Comments on: Telephone Line

By: Jack Beckman

Jack Beckman — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:51:07 +0000

Right – I have one corded phone always hooked up and a couple in the basement I can hook up if necessary, because the wireless ones will be useless without power for the base stations. Of course, now I have the generator, but if for some reason that failed I’d still have at least one working phone.

By: arrakian

arrakian — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:42:32 +0000

Having the land line be the only thing working during The Blackout was proof for me that it was needed even more than a cellular. One thing though- it’s best to have the land line phone be non-cordless, without extra features, as they can operate with the small amount of juice in the line.

By: Jack Beckman

Jack Beckman — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:31:21 +0000

I must have been psychic today. AT&T want to end analog landlines. I guess they plan to wire everyone for U-verse, which I hope is more reliable than their DSL tech. We have DSL lines for work that go down multiple times a day every few days, and they won't even look into it unless 4 hours has passed (I guess they think DSL lines "heal").

By: Calvin

Calvin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:00:33 +0000

I am one too that retains the landline. It’s reliable and like you said, worked through the blackout. In fact I used dialup during that time to check out news on the internet. Slow but it provided information.

By: Jack Beckman

Jack Beckman — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:57:57 +0000

And looky here, from today's Detroit News, a story about 2500 homes and businesses without power for an undetermined time. But their landlines, independently powered, probably still work.

By: Phyllis Evans

Phyllis Evans — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:32:18 +0000

Thank you, Jack! I’ve had this same conversation with Bright House twice in the last 10 days. Had to laugh at the last one who insisted that their 4-hour backup was good enough for power outages. Nope. I’ll keep my landline, too.