First, Victor and I both have iPhones. We always have them in our pockets. Why on earth do we need another phone on top of those?
Second, our upstairs phone died so every time the phone rang downstairs, I had to run for it. Usually, I didn't make it. That's when the third thing comes into play.
Third, 90% of the calls we would get were sales, surveys, charities, or political recordings. I can't tell you how annoying it was to run for the phone ten times a day only to have it be one of those calls.
I think #3 was really the final kicker for me.
So, there are some concerns about going without a land line. My SIL asked me two questions when I told her I was making the swtich. "How many calls will you be missing because you don't hear your phone in your purse or another room?" and "What about 911 service not being able to find your house?"
So, the first concern about missed calls was really not applicable to us. First of all, I almost always have my iPhone with me. I'm pretty much a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal so I always have a pocket to slip it into. It's just become a habit. Secondly, I missed way more calls on my land line! See #2 above. I do have to get into the habit of having my ringer on. I usually have it on vibrate and I sometimes don't feel it. But I'm getting better.
The second concern is a big one. Luckily, were recently given an AT&T 3G Microcell. I discovered as we were setting it up that it comes with E911 service. When I make a call that connects through the Microcell, it reports my address! Concern resolved! You might look into your cell service to see if it can use E911.
Well, I'll let you know how its going in a week or two. So far, I've not missed the land line a bit! Of course, it probably would have been good to tell my mother that I was doing this beforehand. Oops! Sorry, Mom!
Jan
7 comments:
How does the microcell work and how did you get it? We have ATT but have terrible service at home and they're the local phone company! You'd think they would have at least decent coverage! I've learned that I need to keep my phone on 2G at home. Supposedly something about 2G towers being closer together than 3G...whatever. I just know that on 2G I *sometimes* get calls and texts, on 3G, nothing.
Hey Robert, we got a Microcell from AT&T. They sent us a certificate for a free one. I started using an app called "Mark The Spot" from AT&T a while ago to occasionally report the terrible service we get at home. Seems like not too long after that we got the certificate. I'm not sure if it was related or not, but it's worth a try. It's nice having 5 bars at home now. The only noticable difference is that it takes a few seconds for a call to connect. It runs off your broadband internet. Unfortunately, calls still count against your minutes.
Thanks for the info. Who do you have your broadband from? Are you the only ones who can use the microcell or do your neighbors benefit at the expense of your broadband throughput? Weird that it counts against your minutes.
Oh, I forgot to ask, how bad was your coverage before you got the thing? Do you know if any of your neighbors got one, too?
We have Qwest DSL for our broadband. It works just fine through that. You can define up to 5 (I think) phone numbers that can access your Microcell. If a number isn't authorized it can't connect. Kind of nice. We have some good friends who live four doors down. Since they have AT&T I added them to our Microcell. They can connect to it from their house, too. They haven't recieved a coupon to get one themselves and they aren't cheap to buy.
Before this our coverage was spotty. Usually at least two bars but often less for periods of time. Lots of missed calls and texts. We were told that we live in a "white zone" with poor coverage.
Cool! Yesterday I started a campaign to get one. I will be doing a "Mark the Spot" report everyday. I've occasionally sent some reports before. Each time they respond with "We are pleased to inform you that we have a new 3G cell site planned near your submission in the next 60-90 days." My first report was 12/09, still no service.
Was your iffy service on 2G or 3G, and if 3G, did you try setting your phone to 2G. If you did the 2G thing, did you have service? In other words, are you in an area if bad 3G coverage that has ok 2G coverage?
Wow, I'm just full of questions!
Good luck! I don't know if you called to complain if they'd send you one or not. It seems pretty random who gets the offer. I never tried 2G... didn't know it was a possibility!
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