iPhone only no landline

[lori5060]

currently I have a land line and cell phone..two different numbers.
the costs are high for both so have decided to only use my cell and cancel my landline....to cut costs.
have talked to my provider and that is not an issue.

my concern is using cell exclusively.....simple questions

1. how do I access my calendar while I am talking on phone...say with DR office to make Appt, and then go back to call
2. or how do I answer an iMessage when talking on phone and then go back to call
3. or another call and go back to 1st caller.

am sure it is done all the time but I need to understand how to do this before I convert.
does anyone know or can give me suggestions.
or link that I can read up on these things.

 

[Sawday]

Do you not connect your MBP or iPad to Broadband?

 

[Slydude]

You shouldn't have problems with the scenarios that you describe. I have used a cell phone in placde of a landline for several years with no issues. Here's my experience:

1. You can access your calendar while on a phone call I've done it several times. For convenience I place the call on speaker but that's not absolutely necessary. While the call is active tap the home button. When you access the calendar the call will still be active. I think theire will be a green bar at the top of the screen. When you are finished with the calendar tapping in that area returns you to the call to continue the call or hang up as usual.

2. I don't usually need to answer an iMessage while on a call but I believe it can be done in much the same way I described with the calendar.

3. When you get another call a button appeas on the phone screen giveing you the option to answer that call. I believe it also puts the first call on hold. Someone who gets more calls can confirm that.

Edit: I'm sure there may be some exceptions but most of the apps that I've tried behave in the same way as the calendar. I can have them open and in use while on a phone call. It's not necessary to put the call on speaker but I find it convenient.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

As Slydude suggested, you can hit the Home button during a call to use any other app without issues. The top status bar will flicker in green (with a timer) indicating that you're on a call. You can return to the call by clicking on the green bar.

A long time ago, Verizon (and perhaps Sprint) had an issue with using data when on a voice call. AT&T and T-Mobile didn't have that limitation, but I believe the newer networks have fixed that limitation.

As far as multiple calls go. If you get a second call when you are on the first, the screen will change to give you the option hold the current call and take the new call or combine the two calls together.

One important thing to remember going full cellular and dropping your land line is that with 911 calls, they use a different method (E-911) to get your address info to first responders. So make sure you keep your info up to date or you'll have a tough time with 911 calls.

 

[Slydude]

I have Verizon as my provider and as far as I can tell they have fixed the issue that Razor mentioned with voice and data during a call.

Lori: I should have mentioned the issue with 911 calls over a cellular line. The E-911 system pretty much resolves that issue as long as the information is kept up to date. One other option which may or may not be available in your area also solves this problem. IN some areas it is possible to drop service on the landline but have that line still work for making emergency services (911 in the states) calls. Check with your phonen provider as this seems to be available in some areas and not others.

Apparently the soon-to-be-released IOS 12 will include some improvments to the ways IOS handles emergency calls.

 

[lori5060]

thankyou all for excellent help. will check with my provider re: 911
feel more comfortable with converting now.
thnx a lot!!

 

[pigoo3]

For what it's worth…I think I've been landline free for 8-10 years. What finally pushed me over the edge back then was (this was when the bundling of cable services was all the rage…phone + internet + TV). If the cable TV service went out because of them servicing things…storm damage…car accident knocks down a pole…etc. You lost the landline phone service.

Then you had to have a cellphone to call the cable company to tell then you lost service…how dumb is that?? Lol

There really wasn't any point to continuing the landline service…so got rid of it.

- Nick

 

[pm-r]

thankyou all for excellent help. will check with my provider re: 911

You might want to check with them for what "bundles" they may offer and the big guys in BC usually offer "digital" and/or "cell" phone service along with Internet cable or whatever is in use.




- Patrick
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[Sawday]

So, everyone, without a landline how do you get broadband.. You can't all be using mobile data can you? Perhaps it's much cheaper and gives you much faster speeds than here in the UK.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Sawday gave me another idea. If you just keep your Internet connection, you can buy a ooma machine and use your home phone with it. You will get a local phone number and not pay any monthly fee beyond just a couple of bucks for regulatory fees. Of course, if your Internet connection goes down, you'd end up relying on your cell phone.

I did this for a while until I essentially got a good deal for the bundled phone at which point I switched.

But Sawday, to your question, most of us are dropping out of the triple (TV, Internet, Phone) bundles to just Double (TV, Internet) or for some adventurous folks just Internet and then stream everything.

 

[IWT]

Sawday made the point that came immediately to mind when I read this thread.

Here in the Uk, you cannot separate broadband from your landline service. Put the other way, landline is the only way you can get broadband at home.

There has been talk for a long time about segregating the two because, as you must experience as well, landline charges are high and even when they give you "free" landline-to-landine calls, the line rental is dear and that is the only way to get broadband - which is an additional charge depending on speed etc.

We have the additional difficulty that if you go to an independent ISP provider, that provider has to "rent" the connection from British Telecom who own all the landline connections to our homes and offices.

Ian

 

[Slydude]

For many in the US broadband (internet) can be separate from the data line depending upon the provider. It could, and in my case did, come from two different companies.

 

[chscag]

A bit confusing there Sly.... The UK folks are saying that broadband can not be separated from Landline service. Here in the US, they are (in most cases) not tied to one another. Not sure what you mean by "internet separate from the data line"? Most large providers here in the US like Spectrum, AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Frontier, etc, will gladly sell you TV service and Internet separate from voice. Or in most cases provide VOIP as part of the package.

The big difference is that the folks in the UK and some other Euro countries are getting those services a lot less expensive than we are.

 

[Slydude]

Bit of a confusing typo on my part. The short version of what I intended to say is that here it is often possible to separate the landline from internet.

 

[pm-r]

@lori5060

my concern is using cell exclusively…..simple questions

AFAIK, basically, at least for those of us here in normal parts of BC, unless you can get a super deal, the normal amount of data you wold normally need for data is going to cost you a fortune via cell.

Some users I know in some remote places, yes, we have lots, , use a combined/shared satellite connection for their data and it can add up to huge bills to be shared and sorted out.

And yes, some are run off a community generator as well.

A lot will depend on where you live and what's available as there isn't really a flat blanket answer for all us BCers and their connection needs and costs.




- Patrick
======

 

[pigoo3]

In case there's any confusion among the non-US based members. Here in the US landline telephone service & cable TV service historically (until the last 10-12+ years or so)…have always been separate. The telephone companies had their own wires…and the cable companies had their own wires (much of the time on the same poles)...unless they were buried underground. This would also mean separate wiring going into your home "from the pole"…and separate wiring in the house.

Then the cable TV companies started offering VOIP (voice over IP)…which meant that you could do all your "landline" phone calls via the cable TV company. Now customers had a choice…get (or keep) your landline telephone services with the traditional telephone companies…or switch to getting your landline telephone services from the cable company. And of course this could be bundled from the cable company (cable TV, landline phone, and internet) all from the same company & same cabling.

Thus here in the US if someone decided to…they could get:

- Cable TV, internet, and landline phone from the cable company.
- Or just cable TV & internet
- Or just cable TV.
- Or just internet.

All sorts of combinations. Thus very easy to not have landline phone…yet still have the other services.

- Nick

 

[lori5060]

I am keeping my internet pkg I had on my land line and just changing numbers. It is called “porting”