Should I Buy My Own Cable Modem

I'm about to change cable companies and get
their internet bundle. Should I buy my own cable modem? Owning a cable modem is cheaper than paying
up to $7 a month to rent one from the cable company. And you'll pay sales tax and telecommunication
taxes on top of that, in a lot of places. Modems cost up to $100 each.

So you recoup the cost of owning it within
18 months. And if you own your own cable modem, you don't have to pay them to install it. I can't ask the cable company to upgrade the
modem and switch it out. People upgrade computers much more often than
they do modems.

It matters if I switch from dial-up to DSL. It doesn't matter if you already have DSL
or fiber optic. And you can save even more money by buying a refurbished modem. What if the modem I bought breaks? Call up the cable company and ask them to
send you a replacement.

Why else would I want to buy my own cable
modem? You could buy a modem with better performance
than the one the cable company sends you. But the ISP may not give me the admin information
to let me install it or set it up for better performance. You also get control and privacy. You know
your model and network passwords, not a tech who could use that to your disadvantage.

Or the NSA. No, the NSA will crack that if they want to,
though I don't know why they'd be interested in you. Anyway, the NSA is monitoring all
our traffic through the network hubs anyway. Then control and privacy don't matter, if
the NSA has it all anyway.

You could set up your own network the way
you want, so that the plugged in router doesn't slow down because it is trying to send NAT
and wireless routing. Performance is a reason I can get behind. Pity saving money wasn't..