4 ms·

Last month we made a decision to buy our own router and not rent from Comcast (Xfinity). Then I started doing the math, and soon realized at the end of the day

Last month we made a decision to buy our own router and not rent from Comcast (Xfinity). Then I started doing the math, and soon realized at the end of the day it might be that much better. 1 - It's unclear which is the best modem/router by doing research. Gives you the maximum speed, etc. 2 - You start reading reviews on Amazon around reliability and you see a lot of comments that basically give you doubt. It falls in two ways: A - the model/router stopped working after a 12-18 months so they had a buy another one. Put it at same price as renting. B - the firmware upgrade path was unclear and it could only be initiated through comcast (in some instances). Making you worry about upgrade support using a third-party product. C - Overall issues with support. Tech support is already a pain, again as above is going to be worse with third-party products. With modem/router price ranging from $100-200. Renting from Comcast at $120/year it means that you always have a de facto warranty. Something goes wrong with the modem/router call comcast they'll send you one or just drive to the local store and get a new one. There is probably some savings if it all goes well. But then again is it worth my time?

joecool1029 8y ago
> 1 - It's unclear which is the best modem/router by doing research. Comcast actually has a page for that: https://mydeviceinfo.xfinity.com/ https://mydeviceinfo.xfinity.com/ > With modem/router price ranging from $100-200. Renting from Comcast at $120/year it means that you always have a de facto warranty. Something goes wrong with the modem/router call comcast they'll send you one or just drive to the local store and get a new one. There is probably some savings if it all goes well. But then again is it worth my time? How often do you actually think modems fail? No seriously, I'd really like to know the numbers. I bet failure rates are well under 1% annually. So what this amounts to is enabling Comcast to sell fraud. It's not a warranty, you're getting a replacement to fix an issue the modem didn't cause. You can't tell me it's much of a time saver when local stores sell modems or you could order same/next day from Amazon.
- craftyguy 8y ago
  > Comcast actually has a page for that That page doesn't give any info other than "sign in", "type in your address" (lol), and "consider paying us rent for hardware, learn more".
  - joecool1029 8y ago
    > That page doesn't give any info other than "sign in", "type in your address" (lol), and "consider paying us rent for hardware, learn more". Put a zip code in, no login. It will work.
wmf 8y ago
Another gotcha can be speed. When I was on a 50 Mbps plan I bought a 160 Mbps modem, not wanting to pay extra for the 320 Mbps model. Then Spectrum increased my speed to 100 Mbps but for some reason they would only provision 70 on my four-channel modem. Since then they must have changed their mind since I'm getting over 100, but when they bump the standard plan to 200 Mbps one day I won't be able to get it.
KingMachiavelli 8y ago
I would argue that the majority of the comments/reviews are probably not made by the most informed people (just informed enough to buy their own modem). Since they're installing their own modem they may have unaddressed issues such as needing a coax amplifier, not having the modem on the right coax jack (i.e after a couple splits). They may also be complaining about WiFi speed, etc. Reading a couple independend reviews and benchmarks by reputable blogs/fourms is probably a much better bet. Tech support is going to always suck so it's probably a better bet to just invest the upfront time to understand how _your_ modem & router works over one weekend/day and reap the time savings not dealing with support over the rest of your life. Getting a seperate router+modem will push the cost to $150+ for the combo but you'll be able to upgrade the router independently in the future which greatly increases the number of routers you have to choose from.
- wyqydsyq 8y ago
  Exactly, as long as you buy a router compatible with your ISP's networking and you configure it correctly, you will need to deal with less if not zero tech support compared to using a provided router
amacneil 8y ago
Fwiw I was able to get significantly (2x) faster speeds using a fairly standard SB6141 instead of the junk shipped by Comcast, even when using a wired connection (no wifi). Their own modem was not capable of reaching top speeds provided by their plan.
wyqydsyq 8y ago
A - If your router only lasts 12-18 months you need to reevaluate your purchasing decisions. Unless you manage to break a router more frequently than once every 2 years (which is abnormally high failure rate) buying is far cheaper than renting. B - Firmware upgrades are only controlled by ISPs when you're renting the hardware from them. Your ISP has absolutely zero bearing on whether or not you can upgrade firmware on your own router C - Your only reasonable point, and in my personal experience I've had more difficulty with ISP tech support fixing their included router than configuring my own
- IntelMiner 8y ago
  B is incorrect With Cable/DOCSIS networks. Any device you plug in to the coax line is managed by your ISP. Even if you buy your own modem, the ISP are the ones who dish out firmware updates for it The modem is "yours" in the physical sense, but they do control its internal software. The device that you run an ethernet cable into from that modem is yours however
mnm1 8y ago
I never once had problems with my own cable equipment. Can't say the same for the rented garbage Comcast provides. Not to mention using the built in WiFi is like burning money because it's so slow. It takes less than five minutes to pick out the right modem for one's connection. I'd say it's more than worth it over throwing away money for no reason.

joecool1029 8y ago

> 1 - It's unclear which is the best modem/router by doing research. Comcast actually has a page for that: https://mydeviceinfo.xfinity.com/ https://mydeviceinfo.xfinity.com/ > With modem/router price ranging from $100-200. Renting from Comcast at $120/year it means that you always have a de facto warranty. Something goes wrong with the modem/router call comcast they'll send you one or just drive to the local store and get a new one. There is probably some savings if it all goes well. But then again is it worth my time? How often do you actually think modems fail? No seriously, I'd really like to know the numbers. I bet failure rates are well under 1% annually. So what this amounts to is enabling Comcast to sell fraud. It's not a warranty, you're getting a replacement to fix an issue the modem didn't cause. You can't tell me it's much of a time saver when local stores sell modems or you could order same/next day from Amazon.

craftyguy 8y ago
> Comcast actually has a page for that That page doesn't give any info other than "sign in", "type in your address" (lol), and "consider paying us rent for hardware, learn more".
- joecool1029 8y ago
  > That page doesn't give any info other than "sign in", "type in your address" (lol), and "consider paying us rent for hardware, learn more". Put a zip code in, no login. It will work.

wmf 8y ago

Another gotcha can be speed. When I was on a 50 Mbps plan I bought a 160 Mbps modem, not wanting to pay extra for the 320 Mbps model. Then Spectrum increased my speed to 100 Mbps but for some reason they would only provision 70 on my four-channel modem. Since then they must have changed their mind since I'm getting over 100, but when they bump the standard plan to 200 Mbps one day I won't be able to get it.

KingMachiavelli 8y ago

I would argue that the majority of the comments/reviews are probably not made by the most informed people (just informed enough to buy their own modem). Since they're installing their own modem they may have unaddressed issues such as needing a coax amplifier, not having the modem on the right coax jack (i.e after a couple splits). They may also be complaining about WiFi speed, etc. Reading a couple independend reviews and benchmarks by reputable blogs/fourms is probably a much better bet. Tech support is going to always suck so it's probably a better bet to just invest the upfront time to understand how _your_ modem & router works over one weekend/day and reap the time savings not dealing with support over the rest of your life. Getting a seperate router+modem will push the cost to $150+ for the combo but you'll be able to upgrade the router independently in the future which greatly increases the number of routers you have to choose from.

wyqydsyq 8y ago
Exactly, as long as you buy a router compatible with your ISP's networking and you configure it correctly, you will need to deal with less if not zero tech support compared to using a provided router

amacneil 8y ago

Fwiw I was able to get significantly (2x) faster speeds using a fairly standard SB6141 instead of the junk shipped by Comcast, even when using a wired connection (no wifi). Their own modem was not capable of reaching top speeds provided by their plan.

wyqydsyq 8y ago

A - If your router only lasts 12-18 months you need to reevaluate your purchasing decisions. Unless you manage to break a router more frequently than once every 2 years (which is abnormally high failure rate) buying is far cheaper than renting. B - Firmware upgrades are only controlled by ISPs when you're renting the hardware from them. Your ISP has absolutely zero bearing on whether or not you can upgrade firmware on your own router C - Your only reasonable point, and in my personal experience I've had more difficulty with ISP tech support fixing their included router than configuring my own

IntelMiner 8y ago
B is incorrect With Cable/DOCSIS networks. Any device you plug in to the coax line is managed by your ISP. Even if you buy your own modem, the ISP are the ones who dish out firmware updates for it The modem is "yours" in the physical sense, but they do control its internal software. The device that you run an ethernet cable into from that modem is yours however

mnm1 8y ago

I never once had problems with my own cable equipment. Can't say the same for the rented garbage Comcast provides. Not to mention using the built in WiFi is like burning money because it's so slow. It takes less than five minutes to pick out the right modem for one's connection. I'd say it's more than worth it over throwing away money for no reason.