Should you rent or purchase your cable modem?

Recently, I was asked whether it is better to rent or purchase a cable modem when upgrading to a broadband (high-speed) Internet connection from a local cable company. My answer might surprise some of you.

And that answer was that it is probably better to rent the cable modem. Most cable companies charge right around $3/month to rent the cable modem. A new cable modem can run anywhere from $50 - $90 depending on which make and model you get. Simple math will tell you that after roughly 2 years, it's a break even situation financially.

But it's not a numbers game that makes me nudge people towards renting. It's that they are noobies. Hey, that's ok, you're supposed to be a noobie if you are reading this, right?

Raise your hand if you know what a cable modem is

Seriously though, most noobies don't even know what a cable modem is or what it does. And they sure don't know how to diagnose it when something goes wrong. That's why I recommend renting vs. buying. When you rent a cable modem from your local cable company, the onus is on the cable company to diagnose, fix or repair your cable modem, should something go wrong.

So when you enter that third year of renting a cable modem from your cable company and it begins to weigh on you that you could have saved money buying your own cable modem from the get-go, just think of your $3/month as technical support from your cable company if something goes wrong.

Or should I say when something goes wrong.