Phone Service

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

Does anyone have any experience with any of the cheap landline phone services I've seen advertised? Thinking I'd like to keep my landline for emergencies, but what I'm paying Comcast is way out of whack with the amount I use the phone. Don't want to jump from the frying pan into the fire, though, so I'd appreciate any feedback.

Comments

[ron_newman]

I haven't seen these ads - what are the names of some of the companies?

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

Vonage is one that has advertised extensively on television.

[ron_newman]

Aren't they voice-over-IP, not landline?

[paradoox.livejournal.com]

I you want a landline for emergencies, I would NOT use Vonage. If the power goes out you are out of luck.

[gingicat]

We use Vonage VOIP as our landline. In general, we're happy with it.

I will point out that in our household, we use Comcast for broadband and for cable TV, and adding the phone line that we don't use actually made up a bundle that was cheaper than just getting the first two, even with keeping the Vonage line.

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

In case of a power outage, which is a major part of what he is concerned about, a Vonage box will not work. We've had that issue several times.

At the current time, Comcast, Verizon and RCN all have dedicated phone networks and boxes that will last for some part of a power outage. I believe Verizon and RCN will last the longest as their phone service has its own dedicated external power supply. Comcast brings a phone box into your house with its own built-in battery back-up, which lasts for some 8 hours. For most purposes, the Comcast box will be fine.

If you are going for dedicated emergency planning allowing phone service even over multiple days of outage, you're not going to Comcast. Then again, if you're doing that, you should be thinking about personal dedicated power supplies -- like solar panels and a back-up gas generator.

[paradoox.livejournal.com]

Have you tried calling Verizon and asking what their cheapest service is with no long distance?

That really would be the safest for emergencies.

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

I looked into that about two years ago. It was between $15 and $20 a month with taxes included. Not dirt cheap, but I thought it was worth it for peace of mind. I ended up keeping the RCN bundle I had at the time because they set me up with some discounts when I called to cancel.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

I do have a bundle with Comcast. But when looking at the breakdown, the phone charge is 50.00 per month. And I should have mentioned that I have a cell phone for true emergencies.

[gingicat]

I would call Comcast - the way they pay their sales reps, they will absolutely jump at the chance to get you to stay.

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

I called RCN about this a few years ago and was told that the prices shown for each service within the bundle are pretty much made up. I suspect it's the same with Comcast.

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

heh. except that in a true emergency, the cell networks will be so saturated that you'll be lucky to get a call through to anywhere...

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

why do you need a landline anyway? I haven't had one now for 5 years and I haven't missed it.

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

If the power goes out or there's some kind of other emergency, cell towers will be out because of the lack of power or overloaded circuits. I saw this firsthand with both 9/11 (I was living in New York at the time) and the 2003 blackout in New York. Cell phones didn't work at all during the blackout. On 9/11, it was extremely difficult to place a call.

[smammy]

IIUC, cell infrastructure has redundant power supplies, and landlines got overloaded too on 9/1, didn't they?

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

They did, but since the cell carriers lost towers that were on top of the World Trade Center, cell service in the city was a bigger mess, and for some people, it stayed messy afterwards. One of my good friends who lived in lower Manhattan ended up canceling his Sprint contract because the service was so bad after 9/11. So anyway, my real concern is power outages or other events that would take out cell towers.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

What sort of emergencies do you have in mind? Last time I had a disconnected phone in the house Verizon told me it would still reach 911 (it also still reached the "tell me your phone number" number, but I can no longer remember what that was.)

If you mean "people could reach me even if the power was out" then you want a verizon landline (attached to a corded phone). Monthly fee is $12.70 for the line and $8.64 for the taxes & fees. Phone calls in are free, local phone calls out are a penny per call and a penny and a half per minute (We share one landline phone across six people, and usually have under two dollars of call charges per month.)

[masswich.livejournal.com]

RCN also had an in-house cable box with a backup battery that limits its effectiveness as a "last resort" phone line. I think Verizon may be the only one that has a true no-external-power-needed landline. Having said that, the price of that line (the minimum with all the fees is almost $50) seems excessive. For that reason I have RCN and figure I live in the city so the chances I need 911 when the power is out may be limited.