Quitting my landline
Oct. 3rd, 2017 06:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soniaI've been unhappy with Century Link for years. The monthly cost for my landline started at $25/month, and has edged up to nearly $30/month with the addition of little taxes and surcharges. That's basic service, no call waiting or voicemail or anything. Also they keep sending me US mail marketing materials for a business line. I've spent hours on the phone with them over the last few years trying to get them to stop, and they never have.
I use the landline to make calls where I think I'll be on hold for a long time, or for conversations with long-distance friends for better signal quality.
Very very occasionally, like less than once a year, I use it to send or receive a fax with the printer/fax machine. It's always a hassle to coordinate, because I don't want the fax machine to answer unless I'm specifically expecting a fax.
I used to have my internet connection via DSL, but I've had Comcast for a few years now. Not super-thrilled with how those rates keep going up, but the connection itself is reliable and fast.
My cell service is through Consumer Cellular, and I have been very happy with them. They don't have contracts, and the rates have never gone up. In fact, they keep adding more minutes to my relatively low cost plan, and they just changed it to be unlimited minutes. $25/month total includes limited data & texts, which works great for me. For another $2.50/month I could get a lot more data, but I haven't needed that.
Anyway, they had an offer for $10 for a "home base" device, and then $10/month ongoing to transfer my landline number over to cell service. I have concerns about signal quality, and I wouldn't be able to fax, but these days people can scan & email anyway.
The process itself has turned out to be a hassle. The transfer is finally in progress, after four calls on my part. They sent me the device with a T-Mobile sim card, which gets no signal inside the house. This is not functional... So they're sending me an AT&T sim card, which is what I have in my phone and which works well enough.
This morning, a friend asked if I had considered just dropping the landline. While I've been toying with the idea for years, I hadn't seriously considered it until just that moment. It's tempting. I've been getting rid of things I don't need, enjoying more space and less clutter. This would let me get rid of the cordless phones scattered around the house, and avoid the $10/month charge. I wouldn't have an extra answering machine to check. I wouldn't get telemarketing and fraudulent calls on that line, although sadly I've been getting them on my cell phone the last few months.
On the downside, I've had that number for 12 years. The cell phone is my business line, although I do already take personal calls on it as well. In a disaster, the landline might work where the cell phone wouldn't, although I'm not sure who I would call anyway. Apparently Century Link is planning to phase out the sturdy copper landlines over the next few years anyway.
This decision process feels like moving from a flip phone to a smartphone. I had reasons for resisting, but once I made the jump I was happy with it.
A year or so ago, a young woman I didn't know well put a call out on Twitter for someone with a landline for a radio interview, because they wouldn't interview her over a cell phone. No one she knew had a landline. I was happy to lend her mine, so she came over and had her interview here. I liked being helpful, but it also made me feel like I'm not keeping up with the times.
I have 30 days to return the cell "home base" and not pay anything if I decide to drop the landline number entirely. Stories, advice, opinions welcome.
I use the landline to make calls where I think I'll be on hold for a long time, or for conversations with long-distance friends for better signal quality.
Very very occasionally, like less than once a year, I use it to send or receive a fax with the printer/fax machine. It's always a hassle to coordinate, because I don't want the fax machine to answer unless I'm specifically expecting a fax.
I used to have my internet connection via DSL, but I've had Comcast for a few years now. Not super-thrilled with how those rates keep going up, but the connection itself is reliable and fast.
My cell service is through Consumer Cellular, and I have been very happy with them. They don't have contracts, and the rates have never gone up. In fact, they keep adding more minutes to my relatively low cost plan, and they just changed it to be unlimited minutes. $25/month total includes limited data & texts, which works great for me. For another $2.50/month I could get a lot more data, but I haven't needed that.
Anyway, they had an offer for $10 for a "home base" device, and then $10/month ongoing to transfer my landline number over to cell service. I have concerns about signal quality, and I wouldn't be able to fax, but these days people can scan & email anyway.
The process itself has turned out to be a hassle. The transfer is finally in progress, after four calls on my part. They sent me the device with a T-Mobile sim card, which gets no signal inside the house. This is not functional... So they're sending me an AT&T sim card, which is what I have in my phone and which works well enough.
This morning, a friend asked if I had considered just dropping the landline. While I've been toying with the idea for years, I hadn't seriously considered it until just that moment. It's tempting. I've been getting rid of things I don't need, enjoying more space and less clutter. This would let me get rid of the cordless phones scattered around the house, and avoid the $10/month charge. I wouldn't have an extra answering machine to check. I wouldn't get telemarketing and fraudulent calls on that line, although sadly I've been getting them on my cell phone the last few months.
On the downside, I've had that number for 12 years. The cell phone is my business line, although I do already take personal calls on it as well. In a disaster, the landline might work where the cell phone wouldn't, although I'm not sure who I would call anyway. Apparently Century Link is planning to phase out the sturdy copper landlines over the next few years anyway.
This decision process feels like moving from a flip phone to a smartphone. I had reasons for resisting, but once I made the jump I was happy with it.
A year or so ago, a young woman I didn't know well put a call out on Twitter for someone with a landline for a radio interview, because they wouldn't interview her over a cell phone. No one she knew had a landline. I was happy to lend her mine, so she came over and had her interview here. I liked being helpful, but it also made me feel like I'm not keeping up with the times.
I have 30 days to return the cell "home base" and not pay anything if I decide to drop the landline number entirely. Stories, advice, opinions welcome.
no subject
Date: 2017-10-06 01:12 am (UTC)Yes, cell quality sucks. I've had better quality w FaceTime or Skype, but that's not reliable.
Yes copper wire is somewhat more resilient, but who would you be calling? They mostly have cells or VOIP.
no subject
Date: 2017-10-06 02:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-10-07 04:09 am (UTC)If you really need to fax something, you can always go to a FedEx office or similar and pay the (outrageous) fees they charge for faxing. But as you point out, scanning and emailing is a lot more common these days.
Good luck with the decision!
no subject
Date: 2017-10-07 04:46 pm (UTC)