purchasing a cable modem?
 

Has anyone replaced their leased cable modem with one they have purchased?

One of my co-workers asked me about this yesterday. She wants to reduce her monthly cable bill as much as possible.

I checked my own Comcast bill and saw that I was paying a $3.00/month modem lease. Not worth it to me, but $36/year is a good dinner to her.

Poking about on-line shows that you can pick up a DOCSIS compatible cable modem for ~$50.00 new. I can probably find one cheaper for her at a surplus place.

The only downside I can see is that the cable company would no longer provide troubleshooting support if there are issues.

Anyone done this? Get any pushback from the cable company?

Thanks!

I own my own cable modem and aslong as the cable company has that modem in its lineup, they should support it over the phone or if need be by a tech at your location.

Granted, I have now mooved to FIOS but that is what I did with cable.

Dan

We have Comcast and we purchased the modem (rebate) when we go the service.

I have seen them advertised on Fry's ads. I bet you can get one cheap on eBay or Cragislist.

Comcast supports this, Time Warner does not (or at least not in my neck of the woods.) IMO it's not worth it. I've had years where I've been through two or even three cable modems for one reason or another. That $3 a month is invaluable as it makes it THEIR problem to fix it. If she truly wants to get her bill down as low as possible she should check into DSL or possibly even wireless ISPs in her area. DSL down here is 1/3rd the cost of cable although MUCH slower (1Mbps vs 3 or higher).

Thanks everyone.

Very good point. If I find and supply a second-hand cable modem, the problem then becomes mine if anything goes wrong with it in the future. :mad: :D

I shall point that out. Thanks again!

I rented for 3 years at the cost of $5 per month, that's about $180 down the drain.

I finally bought one for $50 after rebates, and it's been 2 years, so I'm ahead $70 right now. Even if it dies I can go buy another one and still be ahead of the game. I predict the modem will last another 2 years easily, so I'll be ahead altogether $190 when it's all said and done - if the cable modem dies in 2 years or I upgrade to a newer unit, assuming the cable company doesn't increase the rental on the cablem modem (although it's highly likely they will - they may have, even, but I don't know since I no longer pay rent).

Buying always trumps leasing, if you need the service for a long time.

You can pick a brand new Motorola SB5120 up at Wal-Mart for around $50.
The modem's fine, and really shouldn't have any problems (cable modems don't usually go.)

wow they've gotten cheaper!

I had to do a $50 rebate 2 years ago.

At these prices it's insane to rent the unit.

I have my own cable modem and Comcast, so no rental charge. You may want to check craigslist or ebay for a cheap second hand cable modem.

It might not be cheaper, but having your own equipment is nice. If you move to a new house, you just need them to connect the internet up, and more importantly, you know that the modem will work with your router.

I bought mine some time in 2002 so it's been 4+ years for me. I had to inform the cable co. of the MAC address of the new modem when I switched over. Make sure they enter it correctly; your service will not work until/unless they do.

You can get the D-Link DCM202 for $37 after rebate at TigerDirect at the moment.

While we don't have cable available at my area, I've used DLink for all my modem products in the last 10 years with no problem. My current modem is a DSL 302G which hasn't missed a beat of connectivity in 4 years.

I bought my own when I started having problems with the el cheapo that Comcast gave me. It instantly helped.
Then I moved to business class service where they insisted on their own "business level" modem....it was the SAME RCA pos they give residental customers.

I had that for about 9 months ...then switched to FiOS...but like Dan said, thats another story.

i bought a Motorola surfboard 5120 for around $50.00 last week. The other anecdotal benefit i have read, aside from the long-term cost savings, is that it is often faster than what you get from your cable provider, though i don't have any evidence to support this (yet).

Comcast "upgraded" their PA service thus my older SB4100 modem speed dropped in half. So I bought a Motorola Surfboard 5120 at Circuit City a month ago for $50 rather than the usual $100 at CC, BB or CompUSA. Then I sold the SD4100 on Ebay for $40. The guy says it works great for him. Bottom line was I used the SB4100 for 4 years saving about $36-$48 per year. My advise is buy dont rent cable modems.

MisterNice