I hate AT&T (still)!

[CathyA]

We keep our landline phone for safety reasons. Plus.......I'm always misplacing my cell phone and I don't like not having a phone that isn't where its supposed to be all the time.
But AT&T is really ticking me off. Besides having a buzz on the line that they can't fix, and I don't ever use it because of that, their rates just constantly go up. We discontinued our second line (used for the internet), a couple years ago. My monthly bill for 1 line is now what 2 lines used to cost. Their website is crazy to understand.
So.........again, I am considering getting rid of our landline. What I like about it is that it has enhanced 911........which means we don't even have to talk into it in an emergency, but just dial 911 and they know who is calling and where we live. That's not capable on a cell phone.
I just feel like I'm throwing away $40/mo. But....if for some reason my cell phone doesn't work, I want a back-up....especially living out in the country.

Any suggestions?

[SteveinMN]

How about voice service through your cable TV provider (if you have cable TV; I don't remember if you do)? That probably will not offer enhanced 911, but it's worth asking or checking the provider's Web site.

Another option might be a second cell phone on another carrier. You can buy a cheap featurephone/dumbphone for another carrier that has good service in your neighborhood and activate it on a Pay As You Go prepaid plan on that carrier or on a reliable MVNO like PagePlus or Airvoice. That kind of service could run you less than $10 a month. Just think of it as another insurance policy.

[CathyA]

Thanks Steve. Sometimes I think I'm not smart enough in this complicated digital world! No, we don't have cable. But the second cell phone is probably a good idea.
I wonder if I can have my present home phone number put on it? My cell phone number is different than my landline phone. But if I had another cell phone just to keep as the "house" phone, I'd want my present landline number on it. (I'd hate to miss all those telemarketer calls!). haha

[CathyA]

I just spent about an hour on live chat with an AT&T "specialist". There was a mistake in my bill, but she couldn't really tell me what it was. Her grammar/english (in typed version) was hard to understand. She couldn't answer questions and when she did, I couldn't understand them. They made no sense. I HATE AT&T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think I'll proceed with the extra cell phone plan!

[Sad Eyed Lady]

I have a love/hate relationship with AT&T. "Love" I guess because I feel like I need them, hate because as CathyA said the bill is constantly going up and there are so many fees and charges that doesn't make sense. I too called and asked and got hard to decipher answers. We have the bare bones; no caller id, no call return, nothing extra at all but still the monthly charges are hefty, IMO. We don't use them for long distance, but still we are charged a flat rate for long distance service (just to have it), so that is one charge I am thinking of getting rid of.

[CathyA]

SadEyedLady............I don't use long distance with them. almost everywhere I called was long distance, even if it was just 10 miles down the road..........so I went with Power Net Global. They very little.......like $4.00. I don't really use that phone anymore, but when I was making alot of "long distance" calls, it was still very cheaper. AT&T is such a rip-off.

[pinkytoe]

Will never forget the time we called ATT&T to cancel our landline during the holidays one year and specified a date two weeks forward to do so. We needed that time to make other arrangements. Instead, they canceled it immediately and we were left without internet for a month because any attempt to correct the situation just made it worse. I think like many corporations they are just way too big and unwieldy.

[ToomuchStuff]

What do you have and use for internet acess?

[ApatheticNoMore]

Oh I prefer a landline for the same reason you do: safety, not just the 911 capacities but it's been reported that a big earthquake could cause serious problems in the ability to use cell phones. Oh great you know. But if cell phones stop working in an earthquake (even if just because they became overloaded with calls), you can still sometimes use the cell phones to send texts in an emergency as text is much less vulnerable. And it's true landlines can also be knocked over. Probably why it's best to have both (even if it's a cheapo cell). Ok 911 response may not be great in an earthquake anyway, but you'd probably want to have a working phone :)

Agree about AT&T and their rates. It's now costing over $35 a month for a bare bones phone without long distance, the rates go up every single month. To put that in context many months (well maybe not winter when I'm using heat) that's more than my gas bill and more than my electricity bill (with green power).

You would think there would be an enhanced 911 app for cell phones but I don't know what is involved there (look if the NSA can track your location on a cell phone without your permission, and it seems they do, why not 911 if you choose it).

I've mentioned before that landline phones can be hacked to use phone companies that are not the official carrier. I know because when I moved into this apartment the phone line had been hacked to use I think Verizon landline and I stupidly had the phone company (AT&T) fix it because from my perspective it was just "my phone doesn't work? why doesn't it work?" but they told me it had been hacked for another carrier. It's pretty gray market though, you'd have to find someone to do that and I'm not sure if it's legal or not. I honestly wouldn't even think it was possible at all, except that it seems it was done. AT&T is very annoying but not yet THAT annoying for me.

[CathyA]

Pinkytoe.....that's awful. You must have been sooooooo frustrated!
TMS........we used to just have a phone line for the internet. It was awful. Now we have our own WiFi plug-in thingy and it works great!
I spent about 40 minutes this morning on "Live Chat" with an AT&T "specialist" to find out why my single-line, bare-bones plan is up to $41.56, instead of in the 30's. She really couldn't tell me and said "its the billing department, issues..." She said she'd give me $5 off. She kept asking me to wait a minute, and then had a hard time answering my questions. And she wrote like she didn't know the language.........wrong word usage, wrong verb tense, etc. After about 40 minutes of this, she wanted alot more info about my account. I said I have to go......... Nothing can make me crazier than a company that's ripping me off, charging me wrong, doesn't know what their doing, etc. :devil:

I guess since I'm a worse-case-senario person, I want to be able to dial 911, under really bad conditions, and even if I can't talk right, they know where to come. I know that's worrying too much........but that's just me.

Oh.....and the landline I have is really bad. There is so much interference, that I can't really use it to talk on. The repair guy has been here and said its probably the underground cable. He said it would have to be dug up from the road and replaced (about 1/4 mile through our yard/garden, etc.) I said no. But............it would be at their expense, so I might just have them do it, and then cancel my service. :laff:

[ToomuchStuff]

So you have some sort of wireless, is it cell phone based or does it use a neighbors internet (just a wireless card) etc?

The reason I am asking is trying to determine what might work. What my dad and mom discussed, was using something like OOMA, where it uses your internet connection, and provides enhanced 911 (because the only cost, at least in their location is about $5 in taxes a month), while it would have allowed them to pay a fee and transfer their home number to it. My brother discussed Google voice, since I think there is now some service that can handle 911 for it.
In my location, I considered OOMA for something like a separate line for CL stuff (getting rid of stuff), so I don't use up my limited minutes. In things like ice storms, both my services come in under tree's and could be knocked out.
So far, I went with just a cell phone, which runs me about $60 a year (I don't use many minutes). Part of my reasoning was in some area's I go, even with a corded phone, due to city limits, I may be calling about something that requires the neighboring city (few FEET away), but can't directly dial that 911 number (never found another number for 911, such as non emergency number). I normally have some sort of access to other people, that I could get attention if some issue that I couldn't dial. Lastly, with today's computer capabilities, I could probably make a script that would dial 911 and play a wave file saying my location and emergency and my location. (like emergency locator beason's).

In the country area's that my boss and brother live, my boss dropped his home phone, because it was less dependable then cell service. My brothers isn't much better (so they have effectively never had E911) I grew up without 911, back in the days when you had to call the departments individually and one thing still applies... if your incapacitatied, your still not going to be calling 911, and will have to physically get to a phone first.

[Tanglefoot]

In my area, the city government encourages residents to register their cell phones at https://www.smart911.com/. That way, when dispatch receives a call from a cell number, the address information and other info in the profile comes up on their terminal. I'm not sure if all dispatch centers use that service but you could inquire.

[CathyA]

That's a great possibility Tanglefoot! If I do replace my landline with a cellular, I will call my local sheriff's office and see if they do that. That's a good idea!
TMS........We have a WiFi thing, and then another thing that plugs into a USB port in our computer tower, so we can use the WiFi. It works great. My DH can use the internet on his phone.........but AT&T will only let us have 10 GBs a month (for $50/mo). If we go over, it costs $15 per additional GB. We usually use 11GB a month.....so he tries not to over-use it on his cell phone.
I guess it's what happens when you live out in the country and some plans don't service this area, and we're not in a good spot for a satellite dish. Gosh. Life to be so much less expensive without all these conveniences!

[SteveinMN]

CathyA, the FCC rules now are that you can "port" a phone number (landline or wireless) to a new carrier in almost every case. In fact, my mobile number started as my landline number years and years ago. So, yes, you could move your landline number to a second cell phone. Just make sure you keep up on the service, because you can lose your number if it lapses (or, technically, if you're using a carrier that goes bankrupt and liquidates).

Another option if you really want 911 service no-matter-what is what's called a "Personal Locator Beacon". It's a battery-powered electronic device that functions a little like GPS in that it does not rely on access to a particular carrier, but works pretty much everywhere. Leave it at home, take it on road trips, whatever. There is an annual subscription fee, which is more expensive than PAYGO on a national carrier like Verizon, but security has its price.

[CathyA]

Thanks for that info Steve!

[onlinemoniker]

Get rid of your land line. Put a tray next to the front door and drop your cell phone in it every time you come in the door. In 3 weeks you will have established a habit and you won't miss your land line--or the bills.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I can understand how you feel about AT and T, Cathy. I had a period from November 2011 to April 2013 where I went though just about every cell phone carrier available in Phoenix (except AT and T due to prior issues with them) - some screw up happened with my service/bill with every other Phoenix carrier. I very quickly became disillusioned with cell phone service period. Somehow I got lucky, though, as I accepted a serving job in far rural Utah (that didn't work out) and the only carriers that worked there were Verizon and AT and T so I started over with Verizon and have had no problems with them so far this time around, for which I am very grateful. But all these communications companies can drive a person nuts is what I found out. Rob

[Packy]

This all sounds familiar. Besides the technical problems(my phone rings back sometimes after a long-distance call; caller id says it is Me, etc.), I have to call cuss 'em out service very other month to adjust my bill. I figure the company just has bad management, and it is reflected in mediocre service.