Yes and no. We have a home phone with our cable / ISP provider bundle. If power or cable goes out, we don't have a 'landline'. I only use it for work conference calls and couldn't tell you the dial in number unless I checked the bill or my notes. We don't answer it because whoever had the number before us didn't pay her bills and I am tired of answering those calls.

Yes, but I don't have a cell phone. Neither my kids nor my nieces/nephews have landlines.

Haven't had a land line since I moved out of my parents house. I was already paying for a cell phone while I lived there, I didn't see a reason to add the cost of a landline to my monthly bills when I moved out.

When we purchased our first home and remodeled it, we dropped the phone lines down into the subfloor area and patched over the holes.

When we remodeled our current house, we did the same. The wires are still there should someone in the future want to connect them but I certainly have no use for them.

The only possible times I can think of where a hardwired landline (not cordless) would be useful is in power outages and the few I've experienced that were long enough for the battery to run low on my cell phone, I had my car right outside with a car charger.

Yes. We have had power outages lasting long periods of time and our real landline is a plus then. I keep my cell phone charged and nearby but don't make or receive many calls with it and don't do much texting. I am not a big telephone person anyway. I don't like to spend time on them.

Haven't had a cell phone in many years. Probably close to a decade. I don't mind carrying my cell phone with me all over the place. And I save a lot of money by just having an inexpensive cell phone service. I have been using Straight Talk for years and I am very pleased with it.

"Haven't had a cell phone in many years. Probably close to a decade. I
don't mind carrying my cell phone with me all over the place."

Huh?

No landline here.

Yep. I have a package with Verizon FIOS. I have portable phones all over the house and don't want to carry my iPhone around with me. It's on the kitchen table and I never talk on it unless I'm out of the house but I do text during the day. I like talking on the portable handset better than the cell phone.

Terrible cell reception in my neighborhood, so the landline stays...plus, the alarm system is routed through it. I detest trying to talk to someone on a cell when the reception is going in and out.

I still have a landline as there is no cell signal where I live. My cell is for travel only. However, the state of Michigan has a new law whereas the phone company can end landlines as cell service is dependable in ( ha ha ) all parts of Michigan. They claim it is too expensive to keep up old outdated equipment for the landlines and go about proving their point by raising our bill a few cents every month. Frequent mailings remind us that cell service is now cheaper. So when they pull the plug in the next year or two I will be provided with a "device" capable of contacting 911 only. Yes, we have contacted our government officials with no real help.

I've thought about dropping it but have the landline and need it for DSL anyway. When I was recovering from surgery I'd usually carry the phone around the house in case of problems but don't anymore and I also too dislike carrying a cell phone around the house. When I'm outside I do usually bring the cell (mowing, getting mail-especially in the winter, etc) although I often would bring the landline cordless since it's generally better reception and is tracked for 911 calls. I've thought about going to the measured service for the discount but the gf has measured and when she's on the phone, it's hours so I call her or call her back when she calls unless it's a short conversation. And when there's support calls, they'd eat up the measured time. And with the calls from the clinic (reminders, etc) and things like that, I'd rather they're leaving messages at home than interrupting me when I'm out and about. As said often, I'm not a phone person. I dislike them. And cost-wise it's cheaper than going with a fancy-schmancy cell. To drop the landline I'd probably need to get an unmeasured cell which would be a minimum of $30+ per month more than cell costs now. Landline has better clarity too. Too many disadvantages for me to go to all cell.

No landline here. We dropped it when we moved to our current home 2 years ago. We needed it at the old house for the DSL, but we have cable internet for less money now. My DH needs a cell phone for his business, so I just have a cheap, stand alone plan for myself. Like others have said, I'm not one for talking on the phone.

PKponder - Years ago, when I first got this phone, I was getting calls all hours of the night for 'Chico.' After I explained the problem to the phone company, they gave me a new number, that had not been previously used, at no charge.

Yes, I have a bundle - cable, internet and phone. Have considered eliminating the landline but wouldn't be any cheaper doing so.

Cable companies love selling those land phones. Pure profit. Spectrum gets $29 for the bundled phone and it is cheaper without it. Internet is $45 for 50mbps without cable tv or phone. That's a savings of $45 per month over the FANTASTIC bundle.

Haven't had a land phone since Cellular One came out.

I have a land line as I need a phone for someone with a hearing impairment. The missus bought me a cell and I could not hear decently.

No landline. We dropped it when our local cellphone coverage became so reliable, maybe 10 years ago.

When we moved to this house a year ago in May, the phone started ringing before the installer was out of the driveway. And no one had the number. We quickly turned off the ringer, and have only used our cell phones since. I need to cancel the service. (Put on my list of things to do...)

In another location, I'd keep the landline for the security of having a phone that works in a power outage, but we have FIOS here, and so the phone goes out, too. There is a short-term battery back-up, but why bother.

I need to stand in the driveway for halfway decent cell reception at home. Not always convenient.

I pay $5.50 a month tax, have an Ooma box, for my land line. Keeping it! I need a GPS unit for my SUV....otherwise I do NOT need a cell phone for every day use.

We got rid of our landline a few years ago. I couldn't see the point in owning it anymore when it only rang two times a month. We always have our cell phones near us, whether at home or on the road so it made more sense to get rid of the landline.

Yes, I have a landline. I like knowing exactly where I need to go to answer it when it rings. I just don't get the need for a phone constantly in your possession. You might say that I am not a cell phone fan. Yes there may be times when it comes in handy, but we all got along fine for most of our lives without them.

Dh and I each have a flip phone, primarily for the purpose of safety for me when I am out and about on my scooter. I can call him if I get myself in trouble. The # is given to only close family.

We have a landline. I think it's only around $8 a month through Comcast. Once we make a decision to sell and move into a small apartment, well probably get rid of it and keep our cheap cell phones. We still have the old flip phones from Verizon paying less than $60 a month for 2 phones. We don't need all those apps. We just need a phone to call from point a to point b. I use our computer for everything else.

Yes. Although I'm definitely not a telephone person, I'm sight challenged with AMD and will never give up land line phones in every room in the event of an emergency need. I do have a prepaid cell phone but rarely, if ever, use it. I have it primarily for use away from home when/if the need arises. In the mean time...it collects dust in a pocket in my carryall. My primary mode of communication is my PC.

We haven't had a landline for years. We each have our own cell phone.

We do. I still like it for a variety of reasons. One is that I can give it to those I don't want to give my cell number to. And, like Anglo, I don't want to carry my cell around with me and if I am in the basement, I won't hear it.

If DH really needs to get in touch, he knows to call the landline, if I don't answer my cell.

We had a house in San Antonio with a land line up until last year. I have worked in other locations where I bought homes but never got a phone. Even when the landline came bundled with the Internet, I did not get a phone. The landline we had in San Antonio rang only a few times a month and it was always telemarketers. We even stopped listening to the messages. So no more landlines. We have moved to the country but the cell coverage is fine in our area.

We have a landline, with cordless phones all over the house (three levels). I have a cheap TracFone, for emergencies when away from home. If I had a good pitching arm, I could stand on the front porch and throw a rock at the cell tower--that's how close it is to our home. So one would think that we would have great cell service. Wrong! To use the cell phone, I have to go outside on the front porch and walk to the end near the tower. (It's not just my cheapy phone--visitors with expensive iPhones also have the problem.)

I would hate to have to carry a cell phone around the house with me, and I know I would spend a lot of time hunting for it!

When we have a power failure, I have a vintage "phone box" that's like new (I've had it for more than 40 years, and it's touch tone); I also have an old rotary dial phone.

Our cell reception is iffy and I'm not about to walk outdoors to talk to someone. Don't understand why reception from a cell phone is as lousy as it ever was. People seem to just accept it. Drives me nuts. Also not one to carry a phone everywhere I go.

We have and will keep our landline. I like the fact that we have several portable ones in various rooms. The cell phone is kept in my purse for emergency use if the landline is out.

I have both, a land line on the least expensive ATT plan (which keeps going up), and a $7/month Tracfone. I don't use either phone a lot, not having family other than my daughter and cousin who calls/texts me and the few friends that I don't see at work. Currently my work has only the landline number (no need for anyone there to reach me when I'm out and about).

When I was using a Net10 phone I had a similar problem with poor reception (actually many in my neighborhood complain of that issue, even those with all the major carriers) but now with Tracfone it is rarely an issue. Although those are branches of the same company, I think Net10 was carried by ATT and Tracfone is on TMobile.

My dilemma is that most of the calls that come on the cell are spam or phishing calls -- so my policy is, if I don't recognize the number I don't answer. With the landline, I know immediately if a co-worker calls because I can hear the voice message as it is recording. Yes, I get a lot of spam calls there also, also easy to screen.

I really just need to decide if the convenience (to me) of the landline's audible screening is worth the continued expense. Maybe after I retire I will drop it.

BTW the sudden upsurge in spam to the cell occurred after I gave the number to American Airlines, for notifications while I was traveling.

Haven't had a landline for more than 10 years. I get great cell reception in my area and while I don't carry my iPhone around with me, I put it in the same place in the house when I am home, can hear it easily when it rings and it works for me the same way a landline would. Besides, you can't text on a landline and I'd never hear from my daughter (or some family members) if all I had was a landline as the younger generation do not 'talk' on the phone........they only text!!

For those with poor cell reception at home, newer Android phones (and maybe iPhones too?) have a "phone over WiFi" mode. Simply enable that, put your phone on airplane mode, then turn on the WiFi connection to your home network (do it in that order) and you'll have a great phone connection. Your phone will ring for incoming calls and you can place outgoing calls just as if you were connected to a cell tower. Or, use Skype on your phone (WiFi data connection), a PC or tablet and have your friends call you that way. It's free on both ends.

An advantage of our "landline?" (we have Panasonic cordless phones) is for calls from friends and family. Such people call for either or both of us, whoever answers, rather than choosing which to reach if a cell phone number is called. Setting up a conference call on cellphones is possible but less convenient.

We still have a vestigial landline and keep our landline phone in our emergency earthquake kit. The line came with some bundle of services (tv probably) and we've never bothered to kill it off completely. (We only have a cable tv package for one channel we can't get otherwise.)

ETA Come to think of it, what is the point of having the landline for emergencies? I don't speak to anyone on a landline anymore and doubt I have old landline numbers in my contacts.

I would never get rid of my landline. It has 3 extension phones. I pop one in my pocket for safety purposes when I go down the cellar. I also kept my corded phone so I could plug that into the phone jack when the power goes out. My iPhone is usually in my purse.

We still have ours, even have a corded phone for long power outages. Our gate has to have a landline connection. Also, want 911 to have my exact address if someone doesn't know it or can't speak.

Both my Verizon and Ooma (Voip) phone numbers have my home address registered for 911 purposes - it gets passed on automatically and electronically when such a call is made.

Also, emergency responders can ping a cell phone that has a GPS function to determine where the phone is. I once had that exact experience when calling for emergency road service - they pinged my phone and got my exact location.

Come to think of it, what is the point of having the landline for
emergencies? I don't speak to anyone on a landline anymore and doubt I
have old landline numbers in my contacts.

Non-FIOS landlines operate when the power is out, but you need a corded phone, not cordless. The back-up battery for the FIOS unit is only good for a couple of hours, not good in extended power outage.

I finally convinced DH to give up our landline this year -- it was $50 a month so people from India could call me and tell me I had a problem with my computer, credit card companies could call and offer "specials", or other such nonsense. DH and I both also had cell phones and I am happy that we don't have the landline anymore and have $50 more a month in our bank account! We should have gotten rid of it long ago!

We still have a landline but really would like to get rid of it. I do not really need it now since I have a smart phone. My internet is from my cell phone, it is tethered when I get on here. I carry my smart phone everywhere I go, it is with me If I need any kind of help. I did the same when I had the old flip phone. I hope we do get rid of the home phone.

Sue

Same as PKponder. Cost is getting closer to $200/yr so husband is mulling this over

Yes, it's part of my bundle from Verizon. Dropping one service from the bundle isn't much savings. I have a base unit with a cord and a few cordless extensions around the house. I get very few calls on my iPhone and use it for texting and GPS. of course when I am out and about , it is useful for calls. Also the caller ID doesn't show my name so I use it for calls where I would rather not give my name. None of the younger generation in the family has a landline.

Our only option for Internet service at our house is DSL through the local phone company. They have a "package" deal where if you get landline service through them you can add on the DSL internet for about $20 / month. If you just want the internet service, and no land line, the price is much higher -- about the same total as when it is bundled with landline service. Occasionally we have also needed to FAX something and my wife needs to call her cell phone to find it all the time.

I'm re-thinking our landline. Service was $13/mo until last month, when it went to $20/mo. We currently share a cell service with our DS and family, and only answer 'known number' calls.

How can I address my concerns (below)?

I haven't found the quality of service as good as landline. (Can you hear me now? How will we talk during the eclipse? haha)

I don't want to receive private calls in public. (I wish other people wouldn't!) Do tell the caller I will call back later? How secure are conversations on cells?

If I transfer our landline number to a cell phone the spam calls move too. If I don't, I have to inform a couple dozen places of the number change -- and will probably forget some. Will I have to answer every call for a couple of months, since I won't recognize incoming phone numbers as contacts?

How inconvenient is it if I break or lose this portable item, or it's stolen?

How do you send or receive a fax?

Is faxing even possible over the 'bundled or ISP provided VOIP' landlines? On the rare occasion that I have to support fax or modem related issues, the VOIP connection is not what is used, it a line on POTS (plain old telephone service) consisting of twisted pair connections which are compatible with the modem in most fax machines.

Chisue, during the insane days preceding our son's wedding, I dropped and broke my cell phone leaving the tux shop. My phone was insured and I had an identical replacement that I only needed to slip my sim card into in 22 hours. I have great service with my cell phone when I am on the phone at home anyway. I have noticed that certain areas have a weaker signal and inside Wal-Mart, I have no signal at all.

No idea on security or whether calls can be made during the eclipse.

When someone calls and wants to discuss a private matter, I have no issues with stating that I am out in public and will call back when I'm free to talk. Usually, when I am out, I only answer when it's my husband calling or if there is something going on with the kids. Everyone has the option to leave a voice mail.

We have VOIP for our home phone. It's super cheap, $10/month. I had to get a landline though for work. As Ont_Gal said, Bell is crazy expensive, $35/month with no call display, v/m or anything.

There are several internet sites that can be used for free "faxing". I use Web Zero for outbound faxes (you upload PDFs, standard MS Office files or scanned images). Sites like Fax Burner and others also allow limited fax receiving.

Faxes seem to have become passe. I send and receive scanned images as email correspondence almost exclusively and very rarely need to fax, perhaps it's the same for others. When the need arises to send or receive a fax immediately and no other alternatives have been arranged, go to a Fed Ex Office store and use their service.

I tell people that I have no FAX machine in my office and that they should scan and attach documents. I think others prefer it too.

Thanks for "assisting the elderly' across this great divide.

"I don't want to receive private calls in public. (I wish other people wouldn't!) Do tell the caller I will call back later? How secure are conversations on cells?"

Easy. You don't answer it. Anything important the caller will leave a message on your voice mail.

Unless you are saying you have high security conversations on your landline, I would not worry about security on a cell phone.

When you're in any situation when you don't wish to be interrupted or to take a call, turn off the ringer or the phone.

Secure? Unless you're discussing state secrets, I don't think this is something to be concerned about. If tight security is desired, then never use a landline, they can be easily tapped using simple equipment.

Yes. 1) sometimes I have to find the cell, so I call it. 2) Where I am moving, cell reception is dodgy on the good days, non-existent on the rest.