# if you have a cellphone and broadband, is there any reason to have a regular phone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2002, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691 "2002-08-20T02:31:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kalashnikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kalashnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalashnikov)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/1 "2002-08-20T02:31:28Z")
If you have a good cell phone plan, and cable internet, is there any reason for you to have a landline? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/2 "2002-08-20T02:39:18Z")
Not for me. That’s how I do it. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/3 "2002-08-20T02:46:42Z")
Reliability. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/4 "2002-08-20T02:59:56Z")
And signal. My friend and I get horrid cell phone coverage where we live. My cell phone is practically non-operational inside my house. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/5 "2002-08-20T03:05:25Z")
Cell phone calls are more expensive, so if you use the phone a lot it may turn out to be cheaper to have both a landline and a cell phone. There might be some discrimination as well. In the US, can you tell by looking at the number whether it’s a cell phone or not? It’s obvious in Japan and some people (businesses, prospective employers) don’t like it when you just give them your cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/6 "2002-08-20T03:12:23Z")
Also, depending on your plan, you may pay dearly for calls in the early evening. Then it’s nice to have a land line. ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/7 "2002-08-20T03:26:56Z")
It seems to me there’s a lot more that can go wrong with a cel phone. The battery can run out or die, the phone is more likely to get broken (since you carry it around with you as opposed to leaving it on a counter), a satellite could go down (happened a few years back in the US), you could get a crappy signal, you could lose the phone, it could get stolen … etc. Plus, your average cel phone doesn’t give as clear a sound or as many options as your average landline phone. However, if you had an internet phone-type service it could work as a backup if your cel is having problems. Personally, I have a cel phone and high speed internet, and I still keep a land line for basic local phone calls and such. There’s a lot of places in the world where cel phones are just about the only way to go, since it’s easier to put up a bunch of towers than string phone cables everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/8 "2002-08-20T03:37:02Z")
FAXing. (Yeah there’s services that will handle FAXes for you, but for a price or with ads tacked on.) My cell-phone-plan gives me like 1200 minutes a month to call anywhere in the USA anytime. To get a phone-line in my apartment, I’d have no choice but to go with Cablevision and pay a hefty $120 installation fee. I have an old computer at my mother’s house if I need to send/receive faxes. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/9 "2002-08-20T03:41:17Z")
Landline free here. Have cable internet access and a Verizon cell phone. Haven’t missed the normal phone yet. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/10 "2002-08-20T03:43:58Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by scr4_ > **In the US, can you tell by looking at the number whether it’s a cell phone or not?** Cell phones have different prefixes from regular phones. For example, around here when you see a number starting with 216, 869, 879, 999, or several others, you know it’s a cell phone. You can also tell the service providers apart - 999 is Verizon, 869/879 are Sprint, 216 is Cricket, etc. The prefixes are assigned differently in each area code, though. You can make a distinction for local numbers if you’re familiar with the prefixes, but someone from Spokane (area code 509) probably wouldn’t know whether a number in Seattle (206) is a landline or a cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/11 "2002-08-20T03:50:59Z")
We have lived without a land phone for 3 years. It is definitely cheaper for us as we would have the cell phones anyway and we have small plans that we don’t use all the minutes anyway. You should be able to tell if you have crappy signal at your house. If you do then obviously this solution is not for you. Digital cell phones sound pretty good these days. I have told some of my friends that I don’t have a home phone and they are surprised because the phone conversations sound great. If you have a cell phone and it works great at your house then there is no reason not to ditch the land line. Sprint and Verizon both have free long distance plans so it may even be cheaper to have only a cell phone. If you have kids at home you might not like to give them phones. When we have kids I am sure we will install phone service to our house. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/12 "2002-08-20T04:02:29Z")
Well, I lived without a landline for 3 years. I had a one of the big cell phone carriers and Cable for internet. I decided to go back to the landline to save money (one month I had a very painful $2K+ phone bill). I found problems with my service on the cell. I live close to the capitol building and when there’re fireworks my cellphone would jam (I’m not sure if that’s interrelated, but it was suspect in the timing). My phone would occassionally just drop to analog roam only when I was at home for no reason. I’d recommend against it, imho of course, unless you’re never home. ---
**Author:** ![fighting\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@fighting\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fighting_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/13 "2002-08-20T04:59:06Z")
No 411 listing. People looking for you can’t always find you. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/14 "2002-08-20T05:32:33Z")
Tried it. Dind’t like it. With landline, I can have phones in multiple rooms. With a cell, I had to carry the phone from room to room … and too often I’d leave it in the car or at work. If it was charging, there was no backup phone. I’m in a growing suburban area, and service from most wireless arriers is bad. Voicestream (GSM) and Sprint (CDMA) have the chatty kids. Nextel is notoriously bad 'round these parts, considering the massive amount of construction activity and large pecentage of residents who work in the building trades. I had Cingular (GSM), and it was so-so. ---
**Author:** ![diku](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@diku](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diku)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/15 "2002-08-20T05:44:50Z")
I don’t have a landline. Been that way for a couple of years now. The coverage where I live isn’t the greatest, but it works. Probably won’t go back unless I really decide I need a fax machine. ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/16 "2002-08-20T07:16:22Z")
I’ve thought of ding without landline for some time, but I’m dissapointed with the sound quality of GSM. Supposedly 3-G phones will be better, but with current phones I find that I get tired quickly when talking for a longer time. Also, the GSM standard is only half duplex, something I find very annoying. (They make some clever backgound noise extrapolations, but in the end it’s not true full duplex.) ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/17 "2002-08-20T07:52:09Z")
A landline is required for us, as the entrance to our apartment building has an intercom system that uses one. Visitors and delivery persons can’t easily get in otherwise. Of course, this doesn’t apply to you if you don’t live in an apartment like ours or live in a house. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/18 "2002-08-20T10:00:26Z")
I lived without a landline for a couple months. My mobile (cell) phone calls were pretty cheap, but using a dinky little phone got pretty annoying after a while. Conversations longer than 5-10 minutes or so made my phone heat up. My ear would start to burn uncomfortably. I don’t think it was the model of phone I had (Nokia 8210). My older Ericsson had the same problem. An obvious solution is to use a handsfree kit. However, they’re too fiddly, plus I got sick of taking it between my car and house. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/19 "2002-08-20T11:25:24Z")
I have a cable attachment that will allow faxing to/from my cellphone (though I have to be allerted of an incomming fax to set it up). Also [efax.com](http://efax.com) can send/rec faxes via the net which is what I use. There may be some health concerns with high cell phone usage - I think it’s better healthwize to use a landline when possible. Also I use a landline for a dialup backup when DSL goes down. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691/20 "2002-08-20T12:07:29Z")
I’ve been landline-free for 7 years now. I get 850 minutes a month peak and 3500 more for nights and weekends. That’s enough time for me, and with free long distance, the $69.99/month price actually saves me money. I love cable internet, but I do not like cable TV. At least Comcast doesn’t make me take the TV service in order to have the internet. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-a-cellphone-and-broadband-is-there-any-reason-to-have-a-regular-phone/124691.md?page=2)