Home phone/cell phone?

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I have a VOIP home phone and am debating over getting rid of it and just getting a cell phone instead. I've never owned a cell but have been paying for two lines with verizon for 15 years for the wife and daughter. The phone is $30 a month. Can I keep my home number and transfer it to the cell when it's canceled? My daughter has a recent samsung that retailed for like $900 and the wife has an older samsung smart phone. They are both satisfied with their phones. I am not wedded to verizon but I truly dislike ATT. The options in Wyoming are limited and I am contemplating a third party retailer Like Cricket. I know that everyone on this board has more experience with cell phones than I do and appreciate any advice. What kind of pushed me is there are a couple apps I am interested in that utilize the Android OS. Thanks
 
It'll probably be cheaper to add a line to your current cell plan than to go solo on Cricket. That being said, we do not have a home phone, just the cell phones with service through T-Mobile. 2 lines with unlimited talk, text, and HD video for $100 a month. I think if I were to add a line to my plan it'd be another $25, I'd have to go look though to see if that's accurate.

Since you'll need a phone, and assuming you want a new one, most of the carriers offer a monthly payment option at 0%. Android phones range from pretty cheap to $1000+, just depending on what you want. Since you probably won't be glued to it, I'd recommend midrange phones if you don't want to spend a ton of money.
 
Cricket was purchased by AT&T - the deal was announced in July 2013 but I am not sure when the deal was consummated. How is roaming while your on AT&T ? If roaming is poor then the other carriers are not providing good service, so it will not do you much good to switch. Go to the coverage maps for cell providers and see if that makes a difference at your home.
 
My home land line phone is my primary phone, but I like the ability to have a cell phone.
I bought an unlocked Smart phone off Amazon for very little and a per paid sim card from our service provider for $100 for 500 minutes for a year. There is no lock in this way
 
Originally Posted by sloinker
I have a VOIP home phone and am debating over getting rid of it and just getting a cell phone instead. I've never owned a cell but have been paying for two lines with verizon for 15 years for the wife and daughter. The phone is $30 a month. Can I keep my home number and transfer it to the cell when it's canceled? My daughter has a recent samsung that retailed for like $900 and the wife has an older samsung smart phone. They are both satisfied with their phones. I am not wedded to verizon but I truly dislike ATT. The options in Wyoming are limited and I am contemplating a third party retailer Like Cricket. I know that everyone on this board has more experience with cell phones than I do and appreciate any advice. What kind of pushed me is there are a couple apps I am interested in that utilize the Android OS. Thanks

My phone is an S8. Not the latest or greatest, but it allows me to take photos, videos, and use the internet well for any data I may need to access immediately.
 
We keep a "free" ooma voip line here, have for years. Current price is $6 per month for fees and 911 service.

Sounds much better than any mobile phone, on a cheap vtech cordless phone from walmart.
 
My wife and I have Panasonic link to cell cordless phones. They work. Most people don't know such a thing exist. Type in Panasonic link to cell in YouTube.
 
Originally Posted by JustinH
We keep a "free" ooma voip line here, have for years. Current price is $6 per month for fees and 911 service.

Sounds much better than any mobile phone, on a cheap vtech cordless phone from walmart.


No idea what kind of mobile phone you have however the Ooma we have installed is mediocre. You cannot talk at same time as other person, wind and it ruins conference calls when I used it annoying everyone due to being poor at handling odd audio. If the service cost more then $4.95/month for taxes I would dump it. I have decent and low latency bandwidth so it is not my connection as video conferencing destroys it.

The audio over Verizon LTE and iPhone >=6s with voice over LTE is excellent. Even better when it connects via HD to certain phones like you are in same room.

I understand some low budget cell providers use the old mediocre quality cellular connection which potentially is your case. Verizon in fact and thankfully is dumping it earlier next year.
 
If Verizon provides decent service in your locale Visible wireless is Verizon's own low cost carrier. You can port your home number.
 
Originally Posted by sloinker
I have a VOIP home phone and am debating over getting rid of it and just getting a cell phone instead. I've never owned a cell but have been paying for two lines with verizon for 15 years for the wife and daughter. The phone is $30 a month. Can I keep my home number and transfer it to the cell when it's canceled? My daughter has a recent samsung that retailed for like $900 and the wife has an older samsung smart phone. They are both satisfied with their phones. I am not wedded to verizon but I truly dislike ATT. The options in Wyoming are limited and I am contemplating a third party retailer Like Cricket. I know that everyone on this board has more experience with cell phones than I do and appreciate any advice. What kind of pushed me is there are a couple apps I am interested in that utilize the Android OS. Thanks


I doubt you can keep your home phone number.
BUT, you can have a home phone line with your current phone number and the cost is less then $6 a month (actual) payment instead of the $30+ you have been paying.
Just buy Ooma ... plug it into your router and your good to go, same service and device type as your cable or internet providers use to deliver home phone service, you wont know the difference.
You will need to plug a phone into the device or a cordless home phone set up with extra handsets for whatever rooms in the house you want.
 
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We went all cell phone and got rid of the land line. It was nothing but robo calls and now our cell phones are nothing but robo calls. Oh well!
 
Visible is cheap but definitely not for beginners. If you have wifi at home and at work you really don't need an unlimited cell data plan. Porting a number out of VoIP or landline tends to be more complicated and take longer than from a cell service.
 
We haven't had a phone line for the past 12 or so years, just two cell lines on a cricket plan. I think it's the most convenient and reliable method.

The main communication is either texting or video calls through Skype type messaging platform.
 
Originally Posted by sloinker
I have a VOIP home phone and am debating over getting rid of it and just getting a cell phone instead. I've never owned a cell but have been paying for two lines with verizon for 15 years for the wife and daughter. The phone is $30 a month. Can I keep my home number and transfer it to the cell when it's canceled? My daughter has a recent samsung that retailed for like $900 and the wife has an older samsung smart phone. They are both satisfied with their phones. I am not wedded to verizon but I truly dislike ATT. The options in Wyoming are limited and I am contemplating a third party retailer Like Cricket. I know that everyone on this board has more experience with cell phones than I do and appreciate any advice. What kind of pushed me is there are a couple apps I am interested in that utilize the Android OS. Thanks


With cell service for calling 911 you need good reception and a charged phone. With VOIP you need power which can be supplied via a UPS.
 
Originally Posted by Donald
Originally Posted by sloinker
I have a VOIP home phone and am debating over getting rid of it and just getting a cell phone instead. I've never owned a cell but have been paying for two lines with verizon for 15 years for the wife and daughter. The phone is $30 a month. Can I keep my home number and transfer it to the cell when it's canceled? My daughter has a recent samsung that retailed for like $900 and the wife has an older samsung smart phone. They are both satisfied with their phones. I am not wedded to verizon but I truly dislike ATT. The options in Wyoming are limited and I am contemplating a third party retailer Like Cricket. I know that everyone on this board has more experience with cell phones than I do and appreciate any advice. What kind of pushed me is there are a couple apps I am interested in that utilize the Android OS. Thanks


With cell service for calling 911 you need good reception and a charged phone. With VOIP you need power which can be supplied via a UPS.


This is a very good post.
Ive spent quite a bit of time in WY. And cell service is poor at best in WY. Even verizon. Att is no better, it may be worse, I dont remember. I wouldn't even bother with T-mo or sprint in WY.

Btw Cricket is a subsidiary of ATT.

Where in WY do you live?

BTW if you just want a few apps and you have home internet, get a tablet and get the apps on the tablet.
 
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OP - You are a true unicorn. Someone with no cell but still maintains a "home" number. Go with the best signal in the area. Yes, you can transfer your number to the new phone.

It's been about 20 years since I dropped my "home" phone. I'm still amazed that there are people that both have one and use it.
 
Originally Posted by madRiver
Originally Posted by JustinH
We keep a "free" ooma voip line here, have for years. Current price is $6 per month for fees and 911 service.

Sounds much better than any mobile phone, on a cheap vtech cordless phone from walmart.


No idea what kind of mobile phone you have however the Ooma we have installed is mediocre. You cannot talk at same time as other person, wind and it ruins conference calls when I used it annoying everyone due to being poor at handling odd audio. If the service cost more then $4.95/month for taxes I would dump it. I have decent and low latency bandwidth so it is not my connection as video conferencing destroys it.

The audio over Verizon LTE and iPhone >=6s with voice over LTE is excellent. Even better when it connects via HD to certain phones like you are in same room.

I understand some low budget cell providers use the old mediocre quality cellular connection which potentially is your case. Verizon in fact and thankfully is dumping it earlier next year.


Wow never had those issues, and I am literally using a nine dollar cordless phone from walmart.

My cell phone is an iphone SE, and the ooma voice quality is much better.

You may want to look into port issues on the router if you are having voip issues. What's interesting is I didn't have to open any ports or mess with forwarding for my ooma device.
 
Had T-Mobile for a year and had limited coverage. Check coverage maps before changing service. We now use consumer cellular because they buy off whatever tower is nearby..
 
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