Dumb phone questions

[Patty Hann]

I have a "dumbphone".... Samsung T199.
I've had it for 7 years, that is, since I retired.
Before that I had..... nothing. Really, no smart phone, Cricket phone, Star Trek flip phone, nada.
I pay $5 per month for 30 minutes of talk time (no texting, no camera, certainly no web access).
30 minutes is enough time to call a tow truck and give him my location.

I have a phone at home for everything else, and it is (wait for it)... a LL :D (Cue the Luddite chorus).
Anyway, the carrier is T-mobile.
So my question is: why does my phone still work with the new 5G.... thing? I can still make calls.
(As you can see I am totally ignorant of this particular "tech").

Can someone explain this to me in short sentences and using one syllable words?

[Dwayne Watt]

Short answer is "no". Looking up your phone model, I see it is a 3G model. T-mobile supposedly shut down 3G service in May, 2022 so it a surprise it works at all. Time for a newer phone. Not advertised / featured at all, but basic cell phones are still available from all carriers. 3G is an older, slow technology that is obsolete.

Not preaching, but personally I would be hard pressed to give up my smartphone. Using it as a conventional phone is about the least value it presents for me. The GPS, camera, maps, restaurant reviews (Yelp and Trip Advisor), streaming music player, and notebook capabilities are all valuable to me in addition to basic internet access.

[Patty Hann]

So there is no explanation as to why it still works? Is it magic?
Seriously, why would it still work?

My financial situation is pretty much A or B, but not A and B.
I don't stream any TV, I have a Computer (Dell Inspiron) originally bought in 2007 (altho' it has been updated), a 2006 Corolla.
You see where this is headed? Life is choices. I've made a lot my choices based on which hobbies I can afford to keep up and which I've had to give up.
And I've had to make financial sacrifices to keep the ones I have (Astronomy and woodworking).

[David Bassett]

So there is no explanation as to why it still works? Is it magic?
Seriously, why would it still work? ...

Best guess is they haven't turned off the old radios (yet!)

As far as upgrades, my wife & I are completely happy with mid-range smart phones that frequently go on sale for $200. But I know there are even less expensive models available that would do everything you list and more. Also, T-Mobile offers zero-interest "financing" on (many? most? all?) phones acquired thru them. They add 1/24th of the total to each month's bill, so you don't need a lump sum to upgrade.

[Patty Hann]

The kicker is ... I pay $5 a month for what I need.
Pretty sure there isn't any service out there that's just $5 per month.
If anyone knows of such service, I'd appreciate a link/info whatever.
I'm thinking that the cheapest service is $50 per month... a 900% increase.
5x12 =$60....50 x 12 = $600 .....
That annual $540 can buy a lot woodworking gear ...juneau?....

[Lee Schierer]

Some carriers, like Verizon, shut their 3G systems down completely as they upgraded various towers. This forced customers to get new phones.

My smart phone is a 4G phone so ATT still runs 4G service in most areas. What I have noticed is that in certain more populated areas the 4G service is really, really slow. We went to a Penguins Hockey game a few weeks ago and all tickets are E-tickets. The 4G service didn't work for me for over 15 minutes. Finally one of the helpful staff a PPG Place came over to help. He logged me in to the PPG WIFI and almost instantly I had the tickets.

I suspect that in your local area the 3G service is still on and may go away at any time. If you are such a low use user, you may be able to purchase a phone with reloadable minutes that will keep the price per month down.

I believe Cricket has plans as low as $25 per month.

[David Bassett]

The kicker is ... I pay $5 a month for what I need....

I'm stumped.

You said your carrier is T-Mobile, but on their webpage I can't find any $5 per month plans (or anything close really.) I figured I'd look up your plan and maybe find the restrictions, plans, and migration options and maybe find a better explanation. Either I misunderstood the T-Mobile part or they don't want the rest of us to know your plan exists.

(In case you decide to contact customer service yourself, I know one way to save money is bundling services together. I wonder if your mobile phone, home phone, and internet service could be combined on a plan that is less or equal to the current total but keeps the services you want while future proofing you, for now, on the cell coverage technology.)

[roger wiegand]

Look at Tello. $10/month, unlimited calling and text, but only 1 gig of data-- but it sounds like you don't care about that. I've never heard of it before, but multiple trustable review sites say it's OK. Older used phones are cheap on Ebay or Craigslist

[Paul F Franklin]

Your carrier "should" warn you if/when your phone will stop working. Verizon gave us a few months or so notice when our old "house" cell phone was being sunsetted.

Another option might be Consumers Cellular. There cheapest plan is $20 month (a little cheaper if you are an AARP member). I have a family member that uses them and has been happy.

But if you're happy with what you've got, no reason to change until you are forced to. Just have a plan B in mind in case you just get bumped without (much) notice. It is only a matter of time until 3G is gone everywhere.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Booted Verizon out the door a couple years back. They wanted $120 for a new phone, plus $40 a month for 750 minutes. I have a flip phone which serves my needs, it says hello and goodbye. Went with a $20 phone from TracPhone, which happened to be same phone Verizon wants $120 for.. Pay $15 + fees and taxes for unlimited text and talk per month.

[Brian Tymchak]

I found with a quick Google that there are T199s that use the 4G LTE network. Some, most?, carriers reallocated their 3G spectrum to support 5G, but the 4G spectrum is still dedicated to 4G.

[Patty Hann]

Lee, Roger, Paul, Bruce Brian...thanks for the phone/plan suggestions/info.
David...see below...

I got the service in 2016 when I retired.
Whatever the deal was in the way of a payment plan option (back then) I can't recall.
But the appeal was that I could buy monthly minutes starting with a minimum 30 minutes.

And when I said it was $5 per month... I lied.:o It's really $3 (plus tax), i.e., 10 cents per minute. **
($5 seemed like typical ball park, number to use)
And if I go over the 30 minutes I'm billed 10 cents per minute for the extra minutes. As along as I have a balance in my account I will still have service. No balance, no ring-y ding-y*** (beyond the 30 minutes.)
And since the beginning I have never exceeded that 30 minutes per month. Phone is OFF until I need it, and I've only needed it on average once per year. It is for emergencies; that's all.
I never check for [voicemail] messages. My friends have the number but they know not to contact me on it, unless we have prearranged it.
I have no doubt that if I let my plan lapse I would never be able to re-instate it. And I'm also waiting for T-mobile to notify me and say my plan is going away (Not my service because of the 5G incompatibility, just the plan)
But for now...the situation works for me.

**
496634

***


https://youtu.be/Nxp5Y8UT7OQ

[Bob Borzelleri]

Have you noticed a very long cotton string attached to your phone at one end and meandering out through a window crack into the night?

[Patty Hann]

Have you noticed a very long cotton string attached to your phone at one end and meandering out through a window crack into the night?
No... no string ...... Probably one of my carrier pigeons made off with it.

[Bill George]

Hobbys are fun... until you get laid up with a broken foot bone like I am now. You are overlooking some good advice here, your phone and service is from the 1980's. Ditch the land line and get one of the offers suggested above with unlimited everything for like $30 per month.

[Patty Hann]

You know... I read somewhere (can't recall exactly where) a discussion about changing/not changing how you do something.

The question asked was: What is the best reason for continuing to do something the way you've always done it?
Answer: Because it "works", meaning, the way you are currently doing it provides the results you want.

And the converse question: What is the best reason for changing the way you've always done something?
Answer: when the way you're doing it no longer "works", meaning what you are doing no longer gives you the results you want.

Now, as long as my phone both my dumb phone** and LL continue to "work" for me, why should I change anything?
Because to change how you do something merely for the sake of change is a very precarious slippery slope to start down.

And in my original post, the only thing I wanted to know was: How is it that my dumb phone from 7 years ago still works in a "5G world"?
I never said that I was dissatisfied with it.

**Obviously if T-Mobile scraps my phone plan, or the 5G incompatibility stops it dead, both those events are reasons for changing, but neither of those things has happened (yet).
And thanks to the half dozen folks who provided info on options I can plan for the eventual change.

[Patty Hann]

Hobbys are fun... until you get laid up with a broken foot bone like I am now. You are overlooking some good advice here, your phone and service is from the 1980's. Ditch the land line and get one of the offers suggested above with unlimited everything for like $30 per month.
How did people with broken feet manage 50 years ago without a smart phone, or even a cell phone? ...just askin'....

[Bill George]

How did people with broken feet manage 50 years ago without a smart phone, or even a cell phone? ...just askin'....

Try it sometime, people were home and not working. I grew up on a Iowa farm... with no phone, and running water or even electric for a couple of years until the power lines got ran down our road.

We held onto our LL for a long time but we had to pay for long distance fees, Federal taxes and etc fees which all added up to more than the actual phone per month fee. We have two phones unlimited everything including internet for with all taxes and etc included $140 for both. I could shop around and cut that in half but not motivated and we need coverage everywhere when we travel.

[Curt Harms]

The kicker is ... I pay $5 a month for what I need.
Pretty sure there isn't any service out there that's just $5 per month.
If anyone knows of such service, I'd appreciate a link/info whatever.
I'm thinking that the cheapest service is $50 per month... a 900% increase.
5x12 =$60....50 x 12 = $600 .....
That annual $540 can buy a lot woodworking gear ...juneau?....

Even better - airvoice wireless - $10 for 90 days. They did recently start charging $1/month use the phone or not. They use AT&T infrastructure. but did shut down 3G a few months ago.

https://www.airvoicewireless.com/plan/pay-as-you-go

If you can find a factory unlocked phone that fits your budget you can use that phone on most networks though not all. You don't really need 5G, 4G should be supported for 10 years or so.

[Jerome Stanek]

I buy my phones from HSN or QVC they are Tracfones and cost me about $60 a year and you get the phone with it. You get 1500 minutes of talk 1500 text and 1500 data with that plan and you can keep your number also they use Verizon for their carrier.

[Patty Hann]

Even better - airvoice wireless - $10 for 90 days. They did recently start charging $1/month use the phone or not. They use AT&T infrastructure. but did shut down 3G a few months ago.

https://www.airvoicewireless.com/plan/pay-as-you-go

If you can find a factory unlocked phone that fits your budget you can use that phone on most networks though not all. You don't really need 5G, 4G should be supported for 10 years or so.

This sounds a lot like what I have.
So here is the "Techy" question: what is a factory "unlocked" phone (as opposed to a factory "locked" phone?)
I see the T199 on ebay advertized as "factory Unlocked"
What does it mean and why do I want it "unlocked"?

Also, I forgot to mention... my first T199 died about 2 or 3 years ago, or maybe right at the beginning of Covid.
I found another T199 on ebay (brand new in box) and just transferred the SIM card, and it worked fine. I had to re-enter all my "Contacts" but that was it.
With my old SIM card in the new phone nothing else changed (which I guess is the point of transferring the SIM card).
Maybe the new one was set up for 4G and that is why it still works. But I do not know how to verify that.

[Patty Hann]

I buy my phones from HSN or QVC they are Tracfones and cost me about $60 a year and you get the phone with it. You get 1500 minutes of talk 1500 text and 1500 data with that plan and you can keep your number also they use Verizon for their carrier.

That might work .. it's just a little more than I'm paying now and there are more total minutes.

[roger wiegand]

Unlocked means that it is not tied to a specific phone company by its internal firmware, you can put any valid SIM into it and it will work. Most phones come unlocked these days. In olden times you needed the "jailbreak" your phone to switch from T Mobile to Verizon, for example. The phone companies asserted this was illegal (it wasn't), but it would void any warranty, and if done improperly could "brick" your phone (ie render it unusable). You want any new phone you get to be unlocked.

[Rich Engelhardt]

You say you use a LL (land line) at home?

What sort of internet connection to you have at home?

We replaced our land line 15 years or so ago with an Ooma device. It's an IP (internet) phone that you only pay the taxes on every month and not any of the phone company garbage.
Out phone bill at the time we replaced it ran us about $27 a month, not including long distance charges.
We bough the Ooma for $99, plugged it in and did the simple install.
From then on, we just had to pay something like $3.50 a month - with no long distance charges.

We slowly got rid of it and finally, last September when we moved into a new house, we disconnected it.

The thing is one of those - Kreg Pocket Hole jigs - something that just simply does exactly what it's supposed to do and it does it well.

[Thomas L Carpenter]

I had a 3G flip phone through AT@T for years. They kept threatening me that my phone won't work with 5G which of course I totally ignored. Eventually they sent me a 5G flip phone at no cost which I thought was nice of them. I eventually dumped them because they are nearly impossible to deal with. Went with XFinity a few months ago with an iPod 11 that my brother gave me when he upgraded. So far I'm happy although my phone needs are simple and the iPod is overkill for me.

[Greg Parrish]

Check to see if you qualify for one of their assistance programs. Don't know your situation, but based on your comments its worth looking into it. Other carriers may have similar programs.

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/offers/t-mobile-brings-the-federal-affordable-connectivity-program-to-more-customers-with-free-wireless-service-at-metro-by-t-mobile

[Jim Koepke]

Candy & I got rid of our cell phones years ago. We live in an area without cell service. People visiting can use our WiFi to use their cell phones. We have DSL that requires us to have a land line.

So for many folks a land line may seem antediluvian, it works for us. One of the things most hated about having a cell phone was turning it on and then as soon as we entered an area with service it would blast an alert and scare the heck out of me while driving. It always seemed to be a text message from our service provider telling us about some great new service they wanted us to pay extra to have.

Our most common use for a cell phone was when we were separated while shopping we could call each other to find out who was where.

Now if a cell phone is needed we just buy a prepaid and go with that for a couple of months.

jtk

[Patty Hann]

Unlocked means that it is not tied to a specific phone company by its internal firmware, you can put any valid SIM into it and it will work. Most phones come unlocked these days. In olden times you needed the "jailbreak" your phone to switch from T Mobile to Verizon, for example. The phone companies asserted this was illegal (it wasn't), but it would void any warranty, and if done improperly could "brick" your phone (ie render it unusable). You want any new phone you get to be unlocked.
OK...I remember that scenario when my friends would be really annoyed because, in order to get the phone they wanted, they had to sign up with a company they didn't like.
Good to know... all the ones I saw were unlocked.

[Patty Hann]

Candy & I got rid of our cell phones years ago. We live in an area without cell service. People visiting can use our WiFi to use their cell phones. We have DSL that requires us to have a land line.

So for many folks a land line may seem antediluvian, it works for us. One of the things most hated about having a cell phone was turning it on and then as soon as we entered an area with service it would blast an alert and scare the heck out of me while driving. It always seemed to be a text message from our service provider telling us about some great new service they wanted us to pay extra to have.

Our most common use for a cell phone was when we were separated while shopping we could call each other to find out who was where.

Now if a cell phone is needed we just buy a prepaid and go with that for a couple of months.jtk

Too funny.. not laughing that you were startled while driving (which can have dire consequences); only that I know what you mean about being startled by the phone alert. ;)

DSL is available (nominally speaking) in my area courtesy of Century Link.
Years ago I let them talk me into signing up for it. Big mistake.
My aforementioned carrier pigeons can convey "data" faster than CL's DSL.
When I asked them to increase the speed beyond that of glacial movement the answer I got was:
"The infrastructure in your area is only designed for that speed"... which I believe was (and still is) 12Mbps....at 2AM.
When I asked if they were considering upgrading it I received a curt "No. We will not be upgrading any of the older neighborhoods."
I canceled it within a week.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I pay $19 every 3 months for my Tracfone. I would post an image but I can't find it.

[Patty Hann]

@Rich Englehardt....I have Cox...download speed is about 70Mbps (at best).
And you are right, I could switch my phone to the Cox lines.

But here is something that a lot of people forget: with the "Phone company" LL I will never lose service when I lose electrical power.
For those living in AZ, especially the lower elevations, I will say just one word: Monsoon.
Power goes out and I still have a phone.**
And Cox has said that if a customer loses power the Cox equipment won't work.

Yes, folks with cell phones (and only cell phones) also have power...until the battery dies. Then they charge it from their car battery... but I'm not keen on that either.
As people age (and I'm no spring chicken) they often give up driving, and so give up their car(s). So now they don't even have the car battery to use (just looking ahead...)


**Power has never gone out throughout the entire metro area which is sprawling.
If a Century Link hub is shut down for whatever reason, service is handled by another section.
IN 40 years I have never lost LL phone service.
It's kind of reassuring; until the CenturyLink infrastructure (in my neighborhood) completely fails I will keep the LL.

[Jim Koepke]

But here is something that a lot of people forget: with the "Phone company" LL I will never lose service when I lose electrical power.

A few years ago, about five miles from my home, a car hit a pole knocking out the power and phones. The power was back in hours. The phones were out for a few days. Our service comes through fiber optic to a nearby field unit. The car hit the pole with such force it stretched the cable and kinked the fiber to the point of it not being able to transmit light. Very odd, but $#!+ happens.

jtk

[Patty Hann]

A few years ago, about five miles from my home, a car hit a pole knocking out the power and phones. The power was back in hours. The phones were out for a few days. Our service comes through fiber optic to a nearby field unit. The car hit the pole with such force it stretched the cable and kinked the fiber to the point of it not being able to transmit light. Very odd, but $#!+ happens.
jtk
Most of the phone lines here are underground...not saying that NOTHING will throttle the LL...only that typical [Phoenix area] power outages won't...and haven't, at least not where I live.
The whole metro grid would have to go down for that happen.

[Jim Koepke]

Most of the phone lines here are underground...not saying that NOTHING will throttle the LL...only that typical [Phoenix area] power outages won't...and haven't, at least not where I live.
The whole metro grid would have to go down for that happen.

Locally our phone and electric is underground. Some of it was underground near the crash site. It was above ground at the end of town and where the highway starts to run alongside the Columbia River.

The car hit a pole right where the fiber cable comes above ground. It actually pulled some of the cable out of the underground. When I saw the splicers working on the cable there were still parts of the car laying around. This was a day or so after the accident.

jtk

[Patty Hann]

Locally our phone and electric is underground. Some of it was underground near the crash site. It was above ground at the end of town and where the highway starts to run alongside the Columbia River.

The car hit a pole right where the fiber cable comes above ground. It actually pulled some of the cable out of the underground. When I saw the splicers working on the cable there were still parts of the car laying around. This was a day or so after the accident.

jtk


What I do have near me is one of the power substations. During monsoon, and also other times of the year, but especially during monsoon, there will be this really loud BANG (typically on the heels of a really spectacular lightning bolt) .... and then all the lights go out.
First thing I do is check the phone...yep, dial tone still there. I've concluded that Century Link power is from a source closer in to the city of Phoenix itself.

[Curt Harms]

You say you use a LL (land line) at home?

What sort of internet connection to you have at home?

We replaced our land line 15 years or so ago with an Ooma device. It's an IP (internet) phone that you only pay the taxes on every month and not any of the phone company garbage.
Out phone bill at the time we replaced it ran us about $27 a month, not including long distance charges.
We bough the Ooma for $99, plugged it in and did the simple install.
From then on, we just had to pay something like $3.50 a month - with no long distance charges.

We slowly got rid of it and finally, last September when we moved into a new house, we disconnected it.

The thing is one of those - Kreg Pocket Hole jigs - something that just simply does exactly what it's supposed to do and it does it well.

+1 for Ooma. It has a bunch of tricks I never took the time to figure out. Wife doesn't want to know about cell phones as primary phone though she has a cell phone for emergencies.

[Jerome Stanek]

That might work .. it's just a little more than I'm paying now and there are more total minutes.
I see that HSN has 2 different phones one is a dumb phone and the other isa smart phone. Both are $39.99 with 1500 minutes text and data. I saw an ad for 15% off first orders also.

[Curt Harms]

OK...I remember that scenario when my friends would be really annoyed because, in order to get the phone they wanted, they had to sign up with a company they didn't like.
Good to know... all the ones I saw were unlocked.

I think phone companies have to unlock their phones after a certain period of time using the phone on their service. For example, if I had a phone locked to AT&T and paid for AT&T service for the required time, for example 6 months, I could call AT&T and they would give me an unlock code.

[Bill George]

Land line power.

When we lost power for nearly a week 4 years ago. No LL but a small 40 watt solar panel kept our cell phones charged fine.

Since then I now have 800 watt solar setup with batteries and DC to AC heavy duty invertor. I do also have a new gas generator but you can not always buy gas.

[Jim Becker]

I think phone companies have to unlock their phones after a certain period of time using the phone on their service. For example, if I had a phone locked to AT&T and paid for AT&T service for the required time, for example 6 months, I could call AT&T and they would give me an unlock code.
They will unlock once one is out of any kind of "contract" and the phone is paid off if it was purchased from the carrier on a monthly plan. The way to avoid that totally is to only buy unlocked phones, such as direct from the manufacturer or an independent seller. But there was a time "back in the day" that a carrier sometimes surreptitiously locked an unlocked phone to keep the service in force for the entire contract length...and many folks never knew about it until they tried to change carriers.

[Jerome Stanek]

You may also want to check out Page Plus service. $10 plus tax for 120 days service.

[Patty Hann]

Land line power.

When we lost power for nearly a week 4 years ago. No LL but a small 40 watt solar panel kept our cell phones charged fine.

Since then I now have 800 watt solar setup with batteries and DC to AC heavy duty invertor. I do also have a new gas generator but you can not always buy gas.

I live where the sun shines about 300 days out of the year...maybe I should do the small solar panel for emergencies.

[Patty Hann]

+1 for Ooma. It has a bunch of tricks I never took the time to figure out. Wife doesn't want to know about cell phones as primary phone though she has a cell phone for emergencies.

+1 for your wife... a woman after my own heart.:)

[Brian Tymchak]

I think phone companies have to unlock their phones after a certain period of time using the phone on their service. For example, if I had a phone locked to AT&T and paid for AT&T service for the required time, for example 6 months, I could call AT&T and they would give me an unlock code.

I think that's true. Just bought a couple phones from Consumer Cellular, and I read somewhere on their site that they would unlock after 6 months.

[Jim Koepke]

What I do have near me is one of the power substations. During monsoon, and also other times of the year, but especially during monsoon, there will be this really loud BANG (typically on the heels of a really spectacular lightning bolt) .... and then all the lights go out.
First thing I do is check the phone...yep, dial tone still there. I've concluded that Century Link power is from a source closer in to the city of Phoenix itself.

Most phone company Central Offices (at least in the old Bell System) run off of large batteries. They are not affected much by a power outage. I used to work for a phone company at one time. There was an earthquake and the uninsulated copper conductors from the batteries bumped together and shut down phone service in the area. A bunch of managers were in chewing out the people in the CO when an aftershock hit and caused the conductors to arc again. There was some redesign afterwards to stop it from repeating again.

jtk

[Curt Harms]

Most phone company Central Offices (at least in the old Bell System) run off of large batteries. They are not affected much by a power outage. I used to work for a phone company at one time. There was an earthquake and the uninsulated copper conductors from the batteries bumped together and shut down phone service in the area. A bunch of managers were in chewing out the people in the CO when an aftershock hit and caused the conductors to arc again. There was some redesign afterwards to stop it from repeating again.

jtk

That system is going away at least in my part of the world and some people don't like that fact. In fact the copper network it relies on is suffering from benign neglect. Verizon is replacing copper with fiber and wireless. Apparently fiber costs more to install but far less to maintain (and they need fiber for the cell network anyway).

[Maurice Mcmurry]

This the 3rd Tracfone. Tracfone has sent free phone upgrades twice going back to 2002. It is 4G but so dumb it is worthless for anything but talk and text.

496861

[Patty Hann]

This the 3rd Tracfone. Tracfone has sent free phone upgrades twice going back to 2002. It is 4G but so dumb it is worthless for anything but talk and text.

496861
That would be perfect for moi... talk but no text. Thanks

[Jerome Stanek]

That would be perfect for moi... talk but no text. Thanks

You can get that one from HSN for $39.99 with the 1500 minutes that last 1 year.

[Patty Hann]

You can get that one from HSN for $39.99 with the 1500 minutes that last 1 year.

Sold, American!

I will definitely check that out :)

[Andrew Joiner]

I admire your ability to keep your phone life simple Patty.

I got my first cell phone about 5 years ago. I wanted to keep my life simple and just have a landline. But then cell service got way cheaper than the landline. It took me a while to get into the voice and text pattern of my family and friends. Now I can't imagine life without it.

For one thing Banks only let me log in by sending me a text first! It's kind of a requirement for everyday life now to have a phone that texts.

[roger wiegand]

Copper phone lines and central office backup power for "land lines" are no longer a thing where I live. It's all VOIP. Service is provided via cable or fiber network and the unit in your house has a backup battery that lasts about 6 hours in an outage. Since we don't have cell service here (Boston suburbs, what do you expect?) we're still keeping the LL. It's a very small upcharge on what they get for a great internet connection. We now have a whole house generator so I don't worry about the power going out, which it does regularly. With the network on a UPS I don't lose my connection at all when the power goes out.

[Patty Hann]

I admire your ability to keep your phone life simple Patty.

I got my first cell phone about 5 years ago. I wanted to keep my life simple and just have a landline. But then cell service got way cheaper than the landline. It took me a while to get into the voice and text pattern of my family and friends. Now I can't imagine life without it.

For one thing Banks only let me log in by sending me a text first! It's kind of a requirement for everyday life now to have a phone that texts.

THank you :)..

Dumb phone (and LL) does have its drawbacks. Fortunately my credit union allows Login via 2 step verification using email.

Everything that can be done / needs to be done on a computer I do at home, where the screen is BIG and the Keyboard is BIG (and Vic-Wardian tricked out)**.
I can't imagine trying to do anything on something as small as a smart phone.

The other thing is that I when I talk to someone who is using a cell phone (and I am on my trusty OJ can with string) the fidelity is terrible.
The other person fades, cuts in and out, there are funny noises in the background (not "funny" ha-ha, but "funny" strange)
How do you all stand it? It would drive me to distraction.

**My Steampunked keyboard (monitor is still boringly normal)


497018 497019

[Bill George]

My Smartphone which is a IPhone has no issues and I do online Banking all the time, Shop online and etc. Since I have unlimited everything I can also use it as a internet Hotspot to link to my computers instead of Cox or any other Internet provider. Thats why I do not need a LL or any DSL. I do not try to waste money or on the other hand waste my time to save a few cents, I have things to do instead.

Patty did you take that picture in your Avatar?

[Patty Hann]

My Smartphone which is a IPhone has no issues and I do online Banking all the time, Shop online and etc. Since I have unlimited everything I can also use it as a internet Hotspot to link to my computers instead of Cox or any other Internet provider. Thats why I do not need a LL or any DSL. I do not try to waste money or on the other hand waste my time to save a few cents, I have things to do instead.
I wish my friends' phones were like yours...theirs sound awful.
And thinking it was me (or my LL) I asked them if they ever get fades or dropouts (is that the term?) or funny sounds when they talk to people with cell/smart phones.
"Oh, yes".
And then there is just plain no connection because of buildings or other things in the way.



Patty did you take that picture in your Avatar?

Good heavens, no (haha...little celestial pun there)... I think that is a stock "archival" photo (i.e., from a plate) maybe from Palomar or Cerro Tololo (I'd have to look it up).**
I do visual observation (binocular).

**Maybe not Cerro Tololo...I don't know how far south it is...maybe too far.

[Michael Weber]

Patty, That keyboard is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.:eek:

[Patty Hann]

Patty, That keyboard is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.:eek:

Thank you :)...it was my first "solo" project in WW class (Fall 2017 - spring 2018).
It's still in use (tho' I've changed a few of the doo-dads on it)... I'm typing this post on it.

[Jim Becker]

I wish my friends' phones were like yours...theirs sound awful.
And thinking it was me (or my LL) I asked them if they ever get fades or dropouts (is that the term?) or funny sounds when they talk to people with cell/smart phones.
"Oh, yes".
And then there is just plain no connection because of buildings or other things in the way.
Weird sounds and "roboto voice" is a signal strength issue. Digital transmissions don't "fade" like analog does/did...they just have enough data going missing that the redundancy features in the technology can no longer keep up and things drop out selectively all the way to "gone".

[Patty Hann]

Weird sounds and "roboto voice" is a signal strength issue. Digital transmissions don't "fade" like analog does/did...they just have enough data going missing that the redundancy features in the technology can no longer keep up and things drop out selectively all the way to "gone".
Well, whatever the reason it is most annoying. A LL doesn't do that.
Even so, the sometimes poor voice quality is willingly overlooked by most people (and I understand why...tradeoffs, juneau). As I said previously, life is choices.

[Jerome Stanek]

I find that when I am in my shop I get no signal. I have to open the overhead door and get close to it before I get a signal. Even back when I had a bag phone.

[Jim Becker]

I find that when I am in my shop I get no signal. I have to open the overhead door and get close to it before I get a signal. Even back when I had a bag phone.
Not uncommon because of building materials, especially if there's metal cladding. The solution is using WiFI calling and having a wireless access point or mesh system node in the shop...hardwired back to the gateway router. We had to do this in our actual house where we used to live as there was nearly zero cellular signal inside due to building materials and geography.

[Curt Harms]

I think that's true. Just bought a couple phones from Consumer Cellular, and I read somewhere on their site that they would unlock after 6 months.

I think that's true of most locked phone providers, you just have to use and pay for their services for a period of time and they'll provide a means to unlock the phone.

[Jerome Stanek]

I do have a land line out there that I don't have to worry about a signal.

[Jim Becker]

I think that's true of most locked phone providers, you just have to use and pay for their services for a period of time and they'll provide a means to unlock the phone.
That's true today. It was not true years ago before there was, um...pressure...applied to the carriers to stop holding customers hostage by refusing to unlock devices when there was no contractual service tied to the device. IE, the contract ran out and the device was paid for.