Ok, I still don't see (unless I'm missing it), an answer to my question: What advantages does one have with the purchase of their own modem, compared to one that is leased?
There are two things that I do understand as being an advantage. I'm asking if there are others.
First is saving money. For example, lets make the assumption that I can lease without any problems from my ISP the Motorola SURFboard SB5101 Cable Modem. I can also buy it brand new from Best Buy for $59.99 (Link here ---> »
www.bestbuy.com/site/Mot ··· p=1&lp=1). If I rent it and have it for 24 months at cost of $7 per month, I would end up spending $168 in rental charges. That is more then twice the cost of the modem from Best Buy. So, saving money is Advantage #1.
Next, if the modem that is being rented is a Combo device (Modem / Router, or Modem / Wireless Gateway), I do get that the ISP may lock down certain configurations from being changed. But, (correct me if I'm wrong), those configurations are on the Router / Wireless Gateway side of things, not the modem. So, being able to configure the Router / Wireless Gateway fully on a combo device is Advantage #2.
For me, I would never rent a Combo device, as I have my own router. As far as the price issue goes, I do not mind spending $7 (or whatever the modem rental fee is for a given ISP), knowing that its their hardware, and if anything goes wrong with it, its on the ISP to fix it.
So, above and beyond those two points listed above, what else does one "gain"? I've rented all my modems from my ISP, and the only thing I could do with them is go to the modem's configuration page at 192.168.100.1, but nothing there is changeable...its all read-only information.
Now I do want to point out that I am not against those who want to purchase their own modem, to avoid the two points I made above (save $ and be able to modify the configurations on a Combo Device). Giving the customer the choice (rent or buy) is a good thing. What I want to try to verify is what else one "gains" for a standard modem, like the SB5101, if you choose to purchase it instead of renting it from your ISP.
Thanks,
--Brian