[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by davephan

If you want a free or almost free landline telephone, you can sign up for a free Google Voice account, and buy an Obihai box to connect the free Google Voice line to your physical telephones. The Obihai box is a one time cost of about $50. If you need the 911 location service to work it will cost $20 a year for that subscription.

If you need to keep your existing landline telephone number, there’s a process to do that. Transfer the landline telephone number to a cheap burner cellphone with a one month prepaid card, then transfer the number to the Google Voice line. Direct telephone number transfers from you old landline to Google Voice, are not allowed, only indirect telephone number transfers.

After that, you’d have free monthly landline service every month, unless you have the 911 location subscription for $20 a year. The one time costs are made up very quickly. It’s excellent call quality, nationwide free unlimited calling, many extra telephone features that are also free. If you move, you can take the Google Voice line, the Obihai interface box, and physical telephones with you.

When I had the Comcast Triple Play package, dropping my Comcast landline would have increased my cost. After I dropped my Comcast cable TV, and have the Comcast Internet and Comcast Internet service, I could drop the Comcast landline and save about $12 a month.

I could buy a cable modem and return the Comcast rental modem to save another $14 a month. The cable modems with telephone jacks cost about $200. The cable modems without telephone jacks cost about $80. So, that another reason to replace the Comcast landline with the Google Voice and two line Obihai interface box I already own. I’m using the Google Voice line for my fax telephone line. I’d just need to add a second Google Voice line.

Thanks for the information. My problem is that I have a Comcast landline, but the only time I ever used it was when my cell phone died. I am going to drop the landline and add another cell phone to my Xfinity Mobile account to provide a backup phone which will be portable. It may cost a little more, but, to me, the redundancy will be worth the extra cost. It was a very difficult situation when my cell phone died and It took about 5 days to try to repair it and then to replace it.