How do people manage to keep track of their mobile phones

My phone is usually in the kitchen when I'm in the sitting room, and vice versa! And its charging point is the kitchen, so I have missed a few calls, but nothing that I can't check up on.

I do that also there is one more option if it’s an Apple phone you can find it Using the Find My app on your iPad

Norah, Yes, the new phone will be another mobile but it will function the way our landline used to function, but it will also look like, feel and be positioned as we did our landline, when we had one. I do find the flat thin shape of a mobile phone very uncomfortaable to hold and holding it for any time gives me cramp in my hand.

dalrymple23

I HATE smartphones. I can't operate the blasted things. Total brain fog. Also mine (Motorola) is incredibly heavy. Arthritis in wrists makes carrying the wretched thing around even worse and unlikely to happen. So it is downstairs and I am up.

I go to bed and then fret that there might be a fire and I have no means to contact anyone. No, I do not remember to take the blasted thing with me. Anyway, reception is so atrocious, it is not worth it.

You posters who take it everywhere, do you really want to have a conversation with anyone whilst you are sitting on the loo? Just asking!

It may not be brainfog that you can't use them - I can't either.

But people who really really need to communicate with me - or really really do not want to do so and don't want me knowing where they are - can manage to do so anyway (I've responded to a couple of "calls" before now that weren't made on phones). So maybe you have something else instead?

Re anyone wanting to carry round a mobile phone with them - personally I'd go in a local hippie shop I know here and ask them (as I bet they have those embroidered cloth bags of about the size and shape of a glasses case and with a thin strap and one just slings it round the neck).

Reassured to read someone earlier in thread saying they still have more than one landline in their house still - even under this new (non-copper) system I don't want/will avoid if I possibly can. As I have my main phone off my "secondary" socket in my study and my secondary phone in the sitting room (got to - as I'd never hear my other phone ringing in there).

David49

At home Vodafone is dreadful, only 1 mile from town no data connection at all, yet 2 week ago in Italy I got 5G almost everywhere, no logic at all.

We are on the edge of all signal maps, despite being in a reasonably sized market town. They are now building between us and the nearest transmitter. we have set our phones to access our wifi which helps just a little.

As to finding it, in the house, I have the ring set through the accessible option and can hear it all through the house - now I just need to remember to take it out with me

I often mislay my phone, in spite of it having a day-glo yellow cover, and find Google's find-my-phone on my PC is invaluable (https://myaccount.google.com/find-your-phone). I'm hard of hearing so don't like answering it unless I'm in a quiet place, so I actually stop it from ringing at all. If I can see someone has called, I call them back. But Google's 'find my phone' makes a very loud sound indeed even if I've turned the ring off, and it goes on making it until I've found it and picked it up.

I have arthritis in my fingers so can't hold the handset for long, but I find PopSockets, a sort of round handle that sticks on the back of your phone, a great help. Branded PopSockets are quite expensive but there are plenty of other versions. They all stick on really well. Google PopSockets and you will find them, or look on Amazon.

I'm with the OP here. I usually charge my phone beside my bed at night (I know I'm not supposed to) and it's often least mid morning before I think to bring it down. On a Sunday I go to church, put it on silent and by about Wednesday I'm wondering why I've had no calls or messages. I'm obviously not designed to live in 21st century.

Use a landline.

I have two VOIP handsets (similar to my old landline phones except they no longer use copper cable - they run over fibre), one downstairs, one upstairs. They are set up just as my old handsets 'with buttons'. We are part organisers of a local club and get lots of calls on the number we have had for decades.

I also have a mobile which came with a free smart watch. I didn't think much of the watch until I started to wear it. I now wouldn't be without the watch. I only need to have my mobile nearby. I don't need to walk about with my mobile in hand, no opportunity to steal my phone when out. I've set my watch to vibrate on my wrist rather than ring. Yes, I've taken a call on my watch when in the toilet! It was an appointment on offer in hospital following a last minute cancellation. I was really pleased not to have missed it. No-one needed to know where I was when I answered the call!

Missedout

I have two VOIP handsets (similar to my old landline phones except they no longer use copper cable - they run over fibre), one downstairs, one upstairs. They are set up just as my old handsets 'with buttons'. We are part organisers of a local club and get lots of calls on the number we have had for decades.

I also have a mobile which came with a free smart watch. I didn't think much of the watch until I started to wear it. I now wouldn't be without the watch. I only need to have my mobile nearby. I don't need to walk about with my mobile in hand, no opportunity to steal my phone when out. I've set my watch to vibrate on my wrist rather than ring. Yes, I've taken a call on my watch when in the toilet! It was an appointment on offer in hospital following a last minute cancellation. I was really pleased not to have missed it. No-one needed to know where I was when I answered the call!

So - am I interpreting you aright and thinking that, if I can't prevent them swopping my phoneline, what I would get:

- a new phone (very much the same as my old one) at both locations (ie one in my study and one in my sitting room) and I could both make and receive calls in the normal way on my normal number.

- So it would just be down to disadvantages of:
a. They'd probably try and charge me to buy two new phones I don't need as far as I'm concerned.

b. THE biggie - that if electric goes out then my phones would stop working (unlike my current ones - which do keep working even if the electric isnt on).

c. Would they charge me for having an "extension" phone in their new style - so I'd get the bill for putting in an extension twice (ie the one I paid years back for another phone having to be paid again - because of their change of my phone)? I know BT were awkward when I bought this house in the first place and told them to install an extension socket and they told me it would mean wires running round visibly in my house from room to room unnecessarily. So I had to pay an electrician extra to come in and run the phonewires where they were due to go (ie up in the loft of my bungalow - so I saw as little as possible of them). I find it very difficult to convince workmen in my current area that it is absolutely the norm in my home area for us NOT to see pipes/wires/etc all over the place inside our homes and they are hidden as far as possible - so it has to be our normal way for me in this area too (ie the everything hidden sort of way we're used to).

emilie

Use a landline.

If you have one!

In our last house our landline was removed and replaced by a VOIP fibre line. It was not as good as a landline.

In this house the choice is only VOIP, because all that was on offer was a fibre connection, and anyway, after three months waiting for Openreach to come and repair the conduit to the house so that Vodaphone could run a full fibre line, we have given up, and bought a 5G hub.

We are now going to get another type of phone, that will probable have a mobile phone type number, but operate like a VOIP phone and have the look and feel of an ordinary phone.

clbm thank you for the info on the popsockets. They looke really interesting, but quite expensive. I might put one on my Christmas list and see if anyone will treat me.

Could you swop to a different supplier Monica - if one lot isnt being co-operative...then maybe another lot might be more so. I'm with Utility Warehouse personally and was surprised (and heartened) to see the other day that they arent "pushing it" like other suppliers are for those darn fibre lines. I've not had any problems to date with them - ie even of the "normal" variety - since swopping to them. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I estimate I've got the best chance of hanging onto what I've got for as long as possible with them - and I've been informed that there's asbestos there in the "gubbins" (technical term) in this old-fashioned little town I'm in - ie they aren't going to be keen on touching anything they don't have to. With some of what I've seen/been gobsmacked by I'm perfectly prepared to believe the "loadsa asbestos" tale too.

Typing amendment again - half the town that I'm told has asbestos all over the place in the gubbins...not all the town.

Cariad the problem isn't the supplier, it is Openreach, who keep delaying repairing the trunking needed to deliver the fibre to the house and this is the problem no matter which company we go with none of them can do anything until Openreach digs a hole in the ground and repairs the trunking.

So we, so to speak, decided to cut the Gordian knot and simply use a system that does not require a fibre connection to the house

I use a lanyard for my phone, brilliant for hands free. There’s lots to choose from on Amazon.

Why not have an answering machine at home with your landline and a mobile phone just got a possible emergencies when you are out?

I meant to say ....just got emergencies when you are out.

I do find the flat thin shape of a mobile phone very uncomfortaable to hold and holding it for any time gives me cramp in my hand.

M0nica it was my wrist that was hurting.
I've bought some of these stands: I can sit my phone on one on the table and just type with one hand.

amzn.eu/d/3H8npmh

CariadAgain

So - am I interpreting you aright and thinking that, if I can't prevent them swopping my phoneline, what I would get:-

-a new phone (very much the same as my old one) at both locations (ie one in my study and one in my sitting room) and I could both make and receive calls in the normal way on my normal number.-

Yes, but the VOIP phones can go where you want them - they are wireless and just need power points. However, you will need to spend time re-adding your contact details to the new phones.

-So it would just be down to disadvantages of:
a. They'd probably try and charge me to buy two new phones I don't need as far as I'm concerned.

BT replaced my old handset phones as part of the switchover to full fibre, I didn't pay for them.

b. THE biggie - that if electric goes out then my phones would stop working (unlike my current ones - which do keep working even if the electric isnt on).

I'm afraid that phone companies can't maintain the old copper networks. They will stop working anyway. If you are vulnerable, you may be provided with battery backup. I can see the mobile phone mast from my window. My mobile works in power cuts.

c. Would they charge me for having an "extension" phone in their new style - so I'd get the bill for putting in an extension twice (ie the one I paid years back for another phone having to be paid again - because of their change of my phone)? I know BT were awkward when I bought this house in the first place and told them to install an extension socket and they told me it would mean wires running round visibly in my house from room to room unnecessarily. So I had to pay an electrician extra to come in and run the phonewires where they were due to go (ie up in the loft of my bungalow - so I saw as little as possible of them). I find it very difficult to convince workmen in my current area that it is absolutely the norm in my home area for us NOT to see pipes/wires/etc all over the place inside our homes and they are hidden as far as possible - so it has to be our normal way for me in this area too (ie the everything hidden sort of way we're used to).

No charge for putting in extensions - as I said above, VOIP handsets are wireless but you may need a router extender disc to get a signal to both handsets (which I needed). BT provided this for me as part of the install.

It wasn't a particularly easy install and I had a few 'conversations' with BT engineers but it all seems to work OK.

Please note that I am speaking about my experience with Openreach/BT of moving to full fibre broadband from the old copper networks. I can't comment about other providers.

I have my phone with me always where ever I am. I place it on the floor when I have a shower in case I ever fell and need to call for help.
It gives me a feeling of safety to know I could contact someone in an emergency. This all started after my husband died and I was alone in the house. Now it's second nature to take it to whatever room I am in and I never leave the house without it either.

Missedout We had a landline replaced by a VOIP phone a year ago in our previous house.

We found that the range of a VOIP phone was far less than the landline. That was despite having MESH route extenders in several rooms, calls would cut off part way through and on several occasions the line disconnected and we were unable to receive calls until we realised the problem and reset the phone.

I found that the VOIP phone provided a service well below that we were accustomed to with our landline. Our experience was also Openreach/BT.

Fidelity2 I am quite happy using my phone, and we have, or had until recently a landline/VOIP phone with answerphone etc. My problem is that we are having difficulty getting any kind of telecommunication connections in our new house because of damage to the conduti the cable/fibre has to be pulled through. We have been waiting 3 months for OpenReach to come and fix it. In the meanwhile I am completely dependent on my mobile phone - except I can never remember where it is and because it is a big house with two huge chimney stacks in the centre. It is not easy to hear it ringing if it is the other side of a 10 foot by 6 foot mass of brickwork or in the car.

Missed Out

Thanks for that.

Think I've got the basic idea now.

Hopefully I'll manage now if it comes to it. With my type of mind being one that's incredibly UNtechnical things have to be ultra-simple for me to get the gist of them when it comes to technical stuff.

I've got a newish neighbour that's obviously got one of those "Renaissance Man" mindsets and it focuses around technical matters (I can only live in envy at the fact that even his just started primary school child can watch him do something once on a computer and he's learnt how to do it from those genes he's inherited!), and a very intelligent technically-minded male friend here then I think I should manage now I've got the basic gist and my (totally non-technical mind) should have enough of the language to explain to either of them what I'm talking about.

I tend to accummulate hugely intelligent male friends that regard all this sort of stuff as "kindergarten level" - and it goes way over my head.

CariadAgain

Those hugely intelligent male friends of yours need you because you offer support and help in areas that they don't understand either.
Don't do yourself down. Say what you want and ask for help to understand if you need to deal with technical stuff.

M0nica

Yes, I understand you have a 'difficult' house for telecomms. I'm not sure how you solve it. I found some engineers not very helpful but the last one I spoke to did understand his technology and gave first class support. I can only say keep trying.

Sorry everyone - I didn't mean to take the topic 'off-piste' with my replies. But there are several solutions to not carrying a mobile from room to room - from using Alexa/Siri, landline replacements and a smart watch working with your mobile.

I have my phone with me always where ever I am. I place it on the floor when I have a shower in case I ever fell and need to call for help

travelsafar the image of your phone on the bathroom floor has given me flashbacks to an incident many years ago. I was in the attic bedroom stripping beds after a family visit. I was expecting a call and took the cordless handset upstairs with me and left it on the small landing floor outside the bedroom door.

I came out of the bedroom 15 mins later and stood on the phone. Thanks to the smooth and curved underside I took off and fell down a full flight of stairs and landed in a heap at the bottom. Amazingly I was uninjured.

Rather than having your phone on the floor it might be safer for you to have it on a small stool or something similar to raise it off the floor.

Missedout

CariadAgain

Those hugely intelligent male friends of yours need you because you offer support and help in areas that they don't understand either.
Don't do yourself down. Say what you want and ask for help to understand if you need to deal with technical stuff.

M0nica

Yes, I understand you have a 'difficult' house for telecomms. I'm not sure how you solve it. I found some engineers not very helpful but the last one I spoke to did understand his technology and gave first class support. I can only say keep trying.

Sorry everyone - I didn't mean to take the topic 'off-piste' with my replies. But there are several solutions to not carrying a mobile from room to room - from using Alexa/Siri, landline replacements and a smart watch working with your mobile.

Yep...I'm okay with this type of male friend I often attract. My father was like it - so I'm familiar with it LOL. Hence why I get a bit puzzled by men who aren't what I call "Renaissance Men" - but he never managed to explain maths well enough to me that I could "get it" to pass an O level in it - and he was a maths teacher latterly....and it all went straight over my head. It's good enough to work out my finances - and that's adequate usually.

But, if you want someone who sometimes (very very occasionally indeed) "knows" something she's not been told then it's probably me that has no idea why she's strongly avoiding somewhere she'd usually go = and then finding out what happened there (yep...I'm probably the one that would have changed my mind at the last minute about going on that train the knifeman was on) and taken it into my head to go and have a drink somewhere and then catch the next one. Or I told an organisation they were about to be gifted enough money that I could have my house deposit I needed from them (and was totally unable to save on my terribly low income) and ignored them telling me they werent going to be given any more money for that and told them to put my request through anyway whilst they looked at me disbelievingly and clearly wondering what sort of idiot they were talking to...and then they came back to me a few months later to tell me I was about to get it from them after all. I would not have got that house deposit I needed if I hadnt been prepared to be looked at like I was some sort of wierd idiot telling them this....

A very technical brain would be very handy - but I'd rather have the sort of brain I've got...