We dumped the land line 12 years ago. Let me explain, we went full time RVing back then. But even when we built 2 1/2 years ago we did not go with it.

I cut the cell phone when I retired. Absolutely no reason anyone needs immediate access to me. It's landline or no-line.

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
There are perhaps a few reasons, depending on situation.

[SNIP]

6) Cell phones are a real radiation threat to the brain, and depending where you carry it, to other body organs. Any cordless phone is a threat, but we don't tend to carry the landline in our front pocket next to our nads all day.

I'm starting to wonder about whether this claim, which has been around for quite a while, is overblown, as it would seem there are no definitive studies or evidence to support it.

Having just passed my HAM Technician License Exam, one of the things you become knowledgeable about (by necessity!) is the dangers of RF exposure. One question on the test is re: exposure limits to RF energy and it turns out that 'The human body absorbs more RF energy at some frequencies than at others'. As such, exposure limits are are defined, and the 'Duty cycle' of the Transmitter is used as a measure in determining safe RF radiation exposure levels. The Transmit Power of a cellular phone is quite low, but one would need to know the exposure limits at both the Frequency AND Power level to determine where the safe exposure limits are. It may exist somewhere and probably does, but I've never seen this published anywhere, and I've never seen any such data included in the conversation when anyone (NOT directed at you 'Fly-Sig'!) is making claims/sounding the alarm re: the risk of RF exposure associated w/ cell phones. Further, the fact that RF Radiation is 'non-ionizing' radiation means that by definition, 'RF radiation does not have sufficient energy to cause chemical changes in cells and damage DNA'. As such, it is not the 'radiation' that anyone with limited knowledge on the subject would naturally think of when hearing claims about the dangers of exposure to it.

There can be valid reasons to keep a landline. They aren't always great ones. In my previous home it was very hilly and without an wifi "extender" (probably wrong term) the cell service was nearly nonexistent. With the "extender" it was just poor cell service, ie no walking around the house talking, you picked a good spot and rooted yourself there. No brainer to have a landline there.

Once I moved back to Florida, cell service is basically as perfect as cell service gets. There have been a handful of times the landline worked and the cell did not. For example the last one was during that ATT fiasco where the cell was a brick. We still could make phone calls.

Worth it? Probably not but it makes my wife happy.

Because cell phone signal is not available at the house, full stop.

quote:

Originally posted by Anush:
...I have a 3 story townhome & my wife & I do not carry our cell phones around all day. I have a phone on all 3 floors & in my detached garage.

There are plenty of cordless phone systems that interface with a cell phone via Bluetooth so they function as an extension. The one I had 15 years ago would connect to two phones, and you could define different ringers depending on which cell phone was receiving a call. I used my cordless phone system in a cell-only mode without an actual landline.

Note that if you have a spotty cell connection this will allow to leave your phone in that one, working spot in your house with a reliable cell signal. Back in the flip phone days I even had an external antenna to use inside my house; these days you can get a repeater to remedy an unreliable cell signal, but of course WiFi calling is a better (free) option. Landline costs add up, and these solutions are a one-time expense.

Haven't had landline for years but used to keep an old landline phone in a closet for emergencies. In a catastrophe when cell towers frequently go down, landlines will still work and the location will be displayed to 911. It has worked here in WA for us during earthquakes. In many areas (check your local area) even without subscription service 911 can still be called. Only caveat is that if for some reason the call is interrupted, 911 cannot call you back but they will have your exact location and not a "general area" like a cell phone.

If there is service available, Cell phones can also be used to call 911 even without a subscription but you won't have the exact location benefit of a landline.

Landline calls were nothing but scam callers. Microsoft tech support, Medicare insurance, home warranties, car warranties, political robocalls and we can’t forget the police and fire charities. And all geared towards scamming the elderly. And all at about fifty bucks a month.

It’s a lot quieter now around here with it disconnected. I didn’t really feel any difference despite always having a home phone going back to the early 50’s.

Only drawback is that my small telephone collection is now nothing but wallhangers, I used to have the pay phones connected as a curiosity.

I'm not a big fan of land lines after it took me several months of dealing with Century Link to get a problem with my land line fixed.

Having said that! I am still going to keep my land line because with as volatile as our weather can be it is not all that unusual to lose our cell service and having one or the other for backup is a good thing.

Here in SoDak we are just now getting cable access to wifi service installed to those of us who live in the rural areas. So maybe, in the near future we will be able to do away with the land line.

Now, if we can only keep the electricity going so we can keep the cell phones charged.

My sister and BIL just had a landline put in at their cabin in the UP of Michigan. The cell phone service there is almost nil.
Rod

Several years ago my wife and I got rid of our home phone. The main reason was the only phone calls we were getting were for tela marketers and scammers.

Fast forward to last year.

I had posted about this situation last year in the forum.
At one point all of a sudden my cell phone stopped working. I had used it earlier in the day then when I went to call my wife early afternoon it said I no longer had service. The only way I was able to contact my wife was by email and thankfully she had it open. When she called the cell phone company they told her I was in some sort of transition between an old account and a new account it should only take a short while.
At the time I did not know if I would have even been able to call anyone in an emergency if I needed them.
Needless to say to make a long story short after a coupe days thanks to a recommendation from one of our members we went out and purchased a TracFone for the time being. After a couple of weeks they finally got my old phone working.

This got my wife and I seriously thinking about re installing a land line in the house however we never did. My biggest concern at the time was not being able to call the police if there were an emergency.

i eliminated mine recently, saved a few $$ on monthly bill!!

We have a landline. It comes with the internet package, which is not significantly cheaper without it, and is VOiP, not Ma Bell.

We get free calls to Canada which is useful for family and business, and often during hurricane season, better reliability than the cell towers which can lose signal due to damage, or no electrical power.

I still have my land line. I use my cell phone ONLY for emergencies.....nothing else.

Well, I still have this Packard-Bell 486-DX2 with 210MB hard drive, 8MB RAM, USRobotics Sportster 14.4k modem, Windows 3.1 and AOL account.

So, until something better comes along, I'm stuck with dial up...



-boomermonkey

quote:

Originally posted by Tonydec:
[With a landline]...they will have your exact location and not a "general area" like a cell phone.

Not true. I'm simplifying this doc but the e911 spec required 3 meter position accuracy. To me that's more precise than a "general area".

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Well, I still have this Packard-Bell 486-DX2 with 210MB hard drive, 8MB RAM, USRobotics Sportster 14.4k modem, Windows 3.1 and AOL account.

Sweet machine, I got mine at Montgomery Ward. Are they still around in case I need warranty work?

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

I'm starting to wonder about whether this claim, which has been around for quite a while, is overblown, as it would seem there are no definitive studies or evidence to support it.

I've seen "studies" showing how the energy is absorbed in the brain during use and increased brain cancers. And "studies" claiming increased testicular cancer in men who carry their cell phone in a front pocket.

How robust these studies are is another question altogether. I do think there is some validity to the worry, so I use a headset when making cell calls if possible.

I used to work with rf engineers at my first job, and they joked that they were all bald and childless. And it was true!

Anyhow, it can't hurt to avoid exposure.

We cut it in 2003. Most of it was useless taxes and long distance fees.

quote:

There are plenty of cordless phone systems that interface with a cell phone via Bluetooth so they function as an extension.

Cell phone Bluetooth does not work well at 50ft thru the steel beams in my townhome. It also does not provide $.03 a minute calls to most European countries.