# Well, I did it: no more land line! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 24, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-did-it-no-more-land-line/291741 "2005-02-24T18:30:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-did-it-no-more-land-line/291741/1 "2005-02-24T18:30:12Z")
I’ve been thinking about ditching my land line and just using my cell phone for a while now, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it with my old service. Last weekend I changed carriers and got a cool new phone, and over the past week I’ve made some test long-distance and local calls from my living room couch: each time, I talked for over an hour with no static or other problems, so I realized it was finally time to drop my home phone service. What surprised me is that it took nearly a week for me to finally make the calls! Even though I hardly ever used the home phone, I’d just always had one and it took a few days for logic and rational thought to overcome psychology. Which isn’t like me: usually, once I realize that something is clearly the right choice, I don’t hesitate. So it was weird to find myself hesitating about cancelling the land line. But now it’s done! 🙂 I’m going to make my cell plan more robust by doubling my minutes and adding a text messaging package, and I’ll _still_ save at least $50/month. Plus, I just downloaded AC/DC’s “Back In Black” as my ringtone. I’m psyched. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-did-it-no-more-land-line/291741/2 "2005-02-24T18:33:23Z")
Congrats! SmithWife & I have been ‘untethered’ for about 7 months, now. Who needs land-line phones, anyways. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-did-it-no-more-land-line/291741/3 "2005-02-24T18:36:26Z")
I love having mobile only. When I moved back from NY to PA, I just never got land line service again. Sure, I suppose there is a land line in my house because I do have DSL, but I couldn’t tell you what the number to it is and there’s no phone attached. It’s a wonderful thing to only have one phone number and to always be able to make a call from it or get a call at it, and my phone bills are so much lower now. No more paying out my ass to have a telephone that just sits there. Way to go on ditching that ‘old technology.’ 🙂 -Untethered for 3 years and counting. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-did-it-no-more-land-line/291741/4 "2005-02-24T18:38:32Z")
I want to do this, but cell signal strength is a bit sketchy at our house. Until we feel more confident with the service, we’ll continue to pay for the land line. That’s what we get for living in the boonies, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-did-it-no-more-land-line/291741/5 "2005-02-24T18:42:37Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I want to do this, but cell signal strength is a bit sketchy at our house. Until we feel more confident with the service, we’ll continue to pay for the land line. That’s what we get for living in the boonies, I guess. If you’ve got the land, you could lease to the Mobile carrier to raise a tower. You’d be surprised at how much they might be willing to pay you if it’s a strategic location. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-did-it-no-more-land-line/291741/6 "2005-02-24T18:47:34Z")
We’ve got 3 acres in the middle of a development - I don’t think a tower would be appropriate, or even approved. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-did-it-no-more-land-line/291741/7 "2005-02-24T22:56:59Z")
> [@Winston Smith](#): > > Who needs land-line phones, anyways. Exactly! And, thanks for the congrats. 🙂 The only person to raise a concern so far has been my mother, who wondered what I’d do in an emergency if there was no power and/or my cell phone wasn’t working but I needed to make a call. I told her that I could always use a neighbor’s phone, or drive to my office (which is all of 3 miles away) – assuming, of course, that whatever catastrophe knocked out the power and cell phone service is only affecting _my_ house. 😉 She seemed satisfied with my answer. > [@catsix](#): > > Sure, I suppose there is a land line in my house because I do have DSL, but I couldn’t tell you what the number to it is and there’s no phone attached. I have risen above even such petty connections: I’ve had a cable modem for the past two years. 😃 😉 When I was thinking all of this through, the only reason I could come up with to have an active phone connection would be if I were ever to get TiVo – but then I figured that if I ever did get it, I’d probably just set it up so that it could update wirelessly via the internet. 🙂 > [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I want to do this, but cell signal strength is a bit sketchy at our house. I’m not in the boonies, but that’s what kept me from doing it with my old carrier; I think it was a combination of so-so service and a decent-but-not-great phone. I’m still a renter, so now I just have to hope that when I move again I can afford another place with decent cell reception! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-did-it-no-more-land-line/291741/8 "2005-02-24T23:21:08Z")
I’m waiting until I can get 'net over AC in my area to ditch the land-line. After that, there’s only the one line coming in. Power and data. (Maybe by then VOIP will make sense for the “house” phone.) ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-did-it-no-more-land-line/291741/9 "2005-02-24T23:22:41Z")
> [@](#): > > **Misnomer** said: > I have risen above even such petty connections: I’ve had a cable modem for the past two years. Not available in my ‘neighborhood’. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-did-it-no-more-land-line/291741/10 "2005-02-25T03:07:17Z")
We ditched our landline about 6 months ago or so. With 4 cell phones in the house, it just didn’t make sense to keep it on. Only telemarketers called it. We stopped answering it. We still have DSL, which according to people I talk to is not supposed to be possible, but here I sit, online, via DSL.