They are turning off landlines in 2025!

[Chrispy]

I've been landline-free for 15 years now.....and didn't use that landline much for the 8 years before I cut it off.

 

[Digby]

Maybe this is an argument for landlines as being similar to a defibrillator. There are plenty of these to be seen on British streets, but (thankfully) they are little used. They are there for an emergency. Surely there should be a system available in an emergency, that works without electricity/masts running?

 

[Digby]

Apparently we are in a hole due to the mountainous terrain around us (not all that bad, but guess nearest towers do not have line of sight to the house, more likely trees than terrain IMO).

No possibility of using a large external antenna?

 

[Blumlein 88]

No possibility of using a large external antenna?

I've seen Cell Phone boosters make dramatic improvements in marginal reception areas. There is a point where the signal is simply too low for that to work. I don't know everyone's situation. For WISP service, there are rather larger dishes or other devices that might make a big difference. Depends upon the particulars of each situation. If either signal is occluded by terrain or absorbed by trees, there may not be a solution. I'd be looking at Starlink in those cases if it were me.

 

[Digby]

occluded

a good word, rarely spotted!

 

[Chrispy]

No possibility of using a large external antenna?

I used to live in a town like his....no cell phones or tv or radio, little town in a deep valley in the mountains. They finally put in a repeater to fix that a few years later....

 

[spigot]

3G also being phased out, ends this month in my area (from my provider). Not that I use it.

 

[DonH56]

No possibility of using a large external antenna?

I've seen Cell Phone boosters make dramatic improvements in marginal reception areas. There is a point where the signal is simply too low for that to work. I don't know everyone's situation. For WISP service, there are rather larger dishes or other devices that might make a big difference. Depends upon the particulars of each situation. If either signal is occluded by terrain or absorbed by trees, there may not be a solution. I'd be looking at Starlink in those cases if it were me.

No on the antenna, just not practical and Verizon said it would not be likely to help, and we tried a booster that did not help. Verizon says we are in a "hole" due to being in the trees and out of line of sight of any local tower (we are actually above some, and the one nearest and about our height is blocked by a couple of miles of trees). They provided a network extender that ties to our internet, but we randomly lose internet (Comcast) for a few minutes to a few hours about every month or so. We are a little rural'ish area tucked between two large subdivisions; they got fiber, we did not, so our only high-speed internet option is cable. The landline is the only completely (knock on wood) reliable phone service. We rarely use it, but in case of an emergency (like wildfire, snowstorm, or police activity) that is how we get alerted, and how we reach others when the internet is out. It is also used for the house alarm system, again for reliability.

 

[Blumlein 88]

No on the antenna, just not practical and Verizon said it would not be likely to help, and we tried a booster that did not help. Verizon says we are in a "hole" due to being in the trees and out of line of sight of any local tower (we are actually above some, and the one nearest and about our height is blocked by a couple of miles of trees). They provided a network extender that ties to our internet, but we randomly lose internet (Comcast) for a few minutes to a few hours about every month or so. We are a little rural'ish area tucked between two large subdivisions; they got fiber, we did not, so our only high-speed internet option is cable. The landline is the only completely (knock on wood) reliable phone service. We rarely use it, but in case of an emergency (like wildfire, snowstorm, or police activity) that is how we get alerted, and how we reach others when the internet is out. It is also used for the house alarm system, again for reliability.

So what about Starlink service? It is pricey at $120/month and I think $600 up front cost.

I looked at the topography and a tricky location for sure.

 

[DonH56]

So what about Starlink service? It is pricey at $120/month and I think $600 up front cost.

Not going there. We got a new landline provider, and with that and cell phones we are already hitting $200+/month not including another $250 for cable service (TV + internet). I am already trying to cut back, this is unsustainable. No other providers, thus no competition, in our rural area.

My current fiasco is trying to get the automatic bank deductions killed. They took out one and said they'd refund the difference from when I changed providers, then just took out another last week. Another call (the MCI website no longer works), and they said they'd refund and stop the autopay, we'll see. In the meantime today I get a letter saying they are crediting my account for the refund, and it should appear on the next invoice. You know, the account that is closed, and I have no access to. Scum. So another call next week, more hours wasted, blah.

 

[Berwhale]

No tornados, but we've had a bit of rain here and my fibre broadband connection has been fine...

This amount of rain frequently caused issues with my old connection which was a 900m run of underground copper and aluminium to the local cabinet.

 

[restorer-john]

As my father used to say, "Preparation is the difference between inconvenience and disaster."

I really like your father's saying. I think I might have to borrow it.

 

[antcollinet]

"Preparation is the difference between inconvenience and disaster."

There is another known as the 6 p's

"Proper preparation prevents piss poor performance." **


** wot I am trying to do now as part of fixing a leaking heating system.

 

[DonR]

I really like your father's saying. I think I might have to borrow it.

Feel free. Sadly, he no longer uses it... or any other saying but his knowledge lives on.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I really like your father's saying. I think I might have to borrow it.

Don't let it get out of hand. My father said that and similar. Lived it too. Became something of a pathology as he got older. Everything was tied with a triple knot. He took to only driving out of town if he had two spares in the trunk (even though he hadn't had a flat in 20+years in fact would never have another in his life). He took more and more tools with him "just in case". Took to putting oil in his car thru a paint filter even though he never got anything in the filter nor had that been in issue with a new container of oil. Do you know how long it takes to do that? And more and more little things. They weren't bad, and sometimes would be good, but it had gotten to the point it was overall detrimental. Proof that the old saying "you can never be too prepared" is in fact not true.

 

[DonR]

Don't let it get out of hand. My father said that and similar. Lived it too. Became something of a pathology as he got older. Everything was tied with a triple knot. He took to only driving out of town if he had two spares in the trunk (even though he hadn't had a flat in 20+years in fact would never have another in his life). He took more and more tools with him "just in case". Took to putting oil in his car thru a paint filter even though he never got anything in the filter nor had that been in issue with a new container of oil. Do you know how long it takes to do that? And more and more little things. They weren't bad, and sometimes would be good, but it had gotten to the point it was overall detrimental. Proof that the old saying "you can never be too prepared" is in fact not true.

Yes, for some people it can become obsessive. I don't need 2 generators, just one that I know will work by testing it before hand and servicing when it likely won't be needed. Just a matter of minimizing the probabilities without too much effort.

 

[restorer-john]

No other providers, thus no competition, in our rural area.

Is fixed wireless a thing in the rural parts of the US?

 

[Blumlein 88]

Is fixed wireless a thing in the rural parts of the US?

In some places it is. But where DonH56 lives it is a nightmare due to the terrain, and trees.

At least the part of the country where I live 5G cell network fixed wireless has gotten pretty good for those not well served otherwise. In remote enough areas you won't even get that however.

 

[restorer-john]

Yes, for some people it can become obsessive. I don't need 2 generators, just one that I know will work by testing it before hand and servicing when it likely won't be needed.

I reckon 2 generators is going a bit far, unless they see a lot of work. Ours gets so little use, I had taken it to the offsite storage and you guessed it, a few weeks later, I needed to go get the thing.

Started immediately after 5 years of no use- but, the fuel line looked a bit cracked (no leaks but...). So, off to the autoparts store for some better fuel line and a few SS screw clamps before I put it to work. Oil was fine, only had to top-up about 150ml after 4 days (12-14hrs per day) of operation. It paid for itself- again.

Do you think it's best to drain the fuel tank and float bulb or just start the thing every 6 months? (It has a fuel cock I turn off)

 

[Killingbeans]

What do you think, am I worrying about nothing or is the humble landline going to be something we miss when it is gone for good, replaced by other technology that while more handy, is significantly less reliable?

I moved out of my parent's house right around the turn of the millennium, got myself a Nokia 3310 and haven't looked back since.

Never had a landline at any point in my adult life so far, so naturally I won't be missing them.

Of course, it helps to live in a country that's only slightly larger than a beer coaster and equally flat