lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

BBurns,
I sincerely thank you for responding and I don't want to be accused of looking a gift horse in the mouth, okay , as I believe I may have been "guilty" of doing the same and may ultimately repeat the deed. Please permit me this brief digression: I'm referring to a penchant of online articles that don't reference when they were written! Evidently, the Motley Fool is, at least partially, one of them. Yes, I do see the link's date written within the URL you posted, but I couldn't find it in the article itself. This phenomenon I see on stories from most online, how shall I write this, "rag mags." Yes, within your article the year 2015 is mentioned, which helps out alot, but I believe is too uncommon to be counted on as existing.

Anyway, it turns out that your article leads to the following URL if one really wants to see the data. I haven't yet as this URL obliges one to fill out a form with one's name, e-mail address, etc.

http://www.theacsi.org/news-and-resources/customer-satisfaction-reports/reports-2015/acsi-telecommunications-and-information-report-2015/acsi-telecommunications-and-information-report-2015-download

BBurns Loc: South Bay, California

[quote=lev29]BBurns, I sincerely thank you for responding and I don't want to be accused of looking a gift horse in the mouth, okay :sm02quote]

I understand completely. If you google "worst cable companies 2016" or"worst cable company customer service" you will see many sites about the issues with quality of service.
Here is one about a year old: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2015/07/23/customer-service-hall-of-shame/

I worked in consumer service for many years earlier in my career. I was the West Coast Service Manager for Panasonic Corp. in 1979-80.
In the race of corporate greed and the almighty bottom line, customer service has been pushed to the side by many.
My creed was always " There is no better advertising than a satisfied customer".

W3KLS Loc: PA USA

I guess if we are calculating savings we should include the costs to build and run the towers, computer systems, and of course the chargers, etc we use? Sorry I've been working too many years in project management in American industry! But not for much longer. Retirement looms near!

Ken

bobm Loc: Albuquerque, NM

I'm in a rural area and have to walk down the road to get a signal, if I'm lucky. When I got Magic Jack I cancelled my landline, figuring I didn't need it any more. I forgot that my rural Centurylink Internet sucks and when Internet went down, there was no landline to call for help. Since it was an emergency, no amount of walking in the road to get a cell signal worked either! I quickly got my landline back...

Rabbott Loc: Grass Valley , California

I just moved into a new house, in Oct. ,, as I was bringing in the first load of furniture, the property management lady greeted me at the door,, and said,, oh by the way, I forgot to tell you,, this whole street is a dead zone,,,, no cell phone reception on this street.,,, not a big deal, since I hardly ever use my cell phone anyway.

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

If you expected there to be cell phone service, that is unfortunate. But I'd like to reiterate a concept mentioned earlier in this thread and ask a question of those who understand the concept well.

Assuming you have hardwired (or "fiber-opticked") Ethernet access, then, as you know, you can do Wi Fi in your house. Assuming your cell phone is sufficiently equipped, you can arrange for it to do Wi Fi calling!

It turns out that I need that. I recently bought my first iPhone (model SE) ever ... and I deliberately switched from Verizon to T-mobile. (Why the latter carrier? Because it uses a GSM network, as does AT&T, instead, which means it's compatible with the cell phone systems in Europe. Why not AT&T? I would have switched back to them only as a last resort. I have found on a disturbingly consistent basis that any agreements made with an AT&T service rep, whether by phone or at a store, are meaningless. Inevitably, AT&T will spit out retroactive charges within three months and the go so far as to wipe out some credits made as as part of such an agreement.) I did my homework before switching using one of those Carrier URLs (I provided one earlier) to evaluate cell coverage and service as handled by Verizon and T-mobile in the Boston area (where I'm planning to move back,) as well as a few major US metro areas. T-mobile was equal to or better than Verizon in each of these locations. But, I didn't check the ratings in Cajun country, LA. As I found out first hand, reception in my dwelling was 1-2 out of 5 bars. But Wi Fi-calling solves this problem. Outside my dwelling, I guess compared to you I'm fortunate: 3-4 bars. (The Carrier URL I used confirmed that Verizon has more cell towers and better service in my current area than does T-mobile. I'll live.)

So finally, oh cell phone/Wi Fi experts, what are the disadvantages to using Wi Fi-calling? Does the answer depend on whether the Wi Fi is one's own versus a friend's versus a public venue?

Thank you

Rabbott Loc: Grass Valley , California

all good advice. but my phone is just a cheap little trak phone. it works ok,, for emergencies,, if i'm out on the road, ,just not on my street