They did it again. In January of 2020, Comcast Xfinity raised their modem rental fee to $14, up from $13 previously. This makes Xfinity’s xFi annual modem rental fee $168! If you have opted for the “xFi Complete”, as of late 2020 your cost is now $25/month ($300 per year)!
The new modem rental price increases quietly hit customer’s bills, with notification buried deep on pages 4 and 5 of the prior month’s bill. Can Comcast raise modem rental and other fees, even if you have a contracted package price?
It turns out, they can. Xfinity states the following on a Xfinity price changes page:
If you have a promotional price or minimum-term agreement for specific services, prices for those services won’t change until that period is over. However, taxes and fees such as equipment charges, the Broadcast TV Fee and Regional Sports Network Fee, and service to additional TVs may change as needed. View your billing statement in My Account to see your plan, charges, and fees anytime.
Bolded emphasis on “equipment charges”, e.g. gateway/modem/router/TV Box/DVR devices.
What can you do to fight this injustice? It turns out, a lot.
Cutting your Comcast Modem Rental Fee to Nothing is Easy
$168 per year ($14 x 12 months) is a steep price to pay to simply borrow an Xfinity “xFi” modem/gateway when you can get the same or better speed and reliability from your own devices. And, while Comcast’s modem rental prices keep going up, the actual price for you to purchase equipment that is at least as equally as functional as Comcast’s has steeply declined.
This makes the prospect of ditching your rented Comcast Xfinity modem/router for your own even more lucrative than it has been in the past.
I’ve previously written about how to replace your Xfinity modem with your own as the most efficient way to get rid of your Xfinity modem rental fee and cut your Comcast bill (without having to negotiate with Comcast). The process is the same as replacing any ISP’s modem with your own, so this lesson is applicable to any ISP that allows you to do so:
- Buy a compatible modem and router (see links and recommendations below)
- Call your ISP’s tech support to activate your new modem (if it does not activate online using these instructions when you plug it in). Xfinity’s customer service number is 1-800-934-6489 (1-800-XFINITY).
- Connect your devices.
- Return your leased modem – and get a receipt in case they try to charge you! Here is a list of Xfinity’s store locations where you can return your device.
- Double-check your next billing statement to make sure the modem rental fee is removed (it may be prorated until 2 months out). Contact customer service to make sure they remove the modem rental fee, if it is still there.
What Should I Replace my Comcast Modem/Router with?
Comcast touts their gateways (a modem + router combo housed in 1 device) as something special. They aren’t. Any of the following Comcast-supported modem/router combinations will have similar function at today’s (and the foreseeable future’s) connection speeds. I personally recommend I have spent days researching every Xfinity compatible modem and recommend the Motorola MB8611 modem and pairing it with TP-Link AX1800 router. If you want Voice (VOIP) capabilities, you can connect an Ooma to your router
Recommended Modems (to pair with routers below):
- Motorola MB8611: up to 2.33 Gbps
- Netgear CM2000: up to 2.33 Gbps
- Arris S33: up to 2.33 Gbps
If you want Xfinity Voice, go with either the Netgear CM2050v (up to 2.33 Gbps) or Arris T25 (up to 949 Mbps). Note: you can just as easily (and at a big cost savings) add landline voice (VOIP) functionality by connecting an Ooma device to your router.
If you want a gateway (modem and router combined in 1 device), I don’t recommend that because they aren’t as reliable and you can’t upgrade one half, but the Arris G36 (up to 2.33 Gbps and WiFi 6) and Netgear CAX30 (up to 949 Mbps and WiFi 6) are good value options.
Recommended Routers (to pair with modem above):
All offer great value and blazing fast speeds.
- TP-Link AX3000 – WiFi 6: up to 3 Gbps (2.402 Gbps on 5GHz band + 575 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band)
- TP-Link AX1800 – WiFi 6: up to 1.8 Gbps (1.2 Gbps on 5 GHz band + 574 Mbps on 2.4 GHz band)
- Netgear Nighthawk AX1800 – WiFi 6: up to 1.8 Gbps (1.2 Gbps on 5 GHz band + 574 Mbps on 2.4 GHz band)
- TP-Link AC1750 – WiFi 5: up to 1.75 Gbps (1.2 Gbps on 5GHz band + 600 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band)
With most of these modem and router combos, you will pay a 1-time cost and then save the $168 or $300 annually that Xfinity will charge and then save that amount for many years to come. Why wouldn’t you make the switch?
Update: you can now also replace your Xfinity DVR & TV Box with your own compatible streaming device like a Roku or Smart TV, saving another $8.50 per month ($102/year) for the first device and $7.50/month ($90/year) for each additional device.
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if you have Comcast Xfinity home phone service, you must use a specific type of modem that has the phone connection built into it. There seems to be only one , an Arris model that sells in the $200 plus range.
Don’t pay for XFinity home phone. Complete ripoff. If you want VOIP, you can get it for nearly free with Ooma, and Ooma will work with ANY of these modem/router combos: https://20somethingfinance.com/ooma-review-1-year-after-making-the-switch/
This is a great public service, I’ve saved over $300. with my Arris 6183 and never had a glitch. To save even more there are rebuilds for about $30.. Plug it in, make the call and start counting the savings. Also; why would anyone use their phone service when Magicjack costs $15. A Year! Or.. you could just keep complaining about the cable bill!
I bought two refurbished Ari’s modems for $30 each. One is a backup. Only had one die in 10 years…. So I have $90 in modem costs total.
For the technical neophyte, please remember, if you do buy your own modem and or router, you may need to contact the manufacturers for device related technical support.
You wouldn’t call Ford to help you with a Chevy, would you?
The modem/router customer service is actually excellent. They will walk you through, on the phone, how to set up the equipment, how to solve any glitches, how to re-connect it if there’s an outage or something, what to do in any situation. Their instructions included in the package walk you through exactly how to change your devices’ passwords to prevent hacking, something that Comcast never even mentions. With Comcast’s equipment you’re completely on your own to figure that out.
I haven’t rented a modem from them for more than ten years now, and not only do I enjoy the savings, what I most appreciate is the ready help of the equipment companies and dealing with them instead of having to speak with Comcast. Not that there’s much need: the equipment quality is excellent. It’s just if you need help in connecting or setup in any odd situation, their customer service will get it done for you, and quickly.
Just noticed that Xfinity increased the modem rental from $11 to $13. The pricing information was on the last Page 6 of my December statement.
When I signed up for Xfinity for a 2-year contract, I expected the price fixed for 2 years. Oh boy, Xfinity always can find ways to skim its customers. My modem is still the same, and I did not ask for a new one. How can Xfinity justify to charge more on an old modem?
I am stuck with the 2-year contract. However, I would not wait to switch out once the contract expires.
Even if in a contract, you can still replace the modem with your own, in order to cancel out the modem rental fee.
We use a cheap modem/router combo from Arris and it works fine. Unless you know you’re gonna use the service for only a few months (i.e. moving away soon and switching provider), I don’t see why anyone would rent a modem.
I actually tried the TP Link AC1200 and my speeds were about 150mbps when I was paying Comcast for 250mbps. So I got a tech to my house to use the Xfi modem/router and voila, 290mbps. I seriously think they put restrictions on 3rd party modem/routers.
It was more likely your modem. If your modem was delivering 250Mbps, the AC1200 would have been close to that. The AC1200 is capable of 1200Mbps (provided the modem delivers up to the speed).
I live in Washington DC and am in the process of signing up for Comcast. I told them I was going to bring my own modem and they told me that’d fine but there would be a $60 charge for me to do so. Have you ever heard of anything like this? Could I have misunderstood then and the charge is for something else that’s standard? Sounds like BS to me.
Interesting. Curious if there are other data points here. If a new policy, I would refuse to sign up w/ them if they add this fee. I would imagine that reps have freedom to waive it.
$60 might be the price cost of the installation, sometimes they charge $60 due to the fact that the tap status outside your house is already disabled/disconnected.
I just received my bill today and they pretty much jacked up the prices on everything. It’s bad enough that if you wanted an internet-only service then it would cost more than their Triple Play Package. This is a great article G. E . Miller. I just posted something similar on my site on cutting rental costs by getting rid of their TV Box and remote. Come check it out if you can. Cheers!
techsavvyone.com
I recently had enough of the increase rental fees with Comcast. I finally talked to someone who actually said I can change from Triple Play to Double Play and my bill will go down by $ 27.00 a month. Yah Hoo! Some one finally understands I do not want the house phone number that gets constant robo calls and we never use! So out that went, I then returned the rental modem and additional tv box. Another price decrease ($21.00]in my monthly bill! I encourage all to at least buy your own Modem and get a Roku streaming stick if you are using one of their boxes. You won’t be sorry. The Roku is compatible with xfinity and you get all your local channels with the xfinity streaming app.