# Router - buy or rent?



## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Working on the paperwork to sign up for an internet connection at our new house. And the question came up about do we want to rent a router from them?

They supply the modem. From what I understand, we're tied on to a fiber optic connection, which is amazing considering the place is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Nearest tiny towns are both 10 miles away, a little larger towns 25 miles away, either direction. Internet connections run from 4/1 Mbps for $39.00/mo to 1Gig for $100/mo. Was considering maybe 12/1 Mbps for $49/mo but haven't decided for sure. (I'm thinking we'll be using it for browsing, some work, and Netflix/Hulu kind of TV watching.)

Anyway, under 50 Mbps, the router they supply is $4.99/mo. I'm trying to figure whether that's a good deal and I should jump on it or whether I might as well just go buy one myself. I do have a couple of older ones from maybe 7 or 8 years ago when we had our previous house. I don't know if the technology has really changed enough that those are now completely obsolete or whether they'd work just fine. From what I can gather, a decent dual band router these days is pushing towards $100 or so, give or take, depending on features. 

Just doing basic math, that would seem to mean that if a router lasts for about 2 years, it's a wash. If it lasts longer, it's cheaper to buy. If it doesn't, it was cheaper to rent. Considering things like thunder storms that go rambling through, power surges from it going off and coming back on multiple times a year, that kind of thing, I was kinda wondering what you guys think of the options I have? Rent? Buy? Work with what I have if I can and upgrade later? Keep my own for a backup and rent? 

Have been out of the game for long enough that I have no recent experience. Certainly interested in your thoughts! 

Thanks!


----------



## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Bellyman said:


> Anyway, under 50 Mbps, the router they supply is $4.99/mo. I'm trying to figure whether that's a good deal and I should jump on it or whether I might as well just go buy one myself. I do have a couple of older ones from maybe 7 or 8 years ago when we had our previous house. I don't know if the technology has really changed enough that those are now completely obsolete or whether they'd work just fine.


$5 a month? They're laughing all the way to the bank on that deal.

Yes... your old routers will work just fine, as will most routers you'd find at a thrift shop for a few bucks, or the ones you can buy at Walmart for $20.


----------



## Hitch (Oct 19, 2016)

Buy your own. The Internet companies hate it when you bypass their rental equipment and supply your own.


----------



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

I got my Netgear type N router in used condition at eBay for $10. But then I'm a cheapskate.


----------



## Skandi (Oct 21, 2014)

Good grief! Our router is rented but it's in with the bundle as it were, the only irritating thing is it has one (wired) internet port three TV ones and 1 phone we only use the net but on two wired machines, so we have a switch plugged into it.
We pay half that amount for 100/100 our fibre company doesn't even offer a slower speed than that. I am constantly amazed by how bad and expensive internet in the US seems to be. (and I'm 70miles from a city of over 20k pop) 
Back to the question, buy one but if you have any issues with the line and you have to call up about it they will blame it on your own router.


----------



## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Thanks!! You definitely answered my question.  

I'll have a go at it with my newest "old" router, which I think may be an 'N' router. I have another old Linksys that I used for a repeater for several years that I might be able to configure if need be, too. Can't remember if there's another one but between those two, I should be able to get the network up and running. If it works, that'll be great. If it needs an upgrade, I'll see what I can find.

I did feel like the price for the internet was on the high side. But that's basically gonna be our phone, our internet and our TV. Oh, the same company would love to sell me high end plans for all of those (plus home security) that they'd happily sell me for a couple / few hundred bucks a month. Not goin' there. But they have a reputation of having very reliable and good service, and that's something the others in the area don't have.


----------



## melli (May 7, 2016)

Bellyman said:


> Thanks!! You definitely answered my question.
> 
> I'll have a go at it with my newest "old" router, which I think may be an 'N' router. I have another old Linksys that I used for a repeater for several years that I might be able to configure if need be, too. Can't remember if there's another one but between those two, I should be able to get the network up and running. If it works, that'll be great. If it needs an upgrade, I'll see what I can find.
> 
> I did feel like the price for the internet was on the high side. But that's basically gonna be our phone, our internet and our TV. Oh, the same company would love to sell me high end plans for all of those (plus home security) that they'd happily sell me for a couple / few hundred bucks a month. Not goin' there. But they have a reputation of having very reliable and good service, and that's something the others in the area don't have.


Is it a wifi-router? (the one they offer?)
Regardless, I prefer my own equipment, but they did supply me with a wifi-router for free, in addition to the modem (fiber to Cat cable modem). Albeit, we pay more up here, no matter the plan (the canadian way).
With wifi, my phone uses it for data (faster and no worries about data plans).
The sweetest thing with fiber, is when we get power outages, the fiber keeps on ticking (doesn't need power like traditional cable to keep going). The modem,router and computer need power, but is solvable with a genny.
I cancelled TV in spring, as I don't watch TV over summer...I was going to get it in fall, then I discovered movie and sport streams for free...as in I can pretty much get anything, for free. (Reddit). I have never watched so many movies in the past month, as I have, since I was punk working in a video store...lol


----------



## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

I'd have to make sure but I doubt they'd supply a non-wifi router. It wouldn't be of a lot of use to most people. (?) 

I did read something on their website about their modems having a battery backup built in. Kind of a cool feature, not sure how long it'll run without power. 

Yes, there is a LOT of stuff available to stream these days. There is only one program that my wife and I like to watch that I haven't been able to find streaming online, Jeopardy. And where we are, an outdoor antenna is generally useless in most places as there are no local stations. Closest would probably be Knoxville but that's probably 50 or 60 miles and some mountain ridges in between. Saw a place for sale that had an antenna way up on a tower, not sure how well that worked as I never got to talk to the owner. Most TV here is either online or satellite if you don't want to pay for cable.


----------



## melli (May 7, 2016)

How many gigs can you download each month? Is there a limit? 
I'm on the pauper plan (cheapest)...200GB max/mth
Good for a few movies each night...surfing uses nothing in terms of data.


----------



## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

melli said:


> How many gigs can you download each month? Is there a limit?
> I'm on the pauper plan (cheapest)...200GB max/mth
> Good for a few movies each night...surfing uses nothing in terms of data.


No limit that I'm aware of.


----------



## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Get the most bandwidth you can afford, though I doubt you are going to need 50-100. The point is, you should more than save enough money by not subscribing to sat/cable and their inflated pricing and excessive taxes/fees/surcharges/contracts to pay for decent bandwidth.


----------



## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

GTX63 said:


> Get the most bandwidth you can afford, though I doubt you are going to need 50-100. The point is, you should more than save enough money by not subscribing to sat/cable and their inflated pricing and excessive taxes/fees/surcharges/contracts to pay for decent bandwidth.


That actually brings up another question I wondered about, and that is how much bandwidth is enough?

As far as quantity, I don't think I'll come close to using enough that they'll have a care in the world. But as for speed, I plan on basic internet kinds of stuff most of the time with the uploading and downloading of the occasional 1M to 100M file for work, plus a couple hours of HD streaming video a day, not all day every day, we just don't watch that much TV. And mostly, it's one person at a time, meaning if I'm uploading or downloading a huge file, I'm not streaming video or if I'm streaming video, I'm not doing any big uploads or downloads. I don't do any gaming and have no desire to do any.

Honestly, I had thought of starting at one of the lower levels and see how that works before bumping up if I feel like I need to.

As far as cable or standard satellite, no. I don't need 300 channels of nothing to watch for $89/mo. I may make an attempt at seeing if I can get anything on a standard TV antenna. It's kind of a long shot and probably won't work, but I have the antenna sitting in a storage unit. Even if it's only 2 or 3 channels, that would be something sorta local. I also have a Free To Air satellite dish that I may pull out and see what's still available up there. It's been several years now so I don't know if there's much or not. Used to be some religious stuff, a couple of news channels, and a couple of others like RTV that I could get for free, legitimately. Won't cost much to find out. 

Ya know, I'm gonna have enough to do with projects around the place and gardens to get going that I may not want to spend as much time in front of a computer or TV screen as I give credit for. We're making a move and starting a whole new chapter of our lives. Maybe we'd be just as well to leave more of this stuff behind...


----------



## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Here is what I do, and others will chime in behind me. We only have 6 mb download speed and we still have two teenage boys at home. I bought a 1.6 mg plan from a provider for $18.99 per month no contract. He is a heavy gamer and it actually works pretty well for him to have his own dedicated service. Our family plan is $45 per month for the 6 mb. We watch tv thru an app called
Playstation Vue. $39.99 no other add on costs and we get the same channels, actually more, than we did with either dish or directv, without the home shopping, informercials and useless karp. And, normally there are only a couple commercials during the breaks. Vue also gave us the local affiliates so we can keep up on the weather and happenings.
I work at home so I am online uploading and downloading docs and files from time to time and my wife is a heavy facebook and social media user. We have few if any issues. I'd love to have more bandwidth but we manage with what we have.
My point being pay more for bandwidth than cable if you can get it. Bandwidth is the engine, what you use it for is just the shell.


----------



## Steve_S (Feb 25, 2015)

Bellyman said:


> Considering things like thunder storms that go rambling through, power surges from it going off and coming back on multiple times a year, that kind of thing,


First, I would say buy your own router with WIFI capabilities (I doubt they come without nowadays) and really apply KISS... Keep it simple and buy a NetGear brand device, it will even update it's own firmware and they have built in firewalls too.

NEXT and more importantly in REF to the Quote Above... Go out and get a UPS for your modem, router, computer & screen.... They filter & condition the power (spikes & brownout protection) and keep things running if / when there is a power blink. They are not expensive and far better than using a Surge Bar / Power Bar which offer zero real protection to your electronics.

I have a CyberPower model identical to this one and it's been an absolutely godsend.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9515643&CatId=234

BTW: TigerDirect also has many routers for under $50, Linksys, netgear, TP-Link and others.


----------



## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

That's the first I've heard of Playstation Vue. And it's a pretty nice lineup of channels on the Access plan. I like that it has some local channels available for our zip code, and probably the ones we would want if we were picking them. Will have to keep that in mind as we explore options. Thanks!


----------



## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Steve_S said:


> First, I would say buy your own router with WIFI capabilities (I doubt they come without nowadays) and really apply KISS... Keep it simple and buy a NetGear brand device, it will even update it's own firmware and they have built in firewalls too.
> 
> NEXT and more importantly in REF to the Quote Above... Go out and get a UPS for your modem, router, computer & screen.... They filter & condition the power (spikes & brownout protection) and keep things running if / when there is a power blink. They are not expensive and far better than using a Surge Bar / Power Bar which offer zero real protection to your electronics.
> 
> ...


Good thoughts! Thanks!


----------



## TroyT (Jun 24, 2008)

If you know what you are doing and can trouble shoot your own network issues, buy your own router. If you don't think you can manage a firewall and setup your own network, consider leasing the router if they will set it up for you. 

I know someone who works for the local phone company and they will not trouble shoot hardware that is not theirs. One of the largest issues they encounter is configuring the firewall ports. By default most routers will do not open ports for VPN, Xbox etc. Some routers do come with profiles to do just that, some do not. 

The up side to owning your own router is that you have total control over it. For example, if you have kids, you can configure some router/firewalls to turn off your kids internet access at say 9:00pm, or block sites you don't want your kids visiting.


----------



## melli (May 7, 2016)

Last month I got a warning (reminder) from my provider I had reached 75% of my allowable download for the month (150GB). 
Rather odd, as supposedly there was no limit...I'd look to make sure you do have unlimited data. I then investigated...supposedly, 200GB/mth = unlimited...lol


----------



## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

TroyT said:


> If you know what you are doing and can trouble shoot your own network issues, buy your own router. If you don't think you can manage a firewall and setup your own network, consider leasing the router if they will set it up for you.
> 
> I know someone who works for the local phone company and they will not trouble shoot hardware that is not theirs. One of the largest issues they encounter is configuring the firewall ports. By default most routers will do not open ports for VPN, Xbox etc. Some routers do come with profiles to do just that, some do not.
> 
> The up side to owning your own router is that you have total control over it. For example, if you have kids, you can configure some router/firewalls to turn off your kids internet access at say 9:00pm, or block sites you don't want your kids visiting.


I tend to understate my abilities. I've been around the back side of numerous routers' software. And from what I'm hearing, there hasn't been a whole lot of change over the past few years that I couldn't get up to speed on pretty easily.

I'm gonna try out what I have and see if that won't do everything I need it to. If I need more, I'll look into getting something a little newer or more capable. I don't see any reason to rent the router at this point, especially finding out how cheap a fairly decent one can be. I had gotten wrapped up in which ones are the "best" and of course, the "best" ones are several hundred dollars. It's a lot like reading websites that talk about which computers are "best". They'll all be high end gaming computers before the end of the article.


----------



## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

melli said:


> Last month I got a warning (reminder) from my provider I had reached 75% of my allowable download for the month (150GB).
> Rather odd, as supposedly there was no limit...I'd look to make sure you do have unlimited data. I then investigated...supposedly, 200GB/mth = unlimited...lol


I'll definitely have to ask about limits. It does seem odd that there would be a limit so low that a user could blow through their entire month's worth of data in less than 15 minutes. 

Actually, 150 to 200 GB of data would be way, way more than we're accustomed to using so I suspect we'll start out pretty conservatively. I'll still check, though.


----------



## melli (May 7, 2016)

Bellyman said:


> I'll definitely have to ask about limits. It does seem odd that there would be a limit so low that a user could blow through their entire month's worth of data in less than 15 minutes.
> 
> Actually, 150 to 200 GB of data would be way, way more than we're accustomed to using so I suspect we'll start out pretty conservatively. I'll still check, though.


Yeah, I thought so too, but since everything was 'free', I was letting sports channels (NFL Sunday) run all day, even if not watching...then 2-3 movies every night...
Didn't take long to approach the limit (BTW ~24 days to reach 150GB).


----------



## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

Renting anything in general is usually not a good idea. Cable modems are no exception, keep in mind if you do buy do your research all modems are not created equal. Also right now there is glut of modems on the market because many of the cable providers are upgrading systems forcing people to new modems. Make sure what you buy will work. Figure new a quality modem is $100. thats about 2 years of rent.


----------



## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Gary in ohio said:


> Renting anything in general is usually not a good idea. Cable modems are no exception, keep in mind if you do buy do your research all modems are not created equal. Also right now there is glut of modems on the market because many of the cable providers are upgrading systems forcing people to new modems. Make sure what you buy will work. Figure new a quality modem is $100. thats about 2 years of rent.


Thanks, Gary. In this case, I don't know if I actually need a modem at all. Since it's fiber optic, I'm not sure if I am going to actually be getting an Optical Network Terminal instead. Still not planning to rent a router, though, as I have several older ones that ought to work just fine. We'll see...


----------

