http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6288353Of course, not that there's anything wrong with doing that.
PM Martin (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 05:56 PM
Original message
Landline phone service though Cable, what do you think?
Is phone service through cable any better than a traditional phone line?
Experiences, comments, thank you.
The green commode primitive:
WCGreen (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 05:57 PM
Response to Original message
1. I had some trouble with Vonage but since I switched everything to WOW, no problems.
Gabi Hayes (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:02 PM
Response to Reply #1
8. wide open west, baby.....no problems, either, but their basic cable
TV package is not on a level with my brother's basic up in Milwaukee
WOW has WAY too many shopping/religious channels
WCGreen (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:06 PM
Response to Reply #8
13. Yea, they certainly do...
musette_sf (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 05:58 PM
Response to Original message
2. i won't do it
no matter how many mailers Comcast send and how many ppl they have call me direct.
if it's as flaky as my internet service (every day i get at least several drops, sometimes for up to an hour), then no way.
POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) is better to rely on in an emergency, along with your mobile phone. i wouldn't trust cable phone service in an emergency.
So.....franksolich is curious, telephones not being a part of his life.
They offer telephone service via cable now?
Dora (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:00 PM
Response to Original message
3. It's not really a landline.
If your cable goes out, so does your phone. That's a HUGE drawback.
We currently have digital phone services through our cable company. I did this because AT&T wouldn't sell us DSL when we moved to this address. The price for internet bundled with phone service through the cable company made more sense than paying for phone from AT&T, and internet from Time Warner. Now that AT&T has DSL available in our neighborhood, we will soon drop our cable internet and get a "real" phone line.
LisaM (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:00 PM
Response to Original message
4. I wouldn't give up my landline
I even have an older phone (that isn't cordless) for power outages.
BlooInBloo (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:02 PM
Response to Original message
5. People still have land lines?
PM Martin (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:03 PM
Response to Reply #5
10. I am a business owner and need one.
I have a two cell phones already. I do need a landline at work though.
Long calls can be dropped if you are on a cell phone.
Davis_X_Machina (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 07:29 PM
Response to Reply #5
24. We lost our power for 11 days in 1998's ice storm.
Cell sites stayed up 12-18 hr. max. Cable went down and stayed down.
Lost our lights for 3 1/2 days this winter in a Noreaster. Same story.
Landline never went down -- those little brick houses tucked behind the tasteful shrubbery are full of wet-cell batteries, and for a reason.
BlooInBloo (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 07:35 PM
Response to Reply #24
25. Over a decade ago?
Davis_X_Machina (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 07:53 PM
Response to Reply #25
26. And this winter....
...and last fall during hurricane season -- though a near miss.
The occasional half-day outages due to line squalls in the summer the cell sites usually outlast.
You must live in a city.
kirby (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:02 PM
Response to Original message
6. No phone when cable is out...
My cable goes out occasionally, esp during storms. My phoneline, never.
bpcmxr (499 posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:02 PM
Response to Original message
7. I've used Vonage for a few years ...
And the experience has been fine. It's less than $30/month with taxes and unlimited calls to anywhere in North America and most of Europe are included. Audio quality has been A-OK for me. You can also configure your voicemail and lots of call options on their website. The only problem is that if you try to make or take a call in the middle of a big file transfer to/from your computer, there's a crazy delay in the audio which makes conversation difficult. Overall, recommended.
PM Martin (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:16 PM
Response to Reply #7
14. Could you get two modems tapped off of a single line?
Trekologer (234 posts) Wed Aug-12-09 10:19 PM
Response to Reply #14
30. Yes you can
The standard Vonage device allows you to connect two phone lines (should you subscribe to two) but you can also add more with additional devices.
DavidDvorkin (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:03 PM
Response to Original message
9. We've had it for years
I think it's comparable in reliability to the old way. Sound quality is excellent (Comcast digital phone).
hobbit709 (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:05 PM
Response to Original message
11. Wired landline phone works even if you're sitting in the dark
No power, no internet, no VOIP.
The sparkling husband primitive who, like all men, nightly pitches his tent one day's march closer to the mausoleum:
Stinky The Clown (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:25 PM
Response to Reply #11
16. For that to be true, you need a wired phone with no batteries in it ......
.... like this one .......
after which a photograph of a telephone
We have two of 'em, in working order. Many times we've been glad we do.
hobbit709 (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:32 PM
Response to Reply #16
20. I got one of these over 30 years ago for $10
Cheap old Radio shack clear plastic phone for $10
Still works fine
Stinky The Clown (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 10:06 PM
Response to Reply #20
27. That'll work!
We have never, to the best of my knowledge, lost our landline phone service ..... even when we were out of power for nearly a week after a hurricane. We've been in tis house for 30 years.h
The sparkling husband primitive's wife must've slipped something new into his food or drink. An interesting typo here, one I've never seen before. The "h" at the end of the sentence belongs with the "tis."
The sparkling husband primitive must be short-circuiting somewhere.
LostInAnomie (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:06 PM
Response to Original message
12. I've had it for about a year now, and I've never had a problem.
Mine is really fast, and fairly cheap with my package. I get it, phone, cable w/ Showtime for around $100 a month.
PSPS (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:20 PM
Response to Original message
15. OK when it works, but Internet isn't reliable enough
Many of my clients have tried various offerings from Vonage, Comcast, etc. The trouble is that it goes out too often. As others have pointed out, either no power or no internet = no telephone. And 911 is problematic with VOIP because the address/number database isn't as accurate or reliable.
FYI, landline telephone providers like Qwest pay their managers based on dialtone reliability measurements which are constantly monitored and their pay is negatively affected when this measurement becomes "unacceptable" which is anything over about one or two minutes per year. I can't see VOIP outfits reaching that level of reliability anytime soon.
pearl (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:29 PM
Response to Original message
17. It is awful
Comcast in Chicago. Just awful. It feels like a friggin' third world country. They roped me in through their "bundled" service and "threw in" phone. Now I've got to go out and find another land line service or choose to go all cell (I currently have no cell service) Don't do it, whatever you do.
Most would consider Chicago a third-world country anyway, given its rampant graft and corruption and decay under the Republican machine that runs the city.
greguganus (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:31 PM
Response to Original message
18. We packaged internet, phone, and cable tv through Time Warner & save $$$ and no problems.
elocs (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:31 PM
Response to Original message
19. I have used Prescient for the past year with no problems.
I pay $7.50 a month plus 1.9 cents a minute. I do not make many calls and my bill is usually around $10 a month. With my landline I was paying $30 a month and long distance was extra. I am happy to be rid of it.
Yunomi (69 posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:34 PM
Response to Original message
21. We have it in bundled service from Time Warner. Sometimes it doesn't work. Punching in long numbers(like phoning in prescriptions or orders)almost never works.
But it's cheap.
Blue Diadem (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:50 PM
Response to Original message
22. We have a bundle plan. I like it. Our former landline service wasn't the best and there were many times we would be without telephone service. Add to that the fact we had to pay anywhere from $55-$65 a month for unlimited service since we're in a location where everything is long distance. Plus the static we used to have has disappeared.
Yes, cable phone can go out. We've had periods of outages meaning no phone, no internet and only basic cable. Why basic cable works I have no idea. Of course, there's the power failure thing too. It's those times that a cell phone is handy and we do have one. I would only suggest cable phone if you have a cell phone as backup.
PM Martin (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 06:52 PM
Response to Reply #22
23. I live in a metropolitan area.
SmileyRose (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 10:12 PM
Response to Original message
28. the quality of mine with Comcast was so bad I had to switch back to ATT
I bundled with Comcast to save on long distance ( I use hours and hours and hours a month ) The price was right but there was horrible sound quality, dropped calls, service interruptions. Even the cable TV service started getting bad (little pixels that made the shows unwatchable) 5 months of nearly weekly service calls they could not fix it. I back at ma bell and bundled with direct TV.
Oddly, my inlaws switched to the cable bundle because I raved about it the first month. They have had there's with Time Warner for 4 years and it works perfectly.
The orange marmalade primitive:
marmar (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 10:14 PM
Response to Original message
29. I get phone service thru Comcast.....
...... it's quite fine and when bundled with cable and Internet, is actually a bargain.
The silly primitive:
SoCalDem (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 10:19 PM
Response to Original message
31. I have it bundled with my cable modem..No problems here
Time Warner (ptooey)..but it's cheaper than when I had just the modem and the wretched At&T
The anal primitive:
annabanana (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-12-09 10:20 PM
Response to Original message
32. If you have no connection when the power goes out.. the major advantage of keeping a landline is wiped out.
