Yes, we are still wired. Have one in the office, and a portable extension in the kitchen... also one in the basement. Phone service is bundled with cable and computer. Part of the benefit is free unlimited long distance. I still feel a regular handset is far, far more comfortable to hold while talking than cell phones.

Yes, because we live in a little valley and cell phone reception is very poor, or even non-existent. It's also nice to have a landline, in case you forget to charge your cell phone or someone is visiting and needs to get to a phone, in an emergency.

My mom has her phone jack, by the little seating area in her kitchen. It's a good location and easy to access. She also put in one, by the bed, since she lives alone. In case of an emergency, she can call, without looking for her cell phone. Hope that helps :)

Marti, I suppose we have a landline, but it is coming through the cable modem. It has a battery backup to keep it running for 8 hours if the power fails, I think they said.

So the main phone connection is in the living room baseboard, where the regular phone plug was located and the cable coax came through the floor under the south-facing window. This is adjacent to the fireplace, and we have our main TV sitting on the mantle. (We tried to wall-mount, but could not find studs that would let us center it properly, so we gave up and sat it on the mantle, secured by a lanyard/steel cable to the nearest stud.

That being said, I also have TWO satellite phone sets that plug into the power and they are on my side of the bed (DH cannot hear), and here on my desk, currently located in the dining room...adjacent to the living room, but the setup came with two extra phones so I plugged 'em in.

I once had a wall phone in the kitchen at MoccasinLanding. It was on the wall beside my countertop bar, and I could sit there and chat, walk around with it cradled on my shoulder as I was cooking, pick it up easily from the wide passageway if I was in the living room (without having it in there). The only other phone unit I had there was a direct wired set beside my bed.

Of course, this was before I snapped to cell phones. I've had my same phone number for almost 40 years, and I suppose I got used to that number.

The only reason I'd keep the wiring and one wired set (not one plugged into power, but direct wired) would be to keep it for 911 emergencies. Even if you discontinue a landline service, phones wired to them, as I understand it, can still convey an emergency call to 911. You are probably not soon moving to consider that a new owner would consider it great if you had footed the bill for the wiring. Which is a great inconvenience to do from scratch and sometimes costly. So if you got it, keep it, even if you turn off the service.

If you are redoing the kitchen including some wiring, I'd consider putting a wall mount clip-in connection very close to the main kitchen wall switch. Maybe beside the back door? But not in the backsplash. A short curly cord would keep it from being in the way. Of course, even the wired phones these days have a cordless set in the cradle sometimes. But don't defeat the purpose of having a way to call 911 at any time.

I'm probably out of date here, others may be able to update this. It is a good question to ask, because so many of us, including our house, want to make life simpler and cheaper.

Yes, absolutely. After a hurricane only landlines work, so living in a hurricane zone I wouldn't be without one.

Right now, though, that's the biggest nuisance in the renovation plans. The main outlet, the one they say must stay, is on a passthrough we plan to remove. Unfortunately the line enters the house there and moving it will involve either channeling through the slab to get it over to the wall or else having the wiring totally redone. Don't need or want an outlet in the kitchen, since we have a base station upstairs and just cordless extensions downstairs, but we may wind up having to keep that outlet and go to the expense of moving it.

Like the others, we do still have a landline, but ours is also through the cable TV. We have a total of 6 cordless phones hooked to it, plus two hard-wired phones and a fax machine! We had a set of three cordless phones that operated off of one base, and as they got old, the batteries failed. DH went out and bought a new version of the same brand of phones, but these phones just don't work as well. When I discovered that the old ones simply needed new batteries, which were available, I replaced the original batteries and we now have two sets of three cordless phones. Meanwhile, DH was unemployed for 7 months a couple of years ago, and we found the fax machine on Craigslist, so got it for easier faxing (sending faxes through the PC never has worked that well for us). Then there are the two hard-wired landlines. One is in the smaller bedroom - now the sauna/craft room. It is there simply because there was a phone wire coming up through the floor when we moved in. We also had a hard wired phone line put into Dad's room (second bedroom) for safety and convenience while he was alive.

You know what? We still can never find a phone when it rings.

We still have a landline. Currently it's in my backsplash in my prep area in my small kitchen. If I could, I would have it moved somewhere less obtrusive visually.

I'd like to put it at the end of the refrigerator cabinet, which is next to the door to the hall. But dh wants to put it near the bar, even though I don't plan on putting any barstools there.

We have three phone jacks and have cordless phones hooked to all. The kitchen one is on the counter in the corner by dinning room. I can reach it from either living room or kitchen. Also the one in living room is only 10 foot away but we need it here so we do not have to get p when phone rings. Then one in our bedroom. I also have a direct wired phone handy if needed when the power goes out. I do not keep it plugged in as I use it on my studio computer to make Magic Jack calls.

We had a kitchen phone at the last house at the end of the upper cabinets just on the edge or close to cabinet. Seemed to be a handy spot.

I would think having a phone line by the bar would make the phone easy to reach from your living room side when needed. Assuming you do not already have a phone in that room.also by your door way sounds good. I would do both if possible. Phone line is so inexpensive. I am all for lots of phones and jacks. They are very expensive after the fact.

We have two cordless phones, and one landline that is located in the guest bedroom. I insisted we keep a landline in case of a power outage.

Of course, we have switched our phone service to a package through the cable company, so if cable goes--there goes our landline. D'OH!

Shelayne, the cable company told me that if power goes out to the cable phone, it will work off its battery for up to 8 hours. I don't know what kind of battery it has, but if it is AA or AAA, then it could be replaced when it runs down.

With hurricane season only 2 months away, I will be peeking at the battery in their system. And failing that, making a call to Tech Service for information.

WE have a line, but no phone. When we start our remodel this month, we are getting rid of it. We haven't had a serious power outage in the 5 years since without a landline, though I have had to call 911 and it was no problem. We keep a super inexpensive cell phone charged at all times in the kitchen, just in case a babysitter etc.. needs a phone.

>it will work off its battery for up to 8 hours

Interesting, and very different from comcast here. When the cable goes out, so do the phones, although they still have battery power. Just no signal.

We have a land line, outlets in kitchen and master bedroom.

I've been cell only for years, so the existing spots don't affect me.

However, the phone line (and cable) is in the weirdest places in public spaces. The previous owner...the Renter, actually...(bachelor, electronic dude) re-ran the lines & locations for the sole purpose of his home theater / gadget placement.

And he used the living room as the dining...and dining as living. That doesn't work for me.

I have a 1942 house with a built-in phone nook / phone book slot. If I wanted a landline, I would pay whatever money necessary to run the phone line back to that old phone nook. It's a good location at the center of the house in a hall. It's not out in your face. The whole thing is just charming.

If we were still in the day of corded phones, I would hate the phone nook spot. You'd be trapped in the hall on the phone. Cordless changed the world.

Gayle

We had a couple of houses with the phone nooks. I thought they were so cute. Agree the cordless phone have made a huge difference. Same with wireless internet and lap tops.

Yes, the future is coming, and you want to be WIRED for it. Hardwires will always be more secure than WiFi, and even if you have no plans for those phone jacks presently, you never know... plus, there probably will be a next owner, someday...

Wire those jacks with at least Cat5 cable, maybe Cat6? At the very least it allows you to tell the cable co. to take a hike, as necessary.

Plus I believe "phone nooks" are where the word "nookie" comes from... I kid, I'm a kidder... ;')