Windows 10: Milestone for cellphones vs. landline phones

Milestone for cellphones vs. landline phones

:)

 

can you explain (to a 5 year old??) what VoIP is - is it free I have broadband but want to use a telephone receiver

It's a complicated question and hard to explain to a 5 year old, but I'll try to make it as simple as I can and my answer may not be technically accurate, since I am not a VOIP expert.

I have used Skype for years and I have recently ported a landline over to an entirely VOIP service, called Lingo. And this is what I know about it:

VOIP (Voice Over IP) is a way to send and receive phone calls entirely through an internet connection. To use it, you'd plug a VOIP box into a broadband or DSL router (to get access to your high speed internet connection) and then you'd plug a phone into the
VOIP box.

Once the service is all connected up, anyone can call the phone from any landline or cellphone (and even a compatible VOIP line) and the phone will ring in your home or you can call any landline or cellphone from the VOIP phone. (I'm actually using a two-line
phone for this - one line is my home phone number, which is a regular landline, and the other line is for a charity organization I direct - this phone number was a regular landline, but to cut costs I ported it over to Lingo and now it is entirely handled
via VOIP).

VOIP can replace your landline if you choose a service that can port your existing phone number.

VOIP service providers generally provide discounted international calling (I do not know of any purely VOIP services that provide FREE international calling).

Skype is not an entirely pure VOIP service. Skype's free service allows you to call any other Skype user anywhere in the world, similar to the way you can instant message via Yahoo messenger or Windows Live messenger (only instead of messaging you are talking
to the person - Skype also provides free messenger services). To use the Skype free voice services, all you'd need is a headset and microphone to plug into your computer and an internet connection.

Skype also offers some paid services that allow you to have a phone number and would allow you to call from an internet-capable phone that is plugged into your broadband or DSL router (thus bypassing your computer). If you subscribe to the Skype phone number
plan, you could place calls from the phone to any landline or cellphone and you could receive calls that are placed from any landline or cellphone. The internet-capable phone would ring when a call is received similar to the way a landline rings.

Skype also provides discounted calling to international numbers.

If you subscribed to the Skype phone number, calls received to and placed from that number would use a combination of landline/cellular and voip technology to transmit and deliver the phone call.

Now that I've provided an answer, I imagine some other folks will chime in at least to correct something I've posted here.

 

Political Poll app

Since landline usage is going down and pollsters are using data derived from said landlines Can anyone come up with an app to download: to cellphones to vote in polls or be asked questions to vote on what people want. But of course, the pollsters
just haven't kept up with the times.

 

Having a career in construction, I started with a bag phone back in the early 90's then onto a brick, then a two-way, a flip, a Droid X2, and now a Lumia 1520. Sometime around the turn of the century when DSL was in it's infancy vs dialup, I remember asking myself why I kept on paying for a landline? Haven't had one since.

 

I will not ever give up my landline connection! They will have to prize the handset out of my hands before they bury me one day! *Biggrin

 

Gosh - the US is so backward here - we surpassed that years ago UK (and most EU countries I am sure).

In the UK, the competition for mobile phones is so fierce, and coupled with strong legislation, we all can choose from three or more service providers unless in really remote areas. As a result we "tooled up" years ago. I bet it is less than 20% of home that do not have a mobile phone.

Nearly all homes have a landline of course as that is pretty much a pre-requisite to having broadband (which is also a fraction of US price due to competition).

A lot of this stems from the days when we had a single state controlled telecom company (BT) over the whole country. One of the requirements of privatisation was that BT who run the infrastructure had to allow third parties to access the infrastructure.

Hell, I only pay £9 per month for unlimited calls to any mobile or landline, unlimited texts and 4GB of data, £2.50 per month for unlimited broadband (good deal even here) but we have to pay for the telephone line rental (£20 per month).

 

Oh? How often do you use a landline? And how is cell service there? Millions of towers here, so always get a connection and never lose one.

 

I have to keep my land line, it's part of my 'Bundle'.

 

I hear you. There was hardly any competition here due to basically 3 big corps that serviced them. Also, phones used to be locked to a cell provider. They passed legislation 2 or 3 years back that they can't lock them anymore. That opened up a provider war and prices started dropping. More companies got into the business, which is helping even more.

Lots of the elderly won't go cellular here, so that shrinks the market for competition. e.g. My oldest brother and others I know will never get one.

Another thing is that we overbuild everything here. The Frankenstein syndrome. e.g. Millions of cell towers here and someone has to pay for them. A hospital on just about every corner. One of the reasons for our housing bubble is everyone built big and plenty. With a family of 4, who needs 3, 4, 6K thousand sq ft houses? Now they're worthless. You would think building plenty would lower costs, but it does the opposite.

Another here is we have cellular, cable, and phone line for options. Again, overbuilt. Simply, someone has to pay to build and maintain those infrastructures.

Another thing is government regulation. They need to keep their filthy little hands out of businesses regulation and people's business. People around the world think the US is so free. Think again. This is not to say I don't love my country. I do, but things have gotten out of hand.

I cry at seeing your prices, but like I said, slowly prices are coming down. I pay $44.00/mo unlimited cellular phone on everything except oversea calls. $40.00/mo for 1TB of data at 45mbps flow. I'm really getting about 50mbps.

I could go on, but I'm done with my rant. *Biggrin

 

I'm not surprised by this. Of my three kids, two do not have landlines and the third has one because it came bundled with their Cable/Internet service -- but they use their cell phones nearly all the time.

My wife and I also use our cell phones a lot -- but we didn't "grow up" with them, so unlike the Millenials, we're not on them ALL THE TIME! So we're probably not going to get rid of our landline, since it too came bundled with our Cable/Internet service.

 

I have to have a land line to supply FTTC. £22 a month for internet then landline charges. Cellular service at my area is abysmal.

 

We are retired and our LL is in constant use, talk, fax and alarm (cost is bundled w/TV & Internet) Cell phones are prepay and only go on while away from the house, off when we return. Our cell phones TM (2 lines) cost us $10 a YEAR each. Our kids + grand kids (13) have cells that run $40-$60 per line a month.

 

Given up on landline a long time ago... in Cape Town we still need it for internet connectivity, but in Durban we have an independant company laying fibre cables through storm-water drainage systems and connecting to homes (no need for phone) - I took a 10meg line, uncapped, unthrottled for less than 500 ZAR p.m...(that's a give-away as my son downloads TB's in games) - we have been cell as long as I can remember regarding phones - diff'rt strokes I know.. but things they are a changing..

 

I gave up my landline years ago. Probably 10+ years ago.

It's interesting that many businesses are now assuming you are using a cell phone, and link SMS alerts directly to your main phone number, without asking for a different cell phone number (they still have to ask if you want the alerts though)

 

Gave it up at least 15 years ago! Think I had the cool Motorola StarTac analog! *Biggrin