Do you still have a landline?

[TheyNicknamedHerTheBolter]

Mindless Saturday wonderings.

So last night I spent about an hour on the phone to an elderly relative.

She mentioned that she was sat in her chair and could see out of the window, while I was on my mobile using one hand to hold the phone and the other to clear the absolute hurricane of toys that my DC has spread throughout the house, load the dishwasher and wipe the kitchen sides.

I tend to do lots while I'm on the phone because I like to walk and talk, but remember (when I was a teen at home) having only a landline when it was a case of stand still, talk, do nothing else. Ours wasn't even near a chair so we would be stood, twirling the cord around, chatting.

Me and DH had a landline in our first home 15 years ago but has the ringer turned off.

I'm just being nosey.... so you still have one? And if you do, can you sit down by it?! I suppose the aibu is 'to only have a mobile' 🤣

Yes, as my mobile signal isn't great in the house. I live in a village but on quite a remote estate.

Except a 999 call to the ambulance service from my landline meant I could stay with my very sick husband when he had a stroke while sitting on the sofa, going out into the garden, in the dark, would've left him completely unattended because I couldn't have dragged him with me.

Haven't had a landline for at least a decade

We have one, comes with BT package, never use it unless it's to call my mobile which l have put down somewhere stupid in flat.
I don't think anyone has the number? maybe my 80 year old dad has, but he prefers to call on his mobile, to my mobile ...

If your landline happens to be exactly where your husband was taken ill, fine but that was luck

If the power is down your cordless phone won't work you know

Yes because the mobile signal around here can be shockingly bad, friends laugh when we say call us or we will call you back on the house phone 😂

Yes because we have no mobile phone signal here due to remote location. Our mobile phones are connected to wifi indoors but this is provided by Airband and is not the most reliable. So yes, landline stays - even if it doesn't get used very often.

I can walk around with my landline and it's more comfortable for long calls than my mobile is.

I've still got one - it's free with broadband. Evening and weekend calls are free, as are daytime calls to anyone on the same network. It is used mainly for long duration calls to family.

It's better than mobile when calling small businesses that don't have computerised answering menus (such as my local pharmacy). On a mobile the call drops after about 10 unanswered rings, but on a landline you can wait until the call is picked up.

I live about 100 yards from a county boundary, and the cell mast nearest to me is in the next county. Dial 999 from my mobile at home and I get put through to the "wrong" call centre, and fire and police don't respond to incidents over the border. (I have to set my mobile to internet calling and call via wi-fi and the router to contact the right county - or just use the landline)

With two wireless handsets it can also be used like a walkie talkie within the house and garden! This saves a lot of running up and down the stairs when doing electrical or plumbing DIY upstairs, with a second person situated at the mains switch or stopcock.

I've got an arthritic condition and used to get painful wrist and fingers holding the mobile for long calls. then I realised I could use my AirPods and talk hands free! Never occurred to me before. I'd had them for ages but just used them for listening to music and audio books.
Made such a difference being able to carry on with what I was doing before being interrupted by someone wanting a long chat. Now I carry on cooking, walking the dog etc while talking.

No. We haven't had a landline in about five years and even then, MIL was the only person who ever rung us on it, lol.

Sort of, my fibre broadband comes through it but haven't got a phone plugged in

Yes and we upgraded to the cloud broadband version a couple of years ago. Mobile phone coverage here is so sketchy and sometimes the network goes down for several days (even though we are in a popular SE town!). Without a landline, I would miss any important calls from schools, doctors etc plus it's easier to contact older relatives on. The new line is also so much clearer, I prefer to use it for calls than my mobile.

We technically have a line but we don’t have a phone for it. Haven’t used a landline since my mobile package had unlimited minutes

@TheyNicknamedHerTheBolter

From next year landlines are being phased out as the technology they run on is changed.

they'll be replaced by using an internet connection - I assume you'll still be able to use a retro-style landline phone that will just plug into a new or upgraded socket.

I don't know if landline phone numbers will change.

I hope lots of help is available for the very elderly that this might feel like a big deal for.

yes
dh db use it
even my dm uses my mobile
and the vet use it, strangely

Yes. I've got the line for broadband and have a cordless phone for it.

It's useful because 1) the mobile signal here is unreliable and 2) mother in law prefers to ring landline numbers because they're included in her BT contract.

I think we might technically have a number still, I have no idea. We haven’t had an actual house phone for about 15 years, I reckon.

No. We didn’t get one put in when we moved here 12 years ago. My folks still have one. The problem they have is that they used to run a business from home and so had a business line. They gave up the business years ago but kept the number. They cannot get BT to understand that they don’t need it to be business anymore. Now they have this system where is they are on the phone and someone else calls then the extension rings!

Yes because the mobile reception in my house is too poor and being in a rural area we're low priority for repairs so if there's an issue with the mobile mast it can be weeks/months before it's fixed.

No.
The farmer knocked the wire down but denied it. Would cost £140 to have it repaired.
We live rurally where there is no fibre broadband, so there is no benefit to having it restored.

No, we didn’t bother when we bought this house 2 years ago

i believe that for the broadband we do have a “geographical number” but def no landline phone and I can’t think where the phone plug sockets would be (house built 20 years ago so presumably has them).

I was a bit funny about it but I totally think they are pointless in this day and age

and yes I remember the queues for the phone when growing up.

Nope, not had one since 2004, saw no point paying for both a moblie and landline phone.

People with no mobile signal at all and VoIP you are entitled to a free battery from your provider to back up the router in a power cut.

I haven't had a landline since around 2007, I will admit I do miss twirling the cord around while on the phone.