Is it a mistake to eliminate all landline telephones ??

Question

Cell phones are great but I still think landline are more reliable.  If a natural disaster, a real war breaks out, if I am stuck some place where phone has no signal, dead, broke or misplaced.  Not everyone wants or has a phone.  I think in ten years landline probably be gone which I think is a mistake.

Answer 1

What will they do in horror films? Always a sign of doom when the phone line is cut. Can’t get a signal is much less dramatic !

Answer 2

If the satellites are ever hacked or destroyed or just quit working.

Having a backup phone service would be nice. 

Cellphones and cordless landline phones require a power source for recharging.

The old time landline phones do not.

Answer 3

My husband uses a land line phone in his home office because he says the sound is better for conference calls.  I have a land line phone stored in the linen closet if it is ever needed. 



I may be wrong but you have to pay for a land line connection. So to pay monthly for the off chance you may need it once in a blue moon,  some people  may not do that. Or can afford it.

But I would say it would be good to have on hand for emergencies 

Answer 4

Two years ago, I had a tornado come down my street, and one effect was no power for a duration of 81 hours.





My cordless phones didn't work due to the lack of power, and my cell phone was only kept alive by a nearby church that set up a generator which fed several power bars, from which they let neighbors plug in devices to recharge them.





In all that, my wired landline phones all worked 100%.

Answer 5

Ask the people who were at the World Trade Center bombing. There cell phones were USELESS. Once they walked across the Brooklyn or other bridge, they could use a land line in a store or someplace else to call friends and loved ones. So just wanted to say I made it out and WILL be home. If you're old or handicapped you're probably eligible for a Life Line phone. These are usually cost less than $10 a month. Some people may not know how to use this phone!!!  

Answer 6

Landlines are disappearing everywhere. It's more convenient to own a cell phone. There are so many plans you can get that it's not always more expensive. And they go WITH you--number and all--no matter where you live or what services are available. We're all moving to cell service now--and it just makes more sense not to worry about land lines at all. 

Answer 7

Landlines rely on physical wiring.  Cut the wiring, no landline.  At least with cellphones as long as there's a tower, you could at least hope to get a text out.



I kept my landline in case we had no cell service and had to call 911, we could.  But the $30 a month fee to keep the landline, including getting spam calls 5 to 6 times a day, just wasn't worth it, so we got rid of it.  It was nice having, like if I misplaced my phone at home, if no one else was here, I could call it to find it.

Answer 8

i use my cell phone only , landlines based are a waste of money seeing you have the landline connected , cell phone are cheap now and the calls have fallen , where else can you call the east coast from the west coast unlimited and cost you the same as a local call.

Answer 9

The government will always have them. When they give them up, that might mean a better technology is available.

Answer 10

They won't ever be eliminated in the practical sense.  If you want one you will be able to get it.   All the telecom lines are being setup for digital use which can be used for both "landlines" and more commonly internet access.  

Answer 11

Sometimes, things can happen to a cell phone tower, or the cell phone itself cannot get reception in certain areas.  Also, it needs to be recharged.  So, if all else fails, you'll be able to rely on a landline as backup.  Of course, recharges aren't needed to keep it running!  ☎📞

Answer 12

If real war breaks out, it's likely to take out the phone lines too.



The last natural disaster I was in was decades ago.  The power went out for 12 hours, but the landlines still had power.  Of course the circuits were jammed so I might as well have had no phone either.  And that will apply to both landlines and cell phones in a natural disaster.



Right now, I do have a landline phone, but it's through my cable provider.  So it does not have independent power like the old telephone landline system does.



I've actually been thinking of putting my cable modem/wifi gateway on a battery backup, so if we do lose power for whatever reason, the home phone service and internet should still work.  The UPS battery backup system would cost about $50.

Answer 13

I have a landline and I closed my cell phone 

Answer 14

Landlines are still pretty reliable to have and you do get really good quality on landlines but Voip is becoming a big thing now like google voice, skype and other voip platforms. Voip isn't as good as landlines sometimes because with Voip you are going through the internet which there is a lot more traffic but with landlines you are just going through a PSTN line or network.

Answer 15

I've always hated landlines even before mobiles were invented. You can't block anyone easily. You can't reject the call. You feel so vulnerable. Good riddance to those things. The only people who will suffer are cons and telemarketers.

Answer 16

I have maintained my landline, because I do not trust my provided to maintain the connections.  IT is a personal choice.

Answer 17

Yes as cell phones are gadgets and still haven't improved reception much in 10 years.  And many places your miles from getting any cell reception. Another thing is quite often with mobile phones is I can't understand 100% of the conversations and mistake words, then if there is a big event nearby with lots of people using mobile devices your up the creek without a paddle and no calling out if emergency.  

Answer 18

yes it is because cellular isn't that solid, as the signal will sound very breaky, and also caller ids are more primitive as they cannot recognize the name of the phone number without it being programmed into the telephone. Towers DO go down, as in my town the towers went down and all cellphones went offline for almost a entire day. 



Landline in 2020 is actually VOIP that goes through your cable companies private servers. The modem you get from your cable company has a jack adapter on the back of the modem that mimics the analog POTS phone system. The jack on the modem plugs into your wall jack dispersing landline service throughout the home. 



Your calls are all VOIP, though the jack on the modem disperses a landline tone, tricking you to think it is actually traditional landline. 



Your cable companies VOIP is usually superior to internet landline, as faxing isn't an issue.



You will however notice that old rotary dial phones will not work with your cable service as it is not something VOIP can understand. 

Answer 19

yes..............................

Answer 20

What will they do in horror films? Always a sign of doom when the phone line is cut. Can’t get a signal is much less dramatic !  

Answer 21

You think landlines would all hold up in a natural disaster or real war?

Answer 22

Yes, it is a mistake in the making, 

but the cost of maintaining wired lines is very high,  

so at some point they may be discontinued. 

     

That day will not come for a long time yet, though, 

partly because wired lines make sense for many businesses. 

     

     

What would you do if, because of a major disaster, 

your land line went dead and there was no cell service either? 

     

I know what I would do... 

Switch on my battery-powered amateur radio equipment!  

     

Licensed amateur  

KJ6QKV 

     







 

Answer 23

I've not had one since 2013 and it was mostly for international calls, but you do have a point.

Answer 24

I would never even think of not having a landline in my living space. 

Answer 25

Btw landline do you mean ordinary pots copper twisted pair telephone or are you including voip fiber lines?  Infrastructure for pots is just too expensive to scale.  Is it more reliable?  In the past it was but as the infrastructure goes away it will not be in the future.

Answer 26

New technology is great until it doesn’t work.  Total Reliance on it may well be our downfall in the future.  Many of our young can’t even count back change from a dollar without their digital cash register.  

Answer 27

Landlines are excellent. No going out in storms or "updating" and when a crazy guy torches a cell tower you can still call out....

Answer 28

I haven't had one in 20 years .....................................