Does the clapper activate an emergency call? Clap on Clap off Clap on Clap off The Clapper! Loved that commercial. The lady looked just like my beloved mother!

New on 28 APR and need some info
 

The only true landline is Ma Bell. It is true 911 and not subject to power outage.

I have used both CenturyLink and Comcast. Tech support is a bit better with Comcast. Watch for special offers from both. Comcast often will not require a contract with their "specials". CenturyLink, on the other hand, often requires that you keep their service for a period of time to keep their "specials". CenturyLink also requires you to be much more "hands-on", which is great if you're technically-inclined.

New on 28 APR and need some info
 

Is Ma Bell here in TV? I haven't been able to locate her. What is her alias here?

My landline is through Centurylink. I have 3 landline phones in my home.

Good information all. I think we will go with Century Link or Comcast for the internet and TV and use VOIP for the phone. I hadn't considered VOIP even though that is what we use at work. Thanks for the advice.

If you lose power do your phones continue to work?

A home UPS would solve this issue. Cable companies do not install battery backups in neighborhoods. A wide spread outage would loose so called landline service, which in fact it's not.

Thanks RickeyD!

Ooma is a wifi based phone system.

So wifi or a router connection is the surce.

Yes it is transparent; no different than a land line phone. No difference in utilization. Cost is the big advantage. We went from almost $40 per month for land line phone to $3.25 with Ooma....unlimited anywhere in the USA.

Comcast XFinity offers a battery which plugs into the modem, which claims to provide up to 8 hours of phone line power. I purchased it not too long ago, and fortunately have not had to test it out yet.

New on 28 APR and need some info
 

Suggest you read the Ooma disclaimer regarding 911 service. It is not a true landline.

Exactly, and I enjoy the peace of mind knowing that if I need to dial 9-1-1 and can't communicate for whatever reason, help will be dispatched. I know a lot of people have gone to cell phones, but the time it takes to contact the cell carrier and attempt to determine your precise location could literally cost you your life.

I also just moved into the Villages. As an IT Expert for a living, I did my due diligence in picking Comcast. CenturyLink and BrightHouse offer asymmetric DSL at very lost speeds (comparatively). While the fools at CenturyLink tried to claim that 25MBps was sufficient for "any home they ever heard of" is laughable, the 1.5MB upload is the biggest issue. If you want to do VOIP (dont get it from your provider), have a smart thermostat, cameras and or want to upload videos, music, images...it is simply too slow. So, I went to Comcast...got NO contract and two TV's on my package for right at $60 a month.

Do not get Comcasts cable modem (there are many reasons). Go to a computer store (MME or other locals) and get the lowest cost DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem that you can buy (about $60). From there, get a firewall and WiFi (I can go crazy there). The ROI on your own modem is just under six months.

But, if you are buddies with your neighbors, hop on theirs. You will anyway if you connect to XfinityWiFi as it is all over the Villages. My new neighborhood as 17 SSID's broadcasting, all corrupting each other and most of them are a waste of bandwidth.

That does not provide power to your LAN/WLAN or upir PC/Device. Realistically you are looking at a UPS of over $500 to offer you line interactive protection, power enough to run for 45+ minutes and configurable to shut things down. The WORST thing you can put on your computer is an un-configured UPS that will simply go low voltage and cause your system to melt is processors.