We had the security system wired during the build with the guy who did the tech stuff for our house (speakers, etc..) I didn't want the security company drilling holes in my house!

We have a landline (through the cable company) and I like it for the kids.

We had telephone installed for.

1. Security System
2. DirectTV
3. Fax

We have barebones service, 20 free calls per month and no long distance for around $15.

Those old land lines have a much better chance of continuing rto work in a major power disription than the cell system.

Many cell towers have a backup generator, but rarely more than about 24 hours of fuel.

After that, no cell service.

TELCO central offices can often run for days on backup power.

Honestly, I can't comprehend any reason to NOT put in phone lines when you build. It is trivially cheap; skipping them isn't going to be the difference between making your build over-budget or not. Even if you haven't used them for five years, and can see absolutely no reason you ever would want them later, if you change your mind, you'll be sorry if you didn't run them. No one can predict the future perfectly.

Let me put it this way. Which mistake would you prefer?

1. You put in phone lines for a cost that's a drop in the bucket of your build, and you never use them (and never try to sell your house to someone who wants them or thinks it's strange you don't have them).
2. You don't put in phone lines, and three years down the road find out you need them because you need a more reliable phone connections for emergencies or something. You have to cut holes in drywall, pay for many hours of labor running wire through the walls, pay for someone to patch the drywall and match the texture and re-paint. Multiply by each location you want a phone in.

This seems like a no-brainer.

Yep, I vote with the "yes, get the land line" crowd. In an emergency, a guest or babysitter in the home can call 911 from a land line and summon help quickly, even if they don't know the street address.

We're getting the house wired for a landline. DH is running cat6 throughout the house, and he tells me that it will work for phone as well as other network things. We have not used a landline in forever, but if we ever need it or want to sell, it will be in our new house. It's cheap.

If you ever have a pacemaker and want to "phone" in your results.

If you ever need a "lifeline" type of device (I've fallen, and can't get up!).

Good advice above. But slightly off topic, make sure you have extra electrical outlets near each nightstand, so you can charge your cell phones right where they are needed in an emergency.... and for plugging in the difficult to predict but necessary medical devices of the future.

I wired my house with cat 5 - that handles phone & networking. That was 12 years ago. Next year when we build I will wire with 6e. I like a hardware from my PC to my TV for media. I can run a 1G network in the house which is plenty of bandwidth for anything & no wireless issues.

I think it's a waste of money. Personally, I haven't had a landline since 1998. It's dead technology and even if the installation cost is relatively low, it's still money that can be spent on something better, like a nice dinner...

Yes, landline. When the power went out for a week due to storms, it was the only phone we had working for awhile...people scrambling to find charging stations for cells...

I vote YES as well and I ran wires for landlines as well. I only did 3 in our house (kitchen, master bedroom & bonus room). We will have barebones cheap monthly svc and use it for our alarm as well. Plus when you go to sell who is to say the next buyer will not want landlines. It was cheap to add to me so it wasn't really a thought of whether to do it or not to do it for us. Just my .02 cents for what its worth! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Our home sell/build blog

"When the power went out for a week due to storms, it was the only phone we had working for awhile...people scrambling to find charging stations for cells..."

Cell towers need power also, and none can go a week on their generators without being fueled.

I'm going to chime in about the alarm system.

It's easier to wire it in while you are building. There are window contacts that are under the drywall, and run to the hub of the system. I am not sure how a "free" installed system will look, if wires will be visiable, or if it is battery run. Door contacts also. Motion detectors get wired in. On top of it all, you need a land line for the system to work.

When we build this house 5 yrs ago, we had the system put in. On our current new build we are doing it again.

My sister built a new house two years ago. Despite the fact that she is 3 yrs younger than me (and I'm not old) she developed 3rd degree heart block last summer and now has a pacemaker. They did not have land lines put in her house when they built.

It's a pain in the arse when it comes time to check her pacemaker, as she has to go to her MIL's.

It's beyond me why someone would not wire for a land line.

Little sisters never listen to their wiser older sibs ;-)

We just built and put them in. Our alarm system is cellular. We use our cell phones the majority of the time too.

We did it for three reasons. 1) as people who have gone through hurricanes and major storms, cells do not work. You need a landline. People went for weeks after Katrina without cell power and had to rely on landlines. 2) 911. With two kids, I want them to know where a phone is sitting on a base at all times and not have to rifle through my purse or the house looking for a cell phone if something happens to me or their dad and they have to call 911. And I want 911 to have an instant address when they call. 3) my work fax machine that I have to use periodically throughout the month. This is the most minor reason. I could scan and fax/email if I needed to.

Thanks, we are putting in the lines.... great feedback.

I would go with what some others have advised and install cat 6 or better instead. It can be used as a phone line, and will be a lot more useful for reliably networking media devices together in parts of your house where you might have wireless network interference. It also gives you the option of installing multiple wifi routers in different parts of your house without using crappy wireless bridging.

I'm in the minority, but I don't see the point in installing a landline. As someone else said, it's dead technology. When did you last lose power for more than a matter of minutes? For me it was an ice storm about a decade ago -- and I've only lost power for more than a few hours once in my whole life. How many times has my cell phone tower failed? Never, and we've had plenty of storms in the two decades that I've had a cell phone. My in-laws live on the beach and regularly go through hurricanes. How many times have they lost cell service? Never. Pacemakers? Yeah, you need that special attachment and a landline -- but pacemakers must be checked 2-4 times per year; it's not exactly a frequent chore. A child old enough to use a land line can use a cell phone (mine's always in one of two places in the house, so no big concerns about searching for it). I think it's quite likely that home landline service will cease to exist in the relatively near future -- from lack of demand.

I'm also not installing a security system. I don't need an electronic system (that'll be quickly outdated) to tell me that someone has broken into my house, and I don't need the police to show up well after the robbery has occured. If I get a picture of the robber, he will be wearing a hat or other clothing that'll disguise him from the camera. Instead, I'll use the money that would've gone into a security system for a stronger front door and deadbolt locks and other items that'll actually keep the burglar out; some of these things actually cost nothing but involve good planning. I also don't need the ability to check on whether the door's locked while I'm away, and I certainly don't want strangers at a security system to have video surveillance and know when I'm not home.

Sure, these things aren't all that expensive, but they're essentially useless -- and if you install enough "oh, it's just a little money" items, all of a sudden you're spending real money.

Hmm, I'd guess that those folks down in Louisiana have lost their power for more than a few minutes. We lost ours for over a week during Sandy. You live in an area with a robust electricity distribution infrastructure, many do not.

The telco's are trying to shut down their old copper networks, so increasingly landline just means a VoIP system which unfortunately lacks the resiliency of the older networks. So as pointed out, it wouldn't make sense to put in new Cat3 telephone wiring, but it does make sense to put in Cat5e or better which can carry digital signals as well, and home-runs to a central area vs. a traditional daisy-chained system.

As far as security goes, whether you want it or not is a personal decision. The benefit to wiring during construction is that it is cheaper and better hidden than aftermarket. Also, if you buy the system upfront you can use the monitoring system of your choice for $10-20/month vs. being locked into a $30-50/month 3yr contract for that 'free' system, which also offers very few sensors. Over the long term it is almost always a better value.

This topic is also covered in a more recent thread.

All the people so terrified that without power they won't be able to charge their cellphones--for less than $2 you can get a phone charger for your car.

I'm also not installing a security system. I don't need an electronic
system (that'll be quickly outdated) to tell me that someone has broken
into my house, and I don't need the police to show up well after the robbery has occur[r]ed.

The first time I false-alarmed, within five minutes I was confronted by two constables. When I switched to cheaper private response, security officers appeared within ten minutes.

I'm putting in land lines, but only a couple of plates; the rest will be behind walls if a later owner wants them.

This thread is old. So now my sisters pacemaker results can be sent with her cell phone. Not surprising since so few have land lines. We moved into a small home that we own, after selling our other house while building. We have a land line here but I don't even know the number and doubt that we will ever use it, lol.

So, my perspective has changed somewhat from four years ago when this thread was started. Will we put in a landline in the new house? It probably depends on which type of security system we choose.

knowing my DH, he will want to wire for a landline. He likes to cover all of his bases.

Worthy...but if we have an EMP those cars for the car chargers won't work unless the car is an Edsel :-)

just making a joke folks...don't take me too seriously.

Get Cat5 or Cat6 installed. It can be used for a bunch of things and can always be converted to a phone line.

Hmm, I'd guess that those folks down in Louisiana have lost their power for more than a few minutes. We lost ours for over a week during Sandy. You live in an area with a robust electricity distribution infrastructure, many do not.

You can't plan for a huge natural disaster like this, and -- even if you try -- it's quite possible that your house'll be destroyed, losing both the land land and the cell phone. The moral: Plan for everyday life and "everyday emergencies" because you just can't be prepared for a major disaster. (Incidentally, I have lived through a major hurricane.)

All the people so terrified that without power they won't be able to charge their cellphones--for less than $2 you can get a phone charger for your car.

Or a couple lipstick chargers for the same price.

The biggest loss I personally know of was when neighbours away for a week were burgled--a door was left open and Raccoon City's finest set up shop!

My mom has that problem with her doggie door, but it's skunks that come in.

We're not all that remote -- 30 minutes from northwest Portland, OR -- yet cell phone reception is lousy out here. Verizon is the only choice, and due to the rugged terrain surrounding us, much of our property receives one bar at best -- I get better reception with the handheld remote for our landline. The technology may be outmoded, but it isn't dead.

@mrspete We lose power every year in Louisiana. Sometimes because of hurricanes and sometimes because of strong thunderstorms. It generally does not matter how far inland you live. I'm amazed at the amount of comments I see throughout the forum about "when's the last time you lost power anyway." Uh, speak for yourself, for some of us it's definitely a yearly or every other year occurrence. Your poor mother, how does she get them out? That is frightening to me. And yes, the current situation in south Louisiana has been deemed the "1000 year flood" because it is that uncommon. It is estimated 6.9 trillion gallons of rain fell in that short three day period.

@freeoscar you are correct in the sense it is very common for some areas of the country to lose power periodically.

@mrspete We lose power every year in Louisiana. Sometimes because of
hurricanes and sometimes because of strong thunderstorms. It generally
does not matter how far inland you live.

This isn't typical for the vast majority of us, but it sounds like you'd be a good candidate for a whole-house generator.

My mom has that problem with her doggie door, but it's skunks that come in.

She placed good-smelling food outside the doggie door, and -- when they went out to eat -- she locked the door. She's now very good about remembering to lock the doggie door at night.

Yes, I now see! I suppose mostly for the southern coastal states. And maybe tornado alley I suppose. My parents did and do have a generator. It was not whole house, nor was it wired to the house. I believe it ran off gasoline--not sure whether it was diesel or not.

Imagining a skunk in my house is more frightening than weathering a hurricane. Ick! (They're usually tropical storms once they hit land anyway). Did any of her cats ever get into a scuffle with them??

I forgot to add that we lose power three or four times each year. Our power and phone lines are underground on our property, but offsite they're all above ground in heavily timbered country, so every windstorm means downed branches and thus power lines. We're near the top of the reconnect hierarchy (perhaps someone high up at the PUD lives near us?), but in January after a major windstorm we were out for around 12 hours and a friend was without power for two days. This is the Pacific NW, not tornado or hurricane territory; and as I mentioned, only 30 minutes from downtown Portland..

I understand not having a landline connected if it makes no sense for you, but unless the cost is prohibitive I'd still wire for it in a new build. (It was free for us.)

@bluesanne That is what I initially assumed. I figured a good amount of states would suffer from power loss due to thunderstorms and/or windstorms. Obviously most states do not have to worry about hurricanes, but I figured storms would be a common driving factor contributing to power loss in various states. I have to admit I'm a little curious now.

Mrs Pete.... when did l last lose power for more than a matter of minutes? Hurricane Sandy. 30 hours, which wasn't bad. The year prior, I lost power three times, let's see, 2.5 days (local micro-burst), 5.5 days (Hurricane Irene), 8 days (Halloween snowmaggedon), And I'm not even rural (yet).

I'm moving rural, and I'll be happy with that land line!

Hurricane Sandy here. Lost it for 4 days the first time and then got it back. Then lost it again during the snow storm the following week and lost it for a week. And it was cold. and we were on a high priority area having an assisted living place next door.

Here in Tornado Alley, loss of power can be frequent. One year, we lost it in Sept due to a Gulf coast hurricane that traveled all the way to KY - no power for 8 days. Then the following Jan, an ice storm which left us without power for 10 days. At that point, I had a whole house generator, powered by natural gas, installed. Of course, $9000 later, we've had fewer outages, but I like the security it gives me.

We occasionally lose power due to winds or tornados, but more often due to ice storms. It's not unusual for parts of town to be out for almost a week every four or five years and more often for 24 hour outages. We're pretty lucky living in the historic district on the same grid as downtown with city/county offices and emergency services so we're usually a very high priority and have been lucky enough not to be out over a day or so at a time. We have a portable gasoline powered generator that has been useful. Usually we cuddle up in one room with a lamp, Chargers and either a fan or a space heater depending on the season

We still have a landline, but don't plan on one in the new house, but outages are pretty rare there -- everything is underground and the only outages I have even heard of usually caused by a critter getting fried at a substation.

Whose contract was the phone block in fro the supply and install?

VDSL Connection for Internet. If other types of Internet are not available...

Note the lonely abandoned antique in our equally outdated former home awaiting demolition.

A lot has happened in the over nine years since this discussion started, and 8-track tapes still have not made a comeback.

Planning an elevator for our current build, I find that a land line telephone is required in case of emergency.

If the elevator is equipped with the "Space Capsule" emergency ejection button, land lines are not needed.

We already installed one of those in the portable.

Illustrates the importance of the "No Smoking" sign.

Interesting, we have no supplier available that will install a traditional copper land line to the house. It's all digital (and no phone service in a few hours once the backup battery is exhauseted). I guess we can't have an elevator?