3 ms·

I still rent the router/modem from my ISP. Looking back over time and the amount paid it's certainly easy to see that it's been an unwise choice financially but

I still rent the router/modem from my ISP. Looking back over time and the amount paid it's certainly easy to see that it's been an unwise choice financially but if there was failures or other issues with it, it could have been a wise choice. Overall the cost is minimal and the amount of extra money I would get in my pocket is in the noise floor of my salary. If my goal was to examine every aspect of my spending to be as thrifty as possible there are many other things that would provide a greater savings than this. Ultimately for this one the cost to convince if there are issues is just worth it. I suspect for many people it's the same thing.

antsar 7y ago
Why would renting have been a wise choice in case of failures/issues? I'd MUCH rather run to an electronics store and have working internet in an hour, compared to dealing with the ISP, scheduling a truck roll, being available "between 9am and 8pm next Tuesday", and all that other bullshit. Keep a spare unit around and you don't even have to go anywhere.
- elmerfud 7y ago
  I'm not sure where you live but I don't need a truck roll to get a replacement it comes next day for equipment or I can go to the local office and get an exchanged. Additionally failure of the modem isn't the only thing to consider there's line issues etc... With the line terminating at their equipment there's no hassle of do you have compatible equipment, is it functioning properly etc... It's literally handled from them to the modem minus a small leg from the demark to the room it sits in. It's trivial to. Plug directly in to the demark and show that and errors/issues are on them and they fix it promptly with no finger pointing.
driverdan 7y ago
How is it more convenient? If a leased router or modem fails you still have to wait to get a replacement. If one you own fails you can buy a new one from a local store or online retailer. It's not like your ISP will have it replaced faster than buying a new one.
- jedieaston 7y ago
  What? I just drive to the Comcast office (which happens to be closer than Target/Best Buy), hand them the modem, say “it dead”, and they give me a new one. Takes an hour with travel time.
  - driverdan 7y ago
    That depends on how busy it is. I've had to sit and wait at a cable office for 30+ min just to do a simple modem exchange.
__s 7y ago
You're participating in a lottery. If you're going to rent your modem, you might as well start buying lotto tickets
brogrammernot 7y ago
Agreed. Renting my router/modem makes sense to me too. I rent an apartment and if I had my own place, I would own my equipment as I’d want the extenders, more cat drops etc but with renting a place it’s much easier to rent the combo. If it breaks, which it hasn’t in 3 years now, I can just swing by one of the stores and pick up a new one.

antsar 7y ago

Why would renting have been a wise choice in case of failures/issues? I'd MUCH rather run to an electronics store and have working internet in an hour, compared to dealing with the ISP, scheduling a truck roll, being available "between 9am and 8pm next Tuesday", and all that other bullshit. Keep a spare unit around and you don't even have to go anywhere.

elmerfud 7y ago
I'm not sure where you live but I don't need a truck roll to get a replacement it comes next day for equipment or I can go to the local office and get an exchanged. Additionally failure of the modem isn't the only thing to consider there's line issues etc... With the line terminating at their equipment there's no hassle of do you have compatible equipment, is it functioning properly etc... It's literally handled from them to the modem minus a small leg from the demark to the room it sits in. It's trivial to. Plug directly in to the demark and show that and errors/issues are on them and they fix it promptly with no finger pointing.

driverdan 7y ago

How is it more convenient? If a leased router or modem fails you still have to wait to get a replacement. If one you own fails you can buy a new one from a local store or online retailer. It's not like your ISP will have it replaced faster than buying a new one.

jedieaston 7y ago
What? I just drive to the Comcast office (which happens to be closer than Target/Best Buy), hand them the modem, say “it dead”, and they give me a new one. Takes an hour with travel time.
- driverdan 7y ago
  That depends on how busy it is. I've had to sit and wait at a cable office for 30+ min just to do a simple modem exchange.

__s 7y ago

You're participating in a lottery. If you're going to rent your modem, you might as well start buying lotto tickets

brogrammernot 7y ago

Agreed. Renting my router/modem makes sense to me too. I rent an apartment and if I had my own place, I would own my equipment as I’d want the extenders, more cat drops etc but with renting a place it’s much easier to rent the combo. If it breaks, which it hasn’t in 3 years now, I can just swing by one of the stores and pick up a new one.