4 ms·

Comcast's ahead of this in Illinois. They gave a significant discount for using their modem / router for "unlimited" internet. I'd rather not use their modem.

Comcast's ahead of this in Illinois. They gave a significant discount for using their modem / router for "unlimited" internet. I'd rather not use their modem. I already gave my own, but it would cost about $500 more per year to use my own.

koolba 6y ago
Why would they want you to pay less to use hardware they provide? Is it to force you to provide an Xfinity hotspot?
- enobrev 6y ago
  That's my guess. I get a discount, they get to share my internet with others. On my block that's not really going to effect me. As far as I'm concerned, they're simply charging me to use my own equipment.
- yborg 6y ago
  They have essentially monopoly control in a lot of markets and there are practical limits to how much they can charge people before the outcry makes regulatory capture more expensive. So the play is to take more household budget from other companies, they're pushing hard into mobile. Having their ISP customers provide them with blanket Wifi coverage allows them to deliver this service in residential areas without battling for tower space.
  - 1123581321 6y ago
    Xfinity Mobile, at least in Illinois, is a Verizon MVNO. So presumably their wifi network just gives them negotiating leverage for their carrier arrangement.
- easton 6y ago
  No, because you can easily disable the hotspot.
tzs 6y ago
Is that because you have some sort of big discount while under contract? Once your contract is up, it should be $60/year more for unlimited using your own modem. Unlimited with your own modem is $30/month. Unlimited with their modem is $14/month for the modem/router + $11/month for unlimited = $25/month.
happytiger 6y ago
Same thing in California. I have the exact same situation going on. We had to unplug our equipment because using our own would effectively mean a 35 dollar cost to use it, because they offer "unlimited internet" (the old non-data capped service that used to be standard) for a discount. So, 15 cable modem rental gives saves you 50 for "unlimited" — you just have to use their gear! The customer benefits! It's crazy making. I do NOT want them to know everything about how we use their service, what devices are connected, usage patterns, etc. But we can't avoid it. We're getting data farmed and we're billed extra if we don't allow it. This bill does nothing to alleviate this situation for customers, and Comcast just announced that this data cap scheme is going to be rolling out across their network.

koolba 6y ago

Why would they want you to pay less to use hardware they provide? Is it to force you to provide an Xfinity hotspot?

enobrev 6y ago
That's my guess. I get a discount, they get to share my internet with others. On my block that's not really going to effect me. As far as I'm concerned, they're simply charging me to use my own equipment.
yborg 6y ago
They have essentially monopoly control in a lot of markets and there are practical limits to how much they can charge people before the outcry makes regulatory capture more expensive. So the play is to take more household budget from other companies, they're pushing hard into mobile. Having their ISP customers provide them with blanket Wifi coverage allows them to deliver this service in residential areas without battling for tower space.
- 1123581321 6y ago
  Xfinity Mobile, at least in Illinois, is a Verizon MVNO. So presumably their wifi network just gives them negotiating leverage for their carrier arrangement.
easton 6y ago
No, because you can easily disable the hotspot.

tzs 6y ago

Is that because you have some sort of big discount while under contract? Once your contract is up, it should be $60/year more for unlimited using your own modem. Unlimited with your own modem is $30/month. Unlimited with their modem is $14/month for the modem/router + $11/month for unlimited = $25/month.

happytiger 6y ago

Same thing in California. I have the exact same situation going on. We had to unplug our equipment because using our own would effectively mean a 35 dollar cost to use it, because they offer "unlimited internet" (the old non-data capped service that used to be standard) for a discount. So, 15 cable modem rental gives saves you 50 for "unlimited" — you just have to use their gear! The customer benefits! It's crazy making. I do NOT want them to know everything about how we use their service, what devices are connected, usage patterns, etc. But we can't avoid it. We're getting data farmed and we're billed extra if we don't allow it. This bill does nothing to alleviate this situation for customers, and Comcast just announced that this data cap scheme is going to be rolling out across their network.