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milestogo

(20,205 posts)
Tue Mar 18, 2025, 05:53 PM Mar 18

So I ran into an older lady who was moving into my apartment complex

and she asked me "Where does the phone plug in?"

At first I thought she was talking about charging her phone, but she was used to a house phone that plugs into (an RJ-11) jack in the wall. So I told her where it was in my apartment and that she would have to call the phone company.

I don't even know if you can still get a land line.

But if she can't, she will have to adjust to a smartphone.

Lots of things that we take for granted can be a big deal.

I don't think I've had a landline for about 18 years.

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Shermann

(8,904 posts)
1. I have the choice between a network extender and a land line at my current address.
Tue Mar 18, 2025, 05:57 PM
Mar 18

I opted for the network extender and never looked back. There is a bit of an audible delay with those, but they are still better than land lines.

in2herbs

(3,669 posts)
2. Landlines are good in the event of power outages. Your new friend does not have to get a smart phone which
Tue Mar 18, 2025, 05:58 PM
Mar 18

learning how to use may confuse her to no end. She can get a flip phone and hook her desktop or laptop computer up to wi-fi.

milestogo

(20,205 posts)
3. I don't know if she has a computer.
Tue Mar 18, 2025, 06:01 PM
Mar 18

I had another older friend who liked to go everywhere to pay her bills. I told her she could do it all on a smartphone. She said, "I don't want to do it that way... I like doing my errands!"

AllaN01Bear

(24,687 posts)
6. i still have land line and cellular. google voice too. yes i also have a old style dial phone in case the power goes out
Tue Mar 18, 2025, 06:07 PM
Mar 18

milestogo

(20,205 posts)
9. I'm in IT.
Tue Mar 18, 2025, 06:10 PM
Mar 18

The first thing I learned many years ago was RJ-11 vs RJ-45. I actually connected to the internet using AOL and a phone line back in the stone age... along with the noisy modem sound. RJ-45 is for an ethernet cable.

Actually her apartment will probably have a place for a cable hookup and an old RJ-11. I am pretty sure Spectrum still offers land lines in my area because they keep trying to sell them.

Srkdqltr

(8,224 posts)
5. I have a landline, use it all the time. I dont know how long though. I think they will be phased out before long.
Tue Mar 18, 2025, 06:06 PM
Mar 18

milestogo

(20,205 posts)
11. The infrastructure is still in place
Tue Mar 18, 2025, 06:19 PM
Mar 18

so i don't see why they should rush to get rid of it.

There are places in the world (in Africa especially) where they never had landlines - went straight to mobile phones. No point in spending all that money on infrastructure that is already obsolete.

kimbutgar

(24,779 posts)
8. When I move people into senior communities that still have the jacks for landlines
Tue Mar 18, 2025, 06:08 PM
Mar 18

I still have my landline and it’s wireless. Ooma is the company I use that you connect to your wireless router.

ShepKat

(460 posts)
10. never had a smart phone
Tue Mar 18, 2025, 06:15 PM
Mar 18

still have a flip phone and have no want whatsoever to get one of those 'smart' phones. Pay 25 a month

electric_blue68

(20,717 posts)
13. Got a basic cellphone in late 00's. Had a landline....
Wed Mar 19, 2025, 03:45 AM
Mar 19

Then couldn't afford a land line, and a cell. Kept the cell for X reasons I can't remember right now, otherwise I probably would have kept the landline, too.

The strangest thing to me about my old nabe (it was a good place) were telephone poles, and wires!. Never saw those in Manhattan.

I finally graduated to a smart phone yrs later, then an even better one. Nothing really super fancy. I love it.

underpants

(189,873 posts)
15. We've lived in this house for 5 years and just realized I don't know where the jack is
Wed Mar 19, 2025, 06:08 AM
Mar 19

I do at work. I have to move phones around. The number stays with the phone and our internet runs through the phone to the laptop docking station.

“other duties as assigned” as it says on my job description.

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