To contemplate not having a landline?

[ShetlandWife]

I've just moved, and I've been getting the runaround with the phone line /broadband set up. So far it is two weeks since it was supposed to be live, and nothing yet.

Wibu to just say sod it, and update to unlimited data on my phone instead, using it to hot-spot my laptop and firetv?

Anyone done this and have any feedback?

Ps online gamers here so would not be able to cope with just mobile

To everyone that says they don't have a landline, how do you access the Internet?

Do you have cable? (not available here), rely on mobile data or have Internet via the landline but just aren't using it for calls?

We built our home 10
Years ago and didn’t bother installing phone jacks or getting a drop run to the house.

I still wouldn’t be without internet though. There is no way my phone could provide adequate connection speeds and data volumes.

We have to have a phone line as we don't have fibre to the premises, just to the cabinet. We haven't made calls on the landline for years. My mum and dad do insist on calling it, even though I've told them to call our mobiles. Typical parents. As soon as FTTP is available here, the landline will be sacked off.

I can't imagine not having a router at home. Would be too slow, battery-draining and a pain if the phone you're tethered to leaves the room and loses connectivity for whatever reason.

Here in Sydney it's becoming quite uncommon to still have a landline in the home. Did away with mine ages/years ago. Have never missed it.

I don't understand why relatives calling seperate mobiles is better PhilCornwall1 - say you have a long term couple and their 3 mutual teen kids in the house - why would you want grandparents to call your mobile? I want my parents to call the landline and chat to whoever is actually sitting about at home, not phone my mobile while I'm driving, at work, shopping, running errands, at lectures, socialising or whatever!

It's also preferable in a minor emergency requiring immediate assistance - call my mobile, I could be unable to leave work until I've found someone to cover (24/ 7 job in a healthcare setting, losing my job if I just left would be the most minor consequence) so calling my mobile number would often mean me immediately calling the landline anyway to ask DH to deal with whatever had happened if he was home.

Calling the landline first means higher odds of reaching someone who is at home rather than 60 miles away with their hands full unable to talk freely or jump in the car immediately!

I live in Melbourne. Haven't had a landline in 8 years and haven't missed it. We have decent internet and use our mobiles and iPads to call, WhatsApp or Skype.

So glad to see the responses as I'm currently deciding on whether to change to a mobile wifi unit in my house which I can also take out in the campervan. Or to have unlimited data on my phone and tether.
I'm hopefully moving soon and think it would solve problems in the short term with not having to get new internet sorted out. My worry is that I didn't have a good enough mobile signal wherever I am.
I currently have a mifi unit in my van which I've been buying 3 data for but which works out far too expensive ( when GS wants to watch crap on youtube)
Any advise?

We haven't had a house phone for ages.

Only MiL called it at stupid o clock at the weekend. She was most put out when we got rid so she couldn't say "oh sorry, did I wake you up?" Or "stop being so lazy" at 7am on a Sunday (pre kids). Ha.

We technically have one as we have a hub plugged in but no phone.

So glad to see the responses as I'm currently deciding on whether to change to a mobile wifi unit in my house which I can also take out in the campervan.
I'm pretty sure a good chunk of posters have missed the point of the thread.

I'm not sure what you mean Spam.

Do you mean landline telephone or landline as in internet access or both?

We have a landline phone, and use it because the sound quality is better. We also use the internet a lot.

Im going to put a handset back after not having had one as my kids are old enoygh to be left for 10 mins while inrun to the corner shop but wont have their own mobiles for a year or two yet and i want them to have access incase of emergency.

The OP is trying to ask about whether people forego having internet at home and instead just rely on using mobile phones as wireless hotspots for their household devices. A lot of the replies seem to be addressing whether or not someone has a home telephone.

We only have one as its part of the package. The only people who call is my mil and cold callers - almost 100% of them are from virgin as we don't give out the number!

HugeAckmansWife that's exactly the kind of thing I wonder about when families (rather than single childless people, for whom 1 adult, 1 mobile makes far more sense perhaps) don't have a landline.

Do you give your child a mobile phone before you leave them home alone?

It seems mad - surely the belt and braces of a landline and a mobile is safer if you choose to give your child a mobile, because mobiles are easily misplaced or left uncharged, but a landline which sits on its charge unit and doesn't allow the unsupervised watching of YouTube or sending of WhatsApps potentially with video or photos (I know WiFi can be switched off, but it can be switched back on too...) nor the sending of text messages is surely safer for a child under 11...

Do 7 year olds not phone their friends any more, on speaker with parents in the background to organise playing together? Do parents organise everything for their children and treat them as toddlers until the moment they are given a mobile and are treated as teens?

Spamantha yes - this is a chat forum, we aren't being paid to serve the original poster, opening posts spark dialogue and discussion around the topic.

I like having one for when i lose my phone and need to call it.

Also lots of forms still ask for it. I quite like being able to make calls regardless of electricity. I'm surprised at how few people here have them tbh.

Also i'm assuming none of you live alone - my mobile phone breaks once or twice a year and then i need a way for the dcs schools to contact me and also a way to alert the mobile phone company.

@notnowmaybelater

Yes but I think a lot of the people posting answers like 'yes I haven't had one since the 90s' or 'I don't know anyone in my generation that has one' are misunderstanding the question.

I think OP has realised but I don't think @billandbenflowerpotmen1, who I was replying to, had.

Spamantha ah okay.

Threads about threads are against talk guidelines so going off on a tangent has to be allowed though!

@notnowmaybelater

Different people prefer different ways don't they? It's not something I think about much at all, just mentioned it here. As soon as I don't have to have a landline, they'll have no choice if they want to call me. The landline will be gone.

notnow they dont go out alone yet, though they have started doing the corner shop run, during which i basicallybstand ar the door and watch them most of the eay. If they werent back in 5 mins I'd go looking. There are far more real and likely issues around screen use / cyberbullying / internet access than there are around stranger danger, randon house fires etc so mine wont have phones til secondary school, or the summer in between. Mine talk to their friends at school. They are there til gone 5 most days so they dont go short of time!

RuffleCrow what are you doing to your phone that it breaks twice a year?