Couple of questions for all cable users (basically, everyone but me :( ).

[Gaard]

Do you rent the cable modem or did you buy it yourself? You have to get a certain modem because all modems won't work with all cable ISPs? It's about a $10/month charge for them to supply the cable modem here.

 

[Dreadogg]

I bought my own, and it saved me 10 dolllars a month! My ISP uses docsis modem, you will have to call yours up and ask what they use! I bought the toshiba PCX1100U and could not be any happier!

 

[mboy]

I purchased mine thru Optimum Online for the special price of $149.99 w/ 2 yr contract. I promptly sold it on ebay for $180 and bought a used Sb2100D for $40. works just as good as the one I sold 🙂

 

[Derango]

Watch out! With some cable providers, like mine, you cannot buy your own modem and you must rent from them. Make sure you see what your cable provider will allow before you go out and purchase.

 

[Ausm]

I rent my Motorola Surfboard modem from charter they would not allow me to buy my own but the upside is I can download at 1.5 Mb/s 🙂

Ausm

 

[Workin']

Like others said, be sure your provider will allow you to use your own modem. Where I live, Time-Warner makes you use their modem. But like Ausm, I usually get 1.5Mbps too. Which is very nice 😉

 

[shawnman]

I have InsightBB, you can rent or buy. I chose to buy a SB 4100, but it kept rebooting every 15-20 mins. Cable tech came over and hooked up a 3Com Sharkfin (what they typically rent their customers) and problems went away.

So, I bought a new 3Com Sharkfin off of ebay for ($80 - Insight wanted $150) and I'm selling the SB 4100 - it has a great reputation but just didnt work well on my line.

I normally get 3.0 Mbps down, but we are stuck with 128 kbps up - sorta slow on the up but im happy 🙂

 

[Dundain]

For Comcast they gave us the SB4100 modem, or should I say we rented it. I think with comcast you can buy your own but my parents couldnt see the longterm price difference between buying one and renting it so oh well. But hey, I can hit 1.5Mbs download but the upload sucks 😉

 

[Neurofreeze]

<< Couple of questions for all cable users (basically, everyone but me 🙁 ). >>



If I remember correctly, only 20% of all online-capable households have broadband of some sort. So you're not quite alone. 🙂 (I have cable, by the way.)

I've heard that renting is sometimes a wiser choice, because many people have had their cable modems die on them after a few months. If they're renting you a $100 modem @ $10/month, and it dies in six months, they replace it for free and you end up saving money (assuming that if you bought the same modem that it would die in the same period of time).

It's hard to say though. Generally I don't have components that just up and die on me, and this particular cable modem has been running for a year and a half.

So check out what kind of modem they're renting you, and how much it'd cost retail. If it's some ultra-slick $180 modem and they're charging $10/month, you might want to think about renting if you feel that it could die in 18 months.

 

[nirgis]

I own my modem. Not even a price issue, but the fact that I have the control over this issue

 

[Borked]

I rented a cable modem from my former ISP for one year. They did not allow you to purchase and use your own modem.

After they went out of business the company that took over said that customers would be allowed to purchase their own modem(s) from a list of approved modems (15 or so models to chose from). I opted to buy my own modem at this point since I intend to keep my broadband access for quite a while (longer than the cost of the modem divided by the monthly rental cost). The rental charge for a modem is $10/month with my ISP.

 

[manko]

I just picked up my own modem to save $10/mos. You have to make sure it is compatible with your ISP. Also, even though some modems are on the compatible list, certain modems seem to work better than others, depending on you provider and their local setup.

Ask you question here on DSLReports forums they have great ISP specific forums and a cable modem hardware forum

 

[Strych9]

I own my own Surfboard which saves me $10 per month (AT&T Broadband). If you buy one just make sure it's one your cable company allows.

 

[AU Tiger]

Neither Time Warner or Earthlink in my area give discounts for providing your own modem. I don't mind because if something ever goes wrong with the modem it is their problem, not mine. If you own one, then you have cover the replacement yourself. Of course, my current cable modem has been working since January '99 without any problems.

 

[Gaard]

Thanks guys. I just called AT&T...not available in my area. Kinda unbelievable 'cause I live in Grand Rapids...a pretty good size city. This may be a stupid question but are there different cable ISPs available for the same area...I only know of AT&T?

 

[AU Tiger]

I find it hard to believe that somebody doesn't offer cable service in your area. Who provides your local cable?

 

[Gaard]

AT&T has ads all over the local cable channel for their broadband service. The lady I called had me give her my address and said it wasn't available. Maybe because I live in an apartment complex?

 

[Strych9]

Probably not available yet in your part of the city. When they first offered it where I live they did it in stages. I had to wait almost a year to get it while people in other parts of the city had access.

 

[murphy55d]

$5 a month for mine. I rent.