• a phone for someone who hates phones

    From August Abolins@2:221/1.58 to All on Thursday, February 04, 2021 23:09:00
    Hello y'All!

    Not sure where to post this, but I'll x-post in a few other
    echos.

    I am looking for ideas on how to set up a cantankerous old
    Yosemite Sam fellow with a cellphone system that he would use.

    What DOESN't work for him are the touch-screen smartphones that
    require swiping and tapping. Swiping left for one thing and
    right or up or down for other things just confuses him.

    A flip-phone was OK. But navigating through the menus was
    confusing - especially with previous Alcatel models, I think.

    The main problem is that cell signals do not work very well just
    50ft from the end of the driveway to his cabin. He claims that
    the signal is fine at the end of the driveway (where he parks
    his vehicle during the winter) but a phone would not work in his
    dwelling.

    Personally, I have a feeling that his old phones were configured
    to work in 4G LTE only. Perhaps if his previous phones were
    switched to 3G/2G, the signals would be better?

    I was imagining a solution like this: keep a fully charged
    cellphone in the truck (at the end of the driveway) and have a
    normal phone in the dwelling that is linked up with the one in
    the truck.

    Does anyone here employ such a solution and have experience with
    such a thing?

    Not long ago I was looking to replace an older 2.4G cordless
    phone of my own with something else and learned that there are
    domestic cordless stations that now have the ability to utilize
    a nearby cellphone's service. That way, one can use a regular
    handset for answering and making calls. I think my Yosemite Sam
    friend would be more comfortable if he could use a larger
    handset that is typical for cordless phones. He seems to fumble
    with delicate little cellphones and hates them.

    The cell-to-cordless distance would be at most 50ft.

    --- OpenXP 5.0.48
    * Origin: Mobile? COFFEE_KLATSCH = https://tinyurl.com/y56r9f2o (2:221/1.58)