What is renting your modem actually costing you?
Equipment fees are the easiest line on a cable bill to remove, and the hardest to notice. Put your numbers in and see the month a purchase pays for itself.
Your fee is on the bill as equipment rental, gateway or Wi-Fi service. If you cannot find it, the total is usually the difference between your advertised plan price and what you actually pay.
Before you buy
A modem your provider has not approved will not provision, so the cheapest model is worthless if it is not on the list.
A standalone modem has no Wi-Fi. Budget for a router too, or buy a combined gateway and accept replacing both at once.
Providers will still troubleshoot the line to your wall. What changes is that faults inside your home are yours to fix.
The maths assumes your fee stays flat, which is generous to renting — equipment charges have risen most years. It ignores the resale value of a modem you own, which is generous to renting too.