Landlines being phased out

LovesBach, we have the same problem. Every time it rains things get significantly worse. We have the additional problem that GigaNet is also fitting their cabling and seem to be in an out of the access tunnel on a daily basis. Each time they do, we lose the phone and internet.

Our landlines here are awful; calls drop out without warning, and interference is bad. BT have investigated a few houses along the road and found that connections are rusting; we all suspect that no effort is being made to maintain the system. I usually make calls on my mobile now - and have started to wonder why we are bothering to pay for a landline.

Forgot to mention that I'm almost 83.

When I moved to a flat, I decided not to have a landline and have not regretted it. I can use Whatsap for phone calls - video calls if I really want to be seen - and, if necessary, make contact through Alexa and do not miss having a landline. If the signal is poor - and it often is - it switches on to W-fi for support.

NotSpaghetti

My mother-in-law has only ever had "scammers" call her on her landline Keeper - never on her mobile.

The same as us, we used to get a nuisance call every week day at around mid-day so we disconnected the land line. We have both had the occasional scam call on our mobiles but not to the same extent as before.

madeleine45

I will read all the comments later but I am fighting with all the other people round here to retain land lines etc. Firstly the wretched london based companies have no idea of how things are up here. There are parts of /the dales especially Swaledale and wenlsey dale which you get absolutely no signal at all from any phone and I have tested them all as I did hospital car service. so they wanted to get rid of our phone boxes but we have fought this as in an emergency you CANNOT get through on a mobile phone and if you need the mountain rescue etc you need the phone!! Secondly they have not explained properly and where there are patients who have equipment that rely on such as oxygen etc and if the internet goes down then so does the phone and they are left vunerable and without help. The arrogance of these people who think they can just ride over us to save money for their shareholders should have to work around here and see how it actually works out. Once again as with covid letting the banks force people into using cards only, no chance up the dales. I do use cards for such as council tax etc but cash is the best way to be really sure what you have spent and is the only practical way in certain areas. As I say to people this is coin of the realm and you either accept it or I will shop elsewhere"!!Cards were meant to save us time but I often walk past the people queuing to use their card and walk up with the correct change and am out and away a lot faster. We are paying for our telephone service. WE should set the agenda and certainly not have our lives made worse just to suit telehone companies. I shall continue to fight and campaign for both telephones and cash!

The point with this new service is that you don't need a mobile phone. However, if you do use a mobile phone, it will work over the internet in your home and your calls will be free. This is a good service IF you have a good internet connection and we are assured this will be the case. Of course, I'll believe it if I see it.

I will read all the comments later but I am fighting with all the other people round here to retain land lines etc. Firstly the wretched london based companies have no idea of how things are up here. There are parts of /the dales especially Swaledale and wenlsey dale which you get absolutely no signal at all from any phone and I have tested them all as I did hospital car service. so they wanted to get rid of our phone boxes but we have fought this as in an emergency you CANNOT get through on a mobile phone and if you need the mountain rescue etc you need the phone!! Secondly they have not explained properly and where there are patients who have equipment that rely on such as oxygen etc and if the internet goes down then so does the phone and they are left vunerable and without help. The arrogance of these people who think they can just ride over us to save money for their shareholders should have to work around here and see how it actually works out. Once again as with covid letting the banks force people into using cards only, no chance up the dales. I do use cards for such as council tax etc but cash is the best way to be really sure what you have spent and is the only practical way in certain areas. As I say to people this is coin of the realm and you either accept it or I will shop elsewhere"!!Cards were meant to save us time but I often walk past the people queuing to use their card and walk up with the correct change and am out and away a lot faster. We are paying for our telephone service. WE should set the agenda and certainly not have our lives made worse just to suit telehone companies. I shall continue to fight and campaign for both telephones and cash!

We live in an area surrounded by trees. Ashdown Forest
To use a mobile here you have to go out into the gstden, in a certain spot and hope for the best.
Could not do without a landline.

lemsip

icanhandthemback

My Mum has the Doro Dementia phone and I don't find it easy at all to use.

a doro phone is a larger button phone for the elderly or anyone with poor eyesight. It is Not a dementia phone!

Doro is the brand so I think there is more than one model as my Mum has a Doro phone specifically designed for people with dementia. Please check your facts before you take me to task.

icanhandthemback

My Mum has the Doro Dementia phone and I don't find it easy at all to use.

a doro phone is a larger button phone for the elderly or anyone with poor eyesight. It is Not a dementia phone!

Every one seems to think that a mobile phone is essential during a power cut. Nowadays most people are never parted with the things day or night and use them for the most trivial things. They have only been in existence for the past thirty or so and we managed perfectly well without them and now people walk along the street looking at the screen walking the dog or pushing a pram. This morning I saw a woman riding a bike looking at her phone!

Alison333 Their smart phones look interesting. I will look at them next time I need a new mobile phone.

My Mum has the Doro Dementia phone and I don't find it easy at all to use.

M0nica

Gundy Mobile phones are uncomfortable to hold because of their shape. This makes them very uncomfortable if you have arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome and a number of other hand problems.

The screens are too small and the tiny 'buttons' and icons very difficult to use if you have dyspraxia or other problems that come under the heading 'neural diversity.

i was an early adopter of smart phones, Until I discovered all the problems I have with them. A land line phone with its rounder narrower shape and clear depressable keys is physically more comfortable to hold and easier to operate and for everythingI use a tablet or computer with a sensibly sized screen.

Doro make a range of mobile phones with big buttons which are supposed to be easy to operate. My mum had one about 15 years ago and I think they are even better now. There are probably other brands but this one has been around for a long time.

www.doro.com/en-gb/products/mobile-phones/

My original landline handset couldn’t reach the hub and an extension would've trailed across the hall.
So after some discussion via my mobile, BT sent me a brand new handset (free of charge!) which I just plug into the electric socket when it needs charged. It’s in a different room from the hub. I have no idea how it works! Bluetooth or wifi perhaps?

It's not an issue BT sort everything. Mine was done about 2 years ago. Can't see any difference.

Virgin recently cut off my landline without informing me. My husband has dementia and cannot use a mobile. However, it has now been sorted out - we have been given free of charge a handset with a battery backup which is plugged into the router and my two original landline phones are now working as normal but these would not work if there was a power cut. So a satisfactory outcome for me and Virgin knocked £10 off the next bill for the inconvenience.

I am with BT. and I don’t have a mobile phone because I am housebound and have no use for one. All my friends have died . Would have difficulty in reading. It anyway.
The BT. engineers came the other day just took the landline phone connecter and plugged it into the hub, router., The only difference now is that when making a call to a local number I have to put in the whole number.
I asked them what would happen to those who only had a landline. BT would supply them with a hub.

m0nica thank you have trying for years for people to understand
i can not operate a cell
and add the aphsia i cant barely commicate
my pc is 16 years old and dieing

Ive been getting letters and messages from BT for some time and they have also supplied me with the part to plug into the old BT socket to convert it. My nephew (who is a techy and builds computers) is on the same exchange. He is going to sort it for me when the changeover happens. I will also have to buy a package for the dreaded smartphone (only a nicky no name one) which I bought to run the security system as I only use it on PAYG at present.

This isn’t very new. Two years ago my landline from Virgin went wrong and I called repair man in . Took a week to get to me but he just walked in with a bit of white plastic….hooked it up to my router and fiddled about ‘setting it up’ took about 10 mins ….then it was up and running. Same landline phones….albeit 3-4 seconds slower to ring.Well it has got to go a long way around . All will be fine ….no mobile needed if you don’t want one.

I have a friend who doesn't / won't have a mobile phone. She did have one years ago. I've tried to talk about how useful it would be if she was out and about and that you can still buy basic phones that only do calls and text but she is adamant. She lives alone and we're at opposite parts of the country. Whenever our landline rings, we know it will be her as no-one else calls on it. I'm really concerned about how she will cope. I think she's basically a technophobe as she finds all technology confusing.. I'm sure there would be friends where she lives who could help to reassure her. I just feel at a bit of a loss.

I know several companies do this, Salti. We were early adopters of this system before the providers got round to this.

icanhandthemback

If you are experiencing a drop in internet service in certain rooms but have a strong signal in the room with the router, then you need a "MESH" system. For those who have used WIFI extenders, MESH is a completely different system. WIFI extenders do transmit the signal forward but that signal degrades so by the time it gets to the final destination, it can be quite weak. MESH systems (also plugged into different areas of the house) do not degrade the signal so it is still strong when it reaches the room you want.
We have a MESH point plugged directly into the router and another upstairs so in the bedrooms we now have a strong system. You can buy sets of these so in a large house, you can have them in different areas to have excellent WIFI everywhere. They are also very easy to set up.

My new superfast internet was supplied with a MESH system included.

My son has a Starlink satellite system as his WiFi was rubbish and regularly "down".

That's obviously a good solution - but the cost!!!