[AMRadio] : Landline vs cell

[manualman at juno.com]

Actually it was NJ Bell that became part of Bell Atlantic and then
eventually became Verizon.

Although I have cell capability here, I use it primarily when I'm away
from the home. At home I have cable that bundled TV, Internet, and phone
service into one package. 400 channels on the TV, 100 MB Internet, and
more features on my phone then I can remember. Overall, phone quality and
service has been great for years whether I'm using my 500-type phone or a
solid-state phone. I've had some horrible sounding phones over the years
that all eventually went into the trash. I can even use the cell phone to
access my cable company's 1.5 million Wi-Fi hot spots when I'm out
running around. I would never go back to POTS even if they gold-plated
all the deteriorating telephone lines and promised "reasonable" service. 

Pete, wa2cwa


On Wed, 27 Jul 2016 18:16:50 -0500 <w5jo at brightok.net> writes:
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: w5jo at brightok.net
> 
> You must have had Atlantic Bell, which was notorious for that kind 
> of
> service Pete.  Living in the central part of the US I had a problem 
> only one
> time when we lived far from the CO.  They changed pair and 
> everything was
> like living in the real world, even Mountain Bell which was not all 
> that
> good either but had good service.
> 
> Where I live now the local phone service is by an independent 
> provider that
> is aggressive.  I live about 10 miles from the CO and they buried 
> fiber from
> the CO to a node about three tenths of a mile from me.  The final 
> stretch is
> copper and they multiplex on it bringing me local service, free US 
> long
> distance, reduced rate international calls and DSL at either 4 or 10 
> meg.  I
> have the cheaper one because I don't run a business any more.  
> Altogether my
> bill is less than people who have switched to Vonage or comparable.  
> To have
> local phone services, TV, and IS, they pay about 30 bucks a month 
> more than
> I do.  The nice thing about my DSL is I can stream programs on it.
> 
> The striking thing now is the lack of knowledge about copper by the
> repairmen, especially the big companies.  They don't know how to fix 
> it and
> have to dust off the old test equipment in the warehouse to do that. 
>  Here
> all tests are conducted at the CO by an automated system that can 
> tell them
> which lightning protector is bad.  At one time the school where I 
> worked had
> a contract to provide classes and basic education for techs that 
> worked for
> the phone company.  They discontinued them in about 97 or 98 and 
> switched to
> wanting wireless classes, no RF included because of built in test 
> equipment
> on their switches and cell sites.
> 
> Recently AT&T told its employees that they better upgrade their 
> knowledge
> base by taking classes in their field of expertise, that is was 
> their
> responsibility, not the company's.  AT&T was not going to teach them 
> the
> basics, only provide equipment specific training.  That did make the 
> CWA a
> bit angry, but they bought off on it recognizing if they did not 
> participate
> they would be gone.
> 
> I have good local service and, recently, they upgraded their switch. 
>  I
> believe the batteries in the node will last about 24 hours in the 
> event of a
> power failure.  If there is any blurb in the system the automatic
> notification system will let them know faster than I can dial 
> repair
> service.
> 
> All things considered I prefer having a wireline because of the 
> security of
> it over a radio that anyone can decipher.  That wireless thing is 
> nothing
> more than a back up.  Beside that my house is nearly a Faraday 
> Shield and in
> most rooms the wireless doesn't work.
> 
> Jim
> W5JO