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Cellular: Using your cellular phone at home is the
simplest way to cut the cord as long as you
have reliable coverage. You only pay for
one phone for calls both in and away from
home, and normally you can make free Long
Distance calls from almost anywhere. Your
number stays with you, and you can also use
cellular as your connection to the internet. |
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Broadband/Internet (VoIP) Phone: You get software and/or hardware from the
provider and attach it to your broadband
connection. In most cases you have a wired
connection and lose the portability of Cellular.
You can make free calls to people with similarly-equipped
computers ("computer-to-computer")
and discount calls to any normal phone number.
Some allow a wireless connection to use a
cordless phone around the house, otherwise,
you need to plug the phone into your computer
or modem. Broadband from your cable TV company
provides both the ability to access a broadband
supplier and a "normal" phone connection.
Some online services offer a "follow
me" service that allows you to program
what incoming calls go to what phone at what
time. |
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Cable TV: Cable is another form of broadband, but the cable companies can bundle your
video, broadband, and potentially your phone,
into one tidy package. But you are still
"wired". Their service has similar
pluses and minuses of broadband service,
and generally their phone service doesn't
yield much savings over the old landline.
They provide a true local service, but also
require equipment at your house that adds
an additional weak link in the chain of reliability.
Cable companies offer some substantial promotional
discounts, but also consider your costs down
the road. |
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Re-Purpose Your Wireline: Don't overlook how versatile your old landline
can be. While still keeping the wired line
you can switch to an independent phone company
that could provide all your desired phone
features at a better price. You can drop
a second line in favor of an online Fax service. Custom Ringing enables the same line to
serve multiple purposes including your fax.
You can add an inexpensive feature like "Call
Forwarding if Busy or No Answer" for
$1 or less per month, and use all the features
of your cellular phone. Do the kids have
their own line? You can control their phone
use with wireless almost as easily. Or the
reverse might help: a dedicated fax line
can also be the backup for your Alternative
service. |
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Our Recommendations: We'll help you narrow your choices based
on your objectives.
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Pros & Cons: Benefits and pitfalls of each alternative. |
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- Make Sure Your Cellular Coverage is Good. It's preferable to be on your carrier's
own network without roaming and check every
room of your house for coverage, including
the basement. If not, you should find one that is with Cellular Carrier Reviews. Barring that, you may lean toward the Broadband Option, or Add a Cell Site to Your Home.
- Have a Backup. Have a second cellular phone in the house.
A cheap backup is a prepaid phone. Make sure you have an extra battery and
charger, both can be notoriously unreliable.
- Check Your Speed. If you plan to use a cellular phone as your
'broadband' connection. make sure the network
offers high enough bandwidth for your usage.
- You Might Be Able to Get Cellular With a
Phone Jack. Some cellular carriers offer wireless service
that terminates in a standard RJ-11 phone
jack, like Telular. You can plug in a 'normal' corded phone
and it works just like a wireline.
- Do The Math. Make sure your changes make economic sense.
Consider increased wireless costs and the
loss of any 'bundled' discounts. Don't be fooled by short-term promotions.
Project your costs out a year or two to make
sure the promotional price makes the regular
price you pay later, acceptable.
- Consider an Unlimited Cellular Plan. Unless your usage is fairly predictable,
you never know when you'll face a situation
that requires you to spend a lot more time
on the phone than you expected. Unlimited
plans start as low as $30 per month. Some prepaid plans offer Unlimited calls
after 7pm.
- Pay Your Bill. All your precautions go down the drain if
the carrier cuts you off for nonpayment,
and they can do it faster than a wireline
company can. Better, set up automatic payment
from a credit card or checking account. Make sure to keep your credit card information
current so you don't lose service should
your credit card expire, or watch your checking account for enough
balance to pay the next bill.
- Get Faxes Online. Use an alternative fax service like MyFax.com.
- Do You Have a Family? Without a shared landline or broadband phone,
each family member may need their own cell
phone, reducing your savings.
- Still Want a 'Shared' Family Line? In some households, the family actually
enjoys and uses their common landline that
allows interaction among family members or
any friends who may want to call 'the house'.
MetroPCS offers a service that rings all wireless
phones of members of a Family plan, called
GroupLINE. This removes the need for a land line to
be the common communications thread through
the family.
- Don't Leave Your Home Phone-Less: If you leave the house in the hands of
the baby sitter and take your cell phone(s)
with you, make sure the sitter has a reliable
and convenient way to contact you, the fire
department or the poison control center.
Check the sitter's phone before you leave.
- Consider Bundles: You local telephone company may offer a discount
on either your wireline or your cellular
phone if you bundle them through the one
company. In some cases you can switch from
dealing with the cellular carrier direct
and assign your same account to the phone
company for the discount.
- Rural Customers: Ask your local cellular carrier if they
offer a special service for your home. In
some areas beyond landlines, some carriers
offer a special deal for wireless phone customers,
including "Telular" service. In
some locations they provide a "Lifeline"-type
of cellular service for a subsidized fee...some
as little as $1 per month.
- Seniors: Get help finding wireless service that caters
to seniors, including how to get wireless
service for as little as $1 per month, at
Cellular for Seniors.
ADD A 'CELL SITE' TO YOUR HOME!
Bad cellular coverage at home is more common
than the carriers will admit, but there are
several technical solutions:
- Hybrid landline/cellular phone is a "cordless" phone that lets
you drop your cellular phone into a base
station that connects to a wireless handset
by Bluetooth. The unit tells you which phone
the call is coming from and allows you to
choose which one to be used for outgoing
calls. You can leave the cellular phone in
the coverage "hot spot" and use
the cordless handset elsewhere in the house.
This alternative does not let you completely
'cut the cord', but it could allow you to
switch your landline to a more basic (cheaper)
plan.
- Docking options give you a base to plug in your cellular
phone that enables you to make calls through
your cell phone using various types of other
phones elsewhere in your home, letting you
leave the cellular phone in a signal 'hot
spot.' These are offered by both cellular
carriers and independent suppliers and go
by names like "Dock N' Talk" and
"Fast Forward."
- Get your own mini cell site. Some cellular carriers now offer a box
called a "femtocell" than you can
install right in your home. Femtocells are
the next size smaller than "picocells"
which provide coverage in stores and hotels.
The Femtocell is actually a cellular "repeater"
that amplifies the signal of your cell phone
both into and out of your house, giving you
excellent cellular coverage everywhere in
the home. It has the advantage of providing
seamless service inside and outside your
phone. This eliminates the need for the "base",
as in the above two options, but requires
you to keep your cellular phone with you
throughout the house. Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint offer their own versions
of "Network Extender." Also, several wireless retailers offer extenders with no monthly fees.
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- Connection to the Internet: You need to have equipment, sometimes a
computer, connected to the internet. It can
be the slowest speed available to function
with a phone service. Your connection can
be through Cable, Fiber, or DSL, which all
require a wired connection, however, Wireless
connections are available.
- Have a Backup. Have a cellular phone or bare bones (measured)
wired service in the house. A cheap backup
is a prepaid phone. Make sure you have an extra battery and
charger, both can be notoriously unreliable.
You might be able to keep the old wireline
phone with a very cheap "Lifeline"
or "measured" plan to have for emergencies. If you have DSL provided by
the local phone company, that line can provide a dial tone that allows
a call to the "real" 911 on any
old school phone.
- Do The Math. Make sure your changes make economic sense.
Consider increased costs, and the loss of
any 'bundled' discounts. Don't be fooled
by short-term promotions. Project your costs
out a year or two to make sure the promotional
price makes the regular price you pay later
acceptable.
- Consider Different Plans. Some providers give you a choice of Unlimited
phone service, cheap 'computer-to-computer'
voice service, a 'Pay as You Go' plan, or
a combination of these.
- Pay Your Bill. All your precautions go down the drain if
the carrier cuts you off for nonpayment,
and they can do it faster than the wireline
company will. Better, set up automatic payment
from a credit card or checking account. Make sure to keep your credit card information
current so you don't lose service should
your credit card expire, or watch your checking
account for enough balance to pay the next
bill.
- Phone Numbers: Some broadband providers won't transfer
your old home number to your broadband phone.
However, you should be able to keep your
broadband number even if you move.
- Get Faxes Online. Use an alternative fax service like MyFax.com.
- Rural Customers: You may need to ask around as to what providers
are available. Often there is wireless broadband
service your neighbors don't know about or
DSL the phone company doesn't promote. There
are also satellite broadband options like
Wild Blue. Your alternative broadband phone will work
through those connections as well.
- DSL From the Phone Company: They may deny you broadband service without
a landline from them, but more
telephone
companies are now offering
"Naked"
DSL. Expect the price to be
higher than that
with an associated wired phone
line.
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- Subscribe to a Wireline Re-seller: There are many companies that will supply
your wired service with all the features
you want: Unlimited Local and Long Distance
Calls, Voice Mail, Call Waiting, Call Forwarding
and more, all included in one price. They
still connect to your house through the phone
company's lines, so they can only save you
so much. But it may be enough to get the
features you want at a reduced price. You
can keep your current number and you get
full 911 service.
- Drop Your Service to the Most Basic Level: The phone company is required to provide
a basic service at a regulated price but
can charge big fees for all their extra features.
Drop to the lowest tier of service and either
choose a Long Distance carrier that does
not charge a monthly fee, or drop access
to Long Distance on that phone altogether
if your telephone company will do it without
an extra charge. Use your cellular phone
for "free" Long Distance calls
and the features that you want, like voice
mail. The cheapest wireline tiers use a "measured"
number of calls, or are "incoming only"
which may only available if you ask. You
might also qualify for a subsidized "Lifeline"
service.
- Get a Cheaper Long Distance Service: Some people have had their Long Distance
(LD) charges increase without notice. Since it costs to block
access to LD, we just stopped using our "1+"
LD service and started using a Prepaid Long
Distance card. But it's a pain to enter all
those digits, so get a "PIN-less"
prepaid phone card that recognizes your number
with Caller ID and makes the call with no
extra digits. Enter their "800"
access number in a memory location in your
phone and you can access LD with a minimum
of button presses. Avoid paying any more
than .05 a minute for US Long Distance. Some
cards specialize in discounts to certain
foreign countries. You could use different
providers, based on the location you're calling,
on the same phone line. These cards can also
be used with cellular phones than don't have
free Long Distance. There are other "PIN-less"
Long Distance options on our Unwired Discount Page.
- Switch to Cheaper Features: We only Call Forward to one number, our cell
phone, so we use a much cheaper form of Forwarding,
like "Call Forward If No Answer",
which is less than .80 per month. Incoming
calls are forwarded to a number programmed
at the phone company if you don't answer.
This allows us to use the features of the
cellular phone, including Voice Mail. Also,
callers won't know your cell phone number.
- Reversing Roles: Consider your wireline as your "backup"
instead of using it as your
main phone. It
can be dedicated to the alarm
or a fax machine,
if you really need one.
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