I recently (finally!) ditched traditional cable TV and my telephone land line, and am very happy with those decisions. I still have Comcast/Xfinity for my internet and have no complaints about the service. However, now that I've unbundled my phone and TV, I'm paying a comically inflated price for their modem rental. I realize I can purchase a modem with equal or better features and then return the rented modem.

But...are there any gotchas to that strategy? Have any Forumites regretted buying vs. renting? Does Comcast brush off service issues for customers who don't use their rented modem? I mean, I wouldn't expect them to solve a problem caused by a modem that's not theirs, but there are of course other potential issues that might need their intervention. TIA.

Comcast does have a listing of acceptable modems for their system, last time I checked (some years ago). Picked up an Arris Surfboard: [www.surfboard.com] , it has worked well.

Looks like they have some models for Xfinity too: [www.surfboard.com]

---

=wr=

Just pick a modem off their approved list, you can go to here to find models - [mydeviceinfo.xfinity.com] - and the speeds they are capable of handling. I have a purchased modem off that list, haven't had a single issue in the year it has been in service.

10 years on owned modems at my current Comcast service location. No notable issues/differences with support, etc. Echoing what wave rider and JoeH said....pick your favorite off of their supported list.

No downside. Upside is to your bank account, which won't get tapped as much to pay Crapcast.

The only downside I've had is that a couple of months after I turned my Comcast router in, they started charging me router rental again. It was a major hassle to convince them that I had my own router and reverse the charges. Save the receipt from turning in your Comcast router!

---

"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan

Quote
davester
The only downside I've had is that a couple of months after I turned my Comcast router in, they started charging me router rental again. It was a major hassle to convince them that I had my own router and reverse the charges. Save the receipt from turning in your Comcast router!

Very much this. I had them do the same about 6 or so years back, but with one of those insipid little black boxes they distributed for non-cable box TVs. I forget the purpose of it. Took me two billing cycles for them to remove the charge, and then another couple of months before they credited me what they had erroneously billed me in the first place. Had to go to the service center office three times for the whole debacle.

(Luckily I keep a really good scan file of everything, except they also tried to tell me they needed the original return receipt, which I happened to have in a tax file box. Comcast really is the worst at customer service; hope I have an option to jump ship soon.)

---

Quote
Zoidberg

Quote
davester
The only downside I've had is that a couple of months after I turned my Comcast router in, they started charging me router rental again. It was a major hassle to convince them that I had my own router and reverse the charges. Save the receipt from turning in your Comcast router!

Very much this. I had them do the same about 6 or so years back, but with one of those insipid little black boxes they distributed for non-cable box TVs. I forget the purpose of it. Took me two billing cycles for them to remove the charge, and then another couple of months before they credited me what they had erroneously billed me in the first place. Had to go to the service center office three times for the whole debacle.

(Luckily I keep a really good scan file of everything, except they also tried to tell me they needed the original return receipt, which I happened to have in a tax file box. Comcast really is the worst at customer service; hope I have an option to jump ship soon.)

Yep. Good advice.

buy watever the latest DOCSIS stadard is nowaways (DOCSIS 3.1 or 3.1 or maybe now it's even higher) so it is future proof.

use a UPS/Surge protector to protect the 120V AC adapter and run the Coax cable though the surge protector before you go to the modem.

Also make sure you have good ventilation, don't place it in an enclosed cabinet.

Follow these rules and it should last 10+ years.

Thanks, all!

Quote
Will Collier

Quote
Zoidberg

Quote
davester
The only downside I've had is that a couple of months after I turned my Comcast router in, they started charging me router rental again. It was a major hassle to convince them that I had my own router and reverse the charges. Save the receipt from turning in your Comcast router!

Very much this. I had them do the same about 6 or so years back, but with one of those insipid little black boxes they distributed for non-cable box TVs. I forget the purpose of it. Took me two billing cycles for them to remove the charge, and then another couple of months before they credited me what they had erroneously billed me in the first place. Had to go to the service center office three times for the whole debacle.

(Luckily I keep a really good scan file of everything, except they also tried to tell me they needed the original return receipt, which I happened to have in a tax file box. Comcast really is the worst at customer service; hope I have an option to jump ship soon.)

Yep. Good advice.

Similar experience here. I never even had one of their rentals, so was surprised to see a charge for not returning one after I cancelled service. They never did believe me, but the lovey folks at Discover Card were able to process a chargeback despite all of that.

I just cancelled comcast and so far they didn't charge me. I think I could log in and dig a previous PDF bill that shows customer owned modem, but I hope they don't charge me.

I've had my own cable modem for the entire 17 years that I've had Comcast internet, I'm on my third one now, they never failed but I upgraded as technology and supported speeds improved. I've only used the Motorola/Arris Surfboard Modems, and just standalone modems, routers and WiFi are separate devices upgraded at different times for different reasons.

The only issue I had was that my most recent modem was a "factory refurbished" model, and when I hooked it up I was surprised that it worked immediately and I was getting higher speeds than I pay for, also their status page was still showing my old modem as the type of device I have. I called them, they found that the refurb was still registered to another customer's account. They were able to remove it and assign it to my account and after a re-boot my speeds dropped.

Quote
prymsnap
I recently (finally!) ditched traditional cable TV and my telephone land line, and am very happy with those decisions. I still have Comcast/Xfinity for my internet and have no complaints about the service. However, now that I've unbundled my phone and TV, I'm paying a comically inflated price for their modem rental. I realize I can purchase a modem with equal or better features and then return the rented modem.

But...are there any gotchas to that strategy? Have any Forumites regretted buying vs. renting? Does Comcast brush off service issues for customers who don't use their rented modem? I mean, I wouldn't expect them to solve a problem caused by a modem that's not theirs, but there are of course other potential issues that might need their intervention. TIA.

I've had Comcast Internet since 2004. I've always used my own modem. Modems are pretty robust. I've never had one fail. I keep them about five years or so and then replace them because they can't handle the speed available or the protocols. I always keep the last one in the drawer, in case the current one fails. I have Arris modems both places I have internet. Both are about 2 years old, running 24/7.

That's the best I can tell you.

---

Ed (modelamac)

I think I will just put an OUT OF ORDER
sticker on my head and call it a day.