Better to buy or rent your modem...

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Dark Prodigy

Jawbreaker
Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
2,803
Basic and simple question here. Like most people I have an ISP which rents me a modem every month.. $4.99. I have Comcast. Den of thieves.

Is it better to buy a cable modem outright from somewhere like Newegg.. or continue to rent from the cable company? Any advantages to doing this ..like speed, better stability and the like?
 
Odds are good you won't benefit much technically from buying your own modem. Some may be superior, but any difference wouldn't be substantial. $5 a month is a bit steep, ours is only $3. Personally I rent mine because I've never had a cable modem that didn't die.
 
Keep your eye on fleabay, you can find them cheap...even still shrink wrapped in the box new. I picked up a few Motorola SB 5100 and 5120 units for like 55 bucks..years ago, they're cheaper now...esp with the newer 6120 models coming out (Docsis 3).

I wanted to have at least 1 spare...because if the modem died or something (none have on me)...I can quickly swap it in a minute, call their tech on the phone to have the new one provisioned...and BAM...10 minutes later I'm back online.

It's up to you, at 5/month....at 1 year you've bought one. So what about the 2nd year? Now you're pissing money away on that rental. 'Course, the advantage to renting is that if one dies...they replace it for you....a few days or week later of course...

The majority of the time IMO it's worth it to purchase your own if you plan on using this ISP for at least 1 more year.
 
Thanks for the replies men. I realize Comcast has been raping me. So besides saving money over the life of my use of the ISP, there's really no advantages(?).
 
I go down to the local thrift store, so far ive bought 8 surfboards each were 5$ and worked fine.
 
Dark Prodigy said:
Thanks for the replies men. I realize Comcast has been raping me. So besides saving money over the life of my use of the ISP, there's really no advantages(?).
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If the rented modem blows up tomorrow...they'll replace it. If it blows up again next week....they'll replace it again. If that replacement blows up yet again a month from now....they "may" replace it (but I'd bet they'll start charging you).

Also when Docsis 3 rolls out, you'll most likely get a free upgrade to a Docsis 3 modem.

But if you purchase a Docsis 3 modem right now...you'll be ready!;)

It's a gamble, you';ve gotta roll your own dice....the decision of...
"Will I get my moneys worth out of my own modem".
Divide the cost of purchasing a modem by 5..and that's how many months it will take of using to recoop the investment. If it dies during that time, you've lost money. But...like most users say...I'd figure on greater than 90% of the time they run fine for many years.

Invest in a quality surge supresser....or better yet, a nice little APC 350 battery UPS!
 
I've always rented my modems for the sheer fact that I don't want them blaming my equipment for problems any more than they already try to. Sure, I may have already bought that modem once or twice over but it's one less hassle when something does break. I've also found that as far as replacing a modem goes, it tends to be easy enough just to go down to the local office and get it swapped. Did this a couple times with TWC and Comcast.
 
Adelphia let me keep a modem when I moved once that I used for a few years until it fried
then I spent another few years renting a modem since I was too lazy to go out and switch

I guess its worth it, only need to have your modem last a year before it starts paying for itself. But now I'm with ATT Uverse, I dont think I can get my own modem for that and they say its "free" (ie price is hidden within service) so oh well.
 
I have had a linksys cable modem (BEFCMU10) that has lasted me I wanna say 4+ years, it has been going strong, and over that time period I would have payed charter 200-240 bucks so I think it was well worth the 50-70 bucks I initially payed for the modem.
 
i rent, its TWC's modem, if it fucks up, they give me a new one. and since ive actually had mine struck by lightning on the cable line, im glad its not one i paid for.
edit: that said its now on a UPS all by itself with cable and phone surge suppression (we use it for digital phone service)
 
freakycody said:
I have had a linksys cable modem (BEFCMU10) that has lasted me I wanna say 4+ years, it has been going strong, and over that time period I would have payed charter 200-240 bucks so I think it was well worth the 50-70 bucks I initially payed for the modem.
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I'm in the same boat.
 
I just always rented. When I started we had a surfboard 5100 I believe it was. Lasted awhile.

Tech came out one time related to cable TV and sporadic internet and was like holy crap, and replaced it because of how outdated it was. Replaced with Linksys BEFCMU10.

Few years later, Power boost came out and the BEFCMU10 does not support power boost, so we brought it into there office and exchanged for something else.

It may cost more, but its certainly less to think about when it goes down. Most comcast places and such have an office you can swing by and get a new one yourself if your old dies on ya. Always worked for us.
 
With my previous cable provider (Insight Communications) I was required to provide my own cable modem. They sold SB5101 modems for about $35, so it wasn't a bad deal. I'm now using Time Warner, and they provide a modem whether you want it or not. My parents have had the same old Motorola Surfboard SB4100 cable modem for at least 6 years.

If you'll be staying with Comcast for a while, then you should buy a modem. If you can find a used modem for cheap, then that would be a great deal.

Newegg has Refurbished Linksys CM100-RM modems for $35
 
Buy, buy , buy. Just get a good one that is capable of 50 meg, that way you are future proof.
 
Mediacom ditched the rental fee thankfully. I did purchase one a few years back but when my connection was having issues they gave me a new one (didn't fix the problem) but since they aren't charging me I'm just sitting on the old surfboard. I used to use.
 
Cox charges $5/month for the modem so we just bought ours. The first one lasted 3 years and was $50, the second one is a bit over 2 years old now and was $30.
 
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