Home Phone Service: Cancel or Keep It?

Who needs a landline in the age of smartphones?

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Deactivating your home phone service and using a cellphone exclusively is an increasingly popular option. Consolidating your two phone bills into one is not only an attractive financial decision but also a way to simplify things. Here are a few factors to consider.

Signal Strength

When you're at home, you're not mobile. This means you'll likely always have similar signal reception unless you change your cellphone carrier or they significantly enhance their network to improve a dead zone.

If your cellphone signal is weak at home either because your carrier provides inadequate service or because the architectural structure of your home weakens your cellphone's signal, deactivating your landline might seem like a poor decision.

The alternative is huddling up in a particular corner of your home that likes your cellphone and sitting still to avert having a dropped call. Still, this is not ideal.

While signal reception has improved greatly, it's not as reliable as a traditional, copper-based telephone line.

Price

When you analyze how much you spend on your cellphone bill as compared to your landline bill, does it make financial sense for you to cut your landline and rely only on your cellphone?

Due to the trend of people dropping their landlines in favor of cellphones, companies that offer landline services have seen their revenues erode. As such, they've modified their pricing plans to remain competitive. If the call quality with your cellphone at home works for you, make sure the money factor ends up saving you money instead of losing it.

Landlines as Backup

If your cellphone stops working at home because you've run the battery dry, a landline can serve as a useful backup option, especially in the case of an emergency. Even if your cellphone battery loses power, you can begin the recharging process and immediately place a call.

If your cellphone breaks or has a hardware malfunction and stops working, relying it on exclusively will leave you without a phone. Having a landline may serve as an important backup and also offer some peace of mind.

Copper Phone Service vs. VoIP

These days, the big question about home phone service is whether to use traditional copper-based technology or switch to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). VoIP service runs over the internet rather than a traditional, copper-based phone line. The service often ends up costing less and comes with unlimited minutes. Companies like Vonage have made VoIP popular.

Still, why should you pay for VoIP at home and not rely exclusively on your cellphone?

If you find it cheaper and easier to have one phone bill, those reasons may be enough to cut the phone cord at home.

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