First off, is it better for me to buy a cable modem vs. lease? What is a good cable modem that will work best with Comcast?
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Comcast Cable Modem?
- Thread starter seabass069
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You should be able to get them to give you a free one (not to keep...just for the duration of your subscription). I've had mine for two years and don't pay to lease it.
xfiftyfour
macrumors 68030
it's typically better to lease so that you're not left fussing with the configurations of other cable modems (ie linksys), since the modems comcast provide will come preconfigured..plus it's cheaper, usually.. and if you're going to lease get at least the motorola surfboard rather than the crappy rca modems they used to give out.
EricNau
Moderator emeritus
I have Comcast and chose to rent it. Those things can run up to $100, so it can take up to 20 months until you've started actually saving money. In that 20 month duration, the modem could break or become outdated, in which case you would be spending significantly more money.
coal
macrumors regular
Leasing a cable modem? That's not a good idea at all!
If you're new, go to a partner site like Circuit City or something and choose an internet service. In my area (for example) the modem is free after rebate along with other enticements for new accounts ($100 merchandise card, et cetera). There is absolutely no reason to ever rent a modem nor deal with Comcast directly.
(Also, I've used Circuit City three times before and have always received the rebates.)
Good luck!
edit: Also, in response to some of the recent posts below, there really is no reason to ever ever rent a modem. I have 2 or 3 Motorola modems in the closet that I paid a total of $0 after the rebates. There's no luck involved whatsoever and these deals have always been available every single time I've signed up for Comcast. This may not be applicable for other providers, but for Comcast it's true. It doesn't take any work whatsoever, and there is really no reason to pay even more per month for an already overpriced service.
If you're new, go to a partner site like Circuit City or something and choose an internet service. In my area (for example) the modem is free after rebate along with other enticements for new accounts ($100 merchandise card, et cetera). There is absolutely no reason to ever rent a modem nor deal with Comcast directly.
(Also, I've used Circuit City three times before and have always received the rebates.)
Good luck!
edit: Also, in response to some of the recent posts below, there really is no reason to ever ever rent a modem. I have 2 or 3 Motorola modems in the closet that I paid a total of $0 after the rebates. There's no luck involved whatsoever and these deals have always been available every single time I've signed up for Comcast. This may not be applicable for other providers, but for Comcast it's true. It doesn't take any work whatsoever, and there is really no reason to pay even more per month for an already overpriced service.
LethalWolfe
macrumors G3
You can get a solid broadband modem for like $70, and what are the odds it's going to fail? I went thru 2 or 3 rented (and abused apparently) modems from Comcast (Moto surfboards) in less than two years when I was back in Indiana (no lease charge, IIRC). But when I moved to CA they wanted to charge $3/month. So I bought my own modem (a Moto surfboard) for $70 or $80 bucks and I've had no problems after over 2 years. The modem has already paid for itself and I have no intentions of replacing it any time soon.EricNau said:
Now if they gave me the modem for free as long as I had service w/them I might reconsider, but having to stay home "between 8am-noon" or "noon-5pm" to get a bum modem replaced just doesn't sound like fun (and if I'm at home waiting for Comcast I'm not working which means I'm losing billable hours which means that rented modem is getting real expensive real fast).
Lethal
eh I got my motorola sb5100 for $50 from best buy. That was about 2 years or so ago now and its still working perfectly. I would buy with you as its not to likely to break and even if it does eventualy go bad they are cheap to replace. Renting from comcast you just keep paying a fee every month that never ends so you end up actualy paying way more that way.
Unless it's $5/month or more, lease or rent it from the cable company. Why? Two simple reasons.
1) Unless you get very lucky and find a great deal, you're going to spend $50 or more buying this piece of equipment. At $3/month, it would take you 17 months to break even. At 2/month, over two years. at 1/month, over four years.
2) What do you get for that money? A piece of equipment the cable company can blame for your service problems. If it's your modem, it's your problem. If it's their modem, it's their problem.
I've had cable from one company or another for over 6 years. Only once did I own the modem. And that was because the cable company jacked up the rental fee from $0/month (part of a package) to $5/month. And I had a cablemodem left behind by a former roommate. Cable company said the modem he left behind wasn't reported stolen so I switched over to avoid the new charge.
I recently got cablemodem service set up for a relative who wanted to buy a modem. At the time, the best price I could find locally was $70. No rebates anywhere. 70/3 = two years to break even. Didn't make sense. A few weeks later, I found a cablemodem in a thrift store for $10. That made sense. Bought it, switched out the rental, and returned the rental to the cable company. By the end of July, he'll be saving money.
1) Unless you get very lucky and find a great deal, you're going to spend $50 or more buying this piece of equipment. At $3/month, it would take you 17 months to break even. At 2/month, over two years. at 1/month, over four years.
2) What do you get for that money? A piece of equipment the cable company can blame for your service problems. If it's your modem, it's your problem. If it's their modem, it's their problem.
I've had cable from one company or another for over 6 years. Only once did I own the modem. And that was because the cable company jacked up the rental fee from $0/month (part of a package) to $5/month. And I had a cablemodem left behind by a former roommate. Cable company said the modem he left behind wasn't reported stolen so I switched over to avoid the new charge.
I recently got cablemodem service set up for a relative who wanted to buy a modem. At the time, the best price I could find locally was $70. No rebates anywhere. 70/3 = two years to break even. Didn't make sense. A few weeks later, I found a cablemodem in a thrift store for $10. That made sense. Bought it, switched out the rental, and returned the rental to the cable company. By the end of July, he'll be saving money.