@my4mainecoons said in Is digital better than POTS?:
@mtnagel I knew I was “special” 😁 but I use email more than a phone so not quite that demographic.
I had a flip phone for many years. Then I changed jobs and over 50% of my hour long commute had spotty if any cell service. I went off the road once and there was no service. A snowplow driver radioed for a tow truck.
BUT, should I keep my POTS or switch to a digital line?
@my4mainecoons Pro and cons to switching. Biggest concern for me is if my internet connection goes out, I have no phone. If you really don’t have a cell phone, then you would be putting all of your voice communication on your internet line. Same thing with your alarm system if you have one, unless the alarm system is on a cellular connection.
Cheaper to be on internet phone and what tech support will do is install an adapter to convert the internet phone signal so that your “legacy” phone equipment can use the internet phone signal. Disclaimer - I used to be a network engineer and did my share of conversion of legacy/digital to IP/internet phone systems.
What I do is I use a product called Ooma. It lets me use my internet connection to make phone calls and I believe you can move your existing phone number to Ooma, but best to check with them. Service costs about $5 per month without any of their “premium” features which I don’t need, so compare the features and cost to what your fiber provider is offering. You would have to buy the Ooma equipment, but it’s relatively inexpensive and I made my money back in about four months and have been ahead ever since. Ooma makes a base that connects to your router with an ethernet cable, and another model that connects wirelessly. I do have a cell phone, but you could buy a prepaid phone with 100 minutes relatively inexpensively and use that when your internet phone is not working, especially if you have an emergency and your internet phone is not available.
Ooma is less expensive on Amazon than it is on the Ooma website. I bought on Amazon.
– Z –