Pros And Cons Of Going Landline Free – Should You Make The Switch?

The telephone has evolved a massive amount since it was invented by Alexander Graham Bell back in 1876. We’ve gone from rather large machines with operators having to patch you in under the hood to a rectangle that can fit in your pocket and do much more than just simply make calls.

Because of that evolution and because of how easy and accessible mobile phones are, many are contemplating disconnecting their landline altogether.  But should you do that?

Pros

In the modern world there are a number of advantages to ditching what some consider aging technology in favor of only having a cell phone. Many of these advantages are seemingly small things, but they certainly add up.

Maurizio Pesce | Flickr

The first thing is the fact that users only need to remember one phone number and only having one number to give out. It’s certainly true that it’s not that hard to remember phone numbers, but only having one phone number to remember and give out leads to another advantage, which is perhaps the most major. That is the fact that if you always have your phone on you, then you’ll never miss a phone call.

Of course, another big reason is the fact that phones cost money. Why have a phone that’s costing you money when you might miss calls from it when you’re out? It’s not unusual for a phone line to cost $40 or more per month, which adds up to almost $500 per year. That’s not a trivial amount, and the money could certainly be put to better use when it’s really not necessary to pay it anymore.

An important point to make is that some might be worried about being able to keep their landline phone number when they move. In many cases this may be possible, and something that should be discussed with your current phone service provider.

There are, however, a number of advantages to having a landline.

Cons

One of the first things to consider when it comes to a landline is how many people are in the household. A landline might be especially useful for those with children who are old enough to stay home alone but might not be old enough to own their own smartphone yet. Not only that, but if there are elderly people in the house, they might not actually know how to use a smartphone and might prefer having a landline to use.

Daniel Oines | Flickr

While there is plenty of convenience when it comes to only owning a smartphone and not missing calls, there are also convenience advantages to owning a landline. For example, many people have multiple phones attached to the same line throughout the house, so that if a call comes in and the user is in another room from the main phone there won’t be any issues. Those in the habit of always having their smartphone on or around them won’t see problems with this. However those that tend to put their phone on the table when they get home and leave it there might.

Another big con to going mobile-only is the fact that sometimes mobile phones don’t have a connection. If you live in an area where mobile phone reception is spotty, you might want to consider keeping a landline. This could be something you can deal with in day-to-day life, but in an emergency it becomes a serious issue.

Then comes the main reason to keep a landline – safety. Mobile phones run on batteries, and if the battery has run out in an emergency situation where the power has gone out, that can be a major problem. Not only that, but in a large scale emergency situation such as a shooting or something similar, cell towers can get jammed up because of how much traffic they’re experiencing. With a landline, this generally isn’t a problem as the copper wires from the lines are usually buried underground. Of course, if you can’t get through in a large scale emergency then the chances are that the authorities have been alerted of the situation, but it’s still something to consider.

Conclusions

I am a pretty young guy who hasn’t owned a landline since I moved out of my parents house, and I haven’t had a situation in which I’ve missed having one. Having said that, there are plenty of people who aren’t very good at keeping their mobile phones charged, which can be a major issue.

My recommendation is that if you’re on the fence you disconnect your landline for a month and see how it feels. If you end up deciding to go mobile-only, make sure you keep your phone charged, and perhaps even purchase an external battery to charge your phone in the case of a power-outage or something similar.

Have you gone gone completely mobile, or are you keeping your landline for now?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or by starting a new thread in our community forum.