Charter Spectrum → Will Charter Still Charge A Wifi Fee?

Just curious Charter right now only supplies non wifi modems with the new prices right and they said wireless ones will come later? If the wireless ones come later would they charge a $10 wifi fee? I guess those will also be wireless gateways right?

If you want WIFI with the current modem Charter is supplying, just buy a reasonably priced router, and you'll have WIFI.

Yeah, nobody in their right mind would pay for wifi hookup from their ISP.

Might as well just send that money to me, if you're going to do that!!

Both Verizon and AT&T have been supplying modem with both wire and wireless routers combo free with one year contract for a decade. Verizon FiOS does not need modem so just wire and wireless routers combo.

I think cable companies should do the same to compete. If customer did not stay for a year, just require them to return the modem router.

Hmm, a decade? I don't think so. Last time I tried AT&T (few years back), they wanted $100 for the modem - $50 rebate I think it was. To have a modem + router would have been $200 - $75 rebate. So, no, it wasn't free then. Dunno what it is now, but I still like to pick my own equipment, and not be forced to buy something I don't really like. I like being able to use custom firmware for the router as well.

Uh ... Which decade? I had AT&T service for 8 years (2000-2008), and if they gave you anything, they only supplied the most basic, cheap/crappy modem possible. They actually charged for the terrible SpeedStream 3060 (*PCI* modem) and SpeedStream 4060 (*USB* modem) back then. They gave some sort of "rebate", but they still charged you up-front around $100 for the terrible modem, when you could get a better one off eBay for less than $50.

If I wanted something that actually *worked* without needing to be power-cycled every few days, caused Blue Screens because of requiring (terrible) drivers, or wanted WiFi access, I had to go out and purchase my own hardware.
It seemed to take them forever to start offering the SpeedStream 5100b and 4100.

We have four locations. One in Alhambra, California has only DSL option due to no cable to the building and Charter wants to charge for a cable run and not interested in just Internet only account. For past 12 years or so, we first had DSL from Pacific Bell resold by EarthLink and got modem and professional installation free. When Pacific Bell offers better deal than EarthLink we switched to Pacific Bell. Again, after instant rebate, we paid nothing for modem. Yet, this time was self-installation. Later on, Pacific Bell became part of AT&T. One time we had slow speeds, technician came and gave us a modem with wired and wireless router free of charge. The technician actually installed the new modem with wired and wireless router for us with no charge. However, we found some applications would not connect due to lack of port forwarding configuration. Therefore, we switched back to the old modem with our own router just did not want to configure the new modem with wired and wireless router at that time. About couple years back, we had smartphone that needs Wi-Fi. That was the time; we put the modem with wired and wireless router from AT&T technician free into use. To sum up, this location since day one having broadband, we have never paid anything either for modem or for installation, but we did have to go with contract.

Another location is in Torrance, California. Broadband options have been DSL by GTE California than Verizon and Cable by Time Warner. For past couple years, FiOS by Verizon has become available to this location. First broadband started with cable by Time Warner resold by EarthLink due to EarthLink had better deal than Time Warner itself. Later on, DSL by GTE California than Verizon due to higher upload speed and finally, FiOS by Verizon due to higher upload speed again. To sum up, for over 10 years at this location, we have never paid anything for modem, but we did have to go with contract. Verizon gave us modem with wired and wireless router, but we did not use wireless feature at this location.

Third location is in Rolling Hills Estates, California. Broadband options have been DSL by GTE California than Verizon and Cable by Cox. We picked DSL by GTE California than Verizon due to Cox has cap. Just like Torrance, California, we have never paid anything for modem since DSL became available over 10 years ago, but we did have to go with contract.

Fourth location is in Long Beach, California. Broadband options have been FiOS by Verizon for few years and cable by Charter. We picked FiOS by Verizon due to Charter has cap. Again, with contract, there is no charge for installation or wired and wireless router for FiOS. In contrast, FiOS prices have gone up a lot, but has not showed up on our bill thus far. As soon as the price increase shows up on our bill, we will switch to Charter as we were told cap is only enforced in oversold area.

To sum up, if you shop around for all broadband options, including resellers and willing to switch when better deal presents, you will be better off in the long run.