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jca2's avatar

Do you have your own modem or do you rent it from the cable company?

Asked by jca2 (16255points) January 21st, 2023
11 responses
“Great Question” (1points)

I was just scrutinizing my cable bill because I see it went up a bit in the past few months, and I was thinking about the $15 per month I pay to rent the modem. I never thought twice about it, but now I am really looking for ways to save.

I see I can buy a modem from Amazon for about $130, a best selling Motorola. I would consider this but I don’t know how difficult it would be to hook it up myself. Is it just plugging it in or does it have to be programmed?

Do you rent your modem from the cable company, or do you own it outright?

Here’s the one I was looking at: https://smile.amazon.com/MOTOROLA-Approved-Comcast-Gigablast-MB8600/dp/B0723599RQ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=modem&qid=1674349984&sr=8-1-spons&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0&smid=A1JCDPLP2335KA&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzTFQ1NkpIVFhPODRaJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDcxNjk5T040WTFIVjYyNzE0JmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA3ODI0MzkxV1pYQzZGQkJTRFFDJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

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Answers

RayaHope's avatar

Gosh, that looks like the same one my mom got a few months ago. Yeah we got are own and I think it even has our Wi-Fi included inside.

kritiper's avatar

The modem I have/own is outdated. I think I will have to upgrade to fiber optics.

cookieman's avatar

I bought my own for $110. It was silly to rent one for $15/mo.

gondwanalon's avatar

I bought our modem. No problem hooking it up. Hooking up our router was a pain. Had to talk with some guy in India to do it.

smudges's avatar

I just found out from my cable company that I need an upgrade on my modem in order to get the deal that my apartment made with them. The apt complex is paying for the new one, and I’ll get 500 mbps. Currently I own my own, but since I won’t have to pay anything, I’ll use their modem. Also, they’re going to help me do the hookup for free.

I’m pretty sure it’s just a matter of unplugging your cords and plugging them into the new modem. I don’t think there’s any programming, hopefully someone else can answer that.

Isn’t a router where the wi-fi comes through rather than a modem? I wonder if it’ll be a pain to hookup the router or if I won’t even have to touch it.

LadyMarissa's avatar

I’ve owned mine outright for the last 20 years or so that I was with Spectrum. All
I did was disconnect the wire screwed into Spectrum’s modem & screw it onto my modem. The one you linked appears to be the updated version of the last one I owned. It was fairly easy for me to operate. Motorola has good support on their site explaining how to troubleshoot your own problems. Spectrum will NOT give you good support when you own it outright. They will walk you through the steps to fix your problem, but they will NOT send a repair person out to troubleshoot it for you for free. I NEVER had a severe problem with mine. Any problem I had Spectrum told me the steps to take to get a solution & they always worked. I think that after I connected it to the Spectrum system, I had a few online steps to go through to have the Spectrum system recognize it. It was basically a simple process although a bit time consuming the first time around. I did find that I had to upgrade my Modem about every 5 years or so to remain compatible with Spectrum. Unless they have changed their ways, Spectrum has a lis of “approved” modems for their current system & those are the ONLY ones you should consider buying. They always had many Motorola modems on their list. I normally bought mine at Best Buy so I could hold it in my hand & verify all the pertinent info was correct before paying for it….PLUS I found my local Best Buy was well versed which modems were compatible with my local Spectrum system & they were willing to provide me with better info than Amazon. BB’s prices are very similar to Amazon as well. At the $130 price you SAVE about $50 the very first year that you have it & it means you are using it basically for free until you need to do the next upgrade. I was NEVER sorry that I had my own modem!!! The one that I bought was a modem/router combo so I didn’t even need a separate router to use my WiFi!!!

I was scared when I bought the first one in that I wasn’t smart enough to know what to do, but I never had any real problems, so I lost that fear over time!!!

gorillapaws's avatar

I bought my own. Over 10 years at $15/month that’s $1,800. I think I paid a little over $100 for the thing. Anyone not buying their own is making a big mistake.

Dutchess_III's avatar

I own mine. Rent to own from the cable company

JLeslie's avatar

I have my own, but I should mention my internet company supplied it. When I first signed up with them I bought it for $100.00 from the company instead of renting. A few years later they did some sort of upgrade and gave me a new one for free.

The risk is deciding to leave that internet company and needing to buy a new one because the new company says it’s incompatible.

Blackwater_Park's avatar

I own, but the caveat is that you need to upgrade it periodically, like every 3–5 years. So many people pay for high speed internet yet they’re still running decade old equipment that limit their speed. Like pre-wifi 6 or 10/100 ethernet ports. This is especially true of those “all-in-one” router/modem combo units.

Call_Me_Jay's avatar

The cable company (Spectrum) provides my modem at no charge. When I terminate service I may have to return it to avoid a fee. But I’m not sure.

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