I’ve previously written about how to replace your Comcast Xfinity modem with your own in order to get rid of your Xfinity modem rental fee, as part of my ongoing frustration as a customer of the company over the years, and with the goal of lowering my Comcast bill. While Comcast is the largest ISP in the US market, they are hardly the only one. In fact, there are nearly 2,900 ISPs in the US, and Comcast accounts for over 32 million out of ~114 million broadband connected households.
Sadly, even though there are a lot of ISPs in this country, there is little in-market direct competition between them – and the top 10 ISPs account for 95% of all subscribers. With little real competition, ISPs often can charge outrageous fees (the average broadband subscription price is over $77/month), often with underwhelming speeds. The addition of frustratingly high modem rental fees on top of that makes this personal finance writer angry.
So, it got me thinking – what about the other three-quarters of US households that subscribe to broadband, but are not Comcast customers? Are they getting gouged with modem and router rental fees as well? And how can they save money too?
Some ISPs say that you must use their equipment, while others try to scare you into believing they won’t support yours. But with an average price of around $12/month ($144/year), it’s definitely worth exploring further, no matter who your ISP is, as you can typically recoup the cost of buying your own devices within the first year, and then – pure savings!
Update: the Xfinity modem rental fee was raised again to $15/month (and $25/month for “xFi Complete” previously).
In fact, the Television Viewer Protection Act, implemented in 2020, now forbids television and broadband providers for charging customers to use their own devices. Frontier, for example, was charging its customers $10/month to use their own modem, without providing any repair/support for those modems.
Modem Rental Fees & Options by ISP
As of this article’s publish date, here are the top 10 broadband provider’s standard modem/router/gateway rental lease fees, information on compatible modems to cut those fees, and more:
| ISP: | Gateway/Router/Modem Fee: | Customer Owned Device Option? | Customer-Owned Compatible Models: | ISP Modem & Router Notes: |
| AT&T: | N/A | No | N/A | AT&T plans include a gateway and there is not a way to get a price deduction for providing your own. |
| CenturyLink: | $17/month to lease or $200 to purchase | Yes | CenturyLink supported modems | Most modems will work, including 3rd party, but make sure it's compatible with your speeds. Router of your choice. Recommendations below. |
| Comcast XFinity: | $15/month ($25/month for "xFi Complete") | Yes | Comcast Xfinity supported modems | Most modems supported (recommended below), but verify it's compatible with the speeds you're paying for. Use a router of your choice (recommended below). |
| Cox: | $13/month for "Panoramic Wi-Fi" | Yes | Cox supported modems | Cox only "supports" their modems, but "certifies" customer-owned modems that are DOCSIS 3.0 or 3.1, meaning, they should work if they are on the list. Router of your choice. Recommendations below. |
| Frontier: | $10/month (non-fiber) | Yes | Not listed on Frontier's site. | Fiber modems are included in price. For non-fiber, older modems - call for compatibility. Most modems will work, but make sure it's compatible with your speeds. Router of your choice. Recommendations below. |
| Mediacom Xtream: | $15/month for modem + additional charges for some routers | Yes | Mediacom supported modems | See list. Router of your choice. Recommendations below. |
| Optimum (Altice): | "as low as" $12/month | Yes | Not listed on Optimum's site. | Call for compatibility. Most modems will work, but make sure it's compatible with your speeds. Router of your choice. Recommendations below. |
| Spectrum (Charter): | $10/month | Yes | Spectrum supported modems | Charter Spectrum charges a "wifi service fee" to use wifi on their modem + router combo. You can use your own router to avoid the fee (see recommendations below). |
| Verizon FIOS: | $18/month to lease or $399.99 to buy | Yes | Any router (see notes) | Fiber optic gateway provided, but you can use any router (recommendations below) to avoid the router rental fee. Just make sure your router is capable of handling the speed you are paying for. |
| Windstream Kinetic: | $10.99/month | Yes | Not listed on Windstream's site. | Most will be supported. Call for compatibility. Router of your choice. Recommendations below. |
How to Replace your ISPs Modem with Your Own:
Replacing your ISPs modem/gateway with your own is often easier than you think – but specifics may vary by ISP. Give your ISP a call to confirm the below steps prior to purchase and setup:
- Buy a compatible modem and router (see general recommendations below).
- Call your ISPs tech support to activate your new modem (if it does not activate automatically when you plug it in).
- Connect all of your devices to your new Wi-Fi connection.
- Return your leased ISP modem – and get a receipt in case they try to charge you!
- If charged, contact customer service to make sure they remove the modem rental fee. And double-check future billing statements.
Recommended Modems & Routers:
If your ISP allows customer owned devices, I would recommend getting a separate modem and router (the modem is hard-wired to your ISP via a cable or fiber connection, the router sends the Wi-Fi signal to/from your devices or allows you to connect via ethernet), instead of a combined gateway that combines a modem/router into 1 device. This way, if the capabilities of either the modem or router becomes obsolete or dies on you, you can replace that individual device (vs. an entire gateway). Gateways are also known to be less reliable comparatively.
Check with your ISP to make sure that the below modem models are compatible before buying. If they do allow customer-owned modems and don’t give you a straight answer or the answer you want to hear on compatibility, you can always purchase one of the below modem/router combos to test it out. Just make sure you can return for a full refund if the modem doesn’t work. The routers will work with any modem and ISP.
Recommended Modems (to pair with a router below):
- Netgear CM3000: up to 2330Mbps
- Motorola B12: up to 2330Mbps
- Hitron Coda56: up to 2330Mbps
- Arris S34: up to 2330Mbps
If you want Voice capabilities, go with the Netgear CM2050v. 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 + router combined in 1 device), I don’t recommend that because they aren’t as reliable, are pricier, and you can’t upgrade one half, but the Arris G54 (up to 2334Mbps modem + Wi-Fi 7 router) is probably the best bet.
Recommended Routers (to pair with modem above):
Here are my picks for the best value Wi-Fi 7 routers (all with tri-band) on the market at the moment:
- Netgear Nighthawk BE9300 – Wi-Fi 7: up to 9300Mbps (5800Mbps on the 6GHz, 2900Mbps on the 5GHz band, 700Mbps on the 2.4GHz band)
- TP-Link BE10000 Mesh – Wi-Fi 7: use solo or as a mesh system with up to 10000Mbps (5188Mbps on the 6GHz, 4324Mbps on the 5GHz band, 574 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band)
- Amazon Eero 7 Pro – Wi-Fi 7: up to 5000Mbps (3900Mbps on the 6GHz, unspecified speeds for 5GHz band and 2.4GHz bands)
- TP-Link BE9300 – Wi-Fi 7: up to 9300Mbps (5760Mbps on the 6GHz, 2880Mbps on the 5GHz band, 574 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band)
I did a breakdown of Wi-Fi 7 versus Wi-Fi 5, 6, & 6E technology. Wi-Fi 7 is easily the best Wi-Fi technology for the modern internet and household Wi-Fi demands. Now that it’s been on the market for a while, it also provides the best value for your money. Compared to Wi-Fi 6E (the most recent generation), Wi-Fi 7 doubled the amount of simultaneous high speed connected devices – and increased maximum speeds. Just make sure you get a tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router, which adds a 6GHz band – not all of them have it.
Additionally, for Xfinity customers, you can now use a streaming device to get rid of Xfinity DVR & TV box fees – and other ISPs might have similar policies, so look into this for additional savings.
Great recommendations: there’s no reason to pay “rent” for any of that.
You should remind readers, though, that they should change the password on both their modem and router (they should do this even if they’re keeping their provider’s devices). The routers and modems come with instructions on how to log into them and do that.
The ISP’s always say “But, if you get your own router/modem, we won’t help you if they break”. That’s actually a good thing, as their “help” is worse than useless. The companies that sell the modems and routers have very good customer service, and information on how to contact them. If you have a problem with the equipment, they’ll help you fix it so much faster than an ISP would with their rented equipment.
Agree on both points. On the latter, yeah, as long as your modem/router can still handle (the paltry) speeds that they offer, you’ll typically be fine. And even if you have to upgrade in 5-10 years, you’re still saving a ton of money.
Thank you for these tips as well!
These are great recommendations! Definitely looking into this to save a little bit of money
Never thought to do this. we have xfinity, and can’t seem to get the ridiculous monthly cost down. example: we get rid of our land line, and that invalidates their bundle, therefore costing us MORE per month! thanks for the tip! ;)
The first modem I bought cost $40 and lasted 15 years, until Xfinity finally upgraded their service and told me it wouldn’t run their new speeds.
My first router lasted 20 years, and broadcast the new Xfinity speeds fine, but then one day lightning struck the house and burned it out.
The companies that sell them give out user manuals, instructions, trouble-shooting tips, warranties, and will walk you through set-up or troubleshooting, or anything else, on the phone.
No one should be paying their ISP for this, unless there’s no other choice.
XFinity told me the same, but I’m still using the same one, and it works fine. Think it was just a scare tactic to get me to use theirs again.
Ha! I should have thought of that.:) Next time, I’ll check first, thanks!
Will a Netger N600 work with today’s (2018) settup?
I think everyone should buy their own modem
In our area, Spectrum (former Time Warner Cable area) rent out the modems for free, but charge for a router. In some cases it makes sense renting the modem because constant network upgrades can render your own bought modem obsolete in as little as a year. However buying your own router is good practice as you have a whole lot more control over it that way.
How about Hughes net dish internet and phone?
Thank you for your information. I’m not tech savy but thanks to you I now made up my mind.