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Should I cut the cord...drawbacks?

Lar
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

I'm having a sheeet time with my Bell home phone. They are coming out for a third time tomorrow to try and fix things but I'm not holding out hope. Right now I have no dial tone for two days. They have suggested to let them come in and rewire the whole house for hundreds of $$ and buy all new phones. So I'm considering if they can't find the problem this time to just cut the cord and go straight mobile. That will mean no upstairs/downstairs phones so a little less convient if I forget the cell.   Are there any drawbacks to cutting the cord and just having PM mobile?   Thanks for your input in this decision.  Cheers

32 REPLIES 32

You can attract the attention of a human operator by repetively toggling the pickup/hangup signal on the phone for a short time. The assumption was thst you had an ancient rotary-dial or pulse-dial phone which couldn't touch-tone. 

(Or at least you could do this in previous decades. Before human employees were replaced by automation.) 

 

I'm not sure landlines are any more or less reliable than cellular these days. Essential cellular communications is a top priority with on-site backup power, etc, it's even used for emergency broadcasting, and when it does get disrupted by some emergency/disaster they get it working again asap while broken telephone wires can take days (or longer) to fix while things are frantic. They can find you buried in the rubble by locating your half-dead cellphone, they can't find you by tracing broken wires. 

IceMocha420
Good Neighbour / Bon Voisin

Sorry, wrong post

88cranston
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@Lar wrote:

I'm having a sheeet time with my Bell home phone. They are coming out for a third time tomorrow to try and fix things but I'm not holding out hope. Right now I have no dial tone for two days. They have suggested to let them come in and rewire the whole house for hundreds of $$ and buy all new phones. So I'm considering if they can't find the problem this time to just cut the cord and go straight mobile. That will mean no upstairs/downstairs phones so a little less convient if I forget the cell.   Are there any drawbacks to cutting the cord and just having PM mobile?   Thanks for your input in this decision.  Cheers



Hi. Panasonic has multiple sets for home use.  You put your mobile phone by it to send a and receive calls using a Bluetooth connection. It is called linked to cell. 

 

See manual here. http://help.panasonic.ca/viewing/ALL/KX-TGD590C/OI/TGD590C_PNQX8411YA/TGD590C_PNQX8411YA.pdf

Whatever her contract was it's done now she wasn't paying for the optic TV it was just there. Maybe they hooked it up accidentally she never had to pay for it it wasn't on her bill.

madhi19
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@will13am wrote:

@darlicious wrote:

Yes so why would she be getting free optik tv?


If you can get it for free, I would suggest taking the offer.  Don't ask questions, just take it.


I'd ask what kind of contract were talking about. Free does not always STAY free.


@darlicious wrote:

Yes so why would she be getting free optik tv?


If you can get it for free, I would suggest taking the offer.  Don't ask questions, just take it.

Yes so why would she be getting free optik tv?


@darlicious wrote:

@will13am wrote:

@darlicious wrote:

If you still have tv and internet you still have a landline whether or not you pay for it. I haven't had a landline for 20 years. But due to the digital age I was forced into getting a home tv/internet package. For years I was asked for the phone number associated to my account versus the account number. Finally I asked for it so I could speed up the process of speaking to an agent. And they supplied it. I have one....dont pay for it and don't use it but i can  hook up a landline to it if I need it.


Carriers are not charities.  You paid for everything you got.  Pricing may not be broken down.


I pay for everything I use...however home phone is not included in my bundle it's an additional charge. I have a friend with internet only who discovered she gets the basic tv package as well.

She never ordered it and has never been charged or paid for it. It's discovery was by pure accident when she was given a tv. "Free " cable was common enough back in the day when the cable companies would leave a house physically hooked up after a tenant would leave but how this occurs in the hdtv/digital age is beyond me. The "free" phone is a consequence of a live line being required to deliver the internet and television. What would happen if I cancelled it and bought my own pvr.....? Maybe I'll find that out one day.

 

 


IIRC cable boxes need to be provisioned onto the network using a hardware identifier much like a mac address.  On the Rogers boxes, they referred to them as SAB numbers.  Your reference to free tv was back in the analogue days when a line left live would just work.

 


@will13am wrote:

@darlicious wrote:

If you still have tv and internet you still have a landline whether or not you pay for it. I haven't had a landline for 20 years. But due to the digital age I was forced into getting a home tv/internet package. For years I was asked for the phone number associated to my account versus the account number. Finally I asked for it so I could speed up the process of speaking to an agent. And they supplied it. I have one....dont pay for it and don't use it but i can  hook up a landline to it if I need it.


Carriers are not charities.  You paid for everything you got.  Pricing may not be broken down.


I pay for everything I use...however home phone is not included in my bundle it's an additional charge. I have a friend with internet only who discovered she gets the basic tv package as well.

She never ordered it and has never been charged or paid for it. It's discovery was by pure accident when she was given a tv. "Free " cable was common enough back in the day when the cable companies would leave a house physically hooked up after a tenant would leave but how this occurs in the hdtv/digital age is beyond me. The "free" phone is a consequence of a live line being required to deliver the internet and television. What would happen if I cancelled it and bought my own pvr.....? Maybe I'll find that out one day.

 

 

skylenth
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@Lar You might want to look into VoIP. Super cheap, you can buy an ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter) device that plugs into your traditional landlines and connects them to the internet. There are various cheap VoIP packages online, and some even free. All you need is a VoIP plan and ATA and you're set.


@darlicious wrote:

If you still have tv and internet you still have a landline whether or not you pay for it. I haven't had a landline for 20 years. But due to the digital age I was forced into getting a home tv/internet package. For years I was asked for the phone number associated to my account versus the account number. Finally I asked for it so I could speed up the process of speaking to an agent. And they supplied it. I have one....dont pay for it and don't use it but i can  hook up a landline to it if I need it.


Carriers are not charities.  You paid for everything you got.  Pricing may not be broken down.

DL888
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

I haven't had a landline for ages now. What I did many many years ago was signed up with Freephoneline, paid $50, got myself an ATA and the rest is history. Been using it for over 8 years without an issue. Free calls across Canada. I used google voice for calls to the US. 

i also dropped cable TV at about the same time, using an antenna, getting over 25 channels which also me to keep up with the news and popular TV shows.

If you still have tv and internet you still have a landline whether or not you pay for it. I haven't had a landline for 20 years. But due to the digital age I was forced into getting a home tv/internet package. For years I was asked for the phone number associated to my account versus the account number. Finally I asked for it so I could speed up the process of speaking to an agent. And they supplied it. I have one....dont pay for it and don't use it but i can  hook up a landline to it if I need it.

 OST VoIP services have an e911 system setup to assign an address to the connection.  This doesn’t work unless the number is always used at the assigned location.

 

if using e911 on a cellular VoIP system, the triangulation would be better for reliance, but you should always give your location vocalaly to the 911 service, if you can.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@GinYVR wrote:

LOL landline doesn't work like wireless.. when you cut off the line, a technician will switch off the line power to your location; you won't get a dial tone, so you wont' be able to reach 911.

 


@Anonymous wrote:

@pm-smayer97 wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@GinYVR wrote:

@Lar I think one thing to consider that no one so far have mentioned is have you consider how important is 911 to you. ie for first responders to be able to find you.

 

Obviously it depends the health of people living in your residence.

 

Another factor is where you live eg in a city in an apartment / townhouse complex / coach house etc or in the country where everyone knows everyone. Urban environment like coach houses etc might make first responders harder to find you.

 

Another factor is the system your municipal 911 is on. Some can triangulate cell phones, others might be absolutely clueless where you are.

 

Landline might be archaic, but it gives the dispatcher your precise location (vs triangulation for cell phones even with the best and latest equipment), just that fact is useful if your are depending on those extra seconds.


Remember that like with cell phones, a landline does not need to be active with paid service. If you attach a basic corded phone to an un-subscribed landline outlet where you're not paying anybody for landline service...you can still call 911.


That's a new one on me. How does that work if there is no dial tone?


Your location has to have 911 service to begin with. With the vast majority of people being in more populated areas they're going to have 911 service. If you have no dial tone then maybe it wouldn't work. I can't say as I've tested it though. "Oh hey you answered - how 'bout that - this thing works". No I haven't done that. It's what I understand to be the case. There's no dial tone with a cell phone either and it will work without a SIM installed.


 


Apparently I stand corrected. Oh well. I thought it was required.

LOL landline doesn't work like wireless.. when you cut off the line, a technician will switch off the line power to your location; you won't get a dial tone, so you wont' be able to reach 911.

 


@Anonymous wrote:

@pm-smayer97 wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@GinYVR wrote:

@Lar I think one thing to consider that no one so far have mentioned is have you consider how important is 911 to you. ie for first responders to be able to find you.

 

Obviously it depends the health of people living in your residence.

 

Another factor is where you live eg in a city in an apartment / townhouse complex / coach house etc or in the country where everyone knows everyone. Urban environment like coach houses etc might make first responders harder to find you.

 

Another factor is the system your municipal 911 is on. Some can triangulate cell phones, others might be absolutely clueless where you are.

 

Landline might be archaic, but it gives the dispatcher your precise location (vs triangulation for cell phones even with the best and latest equipment), just that fact is useful if your are depending on those extra seconds.


Remember that like with cell phones, a landline does not need to be active with paid service. If you attach a basic corded phone to an un-subscribed landline outlet where you're not paying anybody for landline service...you can still call 911.


That's a new one on me. How does that work if there is no dial tone?


Your location has to have 911 service to begin with. With the vast majority of people being in more populated areas they're going to have 911 service. If you have no dial tone then maybe it wouldn't work. I can't say as I've tested it though. "Oh hey you answered - how 'bout that - this thing works". No I haven't done that. It's what I understand to be the case. There's no dial tone with a cell phone either and it will work without a SIM installed.


 

Anonymous
Not applicable

@pm-smayer97 wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@GinYVR wrote:

@Lar I think one thing to consider that no one so far have mentioned is have you consider how important is 911 to you. ie for first responders to be able to find you.

 

Obviously it depends the health of people living in your residence.

 

Another factor is where you live eg in a city in an apartment / townhouse complex / coach house etc or in the country where everyone knows everyone. Urban environment like coach houses etc might make first responders harder to find you.

 

Another factor is the system your municipal 911 is on. Some can triangulate cell phones, others might be absolutely clueless where you are.

 

Landline might be archaic, but it gives the dispatcher your precise location (vs triangulation for cell phones even with the best and latest equipment), just that fact is useful if your are depending on those extra seconds.


Remember that like with cell phones, a landline does not need to be active with paid service. If you attach a basic corded phone to an un-subscribed landline outlet where you're not paying anybody for landline service...you can still call 911.


That's a new one on me. How does that work if there is no dial tone?


Your location has to have 911 service to begin with. With the vast majority of people being in more populated areas they're going to have 911 service. If you have no dial tone then maybe it wouldn't work. I can't say as I've tested it though. "Oh hey you answered - how 'bout that - this thing works". No I haven't done that. It's what I understand to be the case. There's no dial tone with a cell phone either and it will work without a SIM installed.


@Anonymous wrote:

@GinYVR wrote:

@Lar I think one thing to consider that no one so far have mentioned is have you consider how important is 911 to you. ie for first responders to be able to find you.

 

Obviously it depends the health of people living in your residence.

 

Another factor is where you live eg in a city in an apartment / townhouse complex / coach house etc or in the country where everyone knows everyone. Urban environment like coach houses etc might make first responders harder to find you.

 

Another factor is the system your municipal 911 is on. Some can triangulate cell phones, others might be absolutely clueless where you are.

 

Landline might be archaic, but it gives the dispatcher your precise location (vs triangulation for cell phones even with the best and latest equipment), just that fact is useful if your are depending on those extra seconds.


Remember that like with cell phones, a landline does not need to be active with paid service. If you attach a basic corded phone to an un-subscribed landline outlet where you're not paying anybody for landline service...you can still call 911.


That's a new one on me. How does that work if there is no dial tone?

Anonymous
Not applicable

@GinYVR wrote:

@Lar I think one thing to consider that no one so far have mentioned is have you consider how important is 911 to you. ie for first responders to be able to find you.

 

Obviously it depends the health of people living in your residence.

 

Another factor is where you live eg in a city in an apartment / townhouse complex / coach house etc or in the country where everyone knows everyone. Urban environment like coach houses etc might make first responders harder to find you.

 

Another factor is the system your municipal 911 is on. Some can triangulate cell phones, others might be absolutely clueless where you are.

 

Landline might be archaic, but it gives the dispatcher your precise location (vs triangulation for cell phones even with the best and latest equipment), just that fact is useful if your are depending on those extra seconds.


Remember that like with cell phones, a landline does not need to be active with paid service. If you attach a basic corded phone to an un-subscribed landline outlet where you're not paying anybody for landline service...you can still call 911.

GinYVR
Mayor / Maire

@Lar I think one thing to consider that no one so far have mentioned is have you consider how important is 911 to you. ie for first responders to be able to find you.

 

Obviously it depends the health of people living in your residence.

 

Another factor is where you live eg in a city in an apartment / townhouse complex / coach house etc or in the country where everyone knows everyone. Urban environment like coach houses etc might make first responders harder to find you.

 

Another factor is the system your municipal 911 is on. Some can triangulate cell phones, others might be absolutely clueless where you are.

 

Landline might be archaic, but it gives the dispatcher your precise location (vs triangulation for cell phones even with the best and latest equipment), just that fact is useful if your are depending on those extra seconds.

pm-smayer97
Mayor / Maire

Though not frequent, the biggest drawback in my mind is when there is a severe situation, like an ice storm. Then you have cell towers go down... no voice, no data, no VOIP. The only reliable system is landline. Been through that.

 

Other drawback is if you have a family with kids, so they do not have have cell phones, so need a home-based central phone. Landline fits the bill the best.


@brother_gadget wrote:

I have only one comment about cutting the cord.  SPAM calls.  I am so sick of getting hustled by every spammer out there    i keep my landline for registration online as I find most websites sell the contact info.  I don't blame them for the revenue stream. but I am tired of having someone from Bangladesh interrupting my meals and offering to fix non-existant problems on my computer. 

     Just something to think about.



Open Fongo or textnow account it's totally free and they give you legitimate Canadian number you can use for signups

Texynow lets you receive and send sms for free as well, that's what i use for virtually everything. I have one account that i keep on my cell just in case of loss of service and presence of wifi. Another one is purely for spam, everything but cra gets that 647 number

CellGirl
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@Lar 

 

cut Bell from your life -- best decision you'll make this year 🙂 I did it years ago, no regrets. I recommend as a backup, you install a VoIP app on your cell phone that you would use with wifi, eg, fongo, VoIPCheap, etc. in case you were to ever lose cell service temporarily. So far, I'm happy with public mobile's service 😄


@brother_gadget wrote:

I have only one comment about cutting the cord.  SPAM calls.  I am so sick of getting hustled by every spammer out there    i keep my landline for registration online as I find most websites sell the contact info.  I don't blame them for the revenue stream. but I am tired of having someone from Bangladesh interrupting my meals and offering to fix non-existant problems on my computer. 

     Just something to think about.


My wireless home phone is a $10 answering machine solution.  I review calls in the evening when I get home.  Spammers are completely welcome to fill my voice mail.  It can take up to 10 calls before it fills up.  So far, I have not received calls at such a prolific rate on a daily basis. 

brother_gadget
Good Neighbour / Bon Voisin

I have only one comment about cutting the cord.  SPAM calls.  I am so sick of getting hustled by every spammer out there    i keep my landline for registration online as I find most websites sell the contact info.  I don't blame them for the revenue stream. but I am tired of having someone from Bangladesh interrupting my meals and offering to fix non-existant problems on my computer. 

     Just something to think about.

will13am
Oracle
Oracle

I have dumped my landline in favor of wireless home phone for about 8 years.  Wireless home phone is 100% compatible with cordless phones and the signal can be backfed into the house wiring to operate existing wall jacks if desired.  A lot of people still carry this belief that a landline is the most reliable.  That simply isn't true universally anymore.  The number of people that have cut the cord has left that infrastructure back in the 20th century.  These days with so many people going wireless exclusively, the wireless infrastructure is very reliable and has sufficient resilience to overtake landline as the best choice for home phone. 

Lar
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

I had a little health incident and fell off the internet for awhile. I wanted to come back and bravo all of you members who spent the time to share your thoughts on the subject. Thank you all.

Cheers

Anonymous
Not applicable

 @Lar 

I've been doing fine with the Telus Home Phone. It uses cellular to get out but you connect a cabled phone to it and it acts like a normal old landline. Connect to a multi-handset cordless set instead and you can have phones around the house again.

$10

Rock & roll.

Remember too that with the old landline that 911 will still work even though you don't pay for any service.

ckl
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

hello @Lar 

 

I use a VOIP system in my house. The main reason is for the home security alarm. It needs to be able to connect to the central monitoring station. The VOIP system, if I don't get any incoming or outgoing calls is around $2.80/month. $2.00 for phone number renewal and the rest for E911.

 

Also, there are cordless phone sets that you can get that have bluetooth enabled. This allows the phone system to connect to your cell phone via bluetooth and you can make and receive calls with your cell phone without having your cell phone on you. All that is required is that the cell phone be near the base station. Here's the one I have:

https://www.vtechphones.com/design-technology/connect-to-cell

 

The one I have has one base station with voicemail and 3 other handsets that are just the handset with a charging station. The only drawback is that if the handsets are far away from the base station or located through many many walls, it will sometimes lose connection. Other drawbacks is that it is voice calls only. So if you get text messages or social media notifications, the cordless system will not notify you of this. Nor will it be able to send text messages or other tasks besides voice calls.

 

Other than that, it can handle both landline and cell phone calls independently. You just need to press the appropriate button to make calls from different lines.

 

Hope that helps.

 

kselmak
Mayor / Maire

I got rid of home phone in 2006 and got freephoneline as i always have internet

It is my homephone since 2008 and i haven't paid a cent since

They let you forward calls simultaneously to multiple numbers also they email any voicemail

I set it also also as sip account on my android native dialer, so i can call 'from home' off of my cell

You have to buy configuration file (around 90 i paid 50 in 2008 it went up, begfore that i was using their free software as i had a computer that was always on anyways) and if you want to use the oldschool headset or lines inn your house a voip box (about 30-50)

Check it out freephoneline.ca

Edit: im assuming you have high speed internet, you'll need more than 6m if you want to use internet fur anything else

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