landline ONLY Phone PLANS for Seniors

Forums › Spark New Zealand › landline ONLY Phone PLANS for Seniors

FineWine

448 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 97

Topic # 225711 1-Dec-2017 17:47

Moderators please move this to correct forum if required

My 94yr old mum is moving from her own village apartment to an assisted living serviced apartment within the same village. I have recently discovered that she is with TrustPower for electricity & land line phone only. She will only require a land line phone in her new location. She averages about 5 calls to land line and mobile per month mostly to the 5 family relatives. Her average cost per month is $68 with TrustPower.

Is there a cheaper plan available with any of the providers ?

NO mobile or broadband required.

iMac 27" (late 2013), Airport Time Capsule + Airport Express, iPhone7, iPad6, iPad Mini2

Panasonic Blu-ray PVR DMR-BWT835 + Panasonic Viera TH-L50E6Z, Chromecast Ultra

1 | 2

Meow
7789 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3849

Moderator

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 1911761 1-Dec-2017 17:53

One person supports this post

Yes - Spark can offer the wireless home phone (which has 5gb of data too - not that you'll ever need it) for $54? per month including free national calling. Basically they provide their standard router and you plug your phone into it.

Only downside is it won't work without power but she has likely got a cordless phone that won't anyway. @hio77 can point you in the right direction, I am not 100% sure on the price but I moved my Nana to it and she finds it great and is saving money due to it.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
A quick guide to picking the right ISP | The Router Guide | Community UniFi Cloud Controller | Ubiquiti Edgerouter Tutorial

Behodar

6270 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1061

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 1911762 1-Dec-2017 17:57

One person supports this post

Looks like $53.50: https://www.spark.co.nz/shop/landline/pricing/

sdavisnz

557 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 151

Trusted

Reply # 1911763 1-Dec-2017 18:03

2 people support this post

Umm what a waste of money, why not just get a skinny/2deg carryover prepay or postpaid sim and a cheap mobile and use that instead.

Voice gives context

dt

307 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 41

Subscriber

Reply # 1911765 1-Dec-2017 18:13

sdavisnz: Umm what a waste of money, why not just get a skinny/2deg carryover prepay or postpaid sim and a cheap mobile and use that instead.

Im going to make the assumption that if she doesn't currently have a cellphone she probably has never had one and giving a 94 year a cellphone moving into assisted living at this stage of their life would probably be a little stressful if they're use to a land line phone.

OP: Perhaps speak with the village operator and see if they have a service they're able to provide your mother access to phone, land lines as a stand a lone product these days a very expensive however if that isn't an option I do understand if I was in your shoes I wouldn't care about the that as long as my mum was happy!

a quick google and $53 is the cheapest I could find with Spark

FineWine

448 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 97

Reply # 1911767 1-Dec-2017 18:25

michaelmurfy:

Yes - Spark can offer the wireless home phone (which has 5gb of data too - not that you'll ever need it) for $54? per month including free national calling. Basically they provide their standard router and you plug your phone into it.

Only downside is it won't work without power but she has likely got a cordless phone that won't anyway. @hio77 can point you in the right direction, I am not 100% sure on the price but I moved my Nana to it and she finds it great and is saving money due to it.

I actually have a spare new HG630b router!

iMac 27" (late 2013), Airport Time Capsule + Airport Express, iPhone7, iPad6, iPad Mini2

Panasonic Blu-ray PVR DMR-BWT835 + Panasonic Viera TH-L50E6Z, Chromecast Ultra

andrewcnz

899 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 44

Subscriber

Reply # 1911771 1-Dec-2017 18:39

FineWine:

michaelmurfy:

Yes - Spark can offer the wireless home phone (which has 5gb of data too - not that you'll ever need it) for $54? per month including free national calling. Basically they provide their standard router and you plug your phone into it.

Only downside is it won't work without power but she has likely got a cordless phone that won't anyway. @hio77 can point you in the right direction, I am not 100% sure on the price but I moved my Nana to it and she finds it great and is saving money due to it.

I actually have a spare new HG630b router!

Don't Spark use the Huawei B315s Modem for wireless?

rhy7s

267 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 23

Reply # 1911786 1-Dec-2017 19:32

2 people support this post

dt:

sdavisnz: Umm what a waste of money, why not just get a skinny/2deg carryover prepay or postpaid sim and a cheap mobile and use that instead.

Im going to make the assumption that if she doesn't currently have a cellphone she probably has never had one and giving a 94 year a cellphone moving into assisted living at this stage of their life would probably be a little stressful if they're use to a land line phone.

The Doro phones are pretty straigtforward and have a charging cradle, e.g. https://www.vodafone.co.nz/shop/mobileDetails.jsp?skuId=sku1280063 - can do more than 8 hours a month of calling for $20, or dial it back for less.

stinger

402 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 105

Reply # 1911818 1-Dec-2017 20:28

sdavisnz: Umm what a waste of money, why not just get a skinny/2deg carryover prepay or postpaid sim and a cheap mobile and use that instead.

This. Skinny Direct has a plan that is $35/30 days that offers unlimited calls and texts to New Zealand and Australian numbers. It also comes with 3GB of data, but even if not used, it's still excellent value for money.

robjg63

2695 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 529

Reply # 1911827 1-Dec-2017 20:59

michaelmurfy:
Yes - Spark can offer the wireless home phone (which has 5gb of data too - not that you'll ever need it) for $54? per month including free national calling. Basically they provide their standard router and you plug your phone into it.

I only found that 5GB monthly data bit by accident after my parents moved to that setup.
5GB a month is actually enough for email and basic internet.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

ajw

1414 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 127

Reply # 1911839 1-Dec-2017 21:46

Two degrees unlimited landline calls for $12 per month on prepay.

https://www.2degreesmobile.co.nz/mobile/prepay/

$12Unlimited NZ Landline Pack

Unlimited* Callsto NZ landlines*Fair Use Policy applies. Valid for 1 Month, auto renews.

Things you need to know

GET THIS PACK

SATTV

713 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 195

Reply # 1911841 1-Dec-2017 21:58

Vodafone used to have one for $20, unlimited local and national calling but looks like they have jacked it up to $49.99

They still might have that plan, you might have to look for it or try a vodafone shop.

https://www.vodafone.co.nz/home-phone/plans/

John

I know enough to be dangerous

DjShadow

2669 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 378

Trusted

Reply # 1911843 1-Dec-2017 22:05

There is this offered by Vodafone, acts like a landline but runs over the mobile network

https://www.vodafone.co.nz/home-phone/plans/

$50 a month, free national calling to landlines

Shoes2468

672 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 53

Reply # 1911850 1-Dec-2017 22:19

One person supports this post

The Vodafone home phone wireless is a good option as it makes it easy if she has to move around rooms in the future, I feel like you should be able to get the phone without the National calling plan, but might have to call up.

HotDogBreath

87 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 13

Subscriber

Reply # 1911892 2-Dec-2017 08:37

Is the following worth a look at?
Mobile phone on low plan (dirt cheap ones for that amount of low calling) tethered to a landline via Bluetooth?
I played around with this idea a few years ago with a Uniden handset/base station. Worked fine for calls.
Benefits:
• she would have the benefit of using a ‘normal’ handset.
• Dirt cheap monthly running charges.
Downside:
• Mobile would have to be permanently hooked to power (and hidden away?)
• Change her number from landline suffix to mobile.

Andib

908 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 595

Trusted

Reply # 1911896 2-Dec-2017 08:58

+1 for Vodafone Homephone Wireless, When I worked at spark we sold a lot of these to people in a similar situation as yourself. They're a really good alternative to a traditional landline for people who don't want / need to learn how to use a cellphone.

Edit: From memory the local calling only option was around $30/month but this was 4 Years ago so they may have dropped it as an option.

1 | 2