LynnL999 said:
Did you see an Arris? How big is it compared to the apparently huge Cisco?
It's a little smaller than the Cisco unit. I think why the Cisco is big is so that it can accommodate the internal battery. The Cisco unit doesn't seem quite as big as I had expected, but it's taller (or thicker) than other comparable devices. According to Arris (http://www.arris.com/products/touchstone-tm3402-emta/), the unit is "7.6”x 2.2” x 6.2”- excluding F-connector"
LynnL999 said:
Did you get a price from AT&T for a POTS line?
All I want is a landline I can plug into the wall without additional equipment in my house. I don't understand why this is so unreasonable considering they've been available for about 90 years now.
You can find AT&T's pricing here: https://www.att.com/home-phone/landline.html
Be aware there are other taxes and fees. The AT&T person told me they would likely be similar to what's on my Cox bill. He said they typically ranged from $5-20/month, depending on your location.
If you order an AT&T landline, you may need to talk to a human to ensure you're ordering copper and not U-Verse. I know AT&T is lobbying to no longer be required to provide traditional telephone service (and abandon a lot of people, including rural customers who have no other options). I live in California where they haven't yet succeeded, although I think in other states they have succeeded and no longer offer POTS. The AT&T person I spoke with said if I had POTS, I would probably be grandfathered in if they discontinued it (but for how long, I don't know).
Also, if you're in California, it looks like AT&T still has this Zone 1, Zone 2, and Zone 3 system. Zone 3 calls aren't local and aren't long distance and you may pay extra for those. Cox includes Zone 3 in its phone system.
AT&T doesn't have fiber in my area (which is surprising, considering I live a couple of blocks from the CO and the utilities are mostly above ground and it's a fairly wealthy area). Maybe Cox stole all their business years ago. I still remember the AT&T person who told me years ago when I complained about their DSL rates going up (and Cox's were low to attract customers): "There's competition and if you don't like our prices, then you're free to go elsewhere." So, that's what I did.
Overall, I think Cox's landline rate is cheaper than AT&T, but if it turns out it doesn't work for me anymore, I may go back to AT&T.
If you're just looking for an alarm system setup, you could consider going cellular. My alarm company wants $10/mo extra for monitoring cellular (+ equipment purchase). Based on what I've seen online, that's somewhat of a standard extra monthly fee for cellular monitoring.
We use our landline and another VOIP line for most of our calls. My wife and I really don't like the cost and the typically bad connections of many cell phone calls. We just have a pay-as-you-go mobile plan and probably pay less for a year of service than most people pay for a month of service.
