ok

buy= when it dies in a year or just soon after warranty expires .. you buy another..

Rent= when it dies 6 mo's from installation as they typically do..they send you a new one.

I bought the first,it lasted long enough for the warranty to expire. So I decided to rent.
Now every time the dern thing burns up.. "which they seem to do on a steady basis".. they just send a new one ..

OK,

Rental - 1
Buy - 0

I agree, go for the Rental, if it dies your SOL but the ISP will send you a new one if its rented.

Bought a DLINK DCM-202 three years ago and it works like a charm. I got a full rebate from BestBuy to boot. Sweet!

Bought my Surfboard three years ago. Got a full rebate. Why rent when you can get this kind of deal?

Buy - You pay a one time fee and get a warranty. Get a decent brand that doesn't go belly up in a year. A good Motorola or D-Link should cost about $65. Look about and you're sure to find a sale. Talk to your cable techs and find out what brands they recommend and what is best suited to work with your particular service and go from there. The tech I talked to at my service recommended a particular Motorola Surfboard. I bought it and have had no trouble for the last year and a half.

Rent - You pay a fee every month, above and beyond what the modem is worth. When I was renting a modem I was paying an average of about $8 - $10 each month, which means I was basically buying the modem twice a year, but not getting a new one. When I did need a new one, the ones the cable company supplied were not the best suited for the service I was paying for. So in effect, I was downgrading my own service by using their modem, and I was paying for the privilege of doing so.


I am much happier owning my modem than renting it. And, should the thing go out and you are not able to get a new one due to warranty expiration or lack of funds, you can always rent one from the cable provider at that point.

I'm renting and I pay 3 dollars a month.

Yep.

Agree, Until they update things in a way that requires a different router. Now you have to buy another. I found out the hard way that renting typically ends up being the cheaper solution.

I own my Motorola Surfboard. Got a warranty. Paid about $60 for it.....

It's mine. I'd rather own it than rent it. I like being able to say "It's MINE!".....

Sounds like you may have a power spike or "dirty" power issue. Do you have it on a UPS?

It is dependant upon who your cable supplier is will make a difference whether or not you should buy your own. If it is Time Warner/Road Runner, the bill will be the same either way. The cable modem is part of the service and they will not give you a discount if you supply your own.
One thing to consider; if the company offers 2 different levels of service like Road Runner does, normal=3mbs or fast=6mbs, your modem can sometimes increase your bandwidth to the higher level of service at the lower level price.

I just read a news item where a local consumer's home was hit by a tornado and received a bill from the cable company for thousands of dollars for destroyed cable company equipment. When they called to complain, according to this news article, they were told to submit it to their insurance company. Since the insurance company only paid the depreciated value of the equipment, the cable company was attempting to persue the consumer for replacement cost of the equipment.

Don't allow the cable company to collect hundreds of dollars in rental fees from you, with the added risk that should the "Cable" companiy's equipment become lost, stolen or destoyed of you having to replace it for additional hundreds or thousands of dollars, especially when you can easily buy the item for less than a hundred dollars.

No option here. The modem is part of the service price.

Thanks for all the replies. I had already bought the modem but found myself questioning if I should have done it or not. I figured owning would make it better and my bill will be a few bucks cheaper as well.

They use to charge $10 per month - that was when you BUY!

But at $3/mn (and when it dies they replace it), I rent.