alt Hacker NewsHmm. That misses the broader reality.
What you're missing, is that you are allowed to use your own modem. You can purchase an Arris Surfboard, and use that.
They still have control of that modem, but can gather no downstream data. That the devices are not distributed by Comcast personally is not relevant to you being able to do this.
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I did that, and then a few years later they no longer supported that version. I gave up and used the provided modem.... guess I could put it in a faraday cage to prevent the WiFi from being enabled...
The people who do this will be a vanishingly small minority. It's not as easy to set up one's own modem as it is their own router, IME. And even then, going with your own router is rare.
Your described option is not the broader reality.
Most people use the hardware that is provided with the service by default. Last time I checked, there's not even an additional rental fee.
Why an Arris Surfboard specifically? Just checked their website and the ratings are not good?
Edit: thanks for the downvote! The few I clicked on their website have weak ratings but they are rated much better on Amazon.
You can’t get top speed or unlimited data with your own modem.