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Wizeguy @ 2nd Jul 11:52AM:
Cell only here

Got 2 cells one is my old landline number that stays at home with the wife the other travels with me to work. Once I retire only going to keep the home number. We carry it everywhere never miss a call. I have Verizon because they have a huge network can get a signal eveywhere. They put Fios down my block 4 or 5 months ago they can keep it without a really sweet deal saving me big bucks I'm not switching cable or internet providers.
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aaronwt @ 2nd Jul 12:31PM:
Re: I love my POTS>>>>

said by myokitis :

I agree . . . The audio quality of landline far surpasses what you can get via cell, and I also like the comfort factor. It's a much more comfortable experience holding a real headset against your ear as opposed to a 4"x2" long cellphone.

Both these things make landline much better for conversations lasting more than 1 min, IMO.

I only have a cell line but I never hold my cellphone up to my ear at home. I have several 1.9GHz(DECT 6.0) phones and the Xlink BTTN links my cell phone to them.
So I'm able toplace a call with the cordless phones like I had a landline, only it's routed through the cell phone.
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Matt @ 2nd Jul 12:33PM:
Re: POTS is necessary

said by wifi4milez :

In my home I have two cell phones, 5 VoIP lines, and one POTS line. The reason I have the POTS is that I realize VoIP and cell service wont always work. Unfortunately, I had the experience of needing to dial 911 and without POTS things might have been very different. I love my VoIP, but if you care about your safety (or that of your loved ones) make sure you have a 'dial tone only' POTS line in your house. Also, dont let the FIOS techs convert your POTS line to fiber either, otherwise its not any better that VoIP.

You don't need to pay for POTS. 911 service is required to work, even on POTS lines that don't have active service. Actually, even on my fiber (GPON) service, I can plug an analog phone into any outlet and dial 911 also.

And yes, fiber is MUCH different than VoIP. It's just the transport is similar. My ONT will disable the internet portion and go into a power-saving mode which only allows the phone side to work. I can get 2-3 days of usage out of it. In some cases, fiber may be more reliable than POTS, especially if you have an aerial drop from a pole, whereas fiber is buried.
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aaronwt @ 2nd Jul 12:33PM:
Re: POTS

said by Gary A :

Agree. I like having a second option in case the local cell phone tower goes out. Besides, my home security alarm is monitored over POTS. Yeah, I know I could switch the alarm to wireless, but last time I checked, it was expensive and its reliability wouldn't be known until it was actually installed and tested.

It's actually inexpensive. I've been saving $20 a month since i switched form dial up to broadband monitoring
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aaronwt @ 2nd Jul 12:37PM:
Re: I like my landline

said by zod5000 :

The quality of audio on a landline still can't be beat. Cell phones don't work near as good, and digital phone while close, isn't quite there yet.

I'm not ready to give up my landline. Besises its only 20 bux a month and the long distance on it is cheaper than my cell.

A landline costs me over $11 dollars in taxes, making it very expensive even if the line only cost $20. The taxes would take it over $31.
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wifi4milez @ 2nd Jul 12:43PM:
Re: POTS is necessary

said by Matt :

You don't need to pay for POTS. 911 service is required to work, even on POTS lines that don't have active service. Actually, even on my fiber (GPON) service, I can plug an analog phone into any outlet and dial 911 also.

That is correct, however there are times when you might need to call someone other than 911 during an emergency (family, childs school, etc.). For this reason its good to have the basic dial tone package.

said by Matt :

And yes, fiber is MUCH different than VoIP. It's just the transport is similar. My ONT will disable the internet portion and go into a power-saving mode which only allows the phone side to work. I can get 2-3 days of usage out of it. In some cases, fiber may be more reliable than POTS, especially if you have an aerial drop from a pole, whereas fiber is buried.

I am not implying that FIOS phone service is "like" VoIP. I am saying that just like VoIP, if there is a power outage you will very quickly be out of luck as FIOS only has a battery backup. Yes I know, they claim it will last up to 2 days but in reality a good old POTS line is MUCH more reliable. Look at what happened with the hurricane in Texas last year, those people had no power for many, many days. Bottom line is that you would need to be nuts to base your survival on a battery backup, so get POTS!
--
"You're Welcome"
-The United States of America and our Armed Forces-
Keeping the world safe since 1776

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Gary A @ 2nd Jul 12:53PM:
Re: POTS

said by aaronwt :

It's actually inexpensive. I've been saving $20 a month since i switched form dial up to broadband monitoring

Really :o How do you figure the $20/mo? Did you cancel your landline? What about the one-time cost to upgrade the alarm system from dialup modem to wireless, or is there something different? You did say "broadband" and not wireless which has me wondering. Did it change the monthly monitoring cost from your alarm company? I wouldn't have thought so.
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Matt @ 2nd Jul 12:56PM:
Re: POTS is necessary

said by wifi4milez :

Bottom line is that you would need to be nuts to base your survival on a battery backup, so get POTS!

Or a simple cell phone. Towers are much easier to replace and repair than COs and individual lines. Especially since cell towers are numerous. See Katrina for a perfect example of how the CO survived, but 750,000 people were without service because the individual lines from those COs were damaged: »www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9120503/

If you do a quick search on Google, folks who suffered through Katrina and the NYC blackout of 2003 said their cell phones worked when POTS didn't: »forums.cnet.com/5208-10152_102-0···D=264693
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Killa200 @ 2nd Jul 01:02PM:
Re: POTS is necessary

I'd say usually if you are losing power due to something like "the hurricane in Texas last year"... you prob have lost everything else attached to the poles that got taken out too... including pots.

Not every inch of your phone line is buried from the house to your CO, and murphy has a lovely way of playing the cards...
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DaveNJ @ 2nd Jul 01:04PM:
There needs to be a compatibility platform

I have a pots solely for dialup for work, so i can manage stuff, also for alarm system, and fax. Someone needs to make VOIP compatibility for dialup v.92 modems. At that point all POTS can disappear.
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anon @ 2nd Jul 01:07PM:
Not a Verizon area?

Let me guess, this must be a location where Verizon is not the ILEC.
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Eat Me @ 2nd Jul 01:10PM:
Re: I love my POTS>>>>

said by TKJunkMail :

P.S.>> It is a Verizon Wireless(45% owned by Vodafone) ad and NOT a Verizon ad. So not surprising they may be pushing wireless instead of a land line. But I wonder how long Verizon will let it's subsidiary run this campaign since it made the news?

Isn't Verizon basically deprecating its copper landline network?
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Karl Bode @ 2nd Jul 01:10PM:
Re: Not a Verizon area?

Verizon says the ad is national, and the person who received it did live in Verizon territory, but yeah -- one wonders if this isn't aimed more strongly at Qwest or AT&T areas?
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anon @ 2nd Jul 01:29PM:
Re: I like my landline

Parents have a basic landline. With Lifeline it's under $5. No long distance )we use a third party for that), no Caller ID, etc. but the sound quality is good and we can call wherever we need to. Just costs a few cents per minute.

However I'm cell only at school. I have some DEXT sets around the apartment though so if I had to I could hook up the RJ11 and get some 0911 access that way.

Personally, my cell's voice quality is excellent. Maybe not quite landline quality but for that I can use Skype. I can't remember the last time my cwll was down due to network problems.

Plus, I keep an iPhone (unlocked original) on T-Mobile prepaid, and the folks I live with use different cell carriers than me. Apartment-mates use at&t and T-Mobile, family uses Verizon and at&t. So even if pne carrier goes downn we can call out on another one...and that's not even counting roaming coverage from local carriers.

As for Verizon's reasoning, an unlimited cell phone costs more than an unlimited landline. You also tend to get a cell for every family member, versus a landline for the whole household. Smart move for Verizon if you ask me...push people toward a contract-bound, less-highly-regulated, more-expensiv-for-unlimited, more versatile (read: profit center rich) platform while telling them they'll save money in the process. I for one know that my cell bill is much more than I'd ever pay for a fixed line phone.

Also, considering Verizon has done some bundling with wireless and DSL/FiOS before, I think this is to be expected. Why sell a $45 landline plus $15 in taxes when you can sell a limited-use cellular plan for $60?
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OSUGoose @ 2nd Jul 01:43PM:
VZW not VZ

This is from their wireless division, not VZ corporate. All they are doing is advertising friends and family (aka Alltel My Circle). I'm suprised they dident hype the Verizon Hub, ditch ur landline or Cable VOIP phone, for 35/month get unlimited calling, all you need is a broadband connection and the VZ Hub.
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cyclone_z @ 2nd Jul 01:43PM:
Re: No landline for me

said by ISurfTooMuch :

I have no landline and haven't had one for over five years. Yes, cell phones can go out, but the longest outage I ever had was with SBC landline, and that was

There's your problem. SBC: Worst phone company. Ever. And now it's the "new" at&t. Ugh.
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SeminoleRob @ 2nd Jul 02:13PM:
... in a dead zone :(

I actually live in a dead spot with no cell service (I've tried everyone), so I'll keep my landline. Actually its pretty cheap because we have cable and internet from Knology also.
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cyclone_z @ 2nd Jul 02:13PM:
Re: security sysytems, sat TV

said by mrkevin :

Don't forget to plug your cell phone into the Dish and the security system...oh yah it has to be charged to...

Verizons scheme.
1st. create a wireless network. It doesn't have to be any good just has to be there.
Next,
Sell all your land lines to retarded companies, knowing they will fail.
next,
set out a campaign to discredit the takeover companies and tout your wireless network.
next,
Enjoy all your customers back.

It's BRILLIANT!!!!

That's very insightful! I think it's also about money too. Think about it this way, the ARPU on a cell # is almost $55/mo. And when you get cell phones, they're inherently personal devices, so a family of 4 has 4 lines instead of one home phone like in the old days. And then everybody gets these more complex devices and now you sell data plans on top of that, and messaging packages, etc. So even if Verizon loses a landline customer, that money's probably going to be spent on more wireless add-ons. More time spent on a wireless handset makes the customer more likely to buy more stuff there. If you get their super-duper premium family plan, 1400 minutes over 4 lines is $220 per month. But as you pointed out, their wireline footprint is going to be so small, they're much more likely to take customers away from cable or non-Verizon ILECs.
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grydlok @ 2nd Jul 02:14PM:
Land line gone

Voip and cell only. I haven't had a land line in 2 years.
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antdude @ 2nd Jul 03:04PM:
I am willing to drop my landline...

... if FIOS is here. :(
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brianl703 @ 2nd Jul 03:13PM:
Re: There needs to be a compatibility platform

said by DaveNJ :

I have a pots solely for dialup for work, so i can manage stuff, also for alarm system, and fax. Someone needs to make VOIP compatibility for dialup v.92 modems. At that point all POTS can disappear.

V.92 works fine with Comcast Digital Voice.
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ShellMMG @ 2nd Jul 03:25PM:
Re: No Landline Here Either

When we built in 2005 we buried out service lines, including one for landline phone. It's never been hooked up to the house and we don't use it. Why pay for a service and huge taxes on top of it just so telemarketers can assault you and politicians make election year a nightmare?

Our Alltel/Verizon coverage is pretty good. No chance of cable or DSL and I could use an antenna for the wireless modem but there's no way we'll have a landline.
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NOCMan @ 2nd Jul 03:55PM:
Re: I love my POTS>>>>

said by TKJunkMail :

said by S_engineer :

Its cheap and always works, no matter what.

And you can cut costs by dropping the landline to just the very basic service level($8.xx/mo + taxes/fees=approx $15/mo), and using your wireless account or free Google Voice account for everything else. That is what I did. I use the landline for all the incoming calls and Google Voice & Wireless for everything else.

P.S.>> It is a Verizon Wireless(45% owned by Vodafone) ad and NOT a Verizon ad. So not surprising they may be pushing wireless instead of a land line. But I wonder how long Verizon will let it's subsidiary run this campaign since it made the news?

Verizon owns 55% of Verizon Wireless.
--
Play a Death Knight?
www.theebonhold.com
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nixen @ 2nd Jul 04:04PM:
Re: POTS is necessary

said by Matt :

If you do a quick search on Google, folks who suffered through Katrina and the NYC blackout of 2003 said their cell phones worked when POTS didn't: »forums.cnet.com/5208-10152_102-0···D=264693

Don't even need a hurricane. A sufficiently vigorous thunderstorm, can lead to the same situation (and has, for me). We get plenty of violent thunderstorms around here, each year.
--
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. -- Bertrand Russell
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pnh102 @ 2nd Jul 04:35PM:
Re: No Landline Here Either

Heh... I got one up on you... I have no idea if the phone service in my house could work!

I did run four Cat-5e lines to each room though... just in case I do get a cell phone to landline bridge.
--
Blagojevich / Madoff 2012!
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DGDTrathole @ 2nd Jul 04:50PM:
Re: I love my POTS>>>>

you can also cut cost by NOT HAVING A CELLPHONE...much more than not having a landline...LOL BUT THEY AREN'T
going to admit that...it's all about more money for their
bottom line...LOL
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yolarry @ 2nd Jul 04:57PM:
While you at verizion

recycle those wires and give them to the rural company's that STILL DON'T HAVE CELL OR DSL.

Mad at the world today (excuse me)
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Madness @ 2nd Jul 05:17PM:
Re: I love my POTS>>>>

Cutting my landline would only save a few bucks, over dry-loop DSL, in comparison to my combo package. I'll keep it & my Princess phone (bbbrrriiinnnggg!!!).
--
No keyboard present or keyboard error. Press <F1> to continue....
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Eat Me @ 2nd Jul 05:43PM:
Re: I love my POTS>>>>

Not to mention all that RF heating up your brain and hot phones (batteries and hot microchips) heating up your ears.

I use VOIP with a headset most times. Much more comfortable than holding a cellphone to my ear. Most of my cellphone conversations are less than 1 minute.
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PGHammer @ 2nd Jul 06:27PM:
Re: I love my POTS>>>>

Cherry-picking?

Do you have any idea how hard it is to lay fiber in any urban area? Consider Washington, DC and Alexandria, VA (both in the VZ FIOS service upgrade area), and, like Baltimore, heavily urban (in fact, Alexandria is richer per block than either DC or Baltimore). So tell me, fella, how come *Baltimore* is ahead of both Alexandria and DC when it comes to FIOS deployment? (I'm referring to the city of Baltimore, not Baltimore County.)

Also, what's in that block in the way of buried utility lines? Nobody, not even VZ, can dig willy-nilly where there could be ANYTHING buried in the way of utility lines. (Haven't we taken Comcast to task for doing exactly that?) What it sounds like is that YOU are upset that you personally can't get FIOS due to some other problem with what has VZ blocked from offering the service to you.
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zod5000 @ 2nd Jul 06:49PM:
Re: I like my landline

said by aaronwt :

A landline costs me over $11 dollars in taxes, making it very expensive even if the line only cost $20. The taxes would take it over $31.

11 bux for a landline! I'm in the wrong country! 20 bux is pretty cheap for a landline in Canada. ugh.
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Trimline @ 2nd Jul 07:06PM:
Re: I love my POTS>>>>

I prefer Trimlines, but I do have a Princess phone or two...Western Electric made the best... LOL

:)
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patcat88 @ 2nd Jul 07:41PM:
right hand, left hand

The right hand (Verizon Landline) never speaks to the left hand (Verizon Wireless). They are 2 different competing corporate cultures under the same logo.
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mededitor @ 2nd Jul 08:26PM:
Verizon not willing to repair copper anymore

I'm not willing to drop my landlines at this point, especially with a disabled husband at home. However, Verizon's unwillingness to properly repair their POTS lines has gotten out of control here. I have filed a complaint with the Board of Public Utilities and will go as far as getting an attorney, if necessary.

IMO, there is no excuse for them not properly repairing the copper, "swapping" lines around is not the solution. As of today, they are still responsible for the outside copper whether they like it or not. Obviously, they don't like it, but as long as it is their responsibility and they keep accepting my monthly payments, they had better get their act together.

Sorry, but I'm so angry with Verizon right now that I'm not thinking straight. My husband's life could depend on my POTS landline working as it is supposed to work, and I'm tired of nothing but excuses and band-aid "fixes" from Verizon (problems for over a year).
--
When one door closes, another opens...
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sonicmerlin @ 2nd Jul 08:41PM:
Re: I love my POTS>>>>

Wow, calm down Mr. corporate apologist.

It's been well-documented Verizon has been cherry picking the areas of highest ROI. They've used a legal (but still shady) maneuver to shed their debt and leave their former customers in the hands of bungling, incompetent idiots like Fairpoint.

The telcos have made promises to various state governments for years that they would roll out fiber to everyone in their footprints by certain dates, and repeatedly have taken the subsequent grants and completely ignored those promises. They've stolen almost $300 billion in grants and tax subsidies over the last 10 years.
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dsldude08 @ 2nd Jul 09:14PM:
Re: POTS is necessary

Actually, that is incorrect. Not all companies do this nor are they required. If we left every single landline facility that was disconnected as a left-in facility then we wouldn't have enough facilities available all of the time. If the address is new, for example, someone builds a new home, and never calls the telco to hook them up, then nothing gets hooked up. So this is not a requirement, at least not for the company I work for. So I surely wouldn't rely on the fact that your telco "might" allow 911 without active service, and just go ahead and get the service. If your telco does allow it, then good. But no one should automatically assume this. If you do not hear a dialtone, the phone will not work, period.
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S60 @ 2nd Jul 10:39PM:
POTS

When the tech came to rid of the my copper I told him I may switch back later; he was happy to oblige.
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aaronwt @ 2nd Jul 10:53PM:
Re: POTS

said by Gary A :

said by aaronwt :

It's actually inexpensive. I've been saving $20 a month since i switched form dial up to broadband monitoring

I changed from ADT to NExt Alarm. NExt Alarm has a broadband adapter that can be used with dial up alarm systems. The newer systems have online monitoring capabilities built in, but mine was old so the Next Alarm was the only option for me when I dropped my landline.
It ended up costing mes less per month, plus I can also get texts, and emails about the status of the system or if it goes off.
I got the Full Dispatch monitoring but they also have an ultra cheap solution,, non-dispatched monitoring, that send you texts and emails of anything that occurs with teh systme but they don't call anyone, thhey leave it up to you. But for me I needed the monitoring so it was around $11 a month over the three year term I signed up for and pre-paid. ADT was around $31 a month when I left.
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tubbynet @ 3rd Jul 01:03AM:
pots is just antiquated (for me...)

have been cell-only ever since moving out. have had verizon service for about 5 years (was only wireless company in my hometown that had national coverage included) and have been pretty happy with the call quality. i don't pick handsets based on the "newest" stuff, just what works. both my wife and i are on verizon (as it most of our respective families) so the in calling is convenient.
was on a sprint q at work until i was migrated to an att blackjack2. between having a cdma carrier and a gsm carrier, i have some cell signal wherever i go, as i travel quite a bit for work.
i also put my cisco 2811 to good use this past month. i signed up for a pay-as-you-go account with callcentric, registered my router as a sip agent, and then placed a few cisco phones (7945 and a 7942) behind it for "landline" services. i like the comfort of the cisco phones and there is something about them that i haven't found in a standard handset yet. i also like the ability to custom brew xml portals/apps for the phones. since i travel, i like being able to sit down, hit a button, and check my flight status before leaving for the airport and not having to jump around to 10 different pages to get there.
i also have the router act as a vpn concentrator and have cisco's ip communicator registered over my vpn client. using this, i can vpn in and make outbound calls over my client in the event i *only* have internet coverage. even if my router goes down, i can use the callcentric softphone and reregister the device.

i can honestly say i'm completely mobile with numerous coverage options and i don't have to pay any ilec one cent. pots is just antiquated.

q.
--
"...if I in my north room dance naked, grotesquely before my mirror waving my shirt round my head and singing softly to myself..."
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keason @ 3rd Jul 01:32AM:
Anyone still on ISDN?

I kept ISDN from the days when I couldn't get decent voice quality on POTS due to Ameritech/SBC/ATT.

It still works better than POTS, slightly better than VoIP (even with QoS), and far better than a cell connection. Calls to standard lines are crystal clear, even cell calls sound better, and calls aren't mysteriously dropped.

Why do we accept such lousy cell service? Europe and Canada are much better.
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Mark F @ 3rd Jul 01:40AM:
Re: I love my POTS>>>>

What's done is done. I love everything I get from Verizon, phone, internet and TV.

But, if they choose not to serve our area anymore, and sell us to someone with no experience in providing all we get from Verizon, then all we can do is hope that whatever we wind up with is worth it.
Mark F.
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tubbynet @ 3rd Jul 02:09AM:
Re: Anyone still on ISDN?

said by keason :

I kept ISDN from the days when I couldn't get decent voice quality on POTS due to Ameritech/SBC/ATT.

most enterprise voip installs that i've done/assisted use a standard isdn pri (voice t1) for all communications to the pstn. the pri just has 23 b-channels (64kbps) and 1 d-channel for signaling (also 64kbps). what you are referring to is just a standard 128 kbps (2 b-channels for data; 1 16kbps d-channel) that you'd get with a home connection (typical isdn was limited to the 128kbps; some areas only allowed 1 b-channel).
if you were to register this as a frac pri with a did onto a voice gateway (like some cisco isr or so), you'd essentially be doing "voip", because the cisco voice gateway performs all ip telephony on the inside and uses a pots dial-peer over the pri. you'd still need qos on any internal switching gear to ensure that voice wasn't loaded into the data queue.

q.
--
"...if I in my north room dance naked, grotesquely before my mirror waving my shirt round my head and singing softly to myself..."
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Gary A @ 3rd Jul 08:11AM:
Re: POTS

Thanks for the info. ADT is who I am with now and have been for years. Its one of those things I forget about and just pay the bill when it comes in. I'll have to look into NExt Alarm. Maybe I can save a few bucks on monitoring and put it towards my impending FiOS upgrade when my 2-yr agreement runs out in September and I'm faced with the $25 monthly increase.
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ebubman @ 3rd Jul 09:13AM:
we cut ours

we terminated our verizon landline about 6 or 7 years ago. it finally came down to we had a landline because we always had a landline. the SOLE regret is that we had not done it sooner.
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WhatNow @ 3rd Jul 11:54AM:
Re: POTS is necessary

dsldude is correct the phone companies found if they leave all the connections when a customer disconnects service they can turn on new service sometimes while you are placing the service. The longer the service is disconnected the more likely parts of the line will be used on another circuit.

Here is news the major telcos are moving to VOIP because the equipment is cheaper both to purchase and operate. It may take years but that is the future. There will come a day when you will not be able to get traditional POTS service in some areas. I predict when the telcos lose enough POTS lines they will force the remaining POTS customers will be forced on to a VOIP system like in new neighborhoods with only FTTP.

In the old BellSouth region the newer neighborhoods and rural customers are on fiber to the node FTTN. If the power is lost to the site and a generator is not attached before the battery backup system is used up you lose the pots line just like having a cordless phone.
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GenBlood @ 3rd Jul 03:11PM:
Have 2 landlines ...

I have 2 landlines right now. One as my main phone line
and a second for dial-up back for my pcs. I still don't know
why I have the second line. I don't even own a modem
any more. I figure in the coming weeks I'm going to have
to cancel them due to the FairPoint issue. As soon as they
file for chapter 11 ... I'm dropping them and getting the
number transferred to a cell phone.

Now it's just a waiting game ... :)
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anon @ 3rd Jul 03:42PM:
Re: POTS is necessary

If there is a 911 rule it must be state specific because when I canceled my Qwest POTS lines they went dead and I still have naked DSL.
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Mele20 @ 6th Jul 03:55AM:
Concrete building no cell/no battery modem no VoIP

I don't have a choice. I live in a concrete building. Cell phones don't work here. I have cable broaband but Oceanic Time Warner has no modems with battery backup thus no 911 if the electricity goes off. I'm getting older and I have no intention of risking my life with mickey mouse cell phones that don't work or TW voIP with no backup. Yeah, HawaiiTelcom is bankrupt (thanks to the gutting from Verizon earlier) but I appreciate my landline. If they get their act together and get a remote terminal out this way then I will switch to DSL probably. I say probably because I would be reluctant to give up free RR dialup and that free RR dialup is another reason to keep a landline.
--
"The same ferocity that our founders devoted to protect the freedom and independence of the press is now appropriate for our defense of the freedom of the internet. The stakes are the same: the survival of our Republic". Al Gore, The Assault on Reason
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