Donnie just pointed out an area of our monthly expenses where we're spending money needlessly: the modem rental fee charged by our cable/high-speed internet provider. Over the past two years, we've paid our cable company more in rental fees than we would have spent to buy a brand-new modem from Walmart. Since we don't plan to cancel our high-speed internet service any time soon, continuing to rent rather than buy a modem is like pouring money down the drain.If you use a modem provided by your internet service company, you're probably paying between $2 and $10 each month for the privilege. Why not return the rental and invest in a modem of your own instead? If you plan to maintain high-speed internet service for the foreseeable future, there's no reason not to do so. After all, if you're shelling out just $4 a month, a $50 modem will pay for itself in a year's time.
Now I can't stop wondering how many other ridiculous monthly fees I can eliminate from our budget. What's worked well for you? Please share your ideas in the comments!
1 comments:
With Comcast, for a standard internet and basic cable package (you pay less for both together than internet alone... go figure), they give you an RCA modem (here in Seattle, anyway). When I first got Comcast in my apartment years ago, I got the free modem but I noticed that the broadband connection was SLOOOOW. Not only that, but the internet cut out all the time. I was really upset about it and angry that I had such "horrible" internet, when my boyfriend at the time suggested to me that I get a different modem.
I had no idea that modems were different! I just thought you plugged the cable into the DSL modem and then plugged into your computer... I thought they were merely a converter, not something fancy. Well, anyway, so I did some research and found that if you bought a whole Comcast package of phone, full cable, AND internet, then they leased you a Linksys modem for free. Hmmmmm RCA vs Linksys. Then I did some more research and found that RCA modems are commonly known to have faulty insides and be crappy overall, and Linksys modems are some of the best out there. So I went to Best Buy and bought a Linksys.
Comcast somehow noticed and shut off my internet until I told them I was now using my own modem, and what of it? It's a free country! After whining for a bit, they made me read off a serial number and gave me back my internet and it's never been better. After two moves, I still have my modem.
This is all to say that I have my own modem too! And although I was never paying lease fees and whatnot, there were other reasons to get one as well. The time and frustration saved by getting a good modem were well worth the initial $100. :)
Post a Comment