Most people are familiar with Hargray as a landline telephone service provider. However, in recent years Hargray has begun to phase out its landline services in favor of more modern communication platforms.
Despite the upgrade, the legacy landline service provider has recently had several problems with its service. Frequent outages, loss of service, and poor customer support have forced customers to look for Hargray landline alternatives.
With Hargray retiring its copper wire service, more customers are looking for ways to continue using their landline without the internet or paying for expensive bundles. This article provides information on the drawbacks of using Hargray landline service and the best alternative.
Drawbacks of Hargray Landline
1. Unreliable as Phones will Go Down During a Power Outage
Your Hargray phone service will go down during a power or network outage or scheduled or unscheduled maintenance. You must buy a battery backup to continue using your landline during power outages.
A battery backup installation may cost you upwards of $100 and is not the perfect solution as it only supports your landline and not other devices. The backup battery can help you only if you have a power outage, but your phone lines will be down if your fiber service provider has an outage or other issues.
2. Poor Signal, Equipment, and Service
Customer reviews indicate large-scale discontentment with the poor equipment, signal, and service from Hargray. Since Hargray has a monopoly in certain areas, customers have been forced to contend with the level of service Hargray offers.
3. Pathetic Customer Support
Customers have complained about the unhelpful reps and the wrong information they receive when they call support. As per customers, information received from reps at support and technicians has been contradictory in various instances, leading to severe dissatisfaction and monetary losses.
4. Deposit Fees and Credit Checks
Hargray conducts credit checks on customer accounts before processing their subscription to decide on the deposit fees. The credit check may impact your credit score negatively, but Hargray will decide on the deposit fees only after the check.
5. Expensive Bundled Options
Your landline service may appear cheaper when you bundle it with the internet and other services Hargray offers. However, since landline service may not be the priority for most providers, getting an expensive bundle does not guarantee excellent landline service.
6. Poor Call Quality
Phones operating through fiber optic cables use the internet for calls. Call quality and clarity on phones powered by fiber service depend on the strength of your internet connection. Since consistent internet connectivity and affordability are subjective, you may have call drops and poor voice quality on your digital phone.
7. Safety and Security Issues
Calls from your Hargray landlines may leave you vulnerable to hacks, attacks, malware, and internet-related threats, as it uses the internet for voice communication. Hackers may intercept your data, leading to data and identity theft.
For example, you may be liable for credit cards, expensive purchases, and loans you never took.
8. New Hardware
You must invest in a modem or router to upgrade your Hargray landline service from copper wires to fiber optic cables. Customer reviews for many fiber providers state that you may be in for a hefty phone bill for installation and upgrade if you do not have to invest upfront.
9. Installation Costs and Challenges
Replacing your copper wires with fiber-optic cables means Hargray must install fiber service at your home. The expertise required for such an installation and the delicate nature of the cables makes the entire process complex and expensive. A minor breakage or an incorrect setup could lead to myriad problems leaving you stranded without a landline.
Community Phone - The Best Alternative to Hargray Landline
Community Phone is the best wireless home phone service in the US, providing reliability and excellent voice quality. The Community Phone landline base does not require internet or copper connections to power your landline. The built-in antennas on the base provide superior voice quality and reliability on your landlines by amplifying mobile signals even in rural areas.
When you sign up with Community Phone or port your existing number, you get fantastic features like call forwarding, call history, landline texting, call waiting, spam call blocking, and more. With world-class support, unlimited nationwide calls and texts, No hidden charges, and No deposits or credit checks, Community Phone is the best wireless service provider in the US.
How It Works
The Community Phone landline base does not tie your phone to the internet as it works off resilient cell towers. The company's partnership with nationwide carriers and the unique design of the landline base ensure connectivity across 99% of the U.S., including rural areas. The built-in antennas on the base amplify signals from mobile towers to ensure superior voice quality in low-reception areas.
The 12-hour backup battery in the base ensures your phones continue working during a power outage or blackout in your area.
What Makes Community Phone Better than Hargray?
Here are some salient Community Phone features that make it better than Hargray landline service:
1. Connectivity
Community Phone has partnered with nationwide carriers to ensure coverage across 99% of the U.S. Since the wireless landline base does not need an internet connection to work, you will not face issues such as call drops, jitter, or latency.
2. Reliability
Resilient technology makes your Community Phone landline the most reliable option to stay connected with loved ones and emergency services. Their landline base works off resilient cell towers with power backups to support them during a massive outage. The base also has a 12-hour backup battery that keeps your phone working during a power outage or blackout in your area.
3. Security
Since Community Phone does not tie your landline to the internet, it does not leave you vulnerable to hacks, attacks, data, or identity theft. You get an additional layer of security as the wireless landline cannot be wiretapped like conventional landlines.
4. Call Quality
Community Phone has partnered with carriers nationwide to ensure robust coverage and clear voice quality in rural areas. The landline base has built-in antennas that amplify mobile signals to ensure crystal-clear voice quality in poor-reception areas.
5. Geographical Limitations
Community Phone's landline service covers 99% of the U.S., including rural areas, making geographical limitations and the monopoly of certain carriers a thing of the past. You can take your Community Phone landline anywhere in the US, as all you need is a power outlet and a phone to have a landline.
6. Flexibility
Community Phone's partnership with nationwide carriers and the unique landline base design ensure excellent voice quality and connectivity across 99% of the U.S. Experience extreme flexibility with your Community Phone landline, as you can take it anywhere without changing the number. Plug it into a power outlet and a phone, and your landline will work as well as new!
7. Installation
You do not need a technician or advanced skills to install your Community Phone landline. You can set up your landline in 30 seconds with the following steps:
1. Unwrap the landline base
2. Connect the base to a power outlet. Do not turn it on yet.
3. Hook your phone to the base per instructions in the manual (Phone 1/Phone 2 port)
4. Toggle the ON/OFF switch to the ON position
5. Turn on the power and wait for 5 mins. Once the base finishes setup, make a test call to ensure your phone works as intended.
8. Emergency Tracking
First responders can easily track your location in an emergency, as they can trace the data originating from the cell tower and zero in on your location.
9. Hardware
You don't need fancy equipment for your Community Phone landline, except the landline base and a SIM. You will receive the SIM with the base when you sign up with Community Phone.
The landline base is compatible with all phone models, saving you the hassle of buying new phone equipment. Save time and money with the zero-cost installation of the landline base.
Community Phone Landline Features
Spam Call Blocking
68.4 million Americans were victims of phone scams in 2022, a 23% increase from 2021. Manual call blocking is no longer practical due to scammers' persistent attacks. According to reports, con artists have discovered a technique to get around the STIR/SHAKEN regulations that the government has implemented for customer safety.
Get the Community Phone spam-blocker, your one-stop solution to barring unwanted and unlawful calls from ringing your phone. The spam blocker challenges robocalls and blocks them before the call can ring your phone, ensuring protection against spam.
The "Safelist," a new Community Phone feature, allows you to list the numbers you want to accept calls from. Your phone will ring to let calls from these numbers through and block all others before the phone rings. You can update your allowed list anytime to add or delete numbers, or Community Phone specialists will be happy to assist you.
Studies report that several people miss legitimate calls fearing spam. Understanding the need to balance robust spam protection and legitimate calls, Community Phone is launching another iteration of the Safelist soon.
This feature will allow you to accept calls from numbers you want and route the rest to voicemail. Since Community Phone will not block other numbers, you can check your voice messages and respond to the ones you deem necessary.
The soon-to-be-launched "blocklist" is an aggressive spam blocker that blocks over 6 million spam calls based on an ever-growing database of spam numbers and a spam score. You can actively contribute to this database by adding a spam number to protect yourself and other Community Phone customers from scams and fraud.
Talk to Community Phone specialists to learn more!
Call Waiting
The call-waiting feature helps you handle two calls simultaneously. You will hear 2 beeps when there is an incoming call while you are engaged on one call. You can place the first call on hold, talk to the second caller, or route it to voicemail.
Call Forwarding
Enable call forwarding to forward important calls when you cannot answer them from your business landline. You can opt from one of the several Community Phone options to forward your business calls to a number of your choice.
Temporary Forwarding: Use the manual process to turn call forwarding ON/OFF if you are temporarily away from your business phone. Here's how you can enable it:
- Get a dial tone
- Dial **21*1
- Dial the 10-digit number you want the calls forwarded to and #
- Three beeps will indicate you have enabled call forwarding
Follow the same steps, but press ##21# to turn off call forwarding.
Unconditional Forwarding: Forward all calls from your landline to a cell phone or another number of your choice and ditch your landline.
Conditional Forwarding: You can program several phone numbers to ring simultaneously with one incoming call, allowing the person available to answer the call.
You can also have numbers ring in succession if the first number is busy or does not answer. For example, your cell phone can ring if you do not answer your landline within 20 seconds.
Call History
Enable the call history feature and access information on incoming and outgoing calls to and from your Community Phone landline.
You can use this feature to
- Return missed calls from known contacts
- Store legitimate contacts
- Check caller information against known contacts
- Send a message or
- Block spam calls.
Caller ID
On Outgoing Calls
Opt for the caller ID feature so the recipient can see your number or name when you make outbound calls. This feature can help loved ones answer your call or return missed calls without mistaking them as spam.
Incoming Calls
You will be able to see the caller ID of the person calling you if:
- The person has enabled caller ID
- Has registered in the national register
- Your phone can support the caller ID feature.
Community Phone does not use third-party apps to provide the caller ID feature.
Landline Texting
Studies reveal that millennials and later generations prefer texting to talking. Stay in touch with younger children or grandchildren by texting them from your Community Phone landline through the landline texting feature. The unlimited text feature and 2-way messaging enable you to see the messages from the recipient and continue the conversation.
3-way Calling
Connect with 2 or more of your loved ones simultaneously with the 3-way calling feature, spend some great moments, and create memorable experiences. You can connect with your loved ones on the same call and hear them speak simultaneously without worrying about free calling apps, internet bandwidth, or patchy and dropped internet calls.
Benefits of Switching to Community Phone
Besides having a reliable landline service that does not require internet, Community Phone members enjoy the following benefits:
Unlimited nationwide calling and text: Stay in touch with loved ones across the U.S. with Community Phone's unlimited talk and text.
No internet needed: The Community Phone landline base works off cell towers without tying your phone to the internet. Since your phones are not dependent on the internet, they will continue working during an internet outage or maintenance.
Number choice: You can get a new local number FREE when you sign up with Community Phone. You can also transfer your existing number through their unique hand-held porting process.
Zero-cost Installation: The landline base does not require a technician to install it. You or anyone in your business or household can install your Community Phone landline in under 30 seconds and be ready to make calls in 5 mins.
24/7 reliable customer support: Contact Community Phone customer support via phone, email, and live chat 24/7 to experience world-class support from live agents. Glowing customer reviews on BBB and Trustpilot are testimonies of their commitment to customers.
Works during power outages: The 12-hour backup battery in the landline base ensures your phones continue working during power outages and blackouts.
How to get a Community Phone landline?
Follow these steps to get a Community Phone landline:
- Call Community Phone at (866)-340-6256 and speak with a specialist.
- The rep will check your area for coverage. Since Community Phone covers 99% of the US, this should not be an issue.
- You get a local number FREE when you signup. Choose a new number or port your existing number. The specialist will help you get a similar number if your preferred number is unavailable.
- Choose a plan to suit your needs.
- Complete the signup process
- Wait for your landline base, and install it per instructions. You can contact Community Phone support if you have challenges or questions.
- Wait until the base completes the setup. Make a test call to check if your landline works as intended.
FAQs
What are the drawbacks of Hargray Landline?
Here are some drawbacks of Hargray landline services:
- Their service is unavailable in all areas
- You have to bundle your landline with the internet or other services
- Hargray landlines will not work during power outages
- Battery backup for the landline costs upwards of $100
- Poor equipment, signal, and customer service
- You need to pay the deposit fee after a credit check.
What is the best alternative to Hargray Landline?
The Community Phone wireless service is the best alternative to Hargray landline service. Their landline base does not tie your phone to the internet, ensuring it works during network and power outages.
Enjoy unlimited calling, features like call waiting, caller ID, spam blocker services, landline texting, and more at affordable prices when you sign up with Community Phone or port your number. Talk to their specialists today to learn more!
Conclusion
This article discussed the drawbacks of having a Hargray landline service and the best alternative - Community Phone.
Switch to Community Phone, the best wireless landline service that does not tie your phone to the internet. With excellent calling features, unlimited nationwide calling, and the freedom of wireless access, Community Phone is undisputably the best landline service.