anyone have any suggestions?




Ooma, after buying unit, its like $5 a month for the line. Requires internet connection since its voip. Actually have a Ooma Telo Air 2 like new for sale id let go for well under new price if interested.


I have the original Ooma and it works great. If you don't cancel you home phone first you can port it to the Ooma and then cancel. Mine is over 10 years old and going strong. Plus when I got it the service was free, so I have a home phone for $0 a year for over 10 years for an initial investment of $150. You will also get email sent to you when you get a voice message that you can check online from anywhere.


I have this setup too
BigJim49 AustinNowDallas
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Havnt hooked up yet but look up OBi200 on Amazon- $ 50 ! Read the thousands of comments -and the

questions . I have att at $ 45 monthly to cancel. Keep your old number. Overall spend 100 once - free after

and NO spam calls !
BigJim49AustinnowDallas
UmustBKidding
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Depends if he wants a POT's line of just something that has dial tone and sits on a desk or table. POTS provides any power it needs to operate, has very specific 911 location information because its directly connected to the 911 PSAP via dedicated trunks, and has state and federal enforced performance specifications. Cable provider phone circuits, Voip, cellular bridges have none of these. POTS lines have a place and unfortunately the best phone system in the world is slowly falling apart because people are willing to deal with bad service even at higher prices so they don't have to get out of the chair to answer the phone.
I understand that the price is stupid crazy for POTS line these days compared with the free for life type offerings and even low end cell packages. But people pay near the same rate for some cable offerings and when the power dies at their house and even along the path to the cable head end, poof no phone. Having lived through enough hurricanes and being without power for extended periods has proven the worth of nonstop communications infrastructure. Have even used the phone line to charge AA batteries, albet at very low current, to have a spare set on hand during an extended power outage. Try that with your Ooma or Obi.

Bunkhouse96
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My Ooma has 911 location as well, and my landline phone was not much more reliable than the power. In any natural disasters that could possibly hit my house the phone line would go down with the power.
UmustBKidding
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You ooma has a 911 fused address, but it travels a random route that can change every second based on the winds of IP BGP4 routing, and hopefully gets to ooma's soft switch which then drive it to a 3rd party 911 gateway provider. They then drive it via ip to a local provider that actually has a gateway to your PSAP, and hopefully only one hop instead of some reseller who is buying from another source. And most of these are not top tier 5 9's reliable systems and likely have little surveillance or monitoring. The only time most IP systems know there is an issue is when someone complains about a failure.
Unfortunately even at federally mandated 99.999% availability for POTS 911 availability still leaves 6 minutes a year its not available. IP paths are tough to even maintain 99.95% availability and that comes up to over 4hr/yr, hopefully your emergency is not during one of them. Plus on POTS they have to prove it was available which is pretty straight forward with direct trunks. On IP they don't have to prove anything, and typically don't know anything other than the local link is up, and maybe that they can reach the gateway.
So this is a two edge sword, pots require monitoring, mandated maximum response time, and regulatory reporting of outages and unavailability. But this cost BIG money and makes you subjects to big fines, and the subscriber is going to have this cost built into their bill.
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