Ask HN: What do you use as a home phone, if you have kids without phones?

2 points by syedkarim 1 year ago | 5 comments

As an adult, I have never had a landline in my home. I now have several pre-teen kids and none have their own cellphone. When the older ones are home alone, I leave out an old iPhone that is connected to the home wifi network; that's enough for them to call family (through Facetime) or 911. But this isn't ideal because the phone is not always charged or the younger kids hide it. Is a landline the only real solution?

delogos 1 year ago |

Land line is the safest bet. In the US at least, there's also a guarantee that there will always be a dialtone on a paid line even if you have a power outage in your home (assuming of course that you have an actual traditional un-powered phone plugged into the line).

JohnFen 1 year ago | |

I know a couple of families who don't allow their children to have cell phones, and they have a landline at home.

> there's also a guarantee that there will always be a dialtone on a paid line

It's certainly not a guarantee, but yes, the power for landline phones is generated by the phone company. It's much more rare for a landline system to lose power than for your actual power to go out.

delogos 1 year ago | | |

Thank you for the clarification!

throwaway48540 1 year ago |

What about a SIP phone? You can get a number cheaply from a cloud operator, and it can call over the internet for free.

timonoko 1 year ago |

Xiaomi 4G Kids standalone smartwatch with SOS call, SIM card and GPS Tracker. $12 each, 3 pieces. Aliexpress.