Should I Get an iPhone 6 Plus? (I Need It Only in Case of Emergency or Black out)

Melb69 on 22/01/2019 - 21:21
Last edited 22/01/2019 - 22:15 by 1 other user

Hi

My wifes mother wants an Iphone and likely the same as my wife's Iphone 6s plus. She only wants it for emergencies if the power goes out and she cant use her home phome. So the plan needs to be one that is cheap and has no data. Just for calls. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/420832 Belong seems to be the best for that. Or I think there is a $20 credit for 6mths prepaid with Virgin Mobile.

Is there another alternative apple phone that is worth getting her. She liked the bigger screen. She is in her 70s.

Could she even use an ipad as a phone to make calls on it if it has a SIM card in it. That might be more practical. At least she could use the ipad.

Mobile Apple Mobile Phone

Comments

  • Starchick on 22/01/2019 - 21:30
    +4

    Aldi has a pay as you go deal the cheapest plan is $15 for 365.

    • Steptoe on 22/01/2019 - 22:14
      +2

      $5 Starter.gives one year, then on $15 recharges annually.

  • elgrande on 22/01/2019 - 21:30
    +17

    How long have you been married?

    Wifes mother wants an iPhone = wifes mother gets an iPhone.

    • thatonethere on 22/01/2019 - 21:35
      +24

      And you will troubleshoot it for the rest of your life (and probably in hell too)

      • Daabido on 23/01/2019 - 20:32
        +3

        You're right. Buy her a cheap Chinadroid. That will be much less trouble.

    • picklewizard on 24/01/2019 - 14:03

      What an odd response.

      Wife's mother wants an iPhone = discussion around how a $30 phone is perfectly adequate for the nominated use case of voice calls only in the event of a blackout.

      How on earth is an iPhone being considered here?

  • Randxyz123 on 22/01/2019 - 21:31
    +32

    Why not upgrade the wifes phone and give your MIL the 6S?

    • try2bhelpful on 22/01/2019 - 23:14
      +1

      Good option

    • bmerigan on 23/01/2019 - 22:19
      +1

      Smart

    • langitbiru on 24/01/2019 - 10:58

      providing MIL didnt change her mind (requesting the same new phone) once she saw the brand new phone on her daughter's hand.

  • chumlee on 22/01/2019 - 21:33
    +16

    What if power goes out and iPhone battery is flat cause she never uses it and didn't charge it?

    • Quantumcat on 22/01/2019 - 21:34

      I guess leave it charging always, preferably with surge protector

      • Melb69 on 22/01/2019 - 21:37

        Well I did think of that. Also we would need to take her to get the phone prepaid everytime when that expired. Unless it can be done online. Which we would have to do for her, but as least wouldn't need to go somewhere to do it.

        • Quantumcat on 22/01/2019 - 21:42
          +3

          There's 365 day plans, activate it a little after an important date and then you know you need to get it sorted on that date next year. Eg their birthday

          • macrocephalic on 24/01/2019 - 12:13
            +1

            @Quantumcat: My aging father has a fall alert thing that uses a sim card. I just set a calendar alert in google.

        • Randxyz123 on 23/01/2019 - 10:45

          Leave it charging and have a portable charger as well so in the event of anything bad she has a couple of charges.

          Auto recharge/365 plan will be fine.

          Just get the belong plan. Has data and calls. Perfect.

          Also call her provider and ask about battery backup for the nbn.

      • barbarella on 22/01/2019 - 22:32
        -4

        bad idea to leave it charging always…dangerous!

        • Cartman2530 on 23/01/2019 - 20:02

          I hope you're joking, thats not true at all!

          • solidussnake on 24/01/2019 - 09:10
            +1

            @Cartman2530: For the original Surface pros you should see the batteries after one year of them plugged in constantly like balloons lol

            • Cartman2530 on 25/01/2019 - 15:11
              +1

              @solidussnake: Sounds like a poor design with the battery protection circuit on those surface pros! I've built a few 18650 charge controller circuits so I've got a little bit of an idea how complex charging a lithium battery is.

              I can see your point, but my comment was mainly referring to the iPhone.

              My iPhone constantly remains plugged in always and charged up from any % and its still going strong! Battery life has reduced from new but that's par for the course.
              Its a 5S so its not like I've only been doing it for a couple of months or so, been doing it for years!

    • RichardL on 22/01/2019 - 22:53
      +1

      Power Banks.

    • matt_will_fix_it on 24/01/2019 - 07:01
      -2

      If the power goes out a landline phone will still work (unless it's got base stations and wireless handsets).

      • kerfuffle on 24/01/2019 - 07:13

        Not if it's on the NBN unless you have a UPS? (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)

  • Melb69 on 22/01/2019 - 21:36

    As long as her mum pays for her old phone. That sounds like a plan. Also that Aldi deal sounds exactly like what she needs as she will only use the phone rarely. $15 dollars a year for piece of mind. Doesn't matter if she need to make that $10 call in an emergency. She's just worried that now she has NBN if the power goes out she cant call out.

    Thanks guys so far. Some good ideas there.

    • Steptoe on 22/01/2019 - 22:16
      +4

      She should get the UPS with NBN for blackout protection.

      • Brouw3r on 23/01/2019 - 19:28

        Mine came with one in ~2015 with FTTP. The neighbor has just installed there's and it didn't come with it.

  • itsdougie on 22/01/2019 - 21:39
    +18

    How many black outs does she get to warrant an emergency iphone?
    besides old people only need a nokia 3310 with the number 1 button set up for quick dial

  • Melb69 on 22/01/2019 - 21:40
    +3

    For the life of me why couldn't they just leave the old land line phone line to be used as it has been for those that don't need internet. At least it was reliable.

    • McFly on 24/01/2019 - 09:32
      +1

      Because they don't want to maintain an (old/obsolete) copper network indefinitely.

  • Melb69 on 22/01/2019 - 21:41

    Ok now my wife says that she might need data. She may try and educate herself with some apps.

    • Quantumcat on 22/01/2019 - 21:45

      If she's not taking it out of the house she doesn't need data. She can use WiFi

      • Melb69 on 22/01/2019 - 21:49
        +1

        She doesn't have internet or Wifi. Yeah I know. Who in 2019 doesn't have internet. She has NBN, but has it set up only phone use. She doesn't have a computer.

    • Steptoe on 22/01/2019 - 22:22

      Belong $40 starter for $15. Activate on $10/1GB/month with referral from Belong referral link here to get 6 months for $15. Activate Free SIM from Belong for extra $20 referral credit each giving up to 20 months free.

  • Elppa8 on 22/01/2019 - 21:55
    +1

    Would a UPS be a solution?

    • Melb69 on 22/01/2019 - 22:05

      Would that keep the NBN phone going? That might work if that's what it does. Needs to work in the background.

      • Quantumcat on 23/01/2019 - 06:34

        Only for a limited time, I have a UPS and it'll keep my computer going for about 30 minutes in the event of a blackout

        • abb on 24/01/2019 - 10:34

          That same amount of energy will run a good old fashioned wired landline phone for about a week.

          • macrocephalic on 24/01/2019 - 12:15

            @abb: But the actual NBN network might not work in an outage (depending on type of connection and circumstances of outage).

      • DialIN on 23/01/2019 - 19:56

        Depends what type of NBN she has.
        FTTP with UPS would likely be fine with a power outage, and running just a phone should last quite a while.
        But with my FTTN the node doesn't have any backup power, and it takes up to 45 mins after a power outage for the node to come back up and process logins, so a UPS wont help you here.

        • Nousernamehere on 23/01/2019 - 21:18

          How old is your node?

          My area became RFS about 3 months ago and mine does have a battery back up. Worked fine when power went out for a few hours about 2 months ago, my UPS died about an hour in.

          I have heard some nodes don’t have battery back up, but haven’t seen any reasoning why some do and don’t.

          • DialIN on 24/01/2019 - 14:53

            @Nousernamehere: According to the NBN site, no battery backup is the "expected" state for the node - guess you're lucky :)

            nbn Fibre to the Node (FTTN)
            Landline phone and internet services won’t work in the event of a power outage within the nbn™ Fibre to the Node network or within your premises. Unfortunately, restoring power with an alternative power option is not possible if the nbn™ FTTN network is also experiencing a power loss. Consider keeping a charged mobile phone nearby in the instance of a power outage.

            • Nousernamehere on 25/01/2019 - 14:31

              @DialIN: Yeah I had read that ages ago, but NBN did say originally that all nodes would have battery backup.

              Seems from Whirlpool more of them do have them than don’t, so wonder how they determine which ones do or not.

        • bmerigan on 23/01/2019 - 22:26

          My node has battery. Just FYI. I'd expect it o be the more likely scenario these days

  • Donaldhump on 22/01/2019 - 22:02
    -1

    I might be old but if the power goes out, why does the home phone not work, and who does she need to ring anyway.

    Just go to bed

    • Melb69 on 22/01/2019 - 22:04

      She has an NBN line now. So no phone connection if power is out. She could go to bed, but would like to tell someone shes ok. Shes at that age. Everything is hard and a worry. She lives alone in a small unit. 45mins away from us.

      • Donaldhump on 22/01/2019 - 22:05

        Fair enuf, guess u need to pony up

        • Melb69 on 22/01/2019 - 22:08

          Well there are a few options. I was just thinking now that if the UPS option works that might solve the home phone issue to make an emergency call. Then with NBN. She might be better getting an ipad to use to learn that rather than a dicky phone to play around on.

          • ausdday on 22/01/2019 - 22:30

            @Melb69: If you opt for phone line during nbn sign up, she can keep her phone line. All you need is ups to power both the router and the phone.

            A few nbn providers have pay as you go phone plan. Means no call no charge.

          • Hen on 23/01/2019 - 14:47
            +1

            @Melb69: After much resistance my folks learned to use an iPad in their 70s (email, weather, photos, iview etc). Now they love it and wouldn’t be without it. A good option

  • ShannonN on 22/01/2019 - 22:04

    why not an android phone, don't need an iPhone to do what she wants

    • Melb69 on 22/01/2019 - 22:06
      -2

      I'm laughing. Don't go there. The rest of her friends and family are in the Apple eco system.

      • ShannonN on 22/01/2019 - 22:23
        +6

        sad isn't it the peer group pressure at her age? and this sounds like a "what if" complex, seems there hasn't been any blackout yet where the nbn phone is down, it's like someone, maybe nbn installer said phone won't work in blackouts so now its a I'm dead meat if there's a blackout and I faint fall over etc panic attack

        Get the dear a phablet, phone & tablet screen can read digital books great with zoom text for older poor ppl with eye probs

        Keep it plugged into charger 24/7 Just turn device off when not in use .

        Perhaps get stats on how soon power outages are fixed in her area and show her that within 2 hrs its back on may help

        • khomeini on 24/01/2019 - 08:07
          +5

          Okay so here's how that peer pressure scenario plays out.

          (Rest of her friends) - "Let's do facetime, it's so easy and we can keep in touch… Oh, yours doesn't have facetime. Poor dear."
          MIL gets slightly depressed.
          (Rest of her group) - "Did you hear 3AW on iTunes. We agree with those conservative sentiments. Oh deary, you don't have that on your phone?! It's okay dear, maybe we'll see you at bingo"
          MIL gets ostracized from the group, never seeing the cool kids at bingo again.
          MIL gets sad and blames her cheap SIL.
          MIL complains and piles pressure on daughter.
          Daughter makes life hell for OP.(Sexytime activities severely limited or stopped)
          OP now has a sad existence because of his dire decision to wing it with an Android.

          Moral of the story children…. Always go with the peer pressure. Especially when an iDevice is involved.

          • Mothy on 24/01/2019 - 12:26
            +1

            @khomeini: You can do all of that on an Android phone too.

    • Hirolol on 24/01/2019 - 08:06
      +3

      It’s hard enough teaching an old person to use an iPhone.
      Have fun teaching them Android

      • cwongtech on 24/01/2019 - 12:00
        +2

        Really not that much difference.
        Android
        3 buttons
        Back + Home + Multitask (or in Samsung's case, back and multi-task are switched around as default)

        Iphone (Pre-X series)
        1 physical button
        1 tap = Home
        2 taps = Multitask
        1 soft button = Back button (top left of screen)

        Just different placement.

      • Mothy on 24/01/2019 - 12:22

        Literally no difference

  • chumlee on 22/01/2019 - 22:18

    Maybe just get an uninterruptible power supply for under $100?

    https://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/using-your-landline-phone-in…

    • Melb69 on 22/01/2019 - 22:33

      Says look at mobile phone for alternative if power outage. UPS will only give 10mins. Not great if you are on hold longer than 10mins

      • McFly on 28/01/2019 - 20:47

        10 minutes? Sure, if your UPS runs on Eneloops!

  • Savas on 22/01/2019 - 22:19
    +4

    I don't follow why she needs an iPhone, can't she get one of those emergency buttons? Or ask them to install an nbn backup battery?

  • [Deactivated] on 22/01/2019 - 22:27
    +1

    I think you are spending too much money for something to be used for emergencies only, unless you expect emergencies everyday.
    I would just get a $60 phone.

    • Melb69 on 22/01/2019 - 22:30
      +2

      I agree. I am not making the decisions. I would suggest a Nokia button phone with a pay as you go sim. Then maybe an ipad for playing around on. I the phone is an excuse to get one to get her to do other things on it as well. That's why I think an Ipad is better to use daily.

      • [Deactivated] on 22/01/2019 - 22:37
        +1

        Yes. But if you are going to get her an iphone, you might as well encourage her to use it everyday.
        Maybe they added the word "emergencies only" as justification for you to buy it :)

        • Melb69 on 29/01/2019 - 07:00

          I think that is probably a good idea. I was thinking they should just get rid of the landline and just use the mobile for internet and calls.

  • Gotchas on 22/01/2019 - 23:07
    +6

    Mother in law unable to contact us due to a power outage

    Moments like these I wished i lived in south Australia

  • try2bhelpful on 22/01/2019 - 23:18

    I agree with the give MIL wife’s phone and get wife new phone option. Load phone with useful apps, e.g email, public transport app, show her how to use browsers etc. Guarantee she will use it for more than emergencies if you give her good instructions. Then you probably will need to consider data. Install provider app so she can see her usage figures.

  • singlemalt72 on 23/01/2019 - 10:22
    +10

    Does she need a Ferrari in case the buses aren't running?
    If she just wants to make calls as backup for the landline any cheap phone will do.

    • orangetrain on 24/01/2019 - 08:15
      +3

      Tomorrow, op will say his MIL's friends has Ferraris and is looking for a deal.

      • McFly on 24/01/2019 - 09:26
        +2

        lol In case her Hyundai stops working.

    • abb on 24/01/2019 - 10:37
      +3

      Don't be silly, she needs a helicopter in case there's a road closure!

  • Butt Scratcher on 23/01/2019 - 10:41
    -1

    Are you serious?

    Why not just get a powerbank, leave it fully charged and throw it somewhere in case of an emergency. A 200000mah could probably charge an iphone 6 3-5 times over.

    I don't know why you'd get another phone + plan just for an emergency

    • Melb69 on 23/01/2019 - 13:03

      She doesn't have any mobile. Only the NBN landed line. So if power goes out she won't have the landline to call out. That is the issue.

  • HeWhoKnows on 23/01/2019 - 13:24

    Any phone will suit.
    Get a cheap Telstra prepaid phone and use it with Belong

    If you insist on an iphone then get the Telstra iphone 6 32GB from any post office or department store for about $430

    Yes! Belong is the best value mobile plan these days with or without data

  • [Deactivated] on 23/01/2019 - 15:02

    @Amayzingone she wants iPhone. Her “friends and families” are in apple ecosystem, therefore OP must comply

    • Melb69 on 23/01/2019 - 18:59

      Yes the iPhone eco system. I don't understand.

  • CandyMan on 23/01/2019 - 20:50

    Sounds like she needs a vital call

  • greatlamp on 23/01/2019 - 21:41

    Why does it have to be just for emergencies?

    A mobile phone will hopefully make it easier for her to keep it touch, not just with her children but with friends.

    If you can afford it, it is a nice gesture.

  • OzzyOzbourne on 23/01/2019 - 21:57
    +4

    Yeah, you need the plus for emergencies, the normal iPhone just won't cut it

  • senor cogswallop on 23/01/2019 - 23:08
    +4

    For my mother in law I would invest in a Samsung Note 7

  • GoatLord64 on 24/01/2019 - 02:09
    +2

    You mentioned an ipad??? What the hell is she going to do with an ipad and no internet???

    • Melb69 on 24/01/2019 - 12:56

      Well we would need to get internet then. Obviously.

  • bajillionaire on 24/01/2019 - 10:26
    +1

    How about a couple of long range walkie talkies. Have seen some Unidens with a 17km range, and some with an 80km marine range.

  • Seaeagles on 24/01/2019 - 12:27

    I presume she doesn't have internet and is only connected to the NBN so she can have a home phone.
    If so get rid of the home phone and use the iPhone for all calls.
    Optus have the iPhone 6 plus on a 2-year plan for $55 a month, her home phone would be costing more.
    That will give her unlimited calls and 4gb of data which she would unlikely use.

    • Melb69 on 24/01/2019 - 13:16

      Will check what she is paying for nbn phone. Wouldn't think it's that much a month.

  • aimon on 24/01/2019 - 13:11

    If its just for emergencies get an old feature phone like a Nokia 3315. Those things last for days without recharging.

    • Melb69 on 24/01/2019 - 13:15

      We are thinking that if they get a smart phone she will use it more than just emergency.

  • snajper on 24/01/2019 - 13:35
    +1

    There are cordless phones out there that have battery backup in case of emergency…

  • DiscoJango on 24/01/2019 - 14:59

    Milf

    DiscoJango on 24/01/2019 - 14:59 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
  • drfuzzy on 24/01/2019 - 15:50
    +1

    I had the same situation with my mum at 60. Got her a 6 plus and it has been great. I wouldn't do it in 2019 - maybe go for 6s Plus. Definitely get data with it - at least 1gb or 2gb a month.

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