[TriLUG] TWC raises modem rental - again

[Steve Litt]

On Wed, 24 Dec 2014 11:21:27 -0500
Glenn Hennessee <glenn.hennessee at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Dec 23, 2014 at 6:50 PM, Steve Litt
> <slitt at troubleshooters.com> wrote:
> > On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 18:49:47 -0500
> > Bill Farrow <bill at arrowsreach.com> wrote:
> >
> >> TWC is raising their modem rental again. Soon it is going to cost
> >> you $8/mo.
> >>
> >> I purchased my own modem in Oct 2013 when the rental was $6/mo. I
> >> got a Motorola SurfBoard SB6141 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem for $86.99.
> >> At that rate, it would take 14 months to pay it off, and I am
> >> almost done.
> >>
> >> My recommendation is to buy your own, and at the new rate it will
> >> only take 11 months to recoup your purchase.
> >>
> >> Bill
> >
> > But...
> >
> > The first time you have a problem, any problem, with TWC, the minute
> > they find out you have your own modem, they'll just blame it on that
> > rather than fixing their faulty wiring or overburdened segments.
> >
> > SteveT
> >
> > Steve Litt                *  http://www.troubleshooters.com/
> > Troubleshooting Training  *  Human Performance

> So you wouldn't recommend buying a modem?

I wouldn't make a recommendation for anybody, but I didn't buy any of
Costco's modems, because:

A) Once anything in the system doesn't belong to Brighthouse (our
equvalent of TWC), they will stop troubleshooting and summarily blame
it on the part that doesn't belong to them.

B) It's not like you can simply swap in a known good modem for
troubleshooting. You need to call Brighthouse and register your modem.

So even if I had two purchased modems (not all that expensive,
considering the service I'm getting), it wouldn't help much in
troubleshooting. So, when they can't find the root cause remotely, I
can guess it's the modem, drive down to Americana avenue, swap the
modem for the same model Brighthouse modem at which time they register
it, go home, and see if it changes the symptom.

Because Brighthouse "come to your house" service is a time vampire. 

SteveT

Steve Litt                *  http://www.troubleshooters.com/
Troubleshooting Training  *  Human Performance