I Googled about this but am still unsure. I know they shut down 3G cell service a couple of days ago. Since then (yesterday and today) my landline phone does not appear to be working properly. My friend calls me but says she cannot hear me. I hear her fine. I tried to call her back from my cell phone and she can hear me but then I cannot hear her and since I still cannot make the cell phone do what I want it to do, I gave up on it. So, my question is not about the cell phone. My question is whether my landline phone could be affected by this 3G calling stuff? It is over 10 years old if that means anything.

Thanks.

No, your landline shouldn't be affected by 3G service since it uses physical "lines" to make and receive calls.

Most 3G phones will no longer work. Is yours a 3G or 4G phone? If it works, you may simply have to turn the sound up which you can do in settings or they usually have a sound button which you can use to raise the sound. My husband is constantly turning his sound down accidentally with his big fingers and I have to turn it back up for him.

Thank you. I could not find anything to suggest that my land line phone should be affected except that it is old and there are old items affected that are not phones. Weird coincidence though.

Strange indeed. It could be that it's just your landline phone that needs to be replaced. I had to replace at least two of them before I got rid of the landline.

I agree with Dralvr, your landline should Not be affected. How old is your Cell phone? If it is not too old you could go to Settings, Wifi and check to see if you have an option to switch to 5G, my Cell is 3 and half years old and I have the option of switching from 2.4 to 5. Also, is your landline connected directly to a phone company and/or is it connected via *Wifi, if so maybe your Modem needs to be upgraded to a 5G modem.

*I ask this because my Land line is connected via wifi package re: Tel, Internet and TV via the same package bundle.

Thanks Starcom. The cell phone is not old. It works. I just can't work it! My landline is connected to a phone company. The phone is portable and over 10 years old. I will look for a new one soon. The buttons on this one don't work too well anymore anyway. Sometimes they don't want to press down and then they double press.

And oldbroad doesn't have WiFi in her house, Starcom, so that won't work. Definitely time for a new portable landline phone!

And I'm puzzled, Starcom. There is no such thing as 2.4G cell networks. There is 3G, 4G and now 5G. Are you sure you aren't looking at 2.4 Ghtz or 5 Ghtz WiFi bands? Your cell network comes from your cellular service provider.

Hi Draclvr, re:

I guess I am confusing Bands from Gh. anyway my Cell and Internet uses by default the 5Ghtz band but in order to connect my Security Camera to get it working I had to drop the it to 2.4Ghtz, once I got the Sec. Camera working I could then switch back to 5Ghtz for my Cell phone but kept the Internet at 2.4Ghtz for now since that travels better througout my house.

Yup, that's exactly how the WiFi bands work! 2.4 Ghtz has more range, but slower speeds and 5 Ghtz has more speed, but less range.

But neither of them has anything to do with your cellular service.

Gotcha Draclvr , that's why I luv you so much, I always learn something new with you. Take care, and olbroad, good luck with your phones.

Thanks!

Thanks, Starcom!

So, I finally replaced my land line phone and my answering machine with an all in one. Only took 14 months or so. Apparently, at least one of those old pieces of equipment stopped working when this 3G stuff ended because this phone works fine. It took me 10 days after receiving it to finally track down all the wires I needed to unplug in order to plug this one in, and then another week to get it set up. It automatically kicks the robocalls out somehow. The phone will ring but they cannot talk into the answering machine like they could on my old one. If only my cell phone did that. I have gotten a major increase in robocalls / spam calls on the cell phone in the last couple of months. I block them all but they just change numbers and call again. I block every number that I don't recognize. I don't answer any of them and I don't have voice mail set up on the cell phone so I don't have to listen to them. I wish I knew how to block the text messages, but it doesn't have that option.

Of course, there could be a (coincidental) fault on the actual landline: the easy way to check that would be to borrow a phone and see if that works better for you (before spending money on a new phone you may not need...!), unless perhaps your service provider can run a line check for you.

Some years ago we had an intermittent fault on a landline phone which turned out to be an earth wire connection affected by hot dry weather, and which I seem to remember caused the sort of issues raised here.

Drac, sounds like you may need one of those phones with extra big buttons for the man in your life

Lex, at 6' 6" tall, his big thumbs and fingers on a tiny cell phone screen simply cannot text!

I might get one spam call a day on my cell phone. I just block and delete them as they come in. I used to get 10+ a day on the old land line which is why we got rid of it. Your new setup sounds great, oldbroad!

The other thing I like about this phone is that I was able to turn the ringer on the base off and just have the handset ring. They both ring if the base is on. The base ringer was too loud even on the lowest setting. I have the handset on the lowest volume and the phone is set for 2 rings but you really only hear 1 (not too loud) ring now. It's perfect!

I have an issue with medicare that I tried to fix with a call on the cell phone and was not able to because they have to call back and they either did not, or I didn't recognize the call so I ignored and blocked it. That helped push me to look at the land line phones again. Now I just have to get the energy to call medicare again to see if I can get my issue resolved. For business type calls I much prefer the land line for maneuvering through the auto systems and getting call backs.

My hands have gotten bigger with weight gain but I don't think they are all that big and I still cannot use the keyboard buttons on the cell phone very well. I don't text but trying to type a contact name or something is annoying so I'm sure texting would be a nightmare. They really should be spaced apart better or something.

Lex, my old answering machine had to be 20 years or older but still working fine. I'm sure it was just no longer compatible, not just coincidencel

I agree about the call back thing. I don't answer either if I don't recognize the number. If they leave a message, then I will call them back... kind of a pain sometimes.

Hi oldbroad, as for using your Cell for adding contacts or texting, you could use a *Stylus Pen with a rubber tip, this is what my wife uses because she does a lot of texting with our daughter and she finds these Stylus Pens for Cell phones and they are very cheap, you can get a pack of 10 for about $5.99.

*She also uses these Stylus Pens for her Touch Screen laptop.

Link for Stylus Pens at Walmart (just one of many places you can get them)

https://www.walmart.com/c/kp/stylus-pens-for-cell-phones

PS: Good luck with your medicare problem.

Thanks Starcom. I've thought about trying a stylus but never looked at any. Why are they sold in packs? Do they wear out or something? I would think just one would be enough (for one person anyway).

They don't wear out that quick, in fact they last quite a long time depending on how you use them, if you Peck away at your device like a Woodpecker, yes then it will wear out quickly. There are many reasons for selling them in packs, if you have more than one user in the house with Cells or Touch Screen computers, my wife leaves one besides her on the end table while watching TV, one in her purse to make sure she always has one, one in the car so the passenger can use if needed, gave a couple to my daughter, etc.

Thanks! I don't think I've ever actually seen one, thus my question. I keep small, cheap magnifying glasses and scissors in different areas of my house so I don't have to get up and down all the time if I need them. They were actually free (not cheap but the magnifying glasses are cheap in quality also).

I am sure at least some of the styluses come with spare ends, and my wife will not let anyone touch her screens with a finger (to keep them clean): however, I see that some phone screens will only react to the skin on a finger...

Drac, your husband is only 1.25" taller than me, and when I text (which is not often) I use my fingers and would have no chance with my thumbs!

It is a bit unfortunate that large button phones are very much labelled as "for the elderly."

Lex, LOL! The problem is that at age 78, he IS elderly!

You and I know that Drac, but us elderly folk can be quite sensitive and I am not sure that my wife would allow me to be seen with a big button phone if I ever wanted one...!

Someone's signature talks of being marvellously mature, or did at one time: was that LadyKestrel?

Have a good day everyone, but remember not to do anything too adventurous until the caffeine has kicked in....

Lex, the "marvelously mature" signature is MsMercury (Mary).

Wishing you all a good day!