Do you still have a landline phone ?

[765489]

I'm toying with the idea of taking out the land line phone I have here. It's costing me 60 euros a month and the only time it rings is either scam calls or older relations ringing.

The only advantage I can see of keeping it is if there is a prolonged power cut and my mobile dies... it will have independent power from the local phone exchange.

Anyone here take the big step ? There's probably a bit of sentimentality in this decision as the line is here for the last 30 years. However, the fact that the line isn't the best sometimes ( I can hear conversations from another call on it ) and having to deal with Eir, I'm thinking of letting it go and saving 720 euros a year.

[Del.Monte]

I finally gave up my landline in November 2019 and have never looked back. It was costing me about €60+ a month with Virgin Media and now GOMO is costing me €8.99 a month. The only difference is that my calls to UK landlines are no longer free but as I no longer make that many I don't mind paying for the odd one to friends who aren't on Signal or WhatsApp.

The main reason that I kept the landline so long was for business i.e. if you have one you're more likely to be a bona fide bricks and mortar operator than somebody with a gmail account, an 08 mobile and no proper address.

[490808]

Would love to get rid of our landline but with no mobile coverage in the area its that or nothing

[765489]

Another reason I have it is for making calls to other landline numbers. But I've found over the last few years that has dropped substantially. If I have a problem with an order I'd usually now send an email.

[Seanybiker]

Still have one here. Few old relatives ring up a good bit of the time and I find it well handy for the annoying calls where Im gonna be on hold for ages.

[quodec]

I finally gave up my landline in November 2019 and have never looked back. It was costing me about €60+ a month with Virgin Media and now GOMO is costing me €8.99 a month. The only difference is that my calls to UK landlines are no longer free but as I no longer make that many I don't mind paying for the odd one to friends who aren't on Signal or WhatsApp.

The main reason that I kept the landline so long was for business i.e. if you have one you're more likely to be a bona fide bricks and mortar operator than somebody with a gmail account, an 08 mobile and no proper address.

Good man Del. I've been meaning to do the same for the past year. Very little if any use now from the landline; even the broadband (on the bundle) is variable at best - I use the mobile hotspot for most online stuff now. How did the extraction process go with your provider? Was it like pulling hen's teeth. I browsed the Eir site recently and the cancel procedure is buried well in the background. They obviously won't make it easy for you to leave!

[kadman]

I got rid of the landline 15+ years ago. Even when it was not used, the standing charges for it are criminal.

[CelticRambler]

My landline is actually a VOIP line, so if the power and/or internet goes down, so does the phone. At 36€/month (to include unlimited broadband, unlimited calls to French mobiles and most international landlines, and a 4€ discount on mobile plan with the same advantages [coming in at 16€]), it's not as expensive a deal as what the relatives in Ireland or GB pay. But like the rest of ye, these days the telephone part of it serves almost exclusively to alert me to incoming scam calls and other chancers.

Last year, the broadband speed had dropped so low and the router had become very unreliable, I almost gave it up. I have a direct line of sight to the 4G antenna 2km across the fields, so I generally use my mobile data when I want to up/download files in a hurry, and most family communication is done via WhatsApp. Still, a call to customer service got the landline speed doubled, and the router has settled down again (as long as you don't whack it when moving the sofa), so I didn't go through with the cancellation.

I don't receive a huge number of visitors, but it is nice to be able to offer "free wifi" to those who are travelling with mobiles that don't include a massive amount of data; and I do also frequently leave several computers connected to the wifi when I'm out making it inconvenient to depend entirely on my mobile hotspot. There's part of me, too, that feels having a "real" number makes any business more legitimate, although I think that's just an old fogey thing now!

Still, 36€ x12 months = the cost of a new washing machine ...

[Hairy-Joe]

I'm another with a landline that's hardly used. It's an add-on to the fibre to the home broadband. I keep it as it's relatively inexpensive at €20 a month and mobile reception here isn't great.

However, the contract is up and I'll be changing provider shortly. Some of the packages have the landline add-on at €10 a month (I think)

[Del.Monte]

@ quodec

Terminating my Virgin contract was fairly painless, if slightly confusing, if I remember correctly.
I think they wanted their 'media hub' back but I didn't bother and it has joined a box load of old routers.

[PureIsle]

While I still had the copper landline I set up a VOIP account and used it for all outgoing calls over the internet connection provided on that copper line.
Doing so I cut my costs for calls greatly.

When I got fibre to the home, I transferred my landline number to goldfish, and all incoming calls to that number come through goldfish who pass it on to my VOIP account.
That costs about €6 per month.
All outgoing calls are made via the VOIP account.

When I changed internet provider I got yet another number (no cost), with free Irish geo calls up to 1 hour each.
So now all Irish 'landline' calls use that new number and the VOIP account is used for all other calls such as mobile phones and foreign calls.

There is absolute zero mobile reception in my house ...... so to make a call I would have to go outside and walk about to find reception.
At some future time, when available cheaply, I will likely get a mobile service and phone that can use the house wifi to make and receive calls on the mobile service. Gomo promised it ..... but has not materialised for original customers.

I was rather upset when Comreg changed the numbering, as previously I had 076 number for others to ring in, but I guess the way 'phone plans' have developed in recent years it is not something that is considered necessary.