This is different than the other exclusive cell phone thread, I didn’t want to hijack.
We are thinking about giving up our landline and going completely over to cell phones. For some reason I am uneasy about this, although I can’t put my finger on why. We get good reception on our cell phones at our house, we are switching to cable internet and we don’t use the land line much anyway. Are there any drawbacks I am not considering? The only thing I can think of is that if we have to call 911 we will not get an automatic trace on our location, that does worry me a little but I’m not sure it’s a big enough problem to keep paying for a land line we otherwise don’t need.
Tell me about your switch - do any businesses give you a hard time if you don’t have a landline to list as a home number? Were there any consequences you didn’t forsee? Do you love it and wish you had ditched the landline sooner?
We’re 95% there but may not give up our land line. I can only think of one company that doesn’t accept a mobile number as our primary for our account, ironically that is T-mobile. I keep a land line because my company pays for it an in any event it’s pretty cheap to include with our cable package. For practical purposes our (TheLadyLion and myself) mobile numbers are generally the only ones we give out.
I only have a cell phone and haven’t run into any problems.
I’ve heard that pizza delivery is sometimes a problem, but since I never order pizza, It hasn’t come up yet.
Oh yeah, and my company pays for the cell phone, so I’ve got it pretty sweet.
In point of fact, some communities have the technology to trace 911 calls almost as quickly as land lines. Obviously, I don’t know if yours does.
We are 100 percent cellular and have had no problems at all. Not true - my phone went out recently, but my cell phone company replaced it with a loaner within an hour of my taking it down and then got mine back to me in about a week. So this was better than having to wait around the house until the phone guy made it and then being told my service could not be restored for three to five days.
The only marginally negative thing is that the land-line phone company puts out the good phone books and because of that we are not mentioned in any phone books. I understand if we want to be, we can contact them and have ourselves listed but that’s really the only negative we’ve run across in the last year or so.
A couple of the other positives, no missed calls since we carry them with us. So far, no solicitation, to buy this or that, or vote for him or her. I understand some people are starting to get those though. Also here a couple of times phone “trunk” lines have been eaten by gophers or cut by farmers so all land-line phones have gone down thus leaving us cellular types the only people in town connected.
According to the propaganda that came with my phone, it is GPS-enabled so that Verizon can tell emergency services the position of my cell phone. (Annoyingly enough it won’t tell me my position—still gotta use my hand-dandy GPS reciever for that.)
The FCC has mandated that by December 2005 all new cell phones must be GPS-enabled.
My phone (a Kyocera somethin-or-other, left it home today, wouldn’t ya know) has a little cross-hairs icon that appears on the screen when it is getting a GPS signal. Mine’s a crappy bottom o’ the line prepay phone, so it’s a good bet your phone is sexier than mine. Check your owner’s manual.
I’d point out that cell phones are not suitable for dire emergency situations. I’d be wary if you’re using your cell for any life or death situations.
Cells can die, towers may get hit by lightining or you might find yourself outside the tower range.
I’m no longer using a land line and I order pizza just fine on my cell. I love driving past a pizza place, getting the urge to have pizza and ordering it (on a head set!) from my car 15 minutes before I’m due home
For general chatter a cell is great. Plus, no telemarketers are a big plus.
Been 100% cell for almost two years now. The only problems I’ve had were the result of Sprint’s “All Digital, Nationwide” coverage that wasn’t, and the part that wasn’t seemed to be centralized in my apartment. But the proliferation of towers has continued so now my home coverage is about 95%. I still get dropped calls and faded signals, but instead of 2-3 times per conversation, it’s about once every 10 calls.
Pizza delivery and 911 haven’t been a problem so far!
The only other thing I’ve had to worry about is making sure I have enough minutes. I usually don’t use my phone except for quick get-the-facts conversations. I save those for the weekends, or just make sure people I talk to all the time like my girlfriend are on the same carrier so we have unlimited calls.
I will say that the free long distance is the biggest plus. My family lives out of state, and I have friends that I do like to chat with from Hawaii to NC. As long as we all respect the cellular windows, I’m fine, and only a couple times have I gone over my allotment of anytime minutes.
BIG DISCLAIMER this does bring to mind the times I’ve had to deal with credit unions and utility companies. 800 numbers still cost you minutes. My car got totaled a while back and needless to say I was on the phone quite a bit with my insurance company, lawyers, and car dealerships. That ran into some bucks. Also, last year, the electric company accidentally turned off my power and I spent three hours on the phone getting it switched back on. (They did not reimburse me for my cell time but I didn’t pursue it.) I’m allowed use my work phone to make such calls but in both cases I was not in a position to do that… So in both those cases a land line would have been a godsend.
But those have been the two exceptions, and other than that I’ve missed my landline not at all. I’d say if you had access to one at your workplace then give it a shot. Saving $30 a month on the service has been worth it to me.
I have been land-line free since June of 2002. I haven’t encountered one single problem.
Any food delivery place - pizza, etc. - has had no problem with me calling from a cell phone. Occasionally I order groceries online (Peapod), and having a cell phone actually saved me once - I had forgotten they were coming to drop off my groceries and I was across the street at a friend’s apartment, and when they called, wondering where I was, I got the call because I had my phone with me!
I have a vague recollection of getting asked pointedly for a “home” number in the past, and I just told them, “Seriously - this is my only number.” Things were fine after that.
You must make absolutely sure you get good and reliable reception in your home, of course. But it sounds like you’ve got all of those bases covered, Velma.
As far as 911 goes … I remember hearing that you can set your land-line up so that it is, for all intents and purposes, disconnected except to call 911, for some sort of small monthly fee.
All in all, the ultimate convenience, added to the fact that I get ZERO telemarketing calls and also do not have to ever deal with SBC EVER (bliss!!), I’d say I’m a fan.
I went all cellular with cable internet nearly three years ago and haven’t had any problems. As long as I keep my phone charged up, I’ve got no worries. And I’ve had exactly ONE unsolicited call in those three years, and they just about wet themselves when I told them it was a cell phone they’d just called.
Same here. I went all cell about 3 years ago when I moved out into my own apt. I have cable internet. There are some problems keeping a signal inside my own apt. But, as long as I’m not in the bathroom or the hallway, I"m fine. Kinda like spots I wouldn’t be able to reach on a corded phone.
I don’t use it all the much. I tend to call friends and family on weekends and talk more. During the week, it is usually short calls. Rarely, I know I’ll get stuck on a long 800 number call. I try to make those at lunch from my work phone. I have 300 mins and I have only gone over twice. Once while traveling and the time zones worked against me and then at Christmas time when I needed to talk to a lot of people during that month. I just signed up for the new Sprint fair and flexible plan now which will help with any unusual months.
I can’t imagine owning a land line. They’re as obsolete as the hand crank phones in 1920’s movies.
I have no regrets at all. Quite the opposite since I can choose a plan that suits my needs, which I couldn’t do with the land line.
I still get a bit of a kick from people who want a “day number and a night number” or a “home number and a work number”. You only need to know one number for me. If I don’t answer that, I ain’t reachable.
I’ve been using cell-phone only for about a year and a half, and had no problems. Never needed 911, thankfully, but deliveries have been no problem at all. (In fact, I ordered from a Chinese restaurant the other night, and they took my cell phone and knew my address, even though I don’t recall ever ordering anything else from them! Unsettling.)
Now, I do have a land-line, but it’s only used for the TiVo, which requires it. (And, I guess, the DSL connection which I went for instead of cable modem because Comcast sucks ass). I’ve never used or felt the need to use the voice part of it, though.
I have been land-line free only officially since August, but previous to that only had a land line for the year due to getting DSL cheaper than cable internet. I really have no problem with it. I got a plan that works for me and I don’t talk on the phone too much outside my evening time. I also get a sweet corporate discount so I got the free roaming/earlier evenings which makes it pretty much hassle free (due to my schedule, I’d only use my minutes during times when I’m at work, where I have a work phone anyway – and the minimum was 300 minutes which easily covers days off and that sort of thing).
I like that I can pick more about my plan. Quite honestly I got bad service (from irritating to rage-inducing) with every phone carrier I had. The whole attitude is that of a monopoly. My last carrier got nasty with me when I wouldn’t give them two numbers when cancelling my service. I gave them my work number, and that’s it, as they sold my number and address to telemarketers and direct mailers and I don’t care to be bothered.
I’d recommend having good, reliable cell phone service where you live because it is REALLY annoying only having a cell phone that doesn’t work very well at home. Before, when I had a landline and my calls kept cutting out I could say “hey I’ll call you on a landline.” Now, I’m just outta luck if the reception gets bad. I say “I’ll call you when I’m not at home”
If I talked on the phone more than I do (which is almost never) I’d get a landline for myself just for the reliability.
IMHO the biggest pains about going cellular are:
(1) going over your allotted minutes can be very expensive (for me, 40 cents per minute)
(2) roaming charges can be exoribitant (I’ve seen them as high as 85 cents per minute).
(3) you have to get used to keeping the phone charged up.
I got a plan with more minutes than I normally need, plus rollover; this is important for me because when I’m oncall I might have to spend 3-4 hours at a time on the phone. I was very frugal the first couple of months in order to build up a healthy rollover pool.
I travel quite a bit, so can’t tolerate the roaming charges. Some plans are available with free roaming, but I’m with Cingular, and their coverage is so extensive that the roaming issue has become pretty much irrelevant.
Additionally, my minutes are any time, any where. No long distance charges!
It may take awhile to figure out exactly what you need in a plan, so you might want to avoid long-term agreements at first.
Be sure to check for company discounts. I get 20% off, plus a free phone every couple of years.
I used my cell when we were gettting married; got a ton of cell spam a while but just kept telling them to bug off.
Moving to a new county; we’re going to get ‘super cheep’ with either Bell or the ‘competition’ and go for unbundled DSL or cable for internet. With hurricanes and small children under the age of 5 it isn’t wise for us to dump a line at this time, though it won’t be used much, if at all. I’m looking into getting one of those things that lets me plug my cell phone into a base unit and then use a “real” phone to talk to people (using cell minutes but not power).
I’m keeping my cells, will use them exclusively possibly with the base unit described above. I am changing the billing address for the cells to my postal box - when they start offering ‘listings’ for cell users I can at least direct them away from my home address.
I’ve encountered only a few minor problems with ditching the land line. The first is sort of like the phantom pain that amputees sometimes get in a missing limb. My answering machine used to sit on a bookcase in the rec room. Even though it’s been gone for over a year, every time I walk into that room, I glance over at the bookcase to see if I have any messages. A 15-year habit is damned tough to break! And of course, the sound of a ringing telephone in a TV program still makes me think my phone is ringing - there oughta be a law!
Second, cell phone numbers are effectively unlisted, so if you’re involved in anything that requires that strangers be able to get in touch with you, you have to figure out some way to let them know what your phone number is. I’m the treasurer of our homeowners’ association, so any time a house gets sold, the settlement folks need to get in touch with me. Whenever a house here goes on the market, I make sure the owner and his or her realtor both have my number.
The only other minor problem is that, without a land line, I can’t easily use my PC to send or receive faxes. I haven’t needed it often, so I haven’t spent any time looking for web-based fax relay services - they must be out there.
I’m a college student (well, I just graduated, but I live with college kids and all my friends are college kids and I don’t have a “real” job yet) and I’m hardly ever home. I have T-mobile, and I get excellent reception in my house, so that isn’t an issue.
I get 600 anytime and unlimited nights and weekends; have yet to go significantly over.
Two gripes: finding a mobile phone you’ve left laying around the house can be tricky. Plus, hearing it ring from another room is tough. I’d give my left big toe for a cradle-type thing which could supplant the inbuilt ringer with a really loud landline-type ring, and would save me hunting around for the end of the little cord that is my charger.
Also, during Hurricane Charlie, we lost power for a week, and while my service was restored completely within two days, our power wasn’t and so I was effectively incommunicado except when my roommates were around.
