What do you do for a phone for your kids at home?

Search this thread

Last Updated:
Oct 13th, 2020 3:11 pm

Tags:

SCORE
+2
2
0

Reply to ThreadReply

Search this thread

Sep 22nd, 2020 4:20 pm

McGuillicuddy [OP]: Sr. Member; Oct 29, 2009; 621 posts; 303 upvotes

Sep 22nd, 2020 4:20 pm

What do you do for a phone for your kids at home?

Our kids are getting to the age where we can leave them at home alone for short stretches. Currently we have no landline and the kids don't have their own phones (that's a battle for another time). Thinking of getting an old school Bell Home Phone which is pretty reliable and works when the power is out/internet is down. This would give them a number they could give out to their friends, and would be the most reliable solution in an emergency. Unfortunately it's $50+ a month which seems steep.

Other alternative is a household cell phone on a voice/text only plan. Not sure if I like that idea. Seems to be a gateway for kids having their own cell phones, which is a non-starter at this point. Can also see the kids fighting over who gets to take it with them when they are going out in different directions. Also not sure if 911 is as reliable.

Wondering what others have done with kids in a similar age range (i.e. old enough to be alone for short time periods, but too young to have their own cell).

17 replies

Sep 22nd, 2020 4:31 pm

gr8dlr: Deal Guru; Sep 1, 2005; 11132 posts; 6150 upvotes; Markham

Sep 22nd, 2020 4:31 pm

Wondering if you can get a cheap cell plan with unlimited incoming (like Public Mobile $15/mo prepaid plan) and a Panasonic link cordless phone that can connect to the cell phone via bluetooth. Just put the cell into a locked drawer/office if you don't want them accessing it....I don't even think they'd know it's connected to a cell if you put on a silent ringer on the cell.

There's a 3 phone cordless Panasonic that has this feature at Costco on sale for $60 IIRC.

costco-panasonic-digital-phone-system-k ... #p33157151

We're all bozos on the bus until we find a way to express ourselves...

Failure is always an option...just not the preferred one!

Sep 22nd, 2020 9:01 pm

hopsoid: Deal Addict; Aug 2, 2007; 2014 posts; 481 upvotes; Springfield

Sep 22nd, 2020 9:01 pm

Fongo?

Sep 22nd, 2020 9:26 pm

dolfan1980: Sr. Member; Aug 3, 2017; 587 posts; 405 upvotes

Sep 22nd, 2020 9:26 pm

I've had Magic Jack for about a year and couldn't be happier with it. It isn't perfect, but the price is right.

Sep 22nd, 2020 10:55 pm

zeddy: Deal Addict; Jun 12, 2008; 1001 posts; 447 upvotes; Ripley

Sep 22nd, 2020 10:55 pm

We had a landline when the kids were younger. 1 landline is going to be cheaper than 2+ cell phone plans.

+1

Sep 22nd, 2020 11:41 pm

Holystone: Sr. Member; Oct 24, 2016; 878 posts; 736 upvotes; ON

Sep 22nd, 2020 11:41 pm

We have been using Fido home phone for a number of years now. Serves our purpose. $6.50 a month.

Isn't it great to live in the 21st century where deleting history has become more important than making it.

Sep 23rd, 2020 3:19 pm

mwong168: Deal Addict; Aug 16, 2005; 2575 posts; 693 upvotes; North York

Sep 23rd, 2020 3:19 pm

Freedom has Unlimited Talk and Text for $99/year but you have to bring your own device. Catch is you have to prepay for the entire year which works out to be $8.25/month and doesn't rely on your Internet to be up to work.

https://www.freedommobile.ca/en-CA/prep ... 12%20Month

Sep 25th, 2020 1:01 pm

GoodFellaz: Deal Addict; Jun 24, 2015; 4012 posts; 1172 upvotes; Woodbridge, ON

Sep 25th, 2020 1:01 pm

Forget about the phone line period. Most kids know how to use Google Duo, WhatsApp or F ace Time. Just install a Video Calling app on a Tablet or a Google Nest Hub or Amazon Echo and Voila. My kids know how to make Video Calls just set up favourites of all their important contacts like their Nonna, Nonno, Mom, Dad, and Auntie or Uncle. and away they go.

Remember, kids do NOT need to answer regular telephone calls esp at their age, they could give away personal info so why bother, just use a video calling app its easy, and its FREE

Sep 25th, 2020 2:09 pm

KevinM56081: Member; Jun 4, 2020; 200 posts; 158 upvotes; Clarington, ON

Sep 25th, 2020 2:09 pm

GoodFellaz wrote: ↑ Forget about the phone line period. Most kids know how to use Google Duo, WhatsApp or F ace Time. Just install a Video Calling app on a Tablet or a Google Nest Hub or Amazon Echo and Voila. My kids know how to make Video Calls just set up favourites of all their important contacts like their Nonna, Nonno, Mom, Dad, and Auntie or Uncle. and away they go.

Remember, kids do NOT need to answer regular telephone calls esp at their age, they could give away personal info so why bother, just use a video calling app its easy, and its FREE

Don't disagree with some of your points. Only question I have is... How do you facetime 911?

Sep 25th, 2020 3:21 pm

GoodFellaz: Deal Addict; Jun 24, 2015; 4012 posts; 1172 upvotes; Woodbridge, ON

Sep 25th, 2020 3:21 pm

You CANT, but you can go to a neighbours house and make a call. but yes i see your point, a voip home phone or rogers wireless home phone is good piece of mind in the event of safety or emergency

Sep 25th, 2020 3:58 pm

ds2chan: Deal Addict; Dec 11, 2003; 2216 posts; 846 upvotes; Toronto

Sep 25th, 2020 3:58 pm

I have a VOIP line with Fongo. I just plugged in a set of cordless phones. It's also good in case somebody is in 1 part of the house and you don't have your cell phone with you. There are a lot of times where I walk around the house and don't carry my cell with me. I don't have a lot of minutes so I tell people to call my home phone if they call me. Also, it's good to use when calling some company where you will be on hold for a while, such as the bank, mortgage company, etc.

P10 2.4 THz CPU || 8 TB Ram || WD 300 TB HD || Nvidia w/ 32 TB Memory

"You're only as dumb as you look"

Sep 29th, 2020 8:13 am

GoodFellaz: Deal Addict; Jun 24, 2015; 4012 posts; 1172 upvotes; Woodbridge, ON

Sep 29th, 2020 8:13 am

Fongo is good but they have no flat rate option for US calling, you have to pay per minute. Oh how I wish one of the voip companies will come out with a flat rate north american voip calling option. yes we get it, canada wide, but many many many of us have family in US of A who we never talk to normally cus cellphones cost money to call usa, now if voip lines had it we would take our business there but they do not want our business for the long distance market

Sep 29th, 2020 1:26 pm

jandb: Sr. Member; Mar 22, 2011; 658 posts; 197 upvotes

Sep 29th, 2020 1:26 pm

I did the VOIP through freephoneline.ca
Paid a one time fee back 8 years ago ($50 or something), bought an ATA box, did some setting up, connect the cordless phones to it and that's it.
Haven't paid a cent since.
Note: 911 calls are $1 or something like that.

Or you can do Fongo as others mentioned.

Oct 5th, 2020 11:04 pm

ShinNoodles: Deal Addict; Aug 27, 2003; 1582 posts; 404 upvotes

Oct 5th, 2020 11:04 pm

jandb wrote: ↑ I did the VOIP through freephoneline.ca
Paid a one time fee back 8 years ago ($50 or something), bought an ATA box, did some setting up, connect the cordless phones to it and that's it.
Haven't paid a cent since.
Note: 911 calls are $1 or something like that.

Or you can do Fongo as others mentioned.

+1

This has been my solution for the last 10 years. My initial investment into setting up VoIP was low and I haven't paid any monthly fees since.
Granted, the price has since gone up and the FreePhoneLine unlock code is now $100. To port in an existing number is another $25. Then you have to buy and setup your own ATA adapter which will run you another $50 - $80. If you plan on keeping a phone line for the long run, this might still be the cheaper solution. Otherwise you can go with a monthly subscription from Fongo or Voip.ms (as examples) that start at about $5/month.

Oct 6th, 2020 1:28 am

abc123yyz: Deal Addict; Apr 21, 2014; 2191 posts; 973 upvotes; Alberta

Oct 6th, 2020 1:28 am

McGuillicuddy wrote: ↑ Our kids are getting to the age where we can leave them at home alone for short stretches. Currently we have no landline and the kids don't have their own phones (that's a battle for another time). Thinking of getting an old school Bell Home Phone which is pretty reliable and works when the power is out/internet is down. This would give them a number they could give out to their friends, and would be the most reliable solution in an emergency. Unfortunately it's $50+ a month which seems steep.

Other alternative is a household cell phone on a voice/text only plan. Not sure if I like that idea. Seems to be a gateway for kids having their own cell phones, which is a non-starter at this point. Can also see the kids fighting over who gets to take it with them when they are going out in different directions. Also not sure if 911 is as reliable.

Wondering what others have done with kids in a similar age range (i.e. old enough to be alone for short time periods, but too young to have their own cell).

We have Alexa, and they can call from that. Just say “Alexa dial 416xxxxxx” it will come up on your phone as No caller Id.

Reply to Thread

Top