Do you use your mobile phone as your main home phone?

[YS2003]

I am thinking about getting rid of land line (Verizon) from my place and just sign up on the cell phone service. Since I live in an apartment, for any phone repairs, the phone company needs to have an access to the main maintenance unit controlled by the apartment's maintenance department. I have to be in the middle to making the arrangement for the telephone crew to have an access to that facility with the maintenance crews. Over the course of 3 years here, this is the second time for the need for the phone repair (this time, no dial tone; the last time was the line mix up as the Verizon technician mixed up the wire in that room when he was doing repairs for the other people).

I have a company cell and it gets a good signal here. So, I know the cell phone works as far as connection wise.

Is there any benefit keeping the land line service?

The only thing I am concerned about is the incoming phone call. I heard the cell phone company charges you for incoming calls. I don't want to get charged for some telemarketing calls (I would rather charge them for wasting my time).

I have signed up with Skype for international calls (I have not made any from home; but I have already prepaid for the service just in case I need to call overseas via Skype).

 

[iGary]

Yes, I only have the cell phone.

The only disadvantage is that I cannot write off the cell bill without a land line. No worries otherwise - for me at least.

 

[yg17]

When I'm home, I typically use my parents landline, unless I'm too lazy to get up, grab the cordless phone, and come back to my desk, then I use my cell, but when I'm at college, my cell is my only phone.

 

[PlaceofDis]

cellphone is my only phone. and i'd imagine that more and more personal phone lines are going this way, with businesses becoming the majority of landlines.

 

[mactastic]

No, cell service sucks at my house. It's one of the tradeoffs for living in a rural area. The other is a lack of affordable broadband... sigh.

 

[MattG]

Yup. I'm not a big phone person to begin with. I have a personal cell phone that I mainly use to talk to my girlfriend a few times a week, my parents now and then, and some clients that I help with computer work outside of my regular job. I probably use my phone less in one year than most people use theirs in a month. I figured if that's the case, why bother having a home phone??? I'll keep one phone, the one people can reach me at any time no matter where I am.

 

[medea]

Landline? Haven't had one of those for about 5 years.

 

[scem0]

I'm cell phone only as well.

e

 

[Tanglewood]

I only have a cell phone for my personal phone, though I like landlines. Well I like the bulk of the receiver on landlines. It allows me to hold it on my shoulder without using my hands where as my cell phone normally slips out doing this.

 

[sjpetry]

Our whole family only has cell phones. It has it's advantages and disadvantages.

 

[iRachel]

cell phone only for me. Haven't had a land line in 2+ years now. no complaints - it's working out just fine this way.

 

[skubish]

My wife and I both have cell phones no landline in the house for 2.5 years.
Telemarketers don't call cell phones (at least none have ever called us). I think the middle 3 digits identify the number as a cell and telemarketers are not suppose to call. The ONE BIG disadvantage is that when calling 911 they can't identify your address. You have to been able to tell it to them.

 

[YS2003]

These comments are very positive and good thumbs-up for the cell phone as the home phone. I guess I will ditch this land line service. I just don't want to get bothered with service issue (which I am sure will happen as Verizon technicians try to fix someone else's apartment while messing up with others). Actually, I have not even used it for, like a year, frankly speaking. The only reason I kept is I thought the home # is required for some applications (be it the creit app, job application, and etc). I think I used it a few times to call up SuperCuts to put my name down on their waiting list on Saturdays. Otherwise, I used my company cell phone (I don't use during the weekend and most of my calls are during the normal business hours).

But, by the way, are current cell phone service providers charging for received calls as well? Was it the thing of the past? I only want to get charged for the calls "I" make (not someone is making a call to me).

 

[YS2003]

I am in the Tri State areas (NY, NJ, CT); can someone recommend the good carrier? My company cell phone is Cingular, which has good service. But, I don't want to miss out on other good carriers in this area (I want to have the carrier who has the national coverage, just in case I may need to different state in the future).

 

[rdowns]

These comments are very positive and good thumbs-up for the cell phone as the home phone. I guess I will ditch this land line service. I just don't want to get bothered with service issue (which I am sure will happen as Verizon technicians try to fix someone else's apartment while messing up with others). Actually, I have not even used it for, like a year, frankly speaking. The only reason I kept is I thought the home # is required for some applications (be it the creit app, job application, and etc). I think I used it a few times to call up SuperCuts to put my name down on their waiting list on Saturdays. Otherwise, I used my company cell phone (I don't use during the weekend and most of my calls are during the normal business hours).

But, by the way, are current cell phone service providers charging for received calls as well? Was it the thing of the past? I only want to get charged for the calls "I" make (not someone is making a call to me).

Most plans today give you x minutes per month. You are charged for use, be it, inbound or outbound calls.

SuperCuts? They're like the Microsoft of hair cutting.

 

[rdowns]

I am in the Tri State areas (NY, NJ, CT); can someone recommend the good carrier? My company cell phone is Cingular, which has good service. But, I don't want to miss out on other good carriers in this area (I want to have the carrier who has the national coverage, just in case I may need to different state in the future).

Verizon (my old provider) provides the best service, coverage wise. They tend to cripple most advanced phone features to force you to use their expensive network. Cingular (current provider) provides almost as good service and has much better phones.

 

[w_parietti22]

we have a landline... but we rarely use it. I like never answer it because its never for me.

 

[Tanglewood]

I am in the Tri State areas (NY, NJ, CT); can someone recommend the good carrier? My company cell phone is Cingular, which has good service. But, I don't want to miss out on other good carriers in this area (I want to have the carrier who has the national coverage, just in case I may need to different state in the future).

Well who is the carrier your company uses? If you like the quality of the phone calls then you might as well stay with that carrier.

 

[iSaint]

With two kids at home, we kept the land-line. If we have a babysitter there's comfort in having that phone available.

EDIT: for a local land-line it's only about $35. We use the cell phones for all long-distance calls.

 

[Electro Funk]

The ONE BIG disadvantage is that when calling 911 they can't identify your address. You have to been able to tell it to them.

Sprint PCS has put GPS chips inside its handsets. Cingular Wireless, the company created out of BellSouth and SBC Communications, will use a similar technology for part of its footprint, but will use a "network based" approach for the rest.

Verizon Wireless says it, too, will use one of several network approaches, which involve judging a person's location from such data as signal strength and simple triangulation. AT&T says it needs more time to decide.

whenever i make a call, they know exactly where im at

you are able to turn this service off though...

 

[balamw]

Cingular Wireless, the company created out of BellSouth and SBC Communications, will use a similar technology for part of its footprint, but will use a "network based" approach for the rest.

AT&T says it needs more time to decide.

This seems a bit outdated since Cingular merged with AT&T wireless and then SBC bought AT&T and renamed itself AT&T, and it has been rumored that Cingular will once again be renamed AT&T Wireless later this year.

In response to the OPs question I still have a landline and DSL service.

Telemarketers aren't supposed to call cell phones, but can if you have a relationship with the company and gave them that number... I've had a few suh calls, but much fewer than on the landline.

B

 

[YS2003]

Most plans today give you x minutes per month. You are charged for use, be it, inbound or outbound calls.

Do they charge for the incoming calls even if I choose not to take it? My company cell phone routes the calls to the regular voice mail feature if I don't answer the cell phone or I am not available at the time of the call.

SuperCuts? They're like the Microsoft of hair cutting.

Yeah, I agree. Now you know where all my money goes (ie. to computer stuff). I consider hair cut, eating out, and other non essential things as a necessary evil I have to spend my money on occasionally.

Is there a Mac-version of hair cutting? Hair salon?

 

[Electro Funk]

This seems a bit outdated since Cingular merged with AT&T wireless and then SBC bought AT&T and renamed itself AT&T, and it has been rumored that Cingular will once again be renamed AT&T Wireless later this year.

In response to the OPs question I still have a landline and DSL service.

Telemarketers aren't supposed to call cell phones, but can if you have a relationship with the company and gave them that number... I've had a few suh calls, but much fewer than on the landline.

B

yes it is... i pulled it from an old article... 5 or 6 years old in fact... just wanted to make the point that most cell phones have this now and it is not an issue if you have to call 911... was too lazy to delete the useless info

 

[gallagb]

benifits of a land line...

i only have a cell

but- i'm stingy on my min & my plan-

so....
i wish i had a land line when....

a) i wanna make a local call
b) have a cute girl who is willing to call me whenever.... and i don't wanna waste daytime min when she's on a different carrier...etc
c) 800 #'s
(so tech support, one of my former employers, calling cards --for the company..etc)
d) when the parents call -- ie call to ramble- & i don't wanna 'pay' for it
e) when my various friends call for tech support- asking me about how to fix their whatever


-----
but- i'm clearly gettin by on only the cell
i've had it this way since 1/02

 

[floriflee]

Is there any benefit keeping the land line service?

For the longest time the hubby and I just had our cell phones as our home phone. Then I started working from home and we had to get a land line. I have to say that it's nice to have a land line for when a) either he or I don't hear our cell phone ring for whatever reason and b) when our cell phones are acting stupid and they refuse to ring because of reception or whatever. Before we got the land line there were a couple of times either he or I tried to get a hold of the spouse who was at home and couldn't because that person didn't pick up the cell phone (most often than not the person forgot to turn it off of silent). It would make the person trying to get a hold of him/her very frustrated and anxious. That frustration and anxiousness has ceased for the most part since getting the land line because the ringer is always on. If that's not a big deal for you then the benefit may not be worth it.

In any case it's nice to have a back-up line in case the cell phone doesn't work for whatever reason. That may be beneficial depending on how expensive your land line service is,though.

One thing to definitely consider is how often you use the phone. Can you keep within your minutes if you use it without the land line? Is the increase in cost to upgrade to a higher plan that would allow you to do this still going to save you $$? I like having the land line in times when I don't want to burn through my minutes. It's definitely saved us a few times when there's been a lot of talking going on during a particular month.

I'd recommend testing out using only your cell phones for a month or two before cancelling your land line service. It would give you an idea of whether or not taking that route would really work for you. Just a thought....

As far as incoming calls go, I don't think they charge you for ones that you don't pick up. Most plans I've seen give you the first incoming minute free so that would cover ones that aren't answered.