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Old 07-28-21, 09:42 AM  
primrosecat
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Landline phones

Hello all, I need advice for landline service. I'm presently using Spectrum, but when I lose service, I lose my phone too. I'm wondering about a Voip type service. Does anyone here use a Voip service? What are your thoughts, pros and cons, and which service would you recommend? Thanks in advance!
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Old 07-28-21, 11:22 AM  
BigBadBetty
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Madison, WI, USA
Spectrum is a VoIP service. VoIP means voice over internet protocol so you will lose service when you don't have internet service. If you want something not reliant on your internet service, you need either copper line or cellular service.
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Old 07-28-21, 01:21 PM  
primrosecat
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Thanks, I didn't know that. Can you recommend a different service that is Voip related? Or what would you recommend, for me to keep my landline? I have a phone system, one base and 2 that run off of the base.
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Old 07-28-21, 01:29 PM  
bzar
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Join Date: Feb 2002
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Before you switch, ask Spectrum for a battery. it will prevent losing your landline during an outage. the battery lasts 8 to 24 hours depending on the capacity.

https://www.spectrum.net/support/voi...attery-backup/

i have something similar except it's with a different provider. you can find out about buying the battery separately from a vendor. Spectrum can provide you a cost estimate. long story, but i wish i was a little more persistent with my provider in getting my own battery. my provider charged me $99 for the battery whereas i got a quote for $30 from an independent battery vendor.

long story:
my provider's installer said "it's not compatible" which was a hock of hooey. the battery vendor said that my provider refers their customers to the vendor if the battery needs to be replaced! i got the idea in the first place because my provider's sales dept said that i could supply my own battery. i actually bought the battery from the vendor at first, but the installer told me it wasn't compatible. i felt under the gun to accept theirs, but i should have been more persistent.
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Old 07-28-21, 05:10 PM  
Paine
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Just my 2 cents... I would keep the landline. I like a landline because an old rotary phone plugged into the wall jack will always work even if all the electricity goes out and even if the internet goes out. If you only have phone service via cable internet, then if the internet goes down (which it does!), you will have no phone service until the internet comes back on. Now, I wish I could have a landline but when they installed fiber optics cable here at this house, they removed all the copper wiring (without my knowledge) so now we can't get a landline. Apparently, no one knows how to put back in the old copper wiring, not people from the phone company or people from various internet service providers that I have called.
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Old 07-28-21, 05:29 PM  
bzar
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paine View Post
Just my 2 cents... I would keep the landline. I like a landline because an old rotary phone plugged into the wall jack will always work even if all the electricity goes out and even if the internet goes out.
this is true if you still have service via the copper cable.

my provider is Hawaiian Telcom and when i was switching to fiber network, the copper cable would be disabled. i thought long and hard about this, and my co-workers suggested asking about the battery. i could have kept the copper cable in service, but i'd be paying double for both fiber internet (which was bundled with my landline) AND the copper cable.
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Old 07-28-21, 06:12 PM  
primrosecat
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Thank you Jeannine and Payne. I will check about the battery, but will it work when my internet service goes wonkers, which it does. I love my landline. I have a little flip phone for emergencies, but wouldn't take a new 5G phone if they gave it to me. Right now I am looking at Voiply, I think it's called. I just need some honest reviews before I decide.
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Old 07-30-21, 08:13 AM  
BigBadBetty
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Madison, WI, USA
A battery will not help in the event of an internet outage. You will have no phone service if it is VoIP. Analong copper lines will. However, the copper line infrastructure is crumbling. The companies that make the parts for it are mostly out of business.
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Old 07-30-21, 08:45 AM  
angie_nrs
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
I went through this a year or two ago when my landline carrier went out of business. I was paying about $60 per month for my landline and .3MB internet. Yeah, the internet was uber slow, but I only use it for a few forums and email so it was fine for me.

I checked with the only provider for landline service in my area that was left....AT&T.....they are absolutely awful to deal with. My quote for JUST a landline.....approx. $100 per month and would increase to $120 per month within the next year. Clearly they don't want people to have landlines anymore.

I finally decided on a VOIP/internet service bundle with a local company. My intenet is now 10MB, which is super fast for me. I don't have many issues with loss of service, but hubs and I both have cell phones if we needed them. Mine is still a flip phone b/c I hardly ever use it. All my old panasonic phones work with VOIP without any issues. I don't even notice the difference between the VOIP and landline service. I got both the VOIP and internet service for about $100 month. It was much more expensive than what I had, but at least it's similar to what I had before.
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Old 07-31-21, 08:26 AM  
Carol K
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Chicago, IL
Agree about AT&T being awful to deal with. We moved to a brand new building 4 years ago and I had a terrible time with calls to them to move my service, they kept hanging up on me, but everyone assured me we would be able to keep our phone number. So when someone finally comes out to set up our service, it turns out there is no copper in the building, just fiberoptic. We were one of the last to move into the building, so I'm sure AT&T knew that. The tech said there was nothing he could do and furthermore, he was given a completely different phone number for us. I later found out that AT&T could have installed a device that would convert the fiberoptic to copper, but since we didn't have any other AT&T services, they weren't interested in doing that for us. It took me a year to get a check from them for our unused service. We've just been using our cell phones ever since.
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