Home Phone

[SrDriver]

I am wondering if anyone has tried the Straight Talk Home Phone Service?

Link to Info About It

Sounds like a good deal for a total of $15.00 a month with no contracts, etc.

Plus you can take it along on a vacation to a summer cabin, etc.

Another plus is no Internet Connection needed.

 

[racer12306]

I added a plain jane flip phone to my cell plan for $10 a month as our "home phone"

If you don't already have a cell plan then the Straight Talk is probably a good option. With all cell phones, how far into the boonies your cabin is will depend on the service.

 

[Nick R]

I'll keep my Time Warner Landline phone. I like having a dedicated home phone for emergencies and when I want to actually be able to understand what people are saying.

 

[kb01]

We have the AT&T Wireless home phone and are very happy with it. The call quality is better than the landline we used to have.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
I'll keep my Time Warner Landline phone. I like having a dedicated home phone for emergencies and when I want to actually be able to understand what people are saying.


DOes it come through a real, 48V POTS line off a pole, or through some cable-fangled battery backup interface box?

If the later, I wouldnt count on it any more than a cell.

As I understand it, some of these things cant even do reverse 911 and E911, which while for most may not be necessary, if you have kids or other situations, may be a consideration...

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Nick R
I'll keep my Time Warner Landline phone. I like having a dedicated home phone for emergencies and when I want to actually be able to understand what people are saying.


DOes it come through a real, 48V POTS line off a pole, or through some cable-fangled battery backup interface box?

If the later, I wouldnt count on it any more than a cell.

As I understand it, some of these things cant even do reverse 911 and E911, which while for most may not be necessary, if you have kids or other situations, may be a consideration...



It is cable phone so it has a Cable EMTA as the modem which hooks into the house phone lines. It has a battery backup good for 6-8 hours. And I don't understand why people trust an actual phone line more. IF the pole gets knocked down it's not going to work any better than a cable phone. Anyway, yes they do have E911, I don't know where you heard that it doesn't.

It's not VOIP like skype, it is IP phone, but works the same way a normal landline does and still has 911 that works.

 

[skyactiv]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Nick R
I'll keep my Time Warner Landline phone. I like having a dedicated home phone for emergencies and when I want to actually be able to understand what people are saying.


DOes it come through a real, 48V POTS line off a pole, or through some cable-fangled battery backup interface box?

If the later, I wouldnt count on it any more than a cell.

As I understand it, some of these things cant even do reverse 911 and E911, which while for most may not be necessary, if you have kids or other situations, may be a consideration...



It is cable phone so it has a Cable EMTA as the modem which hooks into the house phone lines. It has a battery backup good for 6-8 hours. And I don't understand why people trust an actual phone line more. IF the pole gets knocked down it's not going to work any better than a cable phone. Anyway, yes they do have E911, I don't know where you heard that it doesn't.

It's not VOIP like skype, it is IP phone, but works the same way a normal landline does and still has 911 that works.


The old fashioned copper POTS is the most reliable phone service on average one can have. One can go on about a possibility of a pole getting knocked down, but someone else can go on about a towers T carrier line getting cut by a backhoe during road construction.. . My cell and POTS have the same number.

 

[JHZR2]

+1. Chemical plants and other such places that need reliability have POTS on their lines in certain places that are critical. My uncle works at a major chemical company in TX, and when they went over to VOIP, they kept the critical lines POTS.

No way Id want to rely on 8 hours on a battery for a phone if the power went out. Im no advocate for huge generators and multi-kW loads when the power goes out, but maintaining phone service is pretty important.

Weve lost power, even had lines come down, but have never lost POTS, knock on wood.

 

[rjundi]

POTS has failed me miserable once.

The entire local exchange got flooded which lead not only to disabling of our phone # but also its voicemail and my DSL service. Theoy could not even do a forward of my # temporarily.

It took weeks to restore service.

My verizon cell also failed on local tower since it was fed there also. The next jump cell was overwhelmed from traffic.

I called Comcast and up within an hour with internet service which I then used skype.

 

[Cutehumor]

thinking about getting something like this for my parents. they don't have internet and are getting hammered with 50 dollar phone bills from the phone company