Interesting thing about canceling the home phone!

**nodmicks** · 08-01-2011, 12:34 PM

I cancelled our home phone a while back and just kept the Centurytel dsl internet. WOW did they argue with me! The bill went from 98.13 to 37.98 and we are locked into he dsl for a year. The guy kept stressing if I cancelled early it was $200 and I should keep my phone! I laughed and told him since they are the only internet her and have a monopoly on the market it was not an issue of wanting to cancel. We need the internet for ds's college and dh's work.

Here is the interesting part. We can only call out for 911. However everyone can still call our line. No more voicemail or called ID. I was surprised the phone still rang! I did some digging and this is normal and how it works. That will save on the cell minutes!

**nuisance26** · 08-01-2011, 01:10 PM

~Am I reading that right? They charged you $200 to cancel? Yikes! I guess after a few months you'll start saving $60 a month though.
Hope all your friends remember to try your home number first to save you some money.

~

**Libby** · 08-01-2011, 01:28 PM

I think the law mandates that for any VoIP type phones - you need to be able to call 911. But please remember if you move your VoIP to another address - be sure to update the address so if/when you DO need to call 911 - they will trace your call to the correct address and not casue any delay to the help you need.

**nodmicks** · 08-01-2011, 01:55 PM

Originally Posted by nuisance26

~Am I reading that right? They charged you $200 to cancel? Yikes! I guess after a few months you'll start saving $60 a month though.
Hope all your friends remember to try your home number first to save you some money.

~

NO it is $200 if I would cancel the dsl internet before a year. That wont be happening since it is the only internet in our rural area.

**nodmicks** · 08-01-2011, 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by Libby

I think the law mandates that for any VoIP type phones - you need to be able to call 911. But please remember if you move your VoIP to another address - be sure to update the address so if/when you DO need to call 911 - they will trace your call to the correct address and not casue any delay to the help you need.

I dont believe we have VOIP but I could be wrong. I didnt sign up with anyoneWe had Centurytel for our home phone and dsl. I cancelled the phone and kept the dsl but dropped the phone since we all have cell phones.

My same old Centurytel number I have had the last 13 years still rings. From what I have researched centurytel leaves the number active because of 911. I can not call any number but 911 but all can call my old home phone number. Hope I make sense. i might not since I am clueless what voip is

**Libby** · 08-01-2011, 02:05 PM

VoIP is the phone line through your internet - in simple terms.

Here's more info on it:
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_over_Internet_Protocol"]Voice over Internet Protocol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Voip-typical.gif" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Voip-typical.gif/220px-Voip-typical.gif"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/4/44/Voip-typical.gif/220px-Voip-typical.gif[/ame]

**nodmicks** · 08-01-2011, 02:17 PM

Hummm color me still confused (blushing). We have a dsl filter plugged into the phone jack. The filter has 2 plug ins. 1 for the dsl that goes to the router and 1 that goes directly to the phone.

I can uplug the dsl filter and get a dial tone also by plugging the phone cord directly into the jack. The phone is not plugged into the computer or modem. It is still set up exactly like it was for the dsl and home phone. The service w have is centurytel pure broadband dsl

So is it still voip if it is not plugged into the computer or router but split from the dsl filter coming from the wall. I want to know what i am saying if I explain this LOL.

**frugalfranny** · 08-01-2011, 05:18 PM

Sounds like you did good for reducing the bill......

It's the pits when someone has such a monopoly on something.

**sinopa27** · 08-02-2011, 04:43 AM

is centurytel the same as centurylink? I have centurylink and I would love to just have dsl. I want to call and find out if I have to have the home phone. I only want it for the dsl. I never use my home phone.

**lottaLove** · 08-02-2011, 08:20 AM

If you have dsl and cancel your home phone they give you a dry loop number. Basically they just 'unprogram' the phone switch so that you can only dial 911, if your area also has a 611 repair number you should be able to dial that too. It lets you have internet over the phone line without having the phone service.
It's unusual that they would leave it programmed for you to receive incoming calls. Here when you have a dry loop, if someone tries to call that number, they get a message that 'the number you are dialing cannot receive incoming calls'.

**nodmicks** · 08-02-2011, 10:37 AM

Originally Posted by sinopa27

is centurytel the same as centurylink? I have centurylink and I would love to just have dsl. I want to call and find out if I have to have the home phone. I only want it for the dsl. I never use my home phone.

Yes

I keep forgetting to use the proper name since the merger.

**nodmicks** · 08-02-2011, 10:38 AM

Originally Posted by lottaLove

If you have dsl and cancel your home phone they give you a dry loop number. Basically they just 'unprogram' the phone switch so that you can only dial 911, if your area also has a 611 repair number you should be able to dial that too. It lets you have internet over the phone line without having the phone service.
It's unusual that they would leave it programmed for you to receive incoming calls. Here when you have a dry loop, if someone tries to call that number, they get a message that 'the number you are dialing cannot receive incoming calls'.

I have no idea why we are receiving calls. maybe they haven't flipped some switch yet?

**mndtrp** · 08-02-2011, 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by nodmicks

I have no idea why we are receiving calls. maybe they haven't flipped some switch yet?

There are a lot of little nuances involved with routing calls. It's possible that they disabled outbound calls, while inbound calls are still routed to your house. Your number should have been put back into the pool of available numbers, although CLink may do things a bit differently. You don't have to have any number associated to a house in order to call 911.

VOIP requires a specialized phone/headset plugged into your computer, or the modem/router itself. If you don't know whether or not you have VOIP, it's pretty likely you don't.

**sinopa27** · 08-03-2011, 01:13 AM

i want to drop my home phone so bad but I am scared that I may need it if the cell phone service goes down.

**Syn D** · 08-03-2011, 01:22 AM

We canceled our Centurytel home line and just kept the dsl.. I had no hassle, the 2 people I talked to were as nice as can be. I told them, we have 4 cells in the house and I was done paying for a home phone. Doing it dropped my bill $43 a month..

I unplugged my phone, so no clue if it still rings..