So much... misinformation

My father is suffering early dementia, and repeatedly loses his phones, and gets a new sim card (and number each time), and generally forgets to keep his phone charged.

My parents also live in a rural area with marginal mobile coverage. Their internet is via rural RF broadband.

Mum is a technophobe and normally doesn't keep her phone charged or turned on, and doesn't know how to use it. She lost hundreds of dollars of carry over credit because her SIM expired because she hadn't used her phone, and 2 Degrees had convinced her that she needed to be on a monthly plan.

I still have a 'landline' for them to call me, although technically it's VOIP on Fibre since there's no copper to the home.

Sometimes the call quality can be poor, and a couple of times I've had to reboot the router after the phone service has dropped out.

I have no directional hearing due to loss of one ear to meningitis some years ago, so having a phone that's fixed to something is actually quite helpful, as if my mobile, or the cordless handset aren't in sight, I can't tell where a ringing phone is located.

People will probably find this hilarious, but I still have an ancient rotary dial phone connected to the internal copper in the house that's hooked into the router, and it still works fine for answering calls, although obviously it can't be used to call out. There has been more than one occasion when the phone is ringing and I can't locate a cordless handset, that this old beast has come to my rescue.

I'm on Unlimited Fibre Max, so piecing together what Vodafone charges for new customers for this without home phone, and what I'm paying above that, it looks like I'm paying $29 a month for the joy of having a landline number with free calling to NZ landlines, and I'm paying for call diversion as well, so if I'm out and about calls come to my mobile. Unfortunately calls to mobiles are not free, and cost quite a steep per minute price.

I'm not sure if VOIP options from other providers offer a better deal for calls to mobile?

Back when I was using Skype credit when I did a lot of international calling before my in-laws got smartphones, calls to mobiles with Skype credit were expensive, but now it looks like 4-6c per minute depending on plan, although one disadvantage is people can't call you back, unless you pay extra for a Skype number.

It's a bit ironic that it's possible to call Vodafone mobiles from Skype cheaper than it is from a Vodafone VOIP 'landline'.

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