Still stuck paying $35 or more for a home phone that you can’t or don’t want to give up? I have an option that could lower your cost for the same service to $15 a month!
Check out this option for affordable landline service
Several years ago, Verizon and Straight Talk teamed up to introduce a wireless home phone base station, which offers unlimited local and long distance calling, voicemail, caller ID, three-way calling and more, all with no contract!
This home phone service does not require an Internet connection. You basically purchase a $50 wireless base station that you put wherever you happen to get a good signal in your home. From there, it operates just like a normal landline phone. It’s compatible with your existing corded or cordless phone. And you can even port your number over from the monopoly local phone company.
Want to really be thrifty? Consider buying a reconditioned model of one of these wireless home phone base stations. That will cut the price of the device in half to around $25.
Either way, what this kind of thing does require to operate is the purchase of either Straight Talk’s $15 Unlimited Plan/30 Access Days (Unlimited Nationwide Calling) or $30 Unlimited International Long Distance Plan/30 Access Days (Unlimited ILD Calling), both of which you can buy online.
One word of caution: This wireless home phone base station is not compatible with home security systems, fax machines, DVR services, or medical alert systems. (This is true for many home phone systems now, and so each of these industries has adjusted to allow you to connect different ways, such as with medical alert systems and burglar alarms that work free of a home phone line.)
Important info for 911 callers
Should you have to call 911 in an emergency situation using one of these wireless home phone base stations, Straight Talk says you should be ready to give your address and exact location inside your home to 911. The 911 call center will not already have your address as they normally would.
In addition, if the phone you plug into the base needs external electric power to work, you won’t have service or the ability to call 911 in the event of a power outage.
Meanwhile, the lithium-ion battery lasts for up to 13 hours in standby mode and provides three hours of talk time on a single full charge.
But if this works for your life, it will allow you to fire the monopoly local phone company and stop paying $35 or more for their service that doesn’t include any special features!
Features
Here’s a recap of the features on this affordable landline alternative:
- 3-Way Calls
- Phone handset not included
- TTY and TDD Compatible
- Voice Mail
- External Antenna
- Rechargeable battery
- GPS, AGPS, Integrated GPS for E911 support (where available)
- LED indicators: Power, Voicemail, Signal strength, Battery
- Two RJ-11 landline-style telephone ports for handset connection