ISP and landline telephone

[TG]

I currently have Velocity service from Cruzio in Santa Cruz, which is DSL at about 11 Mb/S download and 1.5 Mb/S upload. My main reason for keeping it so long is that it includes a landline telephone line (not VOIP). My landline telephone works when the power is out. So the usual reason for keeping a landline telephone around still applies: good for emergencies.

Cruzio's upstream provider for this DSL and phone service is AT&T, which keeps raising prices that get passed on to end customers. The package that I am paying for is now pricey for data rates which are mediocre by today's standards. So I am looking into upgrading my Internet service and possibly changing landline telephone providers. Any recommendations for either of these? Cruzio tells me I can change to one of their current Internet packages at $75/month (possibly plus another $10/month to rent equipment if it is too tricky to purchase the right equipment); plus another $50/month to keep bare-bones landline service.

[Wayne]

On 8/9/25 12:58 PM, TG wrote:
> So the usual reason for keeping a landline telephone around still applies: good for emergencies.

Who will you call? All their cellphones will be dead... ;-)

[TG]

In practice, there are a couple useful things to do with a landline telephone when the power is off. First: call PG&E to report -- ya know -- that there is a power outage. If this is just a run-of-the-mill power outage then of course a mobile phone (which I do have) will also work fine. For a big disaster, a landline phone is an extra means of communication with whatever entities are still able to communicate via telephone.

[dfsmith]

Is your land line connected directly to the exchange?

In an outage, our local SLC used to run out of power after a few hours when its battery died.  Cell service stayed up, since our tower had a big generator.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subscriber_loop_carrier

[TG]

That I would not know. But the landline connection has never been dead in 31 years, which includes during power outages.

[B Reiss]

From what I recall, Velocity uses DSL equipment owned by Sonic, but co-located in the AT&T central office (using wires belonging to AT&T, hence their charges). So they only offer the service in places where Sonic has such equipment installed. You are lucky you have the option, I don't here in Ben Lomond.

The only actual land line phones go to AT&T. I think even in your case, the wire to your house is AT&T, and the connection to the phone system is in the AT&T central office, and probably drops right into the AT&T phone switch right there. Velocity taps off the data channels and routes your internet separately.

So in reality, if you want a real, old fashioned land line, it's AT&T. I also keep one for emergencies. But so few people are left with landlines, the cost is getting excessive. $50/month is what I'm paying.

For internet, Cruzio has a number of technologies, which may or may not be available in your location. Sounds like you are on the least useful option. One step down is me, where they don't offer any service. If you can get fiber, or their point to point microwave links, the service is great, but those depend on where you are. Comcast is the fall back most everyone ended up on. Other than some niche players (Starlink, satellite dish, some radio link options), those are your options around here.

[TG]

Yes, the DSL service involves three firms: ISP Cruzio, which apparently resells DSL service from Sonic that operates on AT&T infrastructure.

A search for Internet availability from Sonic now shows nothing in the Santa Cruz area. In the past, they did offer Internet service here directly.

A search for Internet availability from Cruzio shows that it is available, and would via a wireless medium rather than fiber. The service would be $75 -  $85/month (depending on whether I can buy the right equipment to avoid renting), not including $50/month (and rising) extra to retain the telephone landline.

Superficially, Xfinity looks competitive based on price and advertised performance. But I have heard about dodgy practices by Comcast over the years.

[Nick White]

Using the landline phone is my best way of finding where I have left my mobile, when it's hiding somewhere. :-)

FWIW - The UK is in a pickle changing from copper to fibre. One bad snow storm resulted in loss of power and folk were cut off for 7 days a couple of years ago. Government told fibre and telecoms companies to work out a better solution so they offer a 1 hour(big deal) battery UPS for the home router, which is no use if the power in the roadside cabinet is off. Yes, the roadside cabinet may(not all of them do) have battery backup but that won't last long. No 5G roll out yet round here and 4G is patchy. 3G mostly shutdown so mobile is reliant on 2G until the mast power goes. Then it will be smoke signals or tins of beans(must remember to eat the beans first) and string. The fibre roll out was due to be finished this year but they have extended it to 2027. I have this delight to annoy me come fall this year. I can't even find out whether it is fibre to the premises or not. Believe it or not, the UK government has included broadband infrastructure spending in our defence budget in a vain attempt to try to boost the budget closer to 3% of GDP. 

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