Vonage, Cell only, Other Phone Options? Pros? Con?

I still have a regular land line (and what I consider an outrageous bill considering I almost never use the thing). I also have a cell phone I almost never use except for emergencies and a massive bill for that thing, but that's another story.

It is way past time for me to rethink my phone needs. So, if you have some of the less traditional phone options, I'd like to hear from you. Pros? Cons? etc.

Have you given up your land line entirely? Living with just a cell phone now? Any downsides? I have DSL, can I keep it if I give up the land line?

Do you have Vonage instead of a traditional phone co? Any problems? Does that use your internet connection? Do you have problems with phone service being unavailable?

Do you have some form of internet phone service like that (usb i think it is) device that allows you to plug the phone into the computer and get phone service for some nominal annual fee? Any problems?

I REALLY need your help if you have any of these non-traditional phone options. I need to stop procrastinating and make some changes. I'm paying way to much for too many phones that I don't need. Help!!!!

We have Vonage (and have had for several years.) It's cheaper than Bell, but it's still about $20 a month, and I won't mention our internet cable bill ;o)

Now that everyone in our family has a cell phone, we're seriously considering removing the land-line altogether. The only problem we've ever had with VOIP is when we had an older, lower (2.4 MHz, I think) cordless phone unit, which was on the same frequency as the wireless internet, so when a call came in, the internet connection sometimes was interrupted--not always, but often enough to be really annoying. For a couple years now we've a newer 6 MHz phone, and haven't had any problems.

Thank you, Terry!

That is very good information. I'll have to check my cordless phones. I have a set of 3 that all work together. I'm not sure, but they may be the lower frequency. I still remember getting 'thrown' off line periodically back in the dial up days; that can be very annoying.

This phone thing is getting so complicated. So many decisions to make and so little information upon which to base them. BTW, I know several people who have been living with only a cell phone for years upon years and don't seem to miss the land line at all. I'm starting to think the difficult part is just making that decision to let it go.

Thanks again for the help.

We let ours go a few years ago when we moved to our house. There's just no reason for us the have one. Our DSL, of course, uses a line but the cost is minimal. (to us) We don't miss it in the least. Most of our family members have given up theirs, as well. No one misses the land line. Well, except the phone company! LOL

We still keep the landline, tho 4/5 of us have a cell. But I am still not trained to carry the cell everywhere. The landline gives us three units that we can choose from for answering the phone at home. Cell would be one, right?
I think I would have to train myself to regard my cell as the home phone and pay more attention to it.

we only have cell we even removed the jack from the wall when we redid out kitchen . it was right in the middle of the wall , 50s style ,and never put another one in .

Thank you kwanjin!

LOL at how only the phone co misses the land line. I'm wondering if that would be true of me, too, once I get used to not having it. I think this change is analogous to my switch from desktop to laptop. Shortly after the turn of the century I bought my last desktop PC believing I just could not live w/o one. At the time I thought of the laptop as a portable desktop, and much like my current thinking on cell phones, not quite sufficient on its own. Now, although that PC is still sitting upstairs in my office, I haven't looked at it in years and clearly don't need it.

Thanks for the input.

We still have a landline and we keep it because power outages and loss of a signal on the cell phone are not uncommon around here and we have to have a phone that will always work.

Thanks sallyg!

You just mentioned one of my problems with the cell phone. I don't carry mine around all of the time either, and I don't want to either. I carry it in my purse, but don't always have a pocket in which to carry it around the house. Then again, I don't carry the landline phones around the house with me either. Still you have a point that if the cell phone is in one room and you are in another you might not hear it or be able to get to it in time; whereas, with the landline you may have phones in various rooms.

With a family I can see that sometimes it's good to have a general number that people can call when they just want to reach someone in the family not necessarily a specific person, esp when that particular person may be unavailable.

Then there is also the problem of whether or not to publish the cell phone number so that people other than your immediate friends can find you. What if, for instance, a neighbor who knows your name and speaks to you on the street now and then but isn't close enough to have your cell number wants to call you to alert you to some problem or issue in the community - like if your dog got out and is running around town? If you only have a cell and don't publish the number they can't call you. On the other hand if you publish the cell number so that people can find you, you will surely end up getting all manner of costly phone calls from telemarketers and such.

Hmm. Interesting things to consider.

Thanks again!

Thanks iris28!

LOL at you removing the phone jacks.

Hi pepper23,

That is also one of my concerns. I don't know how often that might happen but would hate to be stuck in an emergency with no phone access. I can understand how the cell phone battery might be dead, but I thought the towers were always available. No? I figured I could use one of those instant chargers, the ones that use an AA battery, to revive the cell if it were dead - which might happen often as I am not so good at keeping batteries charged. Except for those times of extreme chaos when too many people are trying to use the cells at once, I thought the cell phone service was always available. Please expound on this if I am wrong.

Thank you very much for your input.

This is all very helpful, Folks, in trying to consider and sort out the pros and cons, so please keep those comments and ideas coming. : )

Around here there are lots of hills and valleys and we lose service all the time. It just depends on where we are. I'm more out in the country where you won't have as many towers around. We lose service all the time even in the house. But if you are in the city or a big town then you stand less of a chance of losing service.

pepper23,

Thanks very much for clarifying that. I live in city limits. It's a small city, practically rural by say Miami or NY standards, but as I live on the coastal plain along the Atlantic coast, the land here is as flat as a pancake, not even a mole hill in site. Sometimes I get the low signal or no signal warning for a second or two but have never lost connectivity for any period of time.

Then you won't have any trouble then. If you decide that's the option you want then I say go for it.