Buying or Renting a Time Warner Modem?

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Time Warner has recently started charging for users to rent their modems. We were being charged $4 a month, which we were told was the cheapest rate across the country.

We started thinking about buying a modem instead of renting.

One of the reasons that we thought about not buying our own, was that we would have to pay to buy another one if something happened to ours. However, Time Warner has not been on top of keeping our equipment in top shape. We had tried to get a cord replaced on our old one a few times, but Time Warner had never done it. When we returned ours, the lady just threw away the cord. So, this reason was not justification for us!

We started looking at the modems that were available and the costs that we might be incurring. You can take a look at Time Warner's acceptable modem list.

The modem that we ended up choosing was refurbished. But we figured Time Warner would bring a used modem to our house, so there would not be much difference here. The cost of the modem we chose was $21. In just over 5 months we will break even on the cost of this modem.

I can't help but think of my Great Grandma who use to pay an exorbitant amount of money to rent her phone. The telephone company made good off of her!

Buy here

This picture is the modem that we bought. Not only do we own the modem, but it looks so much better in our house. The seller also did a great job of packaging this modem and shipping it to us.

And a plus, if you shop through ebates, you will get 1% back. Not much but better than nothing!

My husband called Time Warner to get everything hooked up. He was on the phone for a little while, but the process wasn't too difficult. You can find the steps to install your modem here.

What do you think? Are you considering buying your modem or are you going to continue renting?