home phone?

I admit that I sometimes still give out my old land line number if I don't trust a company - just to appease them.

nice one! i didnt think  of that. []

We've got this comcast package. And when our contract is up in a month, the ONLY part we're going to keep is the internet. We HATE the cable and we HATE the phone with them. We mainly hate it because if one goes out, ALL THREE go out. And it can go out for HOURS. No phone, no tv, and no internet access. That sucks.

Plus, I want more movie channels and the National Geographic channel back.

i think we are sticking with directv. it almost never goes out (knock on wood). except for severe thunderstorms or rainstorms. then only for a short time (until the bulk of the storm passes).

the only way we would switch back to cable tv is if they offer a great deal on a tv/internet package. the only thing our cable co doesnt offer that we really like getting (but arent this year []) is nfl sunday ticket. we arent really interested in trying voip right now. maybe someday, but not now.

We both only have cell numbers.  We had vonage for a year but hardly used it other than telemarketers calling. 
 
I give my cell number out as my primary phone all the time and RARELY get telemarketing calls - my number is registered under the Do Not Call registry, though, so perhaps that helps with that. 
 
Truly, I only use my cell and always have it with me... so even when we had vonage I always just used the cell anyway.  And we're on a family plan and all 4 of us are on the lowest plan and still don't use nearly all our minutes so I don't worry about.  95% of my calls are night and weekends anyway

DH an I never got a home phone b/c we wanted Comcast for cable and Internet and they didn't offer the VOIP that they do now.  We didn't want to pay Comcast for those services and another company for a phone line.  I work in a call center, so I talk on the phone all day and won't even answer calls when I get home b/c I'm so sick of it.  I don't want/need ANY sort of phone.  DH has a cell phone b/c his sibs and parents live all over the country, so we just share that.  He likes to chat on the phone and always has his cell handy, so my mom knows that if there is an emergency, she can call him (typically we just e-mail, or I will sometimes call from a phone at work).  We've never had any issues with not having a landline phone.

My friend who is a bit older and has two kids (4 and 6) also got rid of their home phone and it has not been an issue for them.

We've been cell-only for about 3 years now. I love it. I would never go back to having a landline. Our cell phones supposedly have 911 location tracking, which you can turn on or leave off but I always have mine turned on.

Little known fact: depending on where you live, you could get DSL without a voice line. I was flipping out about getting internet at our new house because I don't want cable (we haven't had cable TV like, ever) and I didn't want a land line. So what to do? I called Verizon and told them my predicament thinking they'd be able to hook me up with some kind of low-cost low-use alternative, but the lady took my address and said, good news, you don't ahve to have a voice line at all! Sweet!

I only get marketing calls when I'm really asking for it by voluntarily giving my number out to people that I know are going to call and bug me. But I do not get unsolicited telemarketing calls ever, nor do I get charity calls. I got a spate of irritating calls when I talked to e-loan about getting a loan and then we decided to not go that route and they called us every day for like 2 weeks. But I voluntarily gave them my number and once they called a couple times I figured out what number to just not answer when it popped up. They stopped calling after I didn't pick up their calls for like two weeks.

Being cell-only I feel like I have a lot more control over my phone. There's never any excuse for someone to not be able to reach me. I've only got one phone and it is in my pocket at all times unless I make a conscious decision to turn it off and not pay attention to it. I don't have to go running in to the house to answer the phone. I don't get unsolicited calls, and I have automatic caller ID so I don't answer if I don't want to talk to whomever is calling. It's great.

Gina, the 911 thing would concern me too if I had kids.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that you don't want to dial 911 from a cell phone, but rather the *(whatever #) that is designated by your state as the emergency number to use from cell phones?   A few years ago, I came across a terrible car accident that had just happened.  I was travelling in another state and didn't really know where I was.  If I remember right, when I dialed 911, I was connected to another state's emegency number.  They got me hooked up with the correct state police, but even so - being unfamiliar with the area, I couldn't really tell them where I was.  It was awful...there were people hurt very badly and I couldn't tell the police where we were.  I wasn't even sure which county I was in.  Thankfully, a local soon came by and was able to give the police the correct information.   As I said, that was several years ago, so the emergency system may work better with cell phones now.

ok i just got off the phone with the cable co. i think everyone is trying to force us to keep a home line! []

here are our options through charter (we currently have showtime/tmc so that is factored into the tv bundles):
1. internet only - $56.95 per month (OUCH!)
2. tv/internet - $107/month
3. tv/internet/phone - $99.98/month for the first year... goes to $130/month after that. the sales person assured me the phone isnt VOIP, but who know until it is installed?

i am thinking #3 may be our best option for the time being. that is still lower than the 3 services are now. #1 is just shy of what our phone/internet currently is, and it doesnt make sense to me to go with a more expensive plan just so we can say we dropped the phone line (#2). maybe after the promotional plan (#3) has expired we will drop the phone line.

plus there was no contract, so we can make changes at anytime. BONUS!

Here's a Snopes article about cell phones and 911.
http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/cellping.asp

The bottom line is that newer cell phones and municipalies that keep current on new 911 system upgrades should have no problem finding you. The FCC has been requiring that cell phone companies enable cells for this sort of thing, but if you don't upgrade you're phone, chances are your old phone doesn't have capability. But most new phones are GPS enabled and municipalities with enhanced 911 service can use that data.

I think anyone's best bet if they were worried about what going all-cell would do for their 911 service would just be to call your local police department and ask them what happens when a 911 call comes in from a cell phone in your area.

911 and my home phone are super important. Mere minutes do make a difference...I don't want them to even have to wonder one second, or switch something else on to find my address. I want them tracing my call to my home...immediately, when I need them at home.
 
Also given that I do have kids I don't want them trying to figure out how to "MAKE" a simple phonecall which is quite confusing these days given the tiny buttons and large list of other things a cell does besides make a call. My home phone has simple buttons and clear numbers...absolutely vital for us.

I don't know any of the rules or what's supposed to happen, but I have dialed 911 (yes, 9-1-1, not a local number or police station) from my cell phone and it worked just fine.  Emergency dispatcher answered, I explained the issue, they summoned an ambulance then connected me to the people in the ambulance, I was on the phone with them until they arrived and I let them in the door.  I thought that you can trace calls through cell towers and get a location.

I can see how having little kids would change things though.

Yep...Lily clams up when talking to her GRANDMA...on the phone LOL! Just a little humor....but she isn't the best phone gal...probably inherited that from me, I hate talking on the phone.

We keep a landline because cell phone service is very spotty in our house.  All you have to do is turn your head while talking and the call drops.

for those that are "cell only" - do you order pizza for home delivery, if so, how do you get them to deliver without a home-landline -- we can't get them to deliver to the house if no landline #.

Since my cell is usually floating around at the bottom of my purse, uncharged, I think I'm better off to keep my land line. [] The kitchen and office phones are cordless but I make sure to have one wired phone somewhere because the cordless ones don't work during a power outage.
 
Joyce

ORIGINAL: Amitiel

for those that are "cell only" - do you order pizza for home delivery, if so, how do you get them to deliver without a home-landline -- we can't get them to deliver to the house if no landline #.

I give them my cell and have never had a problem with ordering pizza.

We are all cell at our house too.  BF's is paid for by work and I pay mine.  I like this arrangement because I never have to answer his calls.  []  My problem too is that sometimes I don't have it on me.  Like if I'm outside doing chores or what not.  But ya know what?  I don't really care.  I don't NEED to be reachable at all times of the day.  I *should* get better about checking for calls though.  Sometimes I can go days without looking at it.  [8|]  My brother-in-law will walk around with his blue tooth headset on. [8|]  And they'll forward their land line phone to their cells if they go out for lunch.  [8|]  That bugs the crap out of me for some reason.

The reception in our house is kind of spotty, so we usually go outside to talk to someone.  lol...  There are times I miss a nice clear signal.  There's nothing like listening to someone that's on the verge of tears and you didn't catch what they were saying and have to have them repeat it. [:-]  But there's no point in having both IMO.  Not at the costs of both at least.

And we have cable TV with cable internet, though I think we should ditch the TV part.