I use old vintage touchtone phones on copper lines at my stores. I use them because they just always work, even when the network is down and the power is out. Now Bell Canada is starting to send me letters saying they are discontinuing support for copper lines and that I have to switch to fibre even though it costs more and I already have the internet connection i need from a different company. Very frustrating.
While weathering hurricanes in Florida, self-powered landlines were a reliable means of communication, even during a neighborhood power outage. It's sad to see these go.
I know what you meant, but I feel compelled to be pedantic and point out they aren't really "self-powered", except the ones with a crank on the side, and even then that was just to initiate a call. The power comes from the switch it is connected to (though TBF to your turn of phrase they are "self powered" in the sense that the signal lines and power lines are the same).
As far as the old Bell System went: if you look, the old CO buildings have big parking lots around them (sometimes on all sides, and fenced off; other times actual parking lots on one or two sides. Those used to have huge diesel tanks in them (dunno if they still do this). The basements of those buildings we full of -48V batteries (dealing with H2 outgassing was an engineering issue). IIRC they were supposed to have a week's capacity, though that seems implausible to me.
Our current system is more capable but much less resilient.
Sounds like Florida buried its landline wires. Good choice.
I used to regularly lose landline service after storms (further north on the East Coast). For a while, I had both a landline and a cell phone, and found myself with the oddity of calling the phone company on my cell phone to tell them that my phone didn't work.
(I still technically have a land line. It comes free with the fiber optic data line. But there are no phones connected to it. At one point I discovered that it had been down for months, and didn't care.)
Cellular infrastructure is also uniquely suited for emergencies. If landlines get disrupted due to a disaster, it can take a while to get them repaired. While an emergency cell tower can be brought in and immediately provide cell service for a large area.
Out in the woods, the home and the nearest DSL hub have backup power. Cellular is always a crap shoot.
And iPads can make phone calls via Wi-Fi, FaceTime and emergency calls.
I have yet to use a landline phone, even from the thrift store, even though the phone service is bundled with DSL internet at a lower cost than DSL internet alone.
The blazing fast internet revolution has not reached the woods, though I have never worried about making an emergency call via iPhone or iPad. CB talkies are on hand, though I keep batteries out of them to avoid corrosion from disuse over time (in years)
This is mentioned in the article, that home phone service is not even delivered by old copper wires anymore, but that's a good thing. Yes, it adds layers of complexity to provide phone over fiber (since now the fiber is pulling double/triple duty to give internet, phone, and cable) but not having to maintain separate physical plants is nice.
We have areas we provide DSL and phone service to which were underwater for months during the [0] 2019 Midwest US Floods. There are places where the buried lines are still fine for phone, but don't have nearly the signal resolution to handle even 5/1 DSL speeds. In those cases we switch customers to wireless supplied internet.
We have further areas where telephone pedestals are filled with 60 year old wires, which means the buried lines are likewise that old and can't offer much for speeds...it will be interesting to see what the true lifespan of fiber is because if you can build your plant out with fiber now, you won't need to bury anything new later on down the line. You just upgrade the boxes on the end of the fibers to something newer, hotter, with whatever technology replaces the distribution PON your current boxes run.
I also wonder how much value is left in abandoned, buried phone lines and if it would ever make sense to reclaim it at scale.
This isn't exactly a landline, but I've got (an older version of) this bluetooth -> telephone gateway [1] and have a few vintage handsets that I'll occasionally hook up to it. Incoming/outgoing calls route through your cell phone (good or bad depending upon your perspective) but the quality is great and it's nice to just sit and talk on a wired handset.
We're never getting back the phone systems of yore, but for me, it's more about replicating the ergonomics of 'the phone call' rather than stubbornly preserving antiquated technology.
YMMV -- some handsets can be finicky, most work great though, and since it's functionally no different than connecting a BT headset, you get some weird added stuff by default (access to contact lists, siri, whatever your software already provides (incoming call blocking, spam filtering, etc))
I’ve thought about getting a home phone again. Ready to give up my old mobile and tired of tracking. But a lot of things in life require a phone number, even if many of those times it should not.
Why not a burner prepaid dumbphone? Battery lasts forever, cheap, and while there is still some modicum of tracking, it's nothing like the firehoses that are smartphones..
You can buy a desk phone and connect a voip line if you really wanted. Otherwise I recommend against it because you’ll learn quickly enough how bad the robocallers/spammers situation is
I've got a dozen or so phone numbers, spread across VOIP assigned, GVoice, mobile SIM, and traditional landline exchange (transferred to VOIP). The only one that gets a significant amount of spam is a traditionally LL number. Based on the content of that spam and what they know (I'll often screw with them), I believe the spam is mostly based off targeted victim lists. I can't say how much GVoice is silently blocking similarly targeted spam. But the point is if you don't give out your number to lots of businesses such that it's not sold to the surveillance industry, it's not likely to get much spam.
I wish the author had expounded on their setup. I too pay ~$1/mo for VOIP DIDs, but from what I've seen of consumer-facing prices I realize that's a facet of getting nitty and gritty with SIP (which doesn't necessarily mean self-hosting, eg voip.ms).
What is what this article is about, the author enjoyed having a VOIP-based house phone. Everyone just assumed it was about POTS because they don't read past the headlines.
From what I read, even those aren't "real circuits switched lines" any more, just a thin shim over an internal VoIP network. So you might as well bring the VoIP closer. Our house phone wires - and phones - are plugged into an ATA, and that connects to voip.ms - at "normal landline" usage, that costs about $5/month and we still have our old house phone number.
Of course it stops working if anything happens to our internet access, but we do have the cell phones well, and the answering machine lives in the cloud (and emails an MP3 if someone leaves a message) so the house number is never truly offline.
_spduchamp|2 years ago
1MachineElf|2 years ago
gumby|2 years ago
As far as the old Bell System went: if you look, the old CO buildings have big parking lots around them (sometimes on all sides, and fenced off; other times actual parking lots on one or two sides. Those used to have huge diesel tanks in them (dunno if they still do this). The basements of those buildings we full of -48V batteries (dealing with H2 outgassing was an engineering issue). IIRC they were supposed to have a week's capacity, though that seems implausible to me.
Our current system is more capable but much less resilient.
jfengel|2 years ago
I used to regularly lose landline service after storms (further north on the East Coast). For a while, I had both a landline and a cell phone, and found myself with the oddity of calling the phone company on my cell phone to tell them that my phone didn't work.
(I still technically have a land line. It comes free with the fiber optic data line. But there are no phones connected to it. At one point I discovered that it had been down for months, and didn't care.)
leros|2 years ago
happytiger|2 years ago
Landlines aren’t missed.
kridsdale3|2 years ago
tuatoru|2 years ago
k310|2 years ago
And iPads can make phone calls via Wi-Fi, FaceTime and emergency calls.
I have yet to use a landline phone, even from the thrift store, even though the phone service is bundled with DSL internet at a lower cost than DSL internet alone.
The blazing fast internet revolution has not reached the woods, though I have never worried about making an emergency call via iPhone or iPad. CB talkies are on hand, though I keep batteries out of them to avoid corrosion from disuse over time (in years)
CharlesW|2 years ago
Starlink hasn't changed this?
I_Am_Nous|2 years ago
We have areas we provide DSL and phone service to which were underwater for months during the [0] 2019 Midwest US Floods. There are places where the buried lines are still fine for phone, but don't have nearly the signal resolution to handle even 5/1 DSL speeds. In those cases we switch customers to wireless supplied internet.
We have further areas where telephone pedestals are filled with 60 year old wires, which means the buried lines are likewise that old and can't offer much for speeds...it will be interesting to see what the true lifespan of fiber is because if you can build your plant out with fiber now, you won't need to bury anything new later on down the line. You just upgrade the boxes on the end of the fibers to something newer, hotter, with whatever technology replaces the distribution PON your current boxes run.
I also wonder how much value is left in abandoned, buried phone lines and if it would ever make sense to reclaim it at scale.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Midwestern_U.S._floods
kevinsync|2 years ago
We're never getting back the phone systems of yore, but for me, it's more about replicating the ergonomics of 'the phone call' rather than stubbornly preserving antiquated technology.
YMMV -- some handsets can be finicky, most work great though, and since it's functionally no different than connecting a BT headset, you get some weird added stuff by default (access to contact lists, siri, whatever your software already provides (incoming call blocking, spam filtering, etc))
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Xtreme-Technolgoies-XLink-Bluetooth-G...
air7|2 years ago
nitwit005|2 years ago
For what it's worth, my mobile service has stayed up during the last three power outages here.
mixmastamyk|2 years ago
silisili|2 years ago
nocsi|2 years ago
mindslight|2 years ago
I wish the author had expounded on their setup. I too pay ~$1/mo for VOIP DIDs, but from what I've seen of consumer-facing prices I realize that's a facet of getting nitty and gritty with SIP (which doesn't necessarily mean self-hosting, eg voip.ms).
uni_rule|2 years ago
DanAtC|2 years ago
Real circuit-switched lines are wildly expensive if you can even get one. Verizon and AT&T are doing their best to make that impossible.
MarkusWandel|2 years ago
Of course it stops working if anything happens to our internet access, but we do have the cell phones well, and the answering machine lives in the cloud (and emails an MP3 if someone leaves a message) so the house number is never truly offline.