Do you still have a landline phone?

[Moolah22]

I have one but I don't have it hooked up. I signed up for it because it was cheaper to get cable and internet if I bundled it with a land line through Comcast. I don't have a land line phone and I don't even know the number

I have that too. You can find phone subscription bundled with cable and internet connection.

[bjl584]

Since when does Comcast offer land line phone service?

Since forever as far as I know. It's called the Triple Play Package. Cable + Internet + Home Phone.

[phantom]

Our house is 8 years old, and we've never had the option of what I would call a traditional landline. I guess they stopped running copper lines to people's houses at some point. If we wanted a home phone, we needed a digital line from either Verizon on Comcast.

We got a home phone at first, but quickly decided it was a silly thing to be paying for. The only thing I was reluctant to give up was having a phone that would ring throughout the house, so we got a set of cordless phones that our cell phones would ring through. I definitely recommend them for anyone who wants to feel of a home phone using cellular service.

[disneysteve]

Since when does Comcast offer land line phone service?

Since forever as far as I know. It's called the Triple Play Package. Cable + Internet + Home Phone.

I don't think most people count VoIP as a "land line" when having this conversation. Perhaps I'm wrong but I often see people say they dropped their land line and use VoIP instead.

We have VoIP service through Comcast but haven't actually started using it yet. We're still paying for a land line which I really need to switch over.

[QuarterMillionMan]

DisneySteve is correctomundo regarding most people probably don't consider VOIP a landline. I have MagicJack (VOIP) and didn't consider it a landline. The cost is $39 a year (not per month) for MagicJack. It works out to about $4 a month. I didn't want to lose my phone number so I switched to VOIP.


As for the cable bundles with the phone included, I believe that's VOIP as well being that the phone operates through the router and not through the actual telephone lines (cooper wires). Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[phantom]

I imagine that a lot of people who get a home phone from Comcast or Verizon don't even realize that their phone service is digital rather than an analog line through copper wire. As I said in my post, we don't even have a non-digital option at my house. But, Verizon definitely tried to sell us on the idea that their digital phone service was pretty much the same as an analog phone line, just with different technology behind it. You don't have to pay for internet service for it to work, and it has its own battery backup so it will work for a few days in the event of a power outage. It doesn't take any fancy setup to get it working, you just plug phones into the phone jacks that are already in your house. I can definitely see people calling that sort of thing a landline without realizing that it's different than what has traditionally been called a landline.

I've never used Vontage or Magic Jack, but that's what I think of when I think of VoIP - a service that works through an internet connect that I pay for separate and that requires some special setup to get working through my existing phone handsets.

[PeggyHefferon]

DisneySteve is correctomundo regarding most people probably don't consider VOIP a landline. I have MagicJack (VOIP) and didn't consider it a landline. The cost is $39 a year (not per month) for MagicJack. It works out to about $4 a month. I didn't want to lose my phone number so I switched to VOIP.


As for the cable bundles with the phone included, I believe that's VOIP as well being that the phone operates through the router and not through the actual telephone lines (cooper wires). Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I disagree. If it comes out of my wall and it connects to a phone, I view it as a landline. It might not be correct based on the technology, but I honestly wouldn't even know who to get a traditional landline from.

[PeggyHefferon]

Well put phantom

[msomnipotent]

I imagine that a lot of people who get a home phone from Comcast or Verizon don't even realize that their phone service is digital rather than an analog line through copper wire.

This.

I tried to keep our land line for emergencies, and because I know Comcast likes to have their internet go out when I need it the most, but I couldn't justify paying for Comcast and then paying an additional $50 for AT&T. And AT&T is petitioning to stop offering actual land lines now, so this may be a moot point soon. I was just talking to my husband about dropping our house phone the other day. I'm finally using my cell phone and we get SOOOO many spam calls on our home phone. I'm not exaggerating when I say I have to add at least one new number to our Callblocker almost every day. I'm pretty sure we are going to drop home phone when our Comcast contract expires in a few months, unless the package is cheaper with it.

[disneysteve]

we get SOOOO many spam calls on our home phone. I'm not exaggerating when I say I have to add at least one new number to our Callblocker almost every day.

This is gradually catching up with cell phones, too. I get at least 2 spam calls per week on my cell phone.

[msomnipotent]

This is gradually catching up with cell phones, too. I get at least 2 spam calls per week on my cell phone.

I get one or two a week, but I never set up my voicemail. I don't answer if I don't know the number and 99% of my contacts text what they need to say. that do-not-call list is pretty useless. I still report every single call I get, though I don't think it does anything but waste my time.

[disneysteve]

I don't answer if I don't know the number

I hear a lot of people say that but I can't just not answer my phone. Just because someone isn't on my contact list doesn't mean the call isn't important.

There was a time when there were only a handful of people who had my cell number but as we've moved more and more away from the land line, my cell number has become my primary contact.

[commoncentsmike]

No landline for at least 12 years now. I'd be surprised if 20% of Americans still had one, haha.

[HundredK]

Yep, landline with Comcast. We need it for business purposes, but it's cheaper to bundle it with internet and cable anyway.

[JoeP]

I hear a lot of people say that but I can't just not answer my phone. Just because someone isn't on my contact list doesn't mean the call isn't important.

I have LOTS of contacts, mostly from LinkedIn, but also from other Google sources. If I get a call from an unknown number, I'll divert to voicemail. Over 99% of the time, no message is left by the caller, and I don't get an immediate call back. That indicates the call was from a scammer. And if they leave a message, which is rare, it is a wrong number.