Thinking of getting rid of the wired connection

TomF · 15-01-2004 1:40pm #1

With this latest Eircom line connection price increase, I think I am getting close to feeling the proverbial straw land on the back. Although email and Internet banking are handy, and it is hard to beat a Google search when I am looking for information, I think I am just about fed-up with all the costs of having a wire attached to the house, and am thinking about getting a mobile phone and telling Eircom, UTVip and VarTec that they can quit sending me bills because I've had enough of the ever mounting expenses. I can go into town once or twice a week and for a few euros sit in an Internet cafe and do the little that I really have to do on the Internet; and a mobile phone certainly is handy to have when you are away from the house and have to get in touch. If I apply myself diligently, and with lots of coaching from my daughters and sons, I should also be able to master texting which is an even cheaper way to sending messages.

Ripwave · 15-01-2004 2:08pm

Originally posted by TomF
I should also be able to master texting which is an even cheaper way to sending messages.

I don't know, you can make a 6 minute local call in the evenings or weekend for the cost of sending a single text message. Even with the minimum call charge of 6.35c on eircom (or less with other phone companies), it's hard to see SMS as "cheap".

jesus_thats_gre · 15-01-2004 3:22pm

Get yourself a mobile and sign up to a WISP...

spongebob · 15-01-2004 3:37pm

Where is this fabulous 3G technology you keep spouting about JTG and when will you answer those questions for me ?

M

iwb · 15-01-2004 4:18pm

Although the price increase is insidious, in the grander scheme of things, compared to mobile phone costs, €24 per month isn't that big a deal. If I had a choice, I would lose the mobile and keep the home phone.
However, in a perfect world, as jtg says, I would sign up with a wireless or cable provider and have neither a mobile nor a landline. In a few years, it will make more sense to do so. If I had the option of either cable or wireless access right now, I would strongly consider giving it a try. I would probably keep a pay as you go mobile for emergencies though:)
A few reasons not to do it today would include;
Neither service available to me.
User interface clunky. Laptop or desktop pc with headset for VoIP
Reliability of service. By that I mean uptime but also contention ratio and ping times.

Ripwave · 15-01-2004 4:59pm

Originally posted by iwb
User interface clunky. Laptop or desktop pc with headset for VoIP

In recent months, BT were offering a "voip device" that allowed you to plug an ordinary analog phone handset in and make VoIP calls over your broadband connection. (I can't find the link at the moment). Vonage are doing this in the US, and it won't take a huge investment to make it available in ireland, if the wireless infrastructure is good enough.

iwb · 15-01-2004 5:05pm

I had read about these devices. The more the merrier. These are things that will get the ball rolling faster. Are any of them cordless or all hardwired? I couldn't deal with a corded phone anymore.

iwb · 15-01-2004 5:09pm

What would be a good temporary fix is a way to use a bog standard cordelss phone, plugged into the modem on your laptop or desktop machine. Can a modem work like that? It would be a killer device as cordless phones are pence nowadays and most people have a modem or can pick one up for a few quid.

rymus · 15-01-2004 5:58pm

but how to get out of the utv broadband contract?

Capt'n Midnight · 15-01-2004 9:20pm

Originally posted by Ripwave
I don't know, you can make a 6 minute local call in the evenings or weekend for the cost of sending a single text message. Even with the minimum call charge of 6.35c on eircom (or less with other phone companies), it's hard to see SMS as "cheap".

Well TomF already has a mobile and a lot of contracts include a certain amount of free SMS's and free minutes so the SMS is probably free where as it costs at least €24 euro per month for the privilage of being able to make a 6 minute call "for less than the price of an SMS" (note: in Oz or the states with that kind of line rental all local calls would be free)
If you have pay as you go mobile then it can work out less than €24 per month.

People argue as to whether the ESB could get Mb's of data over thier copper - I'd settle for a little box that could put voice compressed onto 16Kb with an RJ 11 analog connector so I could stick an ordinary phone on it...

Ripwave · 15-01-2004 9:35pm

Originally posted by Capt'n Midnight
Well TomF already has a mobile and a lot of contracts include a certain amount of free SMS's and free minutes so the SMS is probably free where as it costs at least €24 euro per month for the privilage of being able to make a 6 minute call "for less than the price of an SMS"

If you want to compare the cost of a contract mobile to the cost of a landline, then that "free" SMS obviously isn't free either. (O2's cheapest monthly plan costs €15, and can include 100 "free" txts. That works out at 15c each, if you don't use the phone for anything else. You don't have to make many calls on the mobile to suddenly find that even oreillycom suddenly looks affordable again.

If you have pay as you go mobile then it can work out less than €24 per month.

Absolutely. But if you're going to end up spending some time and money in internet cafes, as TomF suggested, then switching to a mobile isn't actually going to save much in the long run. Unless you're a very light user, and don't really care about using the internet, switching from a landline to a mobile isn't going to save you much money.

Thinking of getting rid of the wired connection

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