What, we don't have enough phone threads already? 😄 

I've had a land line with the same number in my house for 24 years.  My wife and son and his wife have cell phones but I do not.  Cell service here is a bit spotty.  Great cellular internet.  Son and his wife are close enough to use the land line on their own wireless handset.

Sunday the land line went down.  Today the phone company came out and told us that about 2000 feet of copper cable was stolen.  That much copper is worth about $15,000 or so when sold, but it would cost the phone company about $70,000 to repair the damage.  There are only 7 houses that are affected.  There has been cable stolen from other areas nearby, but not this severe. Someone saw the people cutting the cable and reported it to the sheriff, so they have some info but they won't be getting the cable back.  No speculation on who was responsible... if you get my meaning.

This will not be repaired.  Some time in the next 5 years the phone company will be extending fiber service our way from a few miles down the road.  This is a second reason they won't fix the copper lines, and it's unlikely they'll do this extension much sooner.  At absolute best we're 6 months without land line.  At worst, it's forever.

So.  Now I need a cell phone.  And I have to decide if I want to keep my land line number.  And I need to figure out what my options are.  I understand a company like Vonage will allow me to keep my land line number, or I could get the land line number transferred to wife's AT&T cell account.  I have to keep paying for the land line ($130 per month) and the company will still bill us even if we don't have service.  Tech guy said they submit it, but the billing office never seems to act on it.

At this point I'm open to all suggestions.  I don't need a cell phone for myself, I'd like to keep the number I've used for 24 years, and having multiple handsets on the house phone was very useful.  I won't be paying $850 for a glorified cell camera that has phone service, even if it comes with a free smart watch. 🙂 

Hook

Why would you continue to pay for a landline that you can't use??

You should be able to transfer your landline number to pretty much any cell service.

Do some Google-Fu on "fixed wireless internet".  Broad-brush--it's a fixed cellular modem that's installed in your house to give you home internet and phone service via cellular data.  It can take advantage of a good directional antenna mounted in an advantageous position to give reliable service even in areas of marginal coverage.  The FWA modem can be connected to your existing home phone wiring to provide multi-station use by regular POTS phones.

For a rugged brick that is almost bullet proof that does voice and text and push button emergency request and a camera is the Lively flip phone (used to be called Jitterbug). Our bill is $27 a month unlimited use. But there is no internet. Cheaper than a landline phone per month.

A smart phone does internet too.

 

6 minutes ago, Bob Scott said:

Why would you continue to pay for a landline that you can't use??

The only reason is that the moment I cancel the land line, I lose the phone number.  When you've had the same number for 24 years, a lot of people already have it. 😄 

Anyway, this is what the tech told me.  

Hook

1 minute ago, LHookins said:

The only reason is that the moment I cancel the land line, I lose the phone number.  When you've had the same number for 24 years, a lot of people already have it. 😄 

In my experience, you only need to keep the LL phone active until the number is transferred over to the cell service.

I don't know how do phone companies work in the US. But, what if you transfer your number to a cheap cell phone provider while you decide?

9 minutes ago, Bob Scott said:

a fixed cellular modem that's installed in your house to give you home internet and phone service via cellular data

This is how I get my Internet.  Nextlink has been a great company, and they offer some kind of phone service.  I'm trying to get info from their web site (can't call 'em at the moment 😄 ) but their computer seems to be acting up.  I'll keep trying.

The Nextlink tower is less than a mile from my house, I switched from satellite internet within a week or two of that tower going up.  I pay for 35 MBPS down but often get over 100, especially at night.  The amount I paid also dropped about the same time the speed increased.

Hook

1 minute ago, Bob Scott said:

In my experience, you only need to keep the LL phone active until the number is transferred over to the cell service.

Right.  This is what I meant.

Hook

I use the Lively flip because it slides into my jeans front pocket and I sometimes forget it is there.

EDIT: It cost me $85. Chump change. I think the option to keep my old number was $10, activation was $25, and the phone was $50 on sale at best buy a few years ago.

I think almost all phone companies allow you to keep your landline number, but it costs a one time fee to do that.

 

Edited October 9, 20241 yr by Fielder

You can get a decent smartphone for about $100.  We use Verizon prepaid and it costs $30/month.  I can't imagine paying $800 for a phone no matter how "smart" it is.  To each his/her own.

You can look into internet phone service as well.  We had that with Spectrum for a while.  Before that we had a landline.

From now on we're just going to use cellphones.  No more landlines or internet phone.  Of course, if cell coverage is poor where you live then you'll have to look into other options.

Dave

Not sure how it works in your country but I have a 4G/5G wireless modem that you can plug any landline phone into. We had the same issue copper lines being degraded, this was the best solution for is. My modem is a Huawei with the landline port, and you can run wireless broadband from it too

This picure shows the ports:

Edited October 9, 20241 yr by Matthew Kane

13 hours ago, LHookins said:

won't be paying $850 for a glorified cell camera that has phone service, even if it comes with a free smart watch.

 

It depends on your needs. A Galxy A15 would probably suit you and I recall it's about $115. 

Different for me, of course, as I'm a former proffesional photographer and currently don't have an SLR, mirrorless, or any decent camera. So a modern smartphone with a high quality camera is worth it. Not particularly good eyesight so a larger screen suits me. And of course, modern higher end smartphones have many functions, not just phone and camera. My new phone is half the price of the top of the range version, but many features I use and appreciate that you might not. I use mine for walking and driving navigation all the time, in place of a sat nav.

Apple do cheap options too, as do the other manufacturers.

Frequently I'm stopped by tourists requesting directions, and of course, I'm pleased to help them, but it does pass my mind how easily they'd find their way around with a phone equipped with Google Maps. 

Edited October 10, 20241 yr by martin-w

57 minutes ago, martin-w said:

I'm a former profesional photographer and currently don't have an SLR, mirrorless, or any decent camera. So a modern smartphone with a high quality camera is worth it.

I figured that would be the case.  It's often less of a case of being able to afford something as being able to justify the price.  In your case, you could easily justify the price.

I kinda miss the Argus C3, the Weston Master III light meter and my fully equipped darkroom.  I guess that's how we know we're getting old.

I probably won't be getting a cell phone.  I think it would work better for me to have something I could plug my house phone into instead of the wall to convert the land line phone to cell service.  Cheaper too overall.

Hook

My first cell phone was an Ericsson T28; I loved that one. Nice and small, and it would spring open with a touch of a button:

 

If I remember correctly, you could also play Tetris on it.

 Looking into my crystal ball, I see a bright future for flip phones:

2 hours ago, LHookins said:

I figured that would be the case.  It's often less of a case of being able to afford something as being able to justify the price.  In your case, you could easily justify the price.

I kinda miss the Argus C3, the Weston Master III light meter and my fully equipped darkroom.  I guess that's how we know we're getting old.

 

Yep, I can sell the free watch on eBay too, and trade in my old phone, I'm told I can still get something for it despite the cracked screen. Should be able to get a couple of hundred back. 

Ah yes, the good old Weston Master. Think it was 2000 they stopped being made? I don't miss the darkroom to be honest. 😀 Would much rather sit in front of a PC. I recall, before having access to a pro darkroom,  the times I loaded a Paterson dev tank spiral with a 35mm, or 120 roll film, with the curtains closed in my bedroom and my head under the bed clothes. 🤣