Comments on: Hidden Power

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:06:57 +0000

When the I-35W bridge collapsed in Minneapolis, cell phone service was pretty spotty in our metro area due to the load of calls to/from the rest of the country. I didn’t hear of any issues with landline service, however.

Of course, your mileage may vary, but that disaster didn’t even involve taking out any telecom infrastructure, yet cell phone networks were definitely impacted.

By: Kurt Schwind

Kurt Schwind — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:52:08 +0000

I pitched the landline. I did keep it for a while with the lowest plan on it, but only telemarketers used it. I really don’t see any advantage to them now.

I can call 911 from a cell. I can use my cell during most ‘normal’ power outages and if the outage is big enough to take out the cell towers then phone lines are usually hosed too.

So I can’t agree with Noah or toolhearty on this one. Landlines are a waste of money for most people IMO.

By: blitzcat

blitzcat — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:43:00 +0000

They could have made a mint bringing this out when people still had house phones.

By: Noah Ramon

Noah Ramon — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:38:19 +0000

Toolhearty speaks the truth. After Ike, while we DID have cell service (surprisingly enough), having a landline was that wonderful backup - ESPECIALLY once the cell batteries started draining with no power for a week or two to charge them…

By: Toolhearty

Toolhearty — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:23:27 +0000

Yeah, about that “phone requires AC power” thing…

If you still have a landline (and you should, cheapest plan available, long distance service isn’t necessary), do yourself a favor and keep one of those old Western Electric phones (you know, the kind built to survive a nuclear holocaust) plugged in somewhere convenient. It’s nice to be able to make a call when the power is out.

Why do you need a landline? When SHTF, cellular services are easily swamped with calls. That, and their towers are somewhat fragile things (can’t stand up to a silly little tornado or hurricane worth a darn).

By: James

James — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:36:09 +0000

Well im pretty sure code doesnt apply to power under 50v ac. 277 in the same box as 120v is a no no but this should be fine because its just basically a transformer in the wall and the telephone line is not affected by code.

By: Benjamen Johnson

Benjamen Johnson — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:02:39 +0000

One question I did have about this product that I’d like to ask our electrician readers: Is this Kosher with the NEC?

I worked for an electrician one summer back in college and I thought I remembered restrictions about mixing low voltage wiring with 120V in the same box.

By: Ted

Ted — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:10:33 +0000

Hmmn, at $25 apiece times the # of wallwarts in my house starts adding up to real money pretty quick