Several times over the last couple of years, I've thought and sometimes
said "They really oughtta make ..."
Well, now they do.
<http://www.amazon.com/Xtreme-Technologies-BT-Bluetooth-Gateway/dp/B00135XU7Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1259040702&sr=8-1>
We're not heavy phone users, so paying for a landline and two cell
phones has rankled. Still, we're not willing to give up the convenience
of the cells. Yet dropping the landline would have its own drawbacks.
Cell phones don't get good reception in parts of the house. It's a
wandery sort of place, as well, and we are used to having three cordless
phones in known parts of the house. With cells alone, each of us would
have to go searching aobut, following the osund when a call came in.
After more on-line research and calls to phone service suppliers to find
out some details, I've ordered a cell to "land" appliance
With this thingie, when one comes home each of up to three cell phones
is put on its charger near the base, where it links using Bluetooth.
When a call comes in to any cell, it rings the attached conventional
phones. It says the ring may be different for each cell, although that
may depend on the cordless phones, I suppose.
One may also call out from the cordless handsets and it will pass on key
presses to the call for retrieving messages, doing banking and so forth.
Most user reviews say it doesn't pass on the caller ID name but does
pass the number.
So if this thingie works as expected, we are going to dump the landline.
Hardly anybody knows my cell number; I'm hardly a Chatty Kathy - away
from here. ;-) I'll drop my cell # and transfer the landline # to
my cell. I'll of course get calls for a while trying to reach Carol at
home, but that should die off pretty soon.
The idea of cutting the cord I've lived with and depended on since I can
remember is just weird feeling. Still, it all seems to make sense. If
there's nobody home to answer a call, they still get it away from home,
without the caller even knowing. And I like the idea of not having to
call in for messages at home when on the road.
The savings are substantial, with a one time cost of $80 to stop the
landline costs. Looking at the last 6 months cell usage, we may not even
have to up our shared minutes. Even if we do, it's only $10/mo. to add
75% more minutes.
Then there's the DSL service. the distance is long enough and the wiring
old enough that I can't sync above 768Kbits on DSL. Lately, true
throughput has been falling to under 300 from the "normal" almost 500.
Rebooting everything perks it back up, but that's a hassle. Methinks
it's time to take the Comcast offer of six months of cable internet for
$25/mo. Of course, they stick the knife in after the intro period, but I
sure am tired of slooow downloads.
Further Chatty Moose
PS: Now you know why I'm behind in looking at and commenting on posted
images (for good or ill). The MooseMind has been busy with weighty
matters. :-)
--
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
|