Do you still use a land line?

[fried eggs]

I haven't for several years. Now that DSL doesn't require it, I doubt I'll ever get one again. I called 911 at home from my cell phone and the police got here fairly quickly, so the safety meme is irrelevant as well. I wonder how landlines are affecting presidential polling?

[annabanana]

1. I keep one going for power outages.

I have an old princess plug in phone for that purpose too.

I'll bet I'm not the only one.

[renie408]

5. I don't understand. Cell phones work when the power is out.

[MadrasT]

11. Until your battery dies. n/t

[Ptah]

30. Cell phone towers don't work when power is out.

[fried eggs]

48. That is a problem

I'll admit. My phone has gone out a couple of times during bad storms.

[mwooldri]

71. True but lots of cell towers have battery backup these days.

Just like the phone company has power backup for the landlines when power goes out - now the cell phone companies have it too. Older sites more likely to have them. But not all sites have backup and there is no consistency on how long a cell tower without power will keep working.

[leveymg]

88. Your internet will still work, as will Skype - but you can't call 911. Can call the nonemergency #.

[Mojorabbit]

109. After Hurricane Charley the cell phones did not work

as their batteries ran out (no power)but our land line worked like a charm. I have a phone from 1940 with rotary dial cause it reminds me of being a kid and I have your reg push button cordless phones AND cell. I am ready for anything!

[piratefish08]

43. not everyone lives within a cell reception area.

[southernyankeebelle]

21. You sure aren't. I have a land line. I live in a rural area surrounded by mountains and my

cellphone doesn't work in my house. So I have to keep my land line.

[GoCubsGo]

24. You are not the only one.

I learned that lesson several years ago, when we had an ice storm. The power was out for days. My princess phone worked. So did everyone else's cell phones--until they couldn't recharge them.

[dixiegrrrrl]

58. You are not the only one.

We have a land line that i use because I hate cell phones.
Mr. Dixie has a cell phone.
I can use that for long distance.
between us, when one goes out, the other works, so we are covered.

[CTyankee]

63. We have one, too. That thing wouldn't break if you bounced it down

a flight of concrete steps. The old Bell equipment was nearly indestructible. Those were the days, indeed...

[RKP5637]

82. Yep, those phones were designed/built to last forever. Incredible phones!!! n/t

[RebelOne]

72. I have a land line, but if there is a power outage,

I am out of luck because it is connected to my computer. I have Comcast Internet, cable and phone service all bundled and if the power goes out, lose all of it. That's why I got a cheap cell phone for emergencies. There are no bells and whistles, but just straight phone service. I am considering replacing the land line with Magic Jack. My sister has it and it works fine. I have to cut some costs, so I think that will be the way to go.

[sammytko]

78. same here!

[seabeyond]

2. yes. more so than cell. bothers me that people call me on cell

rather than land line. i might get to cell call the next day. i do not carry cell around me, or check it constantly.

[hobbit709]

115. Only about 8 people have my cell number and it's turned off 90% of the time.

I usually don't even turn it on when I leave the house unless it's an important matter from one of the people that has my number and I'm expecting it.

[yourout]

3. Just got rid of ours after 30 years...

Was getting nothing but push polls anyways.

[WinkyDink]

4. Yes. Only.

[renie408]

7. We are self-employed and would be out of business without a cell phone.

It seems weird to see somebody say they don't have a cell phone!

[djean111]

33. I don't have a cell phone.

I have a land line and a magic jack and Skype. I don't leave Skype on unless I am going to need to use it, and I don't encourage instant messaging of any kind.
I may get a cheap prepaid phone for emergencies while driving at some point, but - since I don't run a business over the phone, of course - I do not want to be immediately accessible to everyone and anyone. I also am mostly at home
I don't need to be "connected" all the time. When I did have a cell phone, I mostly got calls asking me to pick stuff up or whatever.
The thing about phones in general is that a lot of times I am paying so other people can have the privilege of interrupting me.
My grandson is partially deaf. He doesn't wear his hearing aids all the time because he thinks the world is too noisy. I can see what he means!

[WinkyDink]

94. I am retired, no business, no kids. Don't need the "24/7" intrusion.

[leftyohiolib]

6. i have mine

[renie408]

8. Nope. Haven't had a land line phone in five years.

[Brickbat]

9. Yes. We live in a rural area and don't always get cell reception at the house.

[greatauntoftriplets]

10. Yes.

[MadrasT]

12. No, haven't had a land line in about 7 years. n/t

[nc4bo]

13. No and neither does my mother nor my 2 grown kids. nt

[ananda]

14. No.

I went completely wireless in June 2011.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. You bet I do. I can tell you have not been in a real disaster...

I keep every sort of line that exists. The safety 'meme' is not irrelevant, your experience is merely limited. Think about it.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

49. Agree.

The cell phone is great when you think your house is on fire - unless it's misplaced between the couch cushions.

Happened to me.

I walked in to my kitchen to find smoke filling the room from ceiling down to eye level. After scrambling for the cell phone for a minute or so, I ran out the back door to go downstairs to use my neighbor's phone. I ran in to her coming up the stairs yelling "my kitchen is on fire!!"

As it turns out, her drywall guy bumped the stove control and lit a tarp on fire. The lack of a finished ceiling caused a chimney effect to my place.

We put it out quickly. The stove was fried but that's it.

Not to mention how unreliable cell phones are when everyone ELSE needs to use theirs. We couldn't use ours for hours this last Pride Fest with all the people in the neighborhood. No effing way it will work in a real emergency.

[pinboy3niner]

16. Yep

Rasmussen called a couple of times around the midterms, but I was busy and didn't pick up.

The land line, bundled with cable and internet, is inexpensive.

My cell sits in a drawer until the next time I travel.

[flamingdem]

17. I keep my land line due to concerns about cell phone safety

oh yes I know that has been poo poo'ed but I'm not convinced.

I have a cell phone but pay by the minute and don't give out the number much.

[Alduin]

18. I haven't owned one for seven years.

[HappyMe]

19. Yes, I do.

Last edited Tue Sep 18, 2012, 10:47 AM - Edit history (1)

I hardly ever use my cell.

edit to add -- Land line came with the cable and internet service. There are no long distance charges, we can blab as long as we want. Pretty important since our families are in other states.

[dmosh42]

20. My streaming TV & internet on landlines.....

[peace13]

22. Yes.

In an emergency every member of the household knows where there is a phone. With kids around it is essential for safety.

[JHB]

23. Have? Yes. Use? No. Thinking of cutting it? Yes.

[lector]

25. No cell

I was stalking a huge Trout when my cell went off, so did the Trout. It was my office. I threw the cell into the bay and have never had one since. I have a land line and a answering machine. No more distractions.

[PowerToThePeople]

26. Is it the 1980s?

Dumped mine in the early 90s.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

27. Yes and

when speaking with those on cell phones it amazing how much drop out there still is. The quality is far superior to cells........

[YankeyMCC]

28. nope

[malaise]

29. That's because you don't live in the hurricane zone

The one thing we learned fast is that your land line survives hurricanes but cell phones are down.

We keep an old phone that doesn't use a hand set - for emergencies and disinfect it annually at the beginning of the hurricane season.

[Blue_Tires]

98. +1 from another dweller in hurricane alley

[avebury]

31. Yes.

I am too cheap to pay for a cell phone contract.

[blueamy66]

61. get a $10 pre-paid phone and a phone card

That way you don't have a contract and can manage your minutes.

I finally went this route when people kept sending me NUMEROUS text messages and I went over my limit big time. Hey, I'm over 40 years old. I can drive to the store without having to call or text someone. I don't have 15 people "blowing" me up all freaking day and night. If you need the phone for business, fine....but people that talk on that damn mobile all day about stupid shit make me crazy.

Now I have a new #, only select people have it and when I want to talk long distance or for a long time, I use my guy's company paid Crackberry.

With my traveling as he does, I NEED a cell phone...to stay in touch and for emergencies.

[HockeyMom]

32. My daughter has landline free with cable subscription

but she and her husband use their cell phones more.

[MuseRider]

34. Yes we do, rural living.

My husband would love to get rid of it, in fact he tries but I always stop him. Cells go out in storms, did not think that possible but ours do. TV, both satellite and digital, go out at the first hint of a cloud as does our wireless internet so without the landline phone that always works we would be stranded. We have neighbors but I do not relish the thought of trying to reach them, rural neighbors not even rural little town neighbors, through a bad storm or snow/ice.

Every couple of months I find out my husband has decided it is stupid to have the land line. He is not the person who will be doing anything if something happens. As long as it is always up to me to get through shit like that we keep our phone line.

[Whatisgoingon]

35. cancelled landline years ago

Cancelled the landline years ago when it got knocked out by a snowstorm, and 3 weeks went by and the phone company still hadn't made repairs to the lines. I thought about the power outage issue with cellphones - what if the battery goes dead? Then I remembered (duh!) that we have charging cords for the car - we could always plug the phone into the car in an emergency if there was no power.

The only reason I kept landline as long as I did, is that we live in a rural area where there is no cable or DSL for internet access. Had to use dial-up, until I found out about mobile broadband - and fortunately, we get a fairly good cell signal where we live.

I hate phones anyway - landline or cell. After 30 years of answering phones at work, phones don't hold much of an appeal to me. I leave mine turned off most of the time, unless I'm expecting an important call - which is extremely rare.

[sammytko]

80. You can get one of those crank-up chargers for your phone.

also crank up flashlights and weather radios.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

36. Yes.

Now that long distance charges are a thing of the past, I can use it to call my parents and out of town friends without having to worry about counting my minutes on my cell. (Believe it or not, I have gone over.)

As for my cell phone, I still have a "dumb" phone and look at the clamour over the latest Iphone with odd curiosity.

That and I rarely text.

By the way, in case you are wondering, I'm in my early 30s. I guess I should be more "hip" like most people my age and lose the landline and get the Iphone 56039935 with 8 million aps, but whatever. I like using phones for calling people.

[gblady]

37. yes.....

my cell phone reception is very spotty and totally undependable in my house....and so living alone out in the toolies....I feel more secure having a land line.

[glacierbay]

38. Nope

got rid of it when AT&T raised their rates...again. Wife and I have our own cellphones through Verizon.

[TBF]

39. Mid 40s and we gave ours up -

Hubby has cell from work, I have a cell, kids want them too (our older daughter has her own). It was just collecting dust so I had it removed.

If they are only calling land-lines they are talking to senior citizens. Kids don't even wear watches anymore - they always have their phones on them so they can check the time that way. It's a new generation ...

[LaydeeBug]

40. yes. everyday. nt

[TwilightGardener]

41. Yep. I like having the ol' standby--it's our official household contact

number for important calls, it's always "on". We don't always have our cell phones on/charged, we misplace them, leave them in the car, etc. I'd feel weird without a landline. And edit to add: no, I'm not a senior citizen--early forties.

[TBF]

42. I'd be interested in seeing this question as a poll -

maybe with breakdowns like

under 30
30-60
over 60

I bet it breaks down by age ... though I don't know given the component that perhaps rural areas aren't as good for cells. Interesting question in relation to presidential polling.

[Atman]

44. Been nearly eight years since I had a land line.

And I NEVER receive "junk calls." Or pollsters. Although, since I've donated to the Obama campaign, I occasionally get follow-up calls for more money, but they're pretty easy to spot on caller ID, since I don't personally know anyone in "Washington, DC."

[muriel_volestrangler]

45. So what have you used for DSL for several years? Cable?

In which case, it's pretty irrelevant which it is you have, isn't it? Cable costs more than a land line, but you get a few more TV channels than over the air.

[uncle ray]

65. you don't need to pay for phone service to get DSL.

to do so you get a phone number assigned to you that doesn't work for calls.

[muriel_volestrangler]

75. OK; in the UK, a land line always includes a working phone number

You can then opt to have broadband on the line as well. Combined, the land line charge and broadband charge are cheaper than cable broadband access (even if you tell them you don't want cable TV too).

[randome]

46. No landline for 3 years or so.

I get spam messages on my cell phone but they don't amount to much.

[ghurley]

47. havn't had a land line since 2001...

Winston-Salem, NC is pretty safe when it comes to natural disasters.

[sinkingfeeling]

50. Yes, still have my land line.

[mazzarro]

51. Can you do fax with cell phone? -- n/t

[Old and In the Way]

104. Actually, you can.

I have an E-fax# that I give out for people who need to send me documents - it's received as an e-mail attachment. I can scan paper as a .pdf and send that via the PC. Once I got that, I had no compelling reason to keep my 2 landlines. I could even send/receive faxes to my Android phone if I really needed to...except it's pretty hard to read faxes on such a tiny screen. My smart phone has become like my swiss army knife - I've got apps to do currency and unit conversions, check my business PC, takes pictures (and use the camera to scan documents), use as a flashlight, GPS/maps, alarm clock/timer, check e-mails, move files between my various PCs/tablet/phone), play music, use as a Roku device, police scanner, calender, compass, check the news and DU...and, on occasion, use it as a phone.

I really don't buy the argument that cell phones are less reliable than landlines...I've had landline outages due to icestorms...but my cell phone always worked. I have a hand crank generator that I can use to charge my cell battery, so that's not an issue, either.

[cali]

52. I don't have cell phone reception where I live

so yes.

[lumberjack_jeff]

53. No cell coverage at my house; therefore yes. n/t

[livetohike]

54. Yes. We live out in the woods and the cell phone reception is really bad.

I can only use the cell phone on the second floor and even then it is spotty.

[enlightenment]

55. Yes.

It is my primary phone.

I don't like mobile phones, though I did give in and get one about a year ago. Hardly ever use it . . . have to find it to recharge it every once in awhile, since the battery apparently will die even when it's off.

I've received several presidential polling calls on my landline.

[Ian David]

56. I need my land line to call my cellphone when I misplace it. n/t

[mnhtnbb]

57. Yes, two land lines--one for hubby's office--one for our 'home'. Have cells, too.

[Gin]

59. Yes i have a land line

And a prepaid cell......

[blueamy66]

60. we have a land line for the fax machine and

I guess for emergencies

[AngryAmish]

64. Get an internet based fax service

I use myfax.

You will save hundreds of dollars a year.

[blueamy66]

69. thank you

I have to admit, I've never heard of that.

Appreciate the info!

[VWolf]

62. Nope. Not for the last 3 years. No intention of ever getting another one. n/t

[bigwillq]

66. Yes

I still like using a land line.

[City Lights]

67. Yes, but we don't use it very often.

We get tons of calls asking for money. I've gotten to the point where I never answer it unless I know who is calling, so it's useless for presidential polling.

[MissMarple]

68. Yes, use it all the time.

Cell phones are great, but in a major emergency, too many people can't get through all at once.

[Cleita]

70. I just gave mine up last week.

The phone company tried that scare tactic with me about 911 being slower. I know it's not true because every time I had to call 911 for my husband, I had to do it from my cell phone, the land line being too far away. They responded as quickly as from the land line.

[closeupready]

73. No.

Service became increasingly spotty and REALLY expensive, like $75/month and since I used my cell phone almost exclusively, gave it up. Don't regret it at all.

[Obamamite]

74. Yes. There isn't a substitute for it, really.

I need to speak on the phone for an hour or longer at a time, to family members out of state. The voice quality has to be good, no calls dropped.

Only a landline will do that. Cell phones and VOIP have issues with those things.

[Rider3]

76. Yes

I do still use a landline, even though I sometimes question why (only to save money). One reason is that my husband refuses to carry a cell phone, which pisses me off. Secondly, my house is situated next to a HUGE rock that seems to make getting a signal difficult. I love the rock and wouldn't change the privacy that provides us, so I guess the landline will stay! Now, thanks to Caller ID, if I don't know the number, I won't pick it up. So rarely do I have to deal with those political calls.

[Not Me]

77. Sort of...if you call a Magicjack a landline

I sometimes have to sit on long conference calls and don't want to worry about battery etc.
Also, I find it very convenient to have the house phone and two extensions. I always know that they are where they are 'supposed' to be. I frequently have my cell in another room and either don't hear it when it rings.

The MJ costs about $60 for 5 years. I would not pay the $30-40 a month that I used to pay for a conventional landline ever again.

[RKP5637]

79. Yes, I have a VOIP line off of my router that costs me practically nothing

that feeds 6 wireless phones in the house. It's cheaper than the cell phone, very convenient and works extremely well. We also have a cell phone for outside of the house, although I can still get the land line signal almost half a block away.. Also cell phone reception here is spotty. With this setup the land line gets used all of the time and the cell phone sits. With the VOIP setup I can fully manage calls, redirect numbers, block any call, what one can do is endless. I also own the VOIP unit so if I ever move it just goes with me and I just plug it into the router.

[KT2000]

81. yes - weak connections

in this rural area.
The cell phone does not have the locater feature for 911 calls in case the person cannot talk. A few years ago we all paid to have that upgrade in our county.

[ashling]

83. Got one

Don't get good cellphone reception here.

[Blue_In_AK]

84. Yes.

We don't own a smart phone or anything like that and just threw away our crappy old cell. We're retired and don't go out much.

[we can do it]

85. I do, and around here you have to use your local police/fire dispatch number

otherwise it goes to the ohio state patrol, who gets your location and then looks up your local police/fire dispatch number.

[gkhouston]

86. Yes. I only give my cell number out to a fairly small circle of people.

Our landline is on a VOIP service so we can program different rings for different groups of callers. If it's "ring 1", we don't make any effort to get to the phone, as the vast majority of non-junk calls that go to "ring 1" are simply recorded announcements from the school district.

[Egalitarian Thug]

87. Not for 9 years, now. n/t

[mwooldri]

89. I'm considering getting a traditional landline again.

But for work purposes only.

Sadly we're reliant on Time Warner Cable - Internet service. AT&T DSL isn't fast enough. House phone (via Lingo), residential Internet, Netflix etc all through TWC Internet.

I work from home, basically 2nd level customer service work - on the phone all the time. My employer contracts with Time Warner Cable to provide business Internet and business phone service (they pay the bill). But the phone connection has been a bit dodgy, so I'm personally wondering if a true landline will fix things. I don't know... but at this stage I am considering it, even if just for a "backup" so we're not so TWC dependent.

[backscatter712]

90. Nope. I just use my smartphone.

I get Internet at home through my cable. I don't bother with a land-line.

[Cursive]

91. Not since 2006

The one time I was without power and my phone battery was low, I used the outlet in my car to charge. Still waiting on my personal robot.

[KamaAina]

92. Nope.

In fact, I barely use my cell. Phones are, like, so 20th-century, y'know?

[barbtries]

93. i do.

still have terrible cell coverage in my apt which is next to a lake and apparently some ways from the nearest cell tower. i'll get rid of it when my cell phone works all the time in my house.

[Matariki]

95. Does VOIP count?

I've got an ooma and it rocks.

[SoapBox]

96. Yes...

two lines at the home.

I really hate talking on phones no matter what.

I really hate talking on a cell...the land line is always crystal clear...most times I would like to tell
Sprint that I can't hear them now.

[CBHagman]

97. Yes.

Just as well, given this past summer's derecho and subsequent power outages for close to a week.

[TorchTheWitch]

99. Nope, not since I got off of dialup internet

And for a few years that was the only reason I had the landline.

The one thing I do miss about the landline phone was that I had a feature that I could set it to call me at a certain time to wake me up... sometimes the alarm clock either crapped out or wasn't loud enough, but I would always wake up to a loudly ringing phone.

Generally speaking I hate the telephone. Of course it's necessary to have to make outgoing calls, but I just hate the damn thing ringing and people calling me... it's such an interuption. I just can't figure how people can spend all their waking hours on the phone either talking or texting. To me that's just living hell being so attached to a telephone.

[SheilaT]

100. Yes, of course.

I also have a cell phone, but I prefer it if people would call me on the landline, since the reception is vastly better on it.

When I first moved to Santa Fe four years ago, my cell phone reception was quite spotty and made me crazy. Sometimes I'd have three days in a row when I couldn't get a signal at my home. That problem has fortunately disappeared, but I'd still rather talk on the landline.

It's actually nice to have both, since there are some circumstances that will kill the cell phones, others that will kill the landlines. Usually one will work even if the other doesn't.

[Speck Tater]

101. Nope, no land line. nt

[Arugula Latte]

102. Yes. I really prefer talking on the landline.

But I do have a cell, too.

[GObamaGO]

103. No land line any more

I see no reason to have one.

[fizzgig]

105. haven't had one in years

i've called 911 a few times from my cell and the wait wasn't any longer than i imagine it would be had i called from a landline.

eta: there are very good reasons to have a landline, as others have pointed out, but i don't talk much on the phone and the biggest 'natural disaster' i have to deal with is the occasional 4-foot snowfall that doesn't knock out the power. i guess the only thing would be being able to find it in an emergency, but there are three cell phones in the house. my dad still has a landline for the same reasons as others here, i understand it, i just don't need it.

[LeftyMom]

106. No. Why bother when I have unlimited minutes on my cell and I'm hardly ever home?

[Kablooie]

107. Yes. ATT refuses to provide cell service to our house. We live near Pasadena and we've asked.

We only use them because of the iPhone.

[Raine]

108. Yes the security/alarm system for my home goes thru the

land line. I love my cell phone but use the land line for calls that I want to be more secure like financial calls etc.

[progree]

110. Yes, I keep my landline mostly because conversations are much clearer

Too many times with cell phone to cell phone conversations, I'm having difficulty understanding, kind of like frequent millisecond long blackouts. I've had some conversations where I'm not understanding everything being said and so I'm kind of faking it too much.

I never have that problem with the same people on a landline.

So I keep a prepaid about 10 c/ minute no monthly charge cell phone for emergency use. The cost of the landline with long distance service plus prepaid cell phone is a bit less than an unlimited or say 1000 minutes/mo cell phone alone.

My landline works when the power is out.

[B Calm]

111. Rural area and I'm still on dial up, so hell yes

I still have a land line. Last year we had a cell tower go down and the neighbor down the road didn't have a phone for several days.

[GeorgeGist]

112. Correction.

DSL does require a land line. It doesn't require PHONE service.

[Codeine]

113. Not for about three years.

And even before that I didn't bother to keep a phone plugged into the darned thing for years. It was just thirty bucks a month down the drain.

[hobbit709]

114. Yes. I want it to work when power is out

Which is why I have one hardwired phone in my house.
A friend of mine in Houston had no electricity for 10 days after Ike. His cell phone worked erratically at best in that time. EVERY time he picked up his landline, he had clear dial tone and was able to call in and out.

[AsahinaKimi]

116. only for my computer

The phone is there but i hardly use it.

[Bettie]

117. I have a land line still

It is just easier than having to search for my cell phone every time someone wants to call me.

And, sometimes, people don't want specifically me or my husband, they just need to talk to one of us.

Then again, I'm not a person who is glued to my cell phone 24/7. I often am not even sure where it is.

I used almost 500 minutes last year, so there's been an uptick in my use of the thing though.