LEASE OR BUY A CABLE MODEM?

[defense]

It looks like within the next 3 months Comcast will have Broadband Cable Internet Access available for my area. They already have it in surrounding areas and are upgrading my area as I write this. On their site, they give a person the option to "buy" a cable modem and have their monthly service charge reduced by $3.00 a month or you can Lease their modem, for $3.00 more per month.

I could probably get a good deal from a friend of mine on a compatible Cable Modem when the service is available in my area, but I was just curious as to whether leasing their modem for a mere $3 a month more would just be the best option?

I know that if I ever had ap roblem with their leased modem, they would have to fix it or replace it, but if I purchased a modem and it went bad, I would be screwed out of my money. Unless it was within a warranty period and I probably won't have a warranty because I'll get a good hook up on the modem.

Anyway, my question is which option would appear better? Anybody have experience with actually "buying" a modem? If so, how are your speeds, and do you think your "purchased" modem is better then the one you could lease from your cable company?

Any pros and cons on this as well as any information would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

[Greg12]

I lease my modem only because if neything ever happens to it, i can return it to comcast.

[K2]

I have more experience than I would like.
Been there, done that,

The performance is the same leased (Motorola) or purchased(Linksys). I gotten what ever the system was set up for. When it was TCI, I got 3Meg download 128K up, when it was AT&T then Comcast I got 1.5Meg down and 256K up. I never saw a service degradation even though all my neighbors use cable modems. We had cable internet for years while DSL is only now available. 3$ makes the lease better, and they will service it forever. You may want to change to DSL and get stuck with a modem you don't need.

I changed to DSL for the cost not the performance.



Is this the right forum for this question??

[sterno]

My cable modem provider lets you buy the hardware, but I just rent it for $5/mo. Since they've already replaced it once it's not a bad deal. In this area cable modem service is cheaper than DSL (though it's close since the cable company keep raising rates and the DSL providers keep lowering them). Since cable modems aren't necessarily compatible with any other cable system I still wouldn't buy it - I'm not planning on living here forever.

[zodiac]

i would go with the lease modem,less headache.
mine just started charging for the modem($5) now it's $57

but if you do decide to buy one,contact the cable company to make sure that the modem is supported by them.

[kitty]

Depends on the fees. $3 sounds good. At $10 then you'd pay for one with a years worth of service.

I bought mine and I have no regrets.

[SVCDummy]

Same here.

I started leasing it at $5 a month

9 months later it went up to $9.95 a month

When it hit $14.95 a month I bought a Toshiba and never looked back. It paid for itself in 7 months. I wish now that I had bought one in the beginning instead of letting myself be suckered along into the higher rates.

It is real easy to get so busy you forget to look closely at the cable bill.

See Ya!

[LanEvo7]

Depends on if you want to set up a network in your house. If you have more than one computer, then just buy a router that has a built in modem. If only one computer then just lease it.

[Donny661]

At places like Best Buy and Circuit City, around my area, you can get lots of rebates if you purchase a cable modem and sign up for service there. You usually can get one for like $10. My rental right now costs like $3 or $5. I wish they would've offered the $10 modem when I signed up. Anyways, as long as your modem lasts long enough to pay for itself you won't lose any money, then you can change to a rental if you decide to.

[Kal250]

Check this out- not sure if it's compatible with your provider but you cant beat the price -- NO USB Support but I prefer LAN anyway

19.95 cable modem 3com

http://www.softwareandstuff.com/product2581.html

[tonyp12]

CompUSA have a cable modem for $50.

After renting for 10 months, this one would be paid for.



http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?ref=performics&product_code=290737&pfp=BROWSE

Sold out online, but probably some in stores.

[RevSchafer]

$3? $5? Where do you live?

My cable company wanted $15 per month to lease the modem!

They also sell the modems for $135 which is less than 1 year of leasing. They also offered a financing deal where they would split the $135 over my first 4 payments which made it a little easier to afford.

[tgpo]

We bought ours from Radio Shack for $70. A lot better than leasing it.

[tenders]

i bought mine off of ebay it will pay for itself in another 4 months :P

[defense]

wow...never thought i'd get that many replies and I just wanna say I appreciate it. The first few posts all went towards "leasing" the modem and then with those insanely low prices, it looks like buying the modem may be the way to go If I can get one for $10-50 and no more. And that 3com link looks good because I know comcast supports MANY 3com modems.

Thanks for that link Kal250. I live in Miami, Florida and I know all of you said "DSL" is cheaper then cable, but not down here. I had DSL with Bellsouth and they continued to raise their prices without ANY warning, so I had to pull a few stunts and get the service at a very nice "discounted" rate if you know what I mean.

After that exhausted, I didn't have any other options. Now I have Comcast in my area, but it won't be available for "me" specifically, for another 3 months or so. It could even be less since they are upgrading my area every day. Anyway, they are now offering BroadBand Cable with a "LEASED" modem for $45.95/month, I think that is a GREAT price, especially considering bellsouth DSL is $10 more per month.

It's $42.95/month if I "own" the modem. So now It looks like I should just buy a modem, because If I can get one for "$10-20", it will pay for itself in no time, and for that low price, even if something goes wrong, I can always decide to lease the modem later. I thought the modems were like $150-300 and it would be a hard though investment with a while to gain a return, but not for the prices I see.

Thanks once again for all the responses and info. It looks like I can get a great deal on a cable modem, and it definitely looks like a steal at getting the service for $42.95/month.



P.S. Kal250, just checked comcast, and sure enough, they support that modem. Only thing I don't like is that it isn't USB, but if I can get great speeds without it being USB, then I could care less.

[andydd]

Im in the uk.Theres no extra charge wether you own a cable modem or use the company's one. Im lucky ..I caught em at a speciual deal time so had the installation and all the stuff free. In fact they left an extra network card here, coz the original didnt work. it costs £25 a month so I dunno how that compares with the cost in the US

[Codyduck]

I was leasing a cable modem for a couple months but five bucks over time add's up and i'm a real big penny pincher call me cheap lol.....I found some great deals on the same exact cable modems that comcast leases. I bought a rca cable modem on ebay for about 25.00 plus shipping good deal and it worked too lol.......it's really all about what you wanna do if you want your modem to be replaced if broken or isnt' working right then i would lease one but if it's money your concerned about and like to save it like i do then i would consider trying to find a good deal. It's pretty much a something you have to decide

[Gazorgan]

I'm on my 6th cable modem in 2 years. 1 died, 2 were hit by lightning, 1 was flakey, and 1 would lock-up with a lot of traffic (kazaa).

$3/month versus $99 for a 1 year warranty? You can always get your own, then ...ummm.......un-throttle it, then get it registered, but I strongly advise against this.

[mmmbeer]

wow...never thought i'd get that many replies and I just wanna say I appreciate it. The first few posts all went towards "leasing" the modem and then with those insanely low prices, it looks like buying the modem may be the way to go If I can get one for $10-50 and no more. And that 3com link looks good because I know comcast supports MANY 3com modems.

Thanks for that link Kal250. I live in Miami, Florida and I know all of you said "DSL" is cheaper then cable, but not down here. I had DSL with Bellsouth and they continued to raise their prices without ANY warning, so I had to pull a few stunts and get the service at a very nice "discounted" rate if you know what I mean.

After that exhausted, I didn't have any other options. Now I have Comcast in my area, but it won't be available for "me" specifically, for another 3 months or so. It could even be less since they are upgrading my area every day. Anyway, they are now offering BroadBand Cable with a "LEASED" modem for $45.95/month, I think that is a GREAT price, especially considering bellsouth DSL is $10 more per month.

It's $42.95/month if I "own" the modem. So now It looks like I should just buy a modem, because If I can get one for "$10-20", it will pay for itself in no time, and for that low price, even if something goes wrong, I can always decide to lease the modem later. I thought the modems were like $150-300 and it would be a hard though investment with a while to gain a return, but not for the prices I see.

Thanks once again for all the responses and info. It looks like I can get a great deal on a cable modem, and it definitely looks like a steal at getting the service for $42.95/month.



P.S. Kal250, just checked comcast, and sure enough, they support that modem. Only thing I don't like is that it isn't USB, but if I can get great speeds without it being USB, then I could care less.

I am a little further up north from you all I can say is BEWARE. Comcast has told me 3 different time frames in which we are supposed to be up and running. 1 told me by May, another had no clue and the 3rd said maybe by the end of the year. $42.95? I only pay 6$ a month more for Earthlink and I have had only 2 days of latent service. Also be aware of Comcasts bundling policy which should be illegal anyways saying you only get discounts if you are a cable subscriber. Sorry I don't like having a $75.00 cable bill every month just to get HBO. I'll take my DirecTV at 40 thanks. check http://www.dslreports.com