Whats the point of a landline phone?

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Are there any advantages?

A bit slow on the uptake but we pay an annual amount plus calller ID and unlimited calls but we already have those things on our mobile packages.

Are there any good reasons to have mobile and landline or is landline now a relic?

Unless things have changed quite recently, and I haven't noticed, you can't usually have home broadband without paying for a landline unless you have Virgin Media or mobile broadband to use at home, but I don't think the latter is suitable/cost effective for all but the most basic use, ie no streaming or gaming.

Or there are broadband only providers but they aren't any cheaper than packages that include a landline.

For my FiL and aunt to ring us. They are the only people who use that number.

They don't run out of charge ( extended power cut maybe?) and if your mobile network goes down (happens on occasion) you can still make and receive calls.

For my MIL and SIL to call because no matter how many times I ask, they will NOT call our mobiles. So when they do call it takes us a while to figure out what that weird noise is, then it's a mad scramble over the back of the settee to move the lamp and answer the phone.

They're a complete rip off. Landlines are pointless. Only use in one place, they charge for all calls, charge for call blocking, charge for caller ID, limited, if any, number storage, no specific number blocking only international or withheld, not a multifunctional device, horrendous for cold call harassment if they get your number and costs a fortune.

All so I can have broadband.

Business use if you are a self-employed tradesperson or work from home. People trust you less if you only have a mobile number to call on your business card or leaflet.

Elderly customers in particular don't like calling mobiles, they think it costs a lot.

Oh and won't work in a power cut if they're digital. Not many people have phones that don't plug into the electric.

Thank you, more food for thought.

Going to investigate the broadband thing - that would make it unfeasible.

Power cut is a possibility but with three DC in the house and lots of tech we have a bank of 5 big multicharge back up power packs.

Between the five of use we're with three different networks and based in town so unless all networks down not an issue.

My mum was the only person, other than telesales and marketing people to use the landline. We're training her on her mobile phone and she's getting used to it. She actually said whats the point of a landline now then, it got me pondering.

I haven't had one for about eight years. Even when I needed one for broadband I just got the cheapest line rental deal and didn't plug a phone into the socket.

Even before I got rid of it I only used it to call my mum.

I do find it uncomfortable to have long conversations on a mobile as I find they get very hot, so I do that over Skype or FB messenger video now, on a computer.

An old fashioned type phone will still work in a powercut. Could be vital in an emeegency if you your mobile runs out of charge. Also, you can normally hear people much better on a landline!

Where we live our mobile signal is so poor we need a landline. Doesn't matter which provider, it's just a bad spot. But I do think the Government should do something forcing better mobile coverage in rural areas and broadband for that matter! And then we could untie our broadband to our landlines. It's not kept pace with the speed of uptake across the UK

Elderly relatives will only call my landline. They don't want to call my mobile just because they don't!

I have digital phones around the house plus an old school phone that you plug directly into the socket which has proved useful in powercuts.

I think ours just came with our broadband/telly package. Only MIL ever rings it though.
As contact says, when I worked for myself from home I had a land line and mobile on business card and customers would ring the land line more often than the mobile- it was a few years ago though, I imagine people wouldn't care as much now?

I have a land-line for thr broadband but no phone plugged into it, I've used mobile only for years now.

We used to live very rurally in a mobile dead zone with frequent power cuts, had to get a non powered phone as power was often off for hours at a time. I hear you on the mobile networks should be supporting the whole country not just the population dense areas.

Some people used those vodaphone mobile signal via your internet boxes to have a decent mobile signal at home - but ment you were tied to Vodaphone.

It appears @BarbaraofSeville is right, its only virgin media that offer broadband only and its double the cost without landline package.

No reason I can't stop all the extras though like caller display and unlimited calls. Thinking I might do as @ChesterDrawsDoesntExist suggests and just unplug. Sometimes then most simple solution is the best.

It's more physically comfortable to use a larger landline phone, and the sound quality is better. Also, I can hear the landline all over the house, but if the mobile is upstairs and I'm downstairs, I can't always hear it.

... hear it ringing, I mean.

Mine is literally only used to ring the mobile when in the house and I cannot find it!

Only use in one place, they charge for all calls, charge for call blocking, charge for caller ID, limited, if any, number storage, no specific number blocking only international or withheld, not a multifunctional device, horrendous for cold call harassment if they get your number and costs a fortune.

Not necessarily true. We have a digital one which is cordless (as well as a plug-in one for powercuts), it stores 100 numbers, you can pay for all inclusive calls, although we don't, we have minimal bother with cold callers (registered with the TPS as soon as we got the number), we can block individual numbers if we want. We keep it because our mobile reception is poor in the house.

Because its included with the virgin package
Because my mother and mother in law ring it
Because DH leaves his mobile in the car all the time, so the only way I can get in touch is via the landline. If he happens to be in the living room.

Thats it. It annoys me that we have to pay for something thats hardly used.

If I am calling someone from home I will always use my landline and not my mobile. The sound quality tends to be better and I find the handset more comfortable to hold for a period of time, especially without the mobile's cover flapping around.

Sometimes you can get a landline rolled into your broadband package which makes it cheaper. We got rid of our landline after burglars cut the connection (thinking that our security system was monitored through the landline) and we didn’t even notice for six weeks, which showed how little we needed it.

However if I was still living in London I might consider keeping a landline because I remember the entire mobile network being overwhelmed and going down after every terrorist incident, usually for most of a day.

I've not had a home phone for 4 years. Bliss. It doesn't sound like you need one.

I got rid of our landline in 2006. I've never missed it.

Better sound quality and handy for calling a household when you don't mind who you speak to. So if my parents want to come by and see the kids during the summer, when it could be any of half a dozen adults looking after them, they can just call the house. Also useful for important calls (FIL in hospital, kind of thing)

Agree it looks more professional for a business.