Land line phone service

[jess1234]

If I was to request a land line to be activated in Laconia who would I call?

[jetskier]

There are several choices. Fairpoint Communications owns the copper infrastructure and can provide basic voice service:

Fairpoint Communications

1.866.984.2001

Metrocast can provide digital voice services over the coax infrastructure:

Metrocast

1.866.984.2001

You can get a inexpensive bridge and use a cell phone to run your land line:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00135XU7Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Phantom]

If you have cable installed already, your best option $ financially $, is to go digital via Metrocast and use one of the "Bundle" packages.



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[BroadHopper]

If you have cable installed already, your best option $ financially $, is to go digital via Metrocast and use one of the "Bundle" packages.

Until 6 months later you end up with a bill paying twice as much!

I'm all for the bridge system! Works for me!

[Phantom]

Good to know Broadhopper --

I was actually going from my experience here in MA with Comcast bundles. Pricing is stable probably due to FIOS as competition where up there is no competition.

In any event as we just purchased a Condo ourselves -- your point is duly noted !


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[VitaBene]

I gave up my landlines completely, even for business. I know it is not an option for all

[Greene's Basin Girl]

I have a landline through Time Warner Cable. I never use it. All I get is robo telephone calls all day. My son called Time Warner because I wanted to cancel the landline. They told him it would cost me more to cancel it then keep it because I have a bundle. You Have Got To Be Kidding????? Somehow my son wore them down so now they are giving me a credit for a year that is equal to the cost of the phone. It is interesting that Time Warner calls it a bundle, but the components of the bundle are broken down separately.

[Phantom]

All Broadband Providers (Comcast, Verizon, MetroCast, Cox, etc) all play the same marketing game. As they are primarily a television/internet providers it is a maneuver on their part to get your phone service away from the local land line provider (Verizon/Fairpoint/ etc). Typically if you "add Phone" your monthly bill will be 10-15% less than not having it. This varies widely across the country.

Some (I for one) subscribe to the bundle and simply do not attach a phone to the line ..... but it is there should I need it


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[TheProfessor]

Fairpoint is the only company that provides traditional POTS land line telephone service.
All others listed above are internet or cell based.
Fairpoint traditional land line can be had for somewhere between $15.00 - $20.00 per month.
The traditional Fairpoint land line rarely goes out. Unless a tree falls on the wires and then everything is out anyway. Other then a cell phone.
Some issues with internet based phones is that the connection can be disrupted either externally or internally - such as your modem quits.
I have both. An internet phone - NetTalk - and Fairpoint.
Some of the internet phones do not do a fax although few people do faxes anymore.
The NetTalk internet phone will turn off randomly every so often. Whereas the Fairpoint has never turned off.

[jetskier]

Fairpoint is the only company that provides traditional POTS land line telephone service.
All others listed above are internet or cell based.
Fairpoint traditional land line can be had for somewhere between $15.00 - $20.00 per month.
The traditional Fairpoint land line rarely goes out. Unless a tree falls on the wires and then everything is out anyway. Other then a cell phone.
Some issues with internet based phones is that the connection can be disrupted either externally or internally - such as your modem quits.
I have both. An internet phone - NetTalk - and Fairpoint.
Some of the internet phones do not do a fax although few people do faxes anymore.
The NetTalk internet phone will turn off randomly every so often. Whereas the Fairpoint has never turned off.

It is important to not confuse "digital voice" with VoIP. Both are packet based, however, digital voice is typically carried through the infrastructure separate from data and it is inherently more reliable/higher quality. I have digital voice from Comcast in MA and it has been much better than the POTS service that I had from Verizon.

NetTalk is VoIP and it runs through your local network/IP router and access network (up here likely DOCSIS). Not a reliable setup, as you found out. I use a bluetooth bridge to a cellphone with battery backup to provide reliable connectivity for an alarm system.

Hope this all helps.

Jetskier:cool: