Have you gotten rid of your land line?
So I'm thinking of getting rid of our land line and going strictly with our cell phones. Everyone but my youngest (11 years old) has a cell phone but I can add her to my plan. What are the disadvantages, if any of my doing this? I just hate paying for a land line and we hardly ever use it. Is there any reason to hang on to the land line? If it matters, we have Fios for internet and satellite for TV.
Got rid of mine several years ago and have never missed it.
We got rid of ours last year and have not looked back. Our main concern was emergency situations and the kids being able to tell the 911 people our information if they could not get the location. Then, our battery went out on the home phone and we realized it had been out for 3 months and we had not missed it.
We do let the kids keep the phones in their rooms but off at night. (We check phone records for incoming/outgoing calls and in over a year there have been no issues. Our concern was that if there was an emergency they have a way to call for help w/lo leaving their rooms..
My husband as been wanting to get rid or ours for awhile, but I am having a hard time giving it up. The downside to keeping it is we NEVER check the messages and it's constantly full and people think there is something wrong with our phone. I have to tell everyone not to call our home phone. I just feel more secure knowing that we have a land line in case of emergencies. We do have young kids and I sometimes my cell phone battery dies. Also, I have heard that the emergency personnel automatically have your address from your land line and if for some reason I wasn't able to speak or the kids were unable to give information I would want them to be able to get to us. Unlikely, I know.
What is a land line..
You know I first read the subject and thought to myself. Land Line? Is that like a tan line for your yard or something. Wow, I need some sleep.
No land line. Have Sprint so mobile to any mobile is free. Pretty much only use minutes when making work related calls. Even my alarm system is cellular.
Got rid of ours in Jan. & haven't missed it a bit. One thing to consider is whether or not your security system is tied to the land line (i.e. the fire dept. is automatically called if your fire alarm goes off). Our alarm co. (Smith Thompson) offers a wireless uplink for this situation.
Also, we keep an old cell phone (not subscribed to any service) plugged in & put a sticker on it with our complete address. These phones still work for calling 911. You never know when it might come in handy for a guest, babysitter, etc.
Last year during the ice storms, my sister-in-law lost electricity for 5 days. Her cell phone was useless but her land line allowed her to call and let us know she and the dogs were OK. For that reason, I still have a land line. You just never know when you will have a black out or a battery malfunction.
You can have a land line through your cell service (if they offer it) for about $10.00 extra a month. However, you would still be in the same situation when it comes to emergencies. Your address will not come up if you dial 911.
Someone we know in the Houston area lost their electricity for about 10-12 days due to a hurricane a couple years ago. If it wasn't for their land line, they would have been cut off from all communication. Can't even charge a cell phone if there's no power.
It's always good to have a land line for emergencies or a power outage or "just in case." And if you need to call 911, the dispatcher can tell the address the call is coming from. Not so with cell phones.
Anothere reason to keep a land line is it is required to subscribe to the NFL Sunday Ticket.
We'll always have a land line, even if it is just the basic with no features, and we'll also always have one phone that is not powered by battery for emergency purposes. My wife was working in Washington DC during 9/11, and as they were evacuating no cell phones worked for a long time. She was lucky enough to get to a land line so she could let everyone know she was fine. Emergency situations make the small cost of a land line worth it IMO.
My child is 11 also and I was worried about the same things! It has been a couple months now and was the best decision. I was so tired of collection calls to our land line for people that we don't know!!!! Our daughter has been VERY responsible with her new phone and I have gotten very used to having her accessible at all times! lol.
We have VoIP so we still have a "home phone" line. I have an iPhone and just prefer to to have conversation over a traditional phone. It's pretty cheap - less than $20 per month.
I got rid of my landline back in 2003 when I got my first cell phone. My wife was talking about getting one for emergencies like other people are talkin about, but I don't see a reason to get one to use maybe once every 7 years...maybe. If anything it would be a Vonage or something for no more than $20/month. In that case, if electricity goes out then you don't have internet and no phone.