You've Dropped Your Landline — Now What? 635
smurphmeister writes "My wife and I recently moved up to the world of cell phones, after taking our sweet time to make sure this whole newfangled technology was going to stick around. We moved the old landline phone number to her phone, so we're disconnected from the pole. Now the question is, what to do with the copper already in our house? My first thought was an intercom system, but that just seems so old school! So what ideas do you all have for what to do with the 4 little wires running to every room of my house?"
Sir, step away from the wall jack ... (Score:5, Insightful)
A few thoughts (Score:5, Insightful)
1) If you got the budget, rip it out, replace with Cat6, if Fiber to the home comes to yours, you'll thank me later :-)
2) The intercom idea isn't bad, depends on the size of your house (what happened to "just yelling" sheesh)
3) Just yank out all the copper and sell it, few bucks anyways
At any rate I'd make sure you're real sure you like being away from your landline. Give that decision a 6 month wait period before you decide to recycle your wires one way or another.
Re:What do you do with extra copper? (Score:3, Insightful)
Errmmm... have you ever seen telephone wire? I can't imagine there would be more than few ounces of it in his entire house. The effort of stripping off the insulation wouldn't be worth it.
Forget them and get on with your life (Score:5, Insightful)
There's more important things to worry about.
Move on.
Re:ethernet (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:AM radio! (Score:3, Insightful)
the kind of radio where you can listen to ideas too far off in the ideological fringes to make it onto the Internet
Alas, it looks like the fringes have [moveon.org] already [motherjones.org] arrived [chomsky.info].
Maybe keep the landline? (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe you're doing most of your chatting on the cell but there's still some good reasons for a landline:
1) home fax machine
2) landline more likely to function in an emergency as cell systems usually overload and are unavailable
3) landline call to 911 is more likely to show your address to the dispatcher possibly saving your life with a faster response
4) landline will not be lost or misplaced
5) landline more likely to continue to function during an electrical power failure
6) landline can provide emergency dial-up internet service
7) landline will not expose you to uhf radiation
8) landline will not suffer from battery failure
9) landline will not suffer from poor signal quality
10 landline is legally much more difficult for authorities to eavesdrop on
Re:Use the line to pull other lines into your outl (Score:3, Insightful)
It's only required to be Cat3, but it's possible (unlikely though) that he has Cat5 or higher run through his house, with only four of the eight wires terminated. Were I to build my own house, I'd go this route, myself, and this is what they did at a networking lab I used to work at instead of buying phone extension cables.
So, i guess you don't have DSL? (Score:5, Insightful)
And you don't have any doubt about the reliability of the cell system?
And in an emergency where POTS is the only functioning technology.
Mature systems that have been tested in dire situations, old fashioned switched telephones and HAM radios come to mind.
What about that "Phone Call" (Score:5, Insightful)
Not that any Slashdotter would know anyone that might get arrested.... Still one should be aware that in many places (like Texas) your "Phone Call" has to be a collect phone call through some third party (don't know the name of the third rate company in Texas), and they won't make a collect call to a cell phone.
So.... If the police show up at your daughter's apartment because of a domestic disturbance call, and she isn't entirely interested in letting them search the house (like she is studying for finals barefoot in her night gown after finally kicking out her very loud boyfriend) .... And the police are so worried that she is being held against her will and being beaten up by her boy friend that they throw her on the ground and beat her up and haul her to jail....
THEN when she tries to call you and you have no land line.... You will not be disturbed.
THEN she will get tossed barefoot on the streets at 4:30 am in her night gown in downtown Austin Texas and will finally give you a call when she borrows a phone from a construction worker....
AND you will be thankful that you got 45 extra minutes sleep.
I am not entirely clear why so many states like Texas have decided that it is a great idea to only give people the right to a COLLECT phone call to a LAND LINE ONLY in this day and age, but that is the way it is.
TRUE STORY.
Re:Forget them and get on with your life (Score:2, Insightful)
Some people just like doing stuff. I know people like you find doing stuff tiring and mentally fatiguing, but there are people who like creating and stimulating there brains.
So you go ion back to your Friends reruns, or whatever. When people who do things are talking, you don't need to be heard.
.
Re:Maybe keep the landline? (Score:4, Insightful)
1) home fax machine
myfax.com - $10 a month, PDF to your email, way more convenient
2) landline more likely to function in an emergency as cell systems usually overload and are unavailable
cablecompany (shaw.ca) home phone, cheaper than regular PSTN, never noticed it going down.
3) landline call to 911 is more likely to show your address to the dispatcher possibly saving your life with a faster response
cablecompany (shaw.ca) home phone, registered address for 911. Any reputable VOIP provider will handle this.
4) landline will not be lost or misplaced
Do you mean physically losing your cell phone? Can't really correct for that, not a technical issue, more of a PEBKAC issue.
5) landline more likely to continue to function during an electrical power failure
No more so than a good VOIP provider (i.e. the one that also owns your infrastructure).
6) landline can provide emergency dial-up internet service
I can't even imagine checking my email over dialup anymore let alone web browsing/etc. I'd rather just go to the nearest coffee shop.
7) landline will not expose you to uhf radiation
which is non-ionizing, and you probably don't live in a Faraday cage so it's a moot point.
8) landline will not suffer from battery failure
Actually yes it can, what do you think powers the phone infrastructure in your neighborhood when the power goes out? Magic elves? You can always buy a second battery or a USB battery powered charger.
9) landline will not suffer from poor signal quality
Not a problem in this city or any city I've been to recently.
10 landline is legally much more difficult for authorities to eavesdrop on
Uh no. the legality of a wiretap doesn't change if it's traditional PSTN/VOIP/cell/etc. Plus if you're worried about wire tapping using disposable prepaid cell phones and rotating them often is probably a lot more secure.
Do you plan on ever selling the property? (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe put nice blank plates over the jacks if it bothers you that much. By "better" I'd say fishing cat 5, cat6, or structured wiring to each jack and then home running them somewhere. A loop is no good, you'll only make what's there worse with any other scheme.
The only thing worse than trying to un-fuck the wiring in a new place you just bought because the last owner did some "project" is being that home owner and trying to get it all unfucked on your own because an inspector told the potential buyers that the wiring is all screwed up. Trust me on this. Your wife will be a defcon 0 with the stress of moving. You'll be either paying two mortgages or dealing with the close on your new place, trying to get things timed just right. (And they never can time things "just right.") The new buyers will be ready to close yesterday, except for the list of stupid crap you need to fix and or explain. A contractor will want to tear up walls and fix it that way, for a couple grand (maybe more if they know you're bent over the table) and you'll have to re-clean the place with that lovely drywall dust just about everywhere... And it's going to be about 200 degrees in your attic where you cleverly "hid" most your dirty work... If you're there forever, then knock yourself out, but if you plan on selling the place, just realize that a lot of people still like to have phones in rooms and phone service (even Vonage or 8x8 or whatever can run over the old loop if you plug it in to the house instead of a phone)
Or maybe the new buyer will get a kick out of your "intercom" system or home brewed HPNA, with the speaker about 2 feet off the ground where the phone jack was... You never know.
Hands off the copper (Score:5, Insightful)
Leave it alone.
If you sell the house it will be there for the next person.
Really, why mess up perfectly operational systems just because you are not using it at the moment?
Re:AM radio! (Score:3, Insightful)
If that's the fringe, then so [whitehouse.gov] are [rnc.org] these [rushlimbaugh.com].
Re:Sir, step away from the wall jack ... (Score:3, Insightful)
No, they'll mess with you.
http://www.fcc.gov/eb/ [fcc.gov]
Signal to Noise (Score:4, Insightful)
Leave the wires alone. You may need them again.
That said, feel free to mod this off topic if you like, but the question in the title made some of the voices in my head yell stuff at me that makes sense, of a sort.
The author of TFA went to cellular phone only, dropping wired service. In most cases/comparisons cell service costs more than wired service. That comes with benefits, primarily portability, but the fact remains.
I used to install home TV antennae for my dad's TV shop. For $200 or less a home could get 5 to 10 years of service picking up signals broadcast over the air. Portable TVs could with rabbit ears and loops could, in our area, pick up the same 10 stations (VHF and UHF) as the big rig fed to the house. For that matter even larger TVs came with rabbit ears back then, making the rooftop gear unnecessary. Then along came cable and direct satellite, and we get our TV fed to us by wire and/or receiver boxes, and pay a good deal for the feed.
In the first case we trade hard wired for unwired, and we pay more. In the second we trade soft- or unwired for hardwired, and we pay more. As I said, it makes sense of a sort, but some of the voices keep saying "huh?".
Re:Maybe keep the landline? (Score:1, Insightful)
Maybe you're doing most of your chatting on the cell but there's still some good reasons for a landline:
1) home fax machine
WTF? People still uses faxes? Computer, printer, scanner, internet. Done.
2) landline more likely to function in an emergency as cell systems usually overload and are unavailable
intnernet more likey to function in an emergency as that is what it was designed to do.
3) landline call to 911 is more likely to show your address to the dispatcher possibly saving your life with a faster response
Got nothing for you there.
4) landline will not be lost or misplaced
I lose my cordless landline more often than I lose my cellphone.
5) landline more likely to continue to function during an electrical power failure
My cellphone runs off batteries. Sure the Cell towers run off electric, but if the power outage is that far gone, there is a good chance it is effecting land lines as well.
6) landline can provide emergency dial-up internet service
My 3G cell phone does emergency dial-up internet better than my landline can, especially since I don't have a modem, nor dialup service.
7) landline will not expose you to uhf radiation
Thats ok, I got my tinfoil hat on.
8) landline will not suffer from battery failure
True, when my cordless battery dies, I have to go digging up my old AT&T lease phone.
9) landline will not suffer from poor signal quality
Says who and what army? Sure it generally sounds good, but it doesn't mean it never suffers.
10 landline is legally much more difficult for authorities to eavesdrop on
I think I need another tinfoil hat.
Re:Use the line to pull other lines into your outl (Score:3, Insightful)
A phone today will break if you drop it.
At which point you run down to the store and pick from one of the several thousand phones that are available without having to resort to perpetual financing options. Or, even more horrific, you hook up a modem. Without asking permission.
Yeah. I remember those days too. :P
Re:Save it for 911 (Score:3, Insightful)
Depends on the state, apparently.
First hit on Google: http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2009/05/update-about-911-and-disconnected-landlines.html [consumerreports.org]
Re:Use the line to pull other lines into your outl (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, the first thing I want to do if I hear a noise at night is put my face up to a wall, highlight my silhouette, ruin my night vision, and fiddle with some electronics.
Correction, I'll go downstairs with a bat, or gun, and a really bright flashlight to blind any intruder with before I bat them. And if it's a miscreant child, blind them and scare the shit out of them so they'll stop sneaking out at night.
I certainly do not intend to wait for authorities after putting myself at a serious disadvantage first.
Re:AM radio! (Score:2, Insightful)
Yeah, Limbaugh is already all over the Net, just like I was all over your mom last night.
Re:Sir, step away from the wall jack ... (Score:3, Insightful)
If your custom built house is prewired with cat5e/cat6, and you're selling it to someone who wants normal POTS phone, why not just replace the RJ45 jacks with regular phone jacks? After all, Cat5e and Cat6 are just twisted pairs that /can/ be used for phone.
If some future owner wants to convert it back, they can, just by putting RJ45 jacks back in.
If you're pre-wiring, leave enough slack in the walls for several conversions. About 400mm of slack will allow several re-terminations.
Re:Yes: Removing it may cut your house resale $ (Score:3, Insightful)
Although not having telephone jacks would not stop me from buying a house, it would drop my offer a few thousand dollars since I have to deal with the hassle of re-installing the lines.
Wow, I thought BT (UK phone company) were bad when they charged me £100 to install a line to my house.
Re:What about that "Phone Call" (Score:1, Insightful)
Not that any Slashdotter would know anyone that might get arrested.... Still one should be aware that in many places (like Texas) your "Phone Call" has to be a collect phone call through some third party (don't know the name of the third rate company in Texas), and they won't make a collect call to a cell phone.
So.... If the police show up at your daughter's apartment because of a domestic disturbance call, and she isn't entirely interested in letting them search the house (like she is studying for finals barefoot in her night gown after finally kicking out her very loud boyfriend) .... And the police are so worried that she is being held against her will and being beaten up by her boy friend that they throw her on the ground and beat her up and haul her to jail....
THEN when she tries to call you and you have no land line.... You will not be disturbed.
THEN she will get tossed barefoot on the streets at 4:30 am in her night gown in downtown Austin Texas and will finally give you a call when she borrows a phone from a construction worker....
AND you will be thankful that you got 45 extra minutes sleep.
I am not entirely clear why so many states like Texas have decided that it is a great idea to only give people the right to a COLLECT phone call to a LAND LINE ONLY in this day and age, but that is the way it is.
TRUE STORY.
Allright, you're an idiot.
Why is a series of egregious errors basis for "you shouldn't go completely wireless"?
Re:Sir, step away from the wall jack ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Sigs are appended by slashdot, not hand typed.
Re:Sir, step away from the wall jack ... (Score:2, Insightful)