Landline phone service advice

[Jeffrey]

I need to connect a hardwired house alarm to an alarm service company. It’s a vacation home (frequently vacant) without internet service. What’s a dependable and inexpensive landline phone option?

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I need to connect a hardwired house alarm to an alarm service company. It’s a vacation home (frequently vacant) without internet service. What’s a dependable and inexpensive landline phone option?

What's a "land line?"

[Kdogg]

I need to connect a hardwired house alarm to an alarm service company. It’s a vacation home (frequently vacant) without internet service. What’s a dependable and inexpensive landline phone option?

Are you going to have options? Where is it? Even in the heyday of landlines but people only had the option of one maybe two local phone companies for the connection. Also most alarm companies have switched to cellular hookup because of the decrease in landlines.

[plimnko]

What's a "land line?"

do you have cell service? if you do, try verizon or t-mobile 5g internet

[Furniture]

What's a "land line?"

That’s my question…

[bundabergdevil]

I need to connect a hardwired house alarm to an alarm service company. It’s a vacation home (frequently vacant) without internet service. What’s a dependable and inexpensive landline phone option?

Nothing to add except to say that I’m looking for a spot without internet service. I love the feeling.

[Jeffrey]

Are you going to have options? Where is it? Even in the heyday of landlines but people only had the option of one maybe two local phone companies for the connection. Also most alarm companies have switched to cellular hookup because of the decrease in landlines.

Thanks, all great points! I should probably switch to cellular. I’ve hesitated because I assume copper lines are more dependable.

[75Crazie]

A "landline" today is not considered the same thing as a classic landline, which is basically paired copper wire between the central office and the house; if the house was too distant from the CO, a sort of amplifier was placed at a point midway between the two. A true landline provided power and POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) to simple old-type cradle phones, and of course one could get a dial-up type modem (and later DSL) to get some sort of data service. I had true landline service at each of my previous houses, along with at least one POTS phone that I've had for years so that I could still communicate in case of a power failure (what can I say, I am a dinosaur ... plus I lived in the Colorado Rockies and had very spotty and low quality cell service there).

In my last move to Tennesse four years ago, I asked AT&T (the local exchange carrier, or LEC, at my new location) to give me landline service there and they said "suuuurrrre". So, now I have a "landline" ... but I no longer have phone service over it if my power goes out, because they just don't support the pure copper option anymore; data and voice are now mixed at the CO via DSL. I am guessing different LECs have different policies regarding that. I am also guessing that may Jeffrey's vacation home might still be serviced by a LEC providing true (or classic) landline, if it has voice but no internet service there now, but that is not a sure thing.

Up until our last move, our home security provider (at different times, Brinks, then ADT, and now Brinks again) connected our security device to the landline in order to provide the data feedback path from our home back to the security network. With our current setup, it can only do so over a cellular link, because it cannot rely on our "landline" to be available. I'm with you, Jeffrey, I miss true copper connection because it was just plain more reliable (save the occasional yahoo crashing into a telephone pole).

[DukeBlueDevil]

Copper lines are rapidly being decommissioned across the country, for example AT&T is planning to reduce its copper footprint 50% by 2025. I agree with the others, I'd go with a cellular service. That's rapidly becoming the norm for things like elevator emergency call boxes which, historically, were required by law to have a POTS line.

[75Crazie]

Copper lines are rapidly being decommissioned across the country, for example AT&T is planning to reduce its copper footprint 50% by 2025. I agree with the others, I'd go with a cellular service. That's rapidly becoming the norm for things like elevator emergency call boxes which, historically, were required by law to have a POTS line.

In general, you are correct about the loss of copper lines. That is certainly more pronounced in urban areas, where there are a multitude of alternatives. It is less so in rural America. I worked for the Rocky Mountain region LEC for 20 years and only retired four years ago, and at the time I left DSL was still a strategic offering, particularly since that region is unique in the difficulties associated with supporting communications in sparsely-populated areas with significant topological attributes. A lot can change in four years, but last I heard, the DSL qualfiication application I supported was still a critical application.

I'm probably off topic with all this, sorry about that, but if Jeffrey's vacation home is in an isolated area, it might be a little bit germane.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I need to connect a hardwired house alarm to an alarm service company. It’s a vacation home (frequently vacant) without internet service. What’s a dependable and inexpensive landline phone option?

Is the bold by choice or is the home simply that remote?

[Jeffrey]

A "landline" today is not considered the same thing as a classic landline, which is basically paired copper wire between the central office and the house; if the house was too distant from the CO, a sort of amplifier was placed at a point midway between the two. A true landline provided power and POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) to simple old-type cradle phones, and of course one could get a dial-up type modem (and later DSL) to get some sort of data service. I had true landline service at each of my previous houses, along with at least one POTS phone that I've had for years so that I could still communicate in case of a power failure (what can I say, I am a dinosaur ... plus I lived in the Colorado Rockies and had very spotty and low quality cell service there).

In my last move to Tennesse four years ago, I asked AT&T (the local exchange carrier, or LEC, at my new location) to give me landline service there and they said "suuuurrrre". So, now I have a "landline" ... but I no longer have phone service over it if my power goes out, because they just don't support the pure copper option anymore; data and voice are now mixed at the CO via DSL. I am guessing different LECs have different policies regarding that. I am also guessing that may Jeffrey's vacation home might still be serviced by a LEC providing true (or classic) landline, if it has voice but no internet service there now, but that is not a sure thing.

Up until our last move, our home security provider (at different times, Brinks, then ADT, and now Brinks again) connected our security device to the landline in order to provide the data feedback path from our home back to the security network. With our current setup, it can only do so over a cellular link, because it cannot rely on our "landline" to be available. I'm with you, Jeffrey, I miss true copper connection because it was just plain more reliable (save the occasional yahoo crashing into a telephone pole).

WOW, thank you, very much, for a much needed education! Sometimes technology changes to inferior formats (analogue to digital, tubes to solid state, etc.) and I really miss the old format. I wait as long as possible to make the conversion, but, unfortunately, the time has come.

[Jeffrey]

Is the bold by choice or is the home simply that remote?

By choice, but I learned a lot from 75Crazie’s highly educational and informative posts. I can have my alarm monitoring company add a cellular panel to my alarm system.

Much thanks to all! You guys told me exactly what I needed to know!

[Kdogg]

Thanks, all great points! I should probably switch to cellular. I’ve hesitated because I assume copper lines are more dependable.

It is but as pointed out by others copper is being decommissioned. You might be able to get fiber but you will need to make sure their equipment has some sort of battery backup. The ont box (the equipment that takes the fiber and converts it to twisted cooper and Ethernet) probably does. The VOIP box might not. Even if you switch to cellular you should make sure that has a battery backup (like a UPS) to work in an emergency. Or go the really expensive route and get Starlink .

[-jk]

If you don't have an automated generator on the property, do add a robust backup battery system to the alarm. The typical battery built into them isn't robust and won't last too long in a meaningful power outage. You can also set up a system to notify you in the event of a power outage.

APC makes some nice ones; I have a couple of their Smart-UPS 1500s. For a while, our neighborhood had sketchy power delivery with frequent flickering, brownouts, and full outages. The UPS would smooth the power out, protecting electronics. It would also carry my internet/wifi for 12 hours without AC power making neighbors jealous - we're in a valley so mobile data isn't great.

-jk

[Tooold]

I had kept my landline (which I never used) because it was connected to the alarm and because Comcast gave me a bundle discount that offset the $30/month fee. I thought the landline would be important in case of emergency. But we had an emergency recently and of course I used my cell to call 911. Last week I called Comcast to complain about a price increase and they offered to switch my landline number to a new “free” cell phone. So now we have an extra cell phone that uses our old land line number and will be the number the alarm company calls in the case of an alarm. Of course, we could also just give the alarm company our other mobile number as the default number, which others have mentioned as a solution.

Land lines used to be important in order to provide exact locations in case of emergency. But now most 911 call centers can locate precise addresses from the cell phone. They did in our recent situation, and our address still doesn’t pop up on some GPS systems.