Every modem rental fee you pay to your ISP is padding for their bottom line, and a total rip-off for you. Fortunately, you can buy your own modem for a relatively small upfront cost, and knock a few bucks off your monthly bill.
There used to be a general consensus that Motorola’s SB6141 was the best modem for most cable internet subscribers, but the newer SB6183 is supports double the maximum download speeds (686mbps), which is important for future-proofing purposes, if nothing else. We’ve seen refurbs on this model in the $50-$60 range, but $40's an all-time low.