My telephone charges creep upwards, almost every month, mostly due to
increased government mandated charges. I pay AT&T now $ 26 a month for what
is essentially local service. Long Distance is on a separate bill from ECG.

What are the alternatives to increasingly expensive land-lines? We live in a
low area and have poor cellphone connections. What is this Magic Jack thing?
Does it work? What are the drawbacks?

What is VOIP? Just heard about it? Is this another valid alternative.

Thanks for any input.

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-

Walter R. wrote:
My telephone charges creep upwards, almost every month, mostly due to
increased government mandated charges. I pay AT&T now $ 26 a month for what
is essentially local service. Long Distance is on a separate bill from ECG.

What are the alternatives to increasingly expensive land-lines? We live in a
low area and have poor cellphone connections. What is this Magic Jack thing?
Does it work? What are the drawbacks?

What is VOIP? Just heard about it? Is this another valid alternative.

Thanks for any input.

Strongly suggest that you use google to learn a lot.
Your questions are broad.

Walter R. wrote:
My telephone charges creep upwards, almost every month, mostly due to
increased government mandated charges. I pay AT&T now $ 26 a month
for what is essentially local service. Long Distance is on a separate
bill from ECG.
What are the alternatives to increasingly expensive land-lines? We
live in a low area and have poor cellphone connections. What is this
Magic Jack thing? Does it work? What are the drawbacks?

What is VOIP? Just heard about it? Is this another valid alternative.

Thanks for any input.

We have VoIP from Vonage. You get a box that plugs into you router (much
like a computer). Then you plug your telephone into the box. That's it. The
telephone jack on the box is identical in every way to an incoming trunk
line (our two VOIP lines go to our PBX system - just like a telco trunk line
would).

For $19.95/month* you get:
* A telephone number
* A host of goodies like call-waiting, caller-id, voice mail,
call-forwarding, etc.
* All the long distance you can eat.

VOIP requires an always-on high-speed internet connection (DSL or Cable).

With some VOIP vendors, you can keep your existing number. With all vendors
you can choose your area code. Suppose you live in Little Rabbit, Montana
but all your relatives live in Boston. By choosing a 617 area code, when
your relatives call you, to them it's a local call.

I think the MagicJack gizmo works pretty much the same way, but it uses your
computer to replace the "box."

As an alternative, contact your local AT&T office and tell them you just
cannot stand this outrageous charge and that unless there's some adjustment,
you're going to switch. They WILL lower you bill. By as much as half.

An obvious alternative to the alternative is a cell phone.

Good luck.

-------
* The $19.95 (or whatever) is the total. No 9-11 fee, no Al Gore Tax, no
Spanish-American War Excise tax, no sales tax, nothing. It's $19.95 period.

Walter R. wrote:
My telephone charges creep upwards, almost every month, mostly due to
increased government mandated charges. I pay AT&T now $ 26 a month for what
is essentially local service. Long Distance is on a separate bill from ECG.

What are the alternatives to increasingly expensive land-lines? We live in a
low area and have poor cellphone connections. What is this Magic Jack thing?
Does it work? What are the drawbacks?

What is VOIP? Just heard about it? Is this another valid alternative.

Thanks for any input.

IIRC VOIP stands for "voice over internet Protocol. You can purchase the
service from Vonage (about $30.00 per month). Free VOIP is available
from SKYPE, however you may not have incoming service (others can
elaborate about this).

I have a Magic Jack (MJ) and use it quite a lot. I believe that it is
also a form of VIOP. It costs about $30 initially and then about $10.00
per year. Even though I have the MJ I still maintain my land line
because the MJ is not 100% reliable.

MJ, SKYPE and Vonage all require a high speed internet connection (i.e.
cable, HS digital or equivalent).

Each of these services(and there may be more), have their strong points
and weaknesses. For example I don't think that MJ has provisions for
international calls, whereas SKYPE does. I'm not sure about Vonage.

Rather than going into them all here I suggest you start goggling them
for info.

HTH,

EJ in NJ

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:23:40 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

With some VOIP vendors, you can keep your existing number. With all vendors
you can choose your area code. Suppose you live in Little Rabbit, Montana
but all your relatives live in Boston. By choosing a 617 area code, when
your relatives call you, to them it's a local call.

One of the negatives of VOIP has been calling 911. The vendors were to make
improvements in this area. Not having VOIP I don't know the current status,
but others can jump in with their 911 experience.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

Don Wiss wrote:
On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:23:40 -0500, HeyBub
wrote:

With some VOIP vendors, you can keep your existing number. With all
vendors you can choose your area code. Suppose you live in Little
Rabbit, Montana but all your relatives live in Boston. By choosing a
617 area code, when your relatives call you, to them it's a local
call.

One of the negatives of VOIP has been calling 911. The vendors were
to make improvements in this area. Not having VOIP I don't know the
current status, but others can jump in with their 911 experience.


The Vonage folks fussed at me 'til I provided info for 911. Evidently they
can patch the call to the right place.

After reading the responses so far, I have decided to pay my 25 bucks and
keep my landline. At least I know that I have highly reliable service, when
I need it.

I also have a tracfone (cheap cellphone) which I keep in the car for
emergencies.

For long distance calls I use ECG which is a LD service that costs only
pennies per call, instead of ATT LD, which costs plenty dollares per call.

Thank you for replying

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-
"Walter R." wrote in message
...
My telephone charges creep upwards, almost every month, mostly due to
increased government mandated charges. I pay AT&T now $ 26 a month for
what is essentially local service. Long Distance is on a separate bill
from ECG.

What are the alternatives to increasingly expensive land-lines? We live in
a low area and have poor cellphone connections. What is this Magic Jack
thing? Does it work? What are the drawbacks?

What is VOIP? Just heard about it? Is this another valid alternative.

Thanks for any input.

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-

"Walter R." wrote in message
...
My telephone charges creep upwards, almost every month, mostly due to
increased government mandated charges. I pay AT&T now $ 26 a month for
what is essentially local service. Long Distance is on a separate bill
from ECG.


Our basic telephone charge is quite reasonable. What runs up the bill are
the various taxes and charges put in by the government.

For example, we have the "911" fee. We have a fee to pay for the operators
who "translate" voice to TTY for deaf folks. We have local utility tax.
We have the "universal service fee." We have a fee to pay for the system
that lets VOIP folks have any area code they want (number portability.)

What are the alternatives to increasingly expensive land-lines? We live in
a low area and have poor cellphone connections. What is this Magic Jack
thing? Does it work? What are the drawbacks?

What is VOIP? Just heard about it? Is this another valid alternative.

VOIP is Voice Over Internet Protocol. Magic Jack is a specific
implementation. If you have high speed internet your ISP should have
already tried to sell you on giving up your land line so I suspect you don't
have high speed internet.

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:34:21 -0700, "Walter R." wrote:

After reading the responses so far, I have decided to pay my 25 bucks and
keep my landline. At least I know that I have highly reliable service, when
I need it.

And it will work during power outages.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

Don Wiss wrote:
On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:23:40 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

With some VOIP vendors, you can keep your existing number. With all vendors
you can choose your area code. Suppose you live in Little Rabbit, Montana
but all your relatives live in Boston. By choosing a 617 area code, when
your relatives call you, to them it's a local call.

One of the negatives of VOIP has been calling 911. The vendors were to make
improvements in this area. Not having VOIP I don't know the current status,
but others can jump in with their 911 experience.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

If especially elderly folks or young children are involved 911 is the
main weak point of VoIP because unlike a POTS line which gives your
location information to the 911 system the VoIP carriers simply connect
the call to a regular number at the call center.

The other weak point is that many broadband carriers do not have backup
power on their equipment. So unlike a regular phone if the power goes
off the Internet connection may go off which also disables your phone
capability.

John Gilmer wrote:
"Walter R." wrote in message
...
My telephone charges creep upwards, almost every month, mostly due to
increased government mandated charges. I pay AT&T now $ 26 a month for
what is essentially local service. Long Distance is on a separate bill
from ECG.


Our basic telephone charge is quite reasonable. What runs up the bill are
the various taxes and charges put in by the government.

For example, we have the "911" fee. We have a fee to pay for the operators
who "translate" voice to TTY for deaf folks. We have local utility tax.
We have the "universal service fee." We have a fee to pay for the system
that lets VOIP folks have any area code they want (number portability.)

USF is one of my pet peeves. I border on what used to be rural area but
not any more. The local phone company is Frontier and they get boxes of
USF money to help them serve the "farmers". And to top it off no
competition is allowed. I ported our number to a VoIP carrier quite some
time ago. I mentioned it to one of my friends who lives in the "rural"
area and was surprised when I tried to order a port. No other carriers
are allowed to compete in "rural" areas.

Number portability has nothing to do with what you described. It means
that you are allowed to keep your number if you move to a different
provider.



What are the alternatives to increasingly expensive land-lines? We live in
a low area and have poor cellphone connections. What is this Magic Jack
thing? Does it work? What are the drawbacks?

What is VOIP? Just heard about it? Is this another valid alternative.

VOIP is Voice Over Internet Protocol. Magic Jack is a specific
implementation. If you have high speed internet your ISP should have
already tried to sell you on giving up your land line so I suspect you don't
have high speed internet.

"Walter R." wrote in
:

My telephone charges creep upwards, almost every month, mostly due to
increased government mandated charges. I pay AT&T now $ 26 a month
for what is essentially local service. Long Distance is on a separate
bill from ECG.

What are the alternatives to increasingly expensive land-lines? We
live in a low area and have poor cellphone connections. What is this
Magic Jack thing? Does it work? What are the drawbacks?

What is VOIP? Just heard about it? Is this another valid alternative.

Thanks for any input.

In addition to all the other good opinions, another thing (for some at
least) is to look into the "triple play" plans that cable TV companies
and Verizon have. I live in North Jersey 07410, and here Verizon has a
fiber plan that costs $100/mo plus fees+taxes and for that you get
unlimited phone service in US, Canada and PR (I believe), as well as over
300 channels and 15 Mbps down/5 Mbps up internet. With 2 STBs and all
the Jersey fees and taxes this plan has cost me $125/mo total. I just
renewed the plan and upped the service to 25Mbps down/15 Mbps up, and
this costs $10/mo more, and Starbucks WiFi is thrown in for free (as well
as 3 mo Showtime).

My gripes were with some first installation problems of the phone, and
the D#@N#d ActionTec modem blowing up after the first week. And the
initial billings took about 6 months to get straightened out. Ever since
it has been rather good.

We don't much use all the phone service we're entitled to, and the TV
still has almost no channels worth watching. However, all the baseball
and football you might want (I think).

My new "subscription" will not change in price for 2 years, but I have
"only" a 1 year commitment.

YMMV!

--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

Walter R. wrote:
After reading the responses so far, I have decided to pay my 25 bucks
and keep my landline. At least I know that I have highly reliable
service, when I need it.

I also have a tracfone (cheap cellphone) which I keep in the car for
emergencies.

For long distance calls I use ECG which is a LD service that costs
only pennies per call, instead of ATT LD, which costs plenty dollares
per call.
Thank you for replying


As I said before, keeping your land-line and paying 25 bucks are not
necessarily connected. ATT WILL reduce your monthly charge - you have but to
ask.

ATT knows that tens of thousands of people are switching to VOIP or cell
phones every day. Twelve dollars a month from you is better than no dollars
a month from you.

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:16:02 -0400, Don Wiss
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:23:40 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

With some VOIP vendors, you can keep your existing number. With all vendors
you can choose your area code. Suppose you live in Little Rabbit, Montana

One of the negatives of VOIP has been calling 911. The vendors were to make
improvements in this area. Not having VOIP I don't know the current status,
but others can jump in with their 911 experience.

I called 911 and the police responded within 5 minutes to Vonage
headquarters.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

Just kidding. I have a normal phone.

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:26:32 -0400, Don Wiss
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:34:21 -0700, "Walter R." wrote:

After reading the responses so far, I have decided to pay my 25 bucks and
keep my landline. At least I know that I have highly reliable service, when
I need it.

And it will work during power outages.

Insert my usual wisecrack about people who have landlines but nothing
but cordless phones.



Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:57:57 -0400, "John Gilmer"
wrote:


VOIP is Voice Over Internet Protocol. Magic Jack is a specific
implementation. If you have high speed internet your ISP should have
already tried to sell you on giving up your land line so I suspect you don't
have high speed internet.

I have verizon DSL. I called aobut something and after that was done,
she tried to sell me FIOS. I said it was too expensive. She said we
have an introductory rate for 3 months. I said, What good does 3
months do me? After that it's too expensive. I finally made her
laugh and admit it was too expensive.

On Sep 26, 1:08*am, mm wrote:
On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:26:32 -0400, Don Wiss
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:34:21 -0700, "Walter R." wrote:

After reading the responses so far, I have decided to pay my 25 bucks and
keep my landline. At least I know that I have highly reliable service, when
I need it.

And it will work during power outages.


Exactly. And all the 'services' that telephone users used to take for
granted, such as being listed in a telephone book/directory, service
during power failures, free maintenance calls, free wiring in your
home, direct 911, 611 and 411 lines to Emergency, Repair, and
Directory back in the bad old non-competition days are gone.
These days your are on your own in a sort of 'Batteries not included'
way. Hook it up and fix it yourself!
Fortunately the basic networks and telephone numbering plan areas are
still there, like a road sytem; even though the type of vehicles (And
maybe the type of fuel that powers them! is changing! .
Ain't competition wonderful?.

Insert the usual wisecrack about people who have landlines but nothing
but cordless phones.

On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:34:21 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:

On Fri 25 Sep 2009 03:26:32p, Don Wiss told us...

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:34:21 -0700, "Walter R." wrote:

After reading the responses so far, I have decided to pay my 25 bucks
and keep my landline. At least I know that I have highly reliable
service, when I need it.

And it will work during power outages.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).


Only if you have a "plain vanilla" phone directly plugged into the jack or
hard-wired. Cordless phones of any ilk are dependent only local AC power in
the house for signal transmission.

My Uniden fancy phone doesn't do special functions, not even redial,
in a power failure, but the phone itself still works then. It has a
cord to the handset, and a cordless phone elsewhere.

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
On Fri 25 Sep 2009 08:51:02p, mm told us...

On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:34:21 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:

On Fri 25 Sep 2009 03:26:32p, Don Wiss told us...

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:34:21 -0700, "Walter R."
wrote:

After reading the responses so far, I have decided to pay my 25 bucks
and keep my landline. At least I know that I have highly reliable
service, when I need it.
And it will work during power outages.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

Only if you have a "plain vanilla" phone directly plugged into the jack
or hard-wired. Cordless phones of any ilk are dependent only local AC
power in the house for signal transmission.
My Uniden fancy phone doesn't do special functions, not even redial,
in a power failure, but the phone itself still works then. It has a
cord to the handset, and a cordless phone elsewhere.


Obviously yours is different and probably not in the majority. Anyone who
wants a phone that requires nothing more than connection to a phone line
should shop wisely.


It is getting real hard to find single-line corded phones without bells
and whistles in the stores, other than entry-level plastic throw-aways
that often don't even have any electronics in the base. Terrible sound
quality and poor durability. Glad I have a crate of old real phones in
the basement- I'm not even seeing real phones at garage sales very often
any more. If you ever see any old Ma Bell desk phones at a sale for
under five bucks, snap them up. Even an old 500 series rotary dial will
probably outlive you. You can always hook it up in the basement or
workshop to answer calls on. And if you have a real phone line rather
than VOIP, rotary dial still usually works to dial out. (and it is fun
to see kid's faces as they try to use it to make a call...)

--
aem sends...

On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:47:24 +0000, Han wrote:


In addition to all the other good opinions, another thing (for some at
least) is to look into the "triple play" plans that cable TV companies
and Verizon have.


I found a similar savings using Ooma. Like many I use my cellphone for
nearly everything but still wanted a home phone. With Ooma you pay a one
time fee then nothing.

A feature I really enjoy is the multi-ring service. Simply any call to
the home also rings on my cellphone. Sure is handy when you are waiting
on a delivery call and need to run errands. Plus the cellphone is set to
forward calls to the home number if I don't answer in 6 rings. The two
together means I can shut one off and still get the incoming calls. Neat.

Walter R. wrote:

For long distance calls I use ECG which is a LD service that costs only
pennies per call, instead of ATT LD, which costs plenty dollares per call.

Walter,
Look into BigRedWire (www.bigredwire.com). We've been using them for several
years now for both domestic and international long distance service. They save
money by doing 100% of their business on the web (your monthly statements are
always available on-line), and not having either telephone or snail mail for
customer service, but are quite responsive to e-mail. We've found their
connection quality and service to be faultless and their rates to be excellent.

on 9/25/2009 8:22 PM (ET) George wrote the following:
Don Wiss wrote:
On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:23:40 -0500, HeyBub
wrote:

With some VOIP vendors, you can keep your existing number. With all
vendors you can choose your area code. Suppose you live in Little
Rabbit, Montana but all your relatives live in Boston. By choosing a
617 area code, when your relatives call you, to them it's a local call.

One of the negatives of VOIP has been calling 911. The vendors were
to make
improvements in this area. Not having VOIP I don't know the current
status,
but others can jump in with their 911 experience.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

If especially elderly folks or young children are involved 911 is the
main weak point of VoIP because unlike a POTS line which gives your
location information to the 911 system the VoIP carriers simply
connect the call to a regular number at the call center.

The other weak point is that many broadband carriers do not have
backup power on their equipment. So unlike a regular phone if the
power goes off the Internet connection may go off which also disables
your phone capability.

Magic Jack supports 911. You have to put in your address when first
setting it up and the address is recorded with the 911 system.
Your 911 address can be changed at any time and whenever you want, so if
you go anywhere, like on vacation somewhere, you take the MJ with you
and plug it into someone's computer, or your own laptop, and change your
911 address to where you are temporarily staying. Reset the 911 address
when you return home.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

stan wrote:
On Sep 26, 1:08 am, mm wrote:
On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:26:32 -0400, Don Wiss
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:34:21 -0700, "Walter R." wrote:
After reading the responses so far, I have decided to pay my 25 bucks and
keep my landline. At least I know that I have highly reliable service, when
I need it.
And it will work during power outages.

Exactly. And all the 'services' that telephone users used to take for
granted, such as being listed in a telephone book/directory, service
during power failures, free maintenance calls, free wiring in your
home, direct 911, 611 and 411 lines to Emergency, Repair, and
Directory back in the bad old non-competition days are gone.


They aren't gone anywhere. If you want or need that level of service you
can pay your regular area telco.

These days your are on your own in a sort of 'Batteries not included'
way. Hook it up and fix it yourself!
Fortunately the basic networks and telephone numbering plan areas are
still there, like a road sytem; even though the type of vehicles (And
maybe the type of fuel that powers them! is changing! .
Ain't competition wonderful?.
Insert the usual wisecrack about people who have landlines but nothing
but cordless phones.

I wonder if eventually, the phone co will do away with
rotary dialing ability? Most everyone uses touch tone. I
remember when touch tone came out in 1974, some where there
abouts. We all thought it was really neat stuff.

Yes, good idea to keep at least one old fashioned phone
hooked up. In my part of the world, we have power cuts at
least once a year.

Also, please have at least one cell phone charger you can
use in the car. Car powered phone-chargers will also usually
work off a battery booster pack with lighter socket.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"aemeijers" wrote in message
...

It is getting real hard to find single-line corded phones
without bells
and whistles in the stores, other than entry-level plastic
throw-aways
that often don't even have any electronics in the base.
Terrible sound
quality and poor durability. Glad I have a crate of old real
phones in
the basement- I'm not even seeing real phones at garage
sales very often
any more. If you ever see any old Ma Bell desk phones at a
sale for
under five bucks, snap them up. Even an old 500 series
rotary dial will
probably outlive you. You can always hook it up in the
basement or
workshop to answer calls on. And if you have a real phone
line rather
than VOIP, rotary dial still usually works to dial out. (and
it is fun
to see kid's faces as they try to use it to make a call...)

--
aem sends...

If kids can figure out the rotary dial, at all.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"aemeijers" wrote in message
...

And if you have a real phone line rather
than VOIP, rotary dial still usually works to dial out. (and
it is fun
to see kid's faces as they try to use it to make a call...)

--
aem sends...

Jim wrote:
On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:47:24 +0000, Han wrote:


In addition to all the other good opinions, another thing (for some
at least) is to look into the "triple play" plans that cable TV
companies and Verizon have.


I found a similar savings using Ooma. Like many I use my cellphone
for nearly everything but still wanted a home phone. With Ooma you
pay a one time fee then nothing.

A feature I really enjoy is the multi-ring service. Simply any call
to the home also rings on my cellphone. Sure is handy when you are
waiting on a delivery call and need to run errands. Plus the
cellphone is set to forward calls to the home number if I don't
answer in 6 rings. The two together means I can shut one off and
still get the incoming calls. Neat.

You might investigate Google Phone. Free. You get a number. Thereafter any
calls to that number are routed to one or more other phone numbers, which
you can change at will. Sort of number portability. It has other features,
too.

mm wrote:
On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:29:50 -0400, George
wrote:


But as usual the cheap ones are real junk. Had an interesting experience
just last month. Someone of the big box is their friend mentality bought
some cheap UPSs for equipment at a site. I received a call that various
equipment powered down. The cheepo big box UPSs don't have an auto buck
boost but instead draw energy from the battery. The local power company
lost a large circuit breaker upstream so they had a brownout in the
region. The voltage was only dropped to 109 VAC but that was enough for
the toy UPSs to drop their load after a while. The real UPSs I had
specified a few years earlier kept there loads up with no problem until
the next day when the power company completed their repairs.

You have UPSes that will power something for a whole day?

I think you may have missed the point. The battery part of the UPS
wasn't needed because the boost did the job. That could go on
indefinitely.

A computer,
they power? Or something that uses as much currrent? I thought mine
wity a new 4AH battery would only work for about 10 minutes.

I bought my first one at 80% off at staples and I liked it. When it
broke I bought a famous brand, the leading brand, at a hamfest, but
the power switch is not big enough to work with my toes like the other
one was.

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

On Fri 25 Sep 2009 08:51:02p, mm told us...

On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:34:21 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:

On Fri 25 Sep 2009 03:26:32p, Don Wiss told us...

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:34:21 -0700, "Walter R."
wrote:

After reading the responses so far, I have decided to pay my 25 bucks
and keep my landline. At least I know that I have highly reliable
service, when I need it.

And it will work during power outages.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).


Only if you have a "plain vanilla" phone directly plugged into the jack
or hard-wired. Cordless phones of any ilk are dependent only local AC
power in the house for signal transmission.

My Uniden fancy phone doesn't do special functions, not even redial,
in a power failure, but the phone itself still works then. It has a
cord to the handset, and a cordless phone elsewhere.


Obviously yours is different and probably not in the majority. Anyone who
wants a phone that requires nothing more than connection to a phone line
should shop wisely.


UPSes are cheap these days, and if you are in an area that is prone to
long power outages, a small generator can quickly pay for itself by
keeping the refrigerator going and preventing spoiled food.

mm wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:26:32 -0400, Don Wiss
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:34:21 -0700, "Walter R." wrote:

After reading the responses so far, I have decided to pay my 25 bucks and
keep my landline. At least I know that I have highly reliable service, when
I need it.

And it will work during power outages.

Insert my usual wisecrack about people who have landlines but nothing
but cordless phones.

I have a landline and nothing but cordless phones on it. I also have
several UPSes and a couple generators.

Pete C. wrote:
Wayne Boatwright wrote:
On Fri 25 Sep 2009 08:51:02p, mm told us...

On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:34:21 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:

On Fri 25 Sep 2009 03:26:32p, Don Wiss told us...

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:34:21 -0700, "Walter R."
wrote:

After reading the responses so far, I have decided to pay my 25 bucks
and keep my landline. At least I know that I have highly reliable
service, when I need it.
And it will work during power outages.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

Only if you have a "plain vanilla" phone directly plugged into the jack
or hard-wired. Cordless phones of any ilk are dependent only local AC
power in the house for signal transmission.
My Uniden fancy phone doesn't do special functions, not even redial,
in a power failure, but the phone itself still works then. It has a
cord to the handset, and a cordless phone elsewhere.

Obviously yours is different and probably not in the majority. Anyone who
wants a phone that requires nothing more than connection to a phone line
should shop wisely.


UPSes are cheap these days, and if you are in an area that is prone to
long power outages, a small generator can quickly pay for itself by
keeping the refrigerator going and preventing spoiled food.

Too rich for my blood- I just have a real phone in every room, and keep
a stack of the 'blue ice' things in the freezer. As long as it isn't
over 100 degrees out, and I severely limit my refrig open-door time, I'm
good for about 48 hours. If I think outage will be longer than that, I
put the stuff that will actually go bad quickly in a small cooler, and
put some of the blue ice in that. I can live with the bread, mustard,
fizzy water, and veggies getting warm. I do wish I had a gas stove,
though, like my last place had. And city water.

--
aem sends, a cheap SOB as usual...

aemeijers wrote:

Too rich for my blood- I just have a real phone in every room, and
keep a stack of the 'blue ice' things in the freezer. As long as it
isn't over 100 degrees out, and I severely limit my refrig open-door
time, I'm good for about 48 hours. If I think outage will be longer
than that, I put the stuff that will actually go bad quickly in a
small cooler, and put some of the blue ice in that. I can live with
the bread, mustard, fizzy water, and veggies getting warm. I do wish
I had a gas stove, though, like my last place had. And city water.

Mustard in the fridge?

How about ketchup?

the big issue. living in freezing areas with power outage.

frozen pipes ruins everyones day

Pete C. wrote:
Wayne Boatwright wrote:
On Fri 25 Sep 2009 08:51:02p, mm told us...

On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:34:21 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
wrote:

On Fri 25 Sep 2009 03:26:32p, Don Wiss told us...

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:34:21 -0700, "Walter R."
wrote:

After reading the responses so far, I have decided to pay my 25 bucks
and keep my landline. At least I know that I have highly reliable
service, when I need it.
And it will work during power outages.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

Only if you have a "plain vanilla" phone directly plugged into the jack
or hard-wired. Cordless phones of any ilk are dependent only local AC
power in the house for signal transmission.
My Uniden fancy phone doesn't do special functions, not even redial,
in a power failure, but the phone itself still works then. It has a
cord to the handset, and a cordless phone elsewhere.

Obviously yours is different and probably not in the majority. Anyone who
wants a phone that requires nothing more than connection to a phone line
should shop wisely.


UPSes are cheap these days, and if you are in an area that is prone to
long power outages, a small generator can quickly pay for itself by
keeping the refrigerator going and preventing spoiled food.

But as usual the cheap ones are real junk. Had an interesting experience
just last month. Someone of the big box is their friend mentality bought
some cheap UPSs for equipment at a site. I received a call that various
equipment powered down. The cheepo big box UPSs don't have an auto buck
boost but instead draw energy from the battery. The local power company
lost a large circuit breaker upstream so they had a brownout in the
region. The voltage was only dropped to 109 VAC but that was enough for
the toy UPSs to drop their load after a while. The real UPSs I had
specified a few years earlier kept there loads up with no problem until
the next day when the power company completed their repairs.

HeyBub wrote:
aemeijers wrote:
Too rich for my blood- I just have a real phone in every room, and
keep a stack of the 'blue ice' things in the freezer. As long as it
isn't over 100 degrees out, and I severely limit my refrig open-door
time, I'm good for about 48 hours. If I think outage will be longer
than that, I put the stuff that will actually go bad quickly in a
small cooler, and put some of the blue ice in that. I can live with
the bread, mustard, fizzy water, and veggies getting warm. I do wish
I had a gas stove, though, like my last place had. And city water.

Mustard in the fridge?

How about ketchup?


Anything not in a sealed metal, glass, or thick-wall plastic container
lives in the fridge. (The better to not encourage small four-legged
guests.) Other than some (rather old at this point) Mickey D's packets
in the fridge box of leftover takeout condiments, I don't keep ketchup,
since I don't care for it. I barely use mustard anymore, for that
matter. Anyway, I hate the brown grunge on the outlet, and the
separation of the oil, when you store it warm.

--
aem sends...

On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:32:57 -0500, "Pete C."
wrote:


mm wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:26:32 -0400, Don Wiss
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:34:21 -0700, "Walter R." wrote:

After reading the responses so far, I have decided to pay my 25 bucks and
keep my landline. At least I know that I have highly reliable service, when
I need it.

And it will work during power outages.

Insert my usual wisecrack about people who have landlines but nothing
but cordless phones.

I have a landline and nothing but cordless phones on it. I also have
several UPSes and a couple generators.

You are excused. Unless you bought the generators solely to power
the cordless phones.

On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:55:15 -0400, aemeijers
wrote:



It is getting real hard to find single-line corded phones without bells

If I had a two-line phone, I'd feel obliged to get a second line.
Does that make me obsessive compulsive? (I wouldn't get one, but I'd
feel like I should)

and whistles in the stores, other than entry-level plastic throw-aways
that often don't even have any electronics in the base. Terrible sound
quality and poor durability. Glad I have a crate of old real phones in

I have a few, probably enough for the rest of my life.

the basement- I'm not even seeing real phones at garage sales very often
any more. If you ever see any old Ma Bell desk phones at a sale for
under five bucks, snap them up. Even an old 500 series rotary dial will
probably outlive you. You can always hook it up in the basement or
workshop to answer calls on.

I have one in the basement, at my workbench. A different phone, but I
have the same shoulder bracket on it that my mother used in 1956.
Some of the rubber has smudged, I'd call it, moved like modeling clay.
It must have undergone some chemical or strong physical change to do
that.

And if you have a real phone line rather
than VOIP, rotary dial still usually works to dial out. (and it is fun
to see kid's faces as they try to use it to make a call...)

I don't have kids over, but a friend 15 years ago had one on the wall
in the kitchen and she told me that her 12-year old kid's friends
didn't know what it was.

--
aem sends...

On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 09:01:16 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

I wonder if eventually, the phone co will do away with
rotary dialing ability? Most everyone uses touch tone. I
remember when touch tone came out in 1974, some where there
abouts. We all thought it was really neat stuff.

I'm not contradicting your date, but interewstingly enough, in 1956,
my friend's father took us to the Lawrence County farm show, in
western Pa., New Castle. and they were demonstrating touch-tone
phones.

Actually the one they showed was also programmable, sort of. It had
no memory, but it came with plastic cards, two by three inches or a
little bigger, about an eigth inch thick, with maybe 7 holes in each
row (at least more than 4, which is all that is necessary to represent
number 1-0. the other holes must have been there for things planned
and not yet planned.) and enough rows for a 10 digit phone number, I
think. The centers of the holes were not totally connected to the
cards, only with "spokes" and could be pushed out, to represent the
number to be called. There was a place at the top to write the
person's name. You pushed the card in the top of the phone and pushed
a button and iirc it popped out, a number at a time ,but quickly, as
it dialed, but with tones.

They have a lot of lead time on these things.

Yes, good idea to keep at least one old fashioned phone
hooked up. In my part of the world, we have power cuts at
least once a year.

Here too. There was an hour on Friday. And once for two days.

Also, please have at least one cell phone charger you can
use in the car. Car powered phone-chargers will also usually
work off a battery booster pack with lighter socket.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.


"aemeijers" wrote in message
m...

It is getting real hard to find single-line corded phones
without bells
and whistles in the stores, other than entry-level plastic
throw-aways
that often don't even have any electronics in the base.
Terrible sound
quality and poor durability. Glad I have a crate of old real
phones in
the basement- I'm not even seeing real phones at garage
sales very often
any more. If you ever see any old Ma Bell desk phones at a
sale for
under five bucks, snap them up. Even an old 500 series
rotary dial will
probably outlive you. You can always hook it up in the
basement or
workshop to answer calls on. And if you have a real phone
line rather
than VOIP, rotary dial still usually works to dial out. (and
it is fun
to see kid's faces as they try to use it to make a call...)

On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:08:37 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

aemeijers wrote:

Too rich for my blood- I just have a real phone in every room, and
keep a stack of the 'blue ice' things in the freezer. As long as it
isn't over 100 degrees out, and I severely limit my refrig open-door
time, I'm good for about 48 hours. If I think outage will be longer
than that, I put the stuff that will actually go bad quickly in a
small cooler, and put some of the blue ice in that. I can live with
the bread, mustard, fizzy water, and veggies getting warm. I do wish
I had a gas stove, though, like my last place had. And city water.

Mustard in the fridge?

How about ketchup?

I keep mustard in the fridge, but then I am on the smae jar of mustard
for 26 years now. I only keep it for company, and what little company
I have has never asked for mustard.

When I got an aparment in college, I told my roommate the ketchup had
to go in the fridge and he told me the can of hershey's syrup had to
go in teh fridge. We each told the other, No it doesnt'.

So we ddidn't put either in and it was fine.

I think restaurants don't put ketchup or mustard in the fridge but I"M
not sure.

Hershey's will get moldy if you leave it uncovered some of the time
and wait maybe 3 weeks, but a) it rarely lasts that long, b) you can
cut off the lid and spoon out the moldy part, which is only the very
top millimeter or two, and the rest is fine and tastes the same.
DAMHIKT, but I did it quite a few times.


Haller, if you're home you can turn the water on a tiny bit and the
pipes won't freeze. If the whole house gets close to 32, I guess you
have to turn on all the faucets, and yes that would be a problem for
the clothes and dish washers.

BTW, it was explained here that hot water pipes freeze sooner than
cold water pipes do. It was explained why.

On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:29:50 -0400, George
wrote:



But as usual the cheap ones are real junk. Had an interesting experience
just last month. Someone of the big box is their friend mentality bought
some cheap UPSs for equipment at a site. I received a call that various
equipment powered down. The cheepo big box UPSs don't have an auto buck
boost but instead draw energy from the battery. The local power company
lost a large circuit breaker upstream so they had a brownout in the
region. The voltage was only dropped to 109 VAC but that was enough for
the toy UPSs to drop their load after a while. The real UPSs I had
specified a few years earlier kept there loads up with no problem until
the next day when the power company completed their repairs.

You have UPSes that will power something for a whole day? A computer,
they power? Or something that uses as much currrent? I thought mine
wity a new 4AH battery would only work for about 10 minutes.

I bought my first one at 80% off at staples and I liked it. When it
broke I bought a famous brand, the leading brand, at a hamfest, but
the power switch is not big enough to work with my toes like the other
one was.

On Sat, 26 Sep 2009 08:05:37 -0400, willshak
wrote:


Magic Jack supports 911. You have to put in your address when first
setting it up and the address is recorded with the 911 system.
Your 911 address can be changed at any time and whenever you want, so if
you go anywhere, like on vacation somewhere, you take the MJ with you
and plug it into someone's computer, or your own laptop, and change your
911 address to where you are temporarily staying. Reset the 911 address
when you return home.

Good to know, about my house, but I'd never get around to changing it
when I was someplace else. I'd have to be being chased by killers,
like in the movies. Then I'd do it.

I realize you are making a point that it's as good as a regular telco
wired phone, and better I guess than a cellphone, where you iiuc you
can't do that.