michael here and today how to stop paying internet equipment fees 14 a month 168 a year that's how
much xfinity internet customers are paying to rent a gateway but you can put that money back in your
pocket if you buy your own modem and router and it is a lot easier than you think flashback to 2018.
in one of my first videos here on youtube i shared how i replaced my xfinity equipment
with a motorola modem and router combo that cost less than 100 bucks i've spent the past few days
researching the best options and if you're thinking about buying your own equipment in 2022
or beyond i'm going to show you exactly how to do it let's get started if you have xfinity this
gateway probably looks familiar it's the one they send to everyone but from xfinity's website you
can find the my device info page when logged into your account you'll see your current equipment
and a long list of supported devices that you could buy instead of renting take a look here i
selected a 600 megabits per second download speed more on that later and then you see 45 results are
displayed so when you're used to using whatever device your internet provider offers you how are
you supposed to choose between one of 45 devices well i found a good place to start this here is jd
power's 2021 rankings of the best wireless router brands you see here that asus ranks number one
for overall customer satisfaction tp-link is second and eris comes in third now that's followed
by motorola and fourth the brand that i chose back in 2018 based on price and customer reviews
further down below the industry average you see linksys and netgear look at all the factors on the
screen right now this is what jd power's report measured in order of importance and the rankings
were based on responses from more than 1200 owners of wireless routers so with those rankings in mind
i went back to xfinity's website and i took a closer look at the 45 compatible devices
for a 600 megabits per second download speed now that's a higher speed than you may currently have
or ever need but i chose it for a reason look here xfinity's website says choose equipment compatible
with your plan's current speed or higher to get the most out of your internet service
so my thinking with the 600 megabits per second is that if you're buying new equipment
right now you're going to want to future proof it so that it lasts for years to come let's continue
next i want to walk you through a free resource that i created and i spent hours and hours on
this it's this spreadsheet with xfinity approved equipment there are actually two spreadsheets here
one is for gateways which are modem and router combos and the other is for modems only for the
purpose of this video i'm going to focus on the spreadsheet with the wi-fi gateways and i really
like these gateways because they combine your modem and router in one device otherwise you have
to purchase a modem and router separately back to the spreadsheet for the xfinity approved gateways
and you can see that i've grouped the equipment by brands they're listed in the order of the jd
power rankings that i just showed you each list starts with the equipment that can handle the
fastest download speeds that explains why devices toward the top are more expensive
but remember all of the devices on my spreadsheet handle up to megabits per second very fast
the prices listed are regular prices from amazon.com as of this recording date some of
this equipment is much cheaper when it's on sale i'll drop a link to the spreadsheet down below
in the description but i also created something else for you to help you compare prices in real
time let's check it out here is an amazon shop page for gateways and it includes all the devices
from the spreadsheet the benefit here is that you can see the current pricing including sale pricing
watch here when you hover over a picture you can see the name and model number for each device
for example this aeres modem router combo is only about 150 bucks and you may recall eris was one of
the above average brands from the jd power study now after you click through to the product page
you can learn more about the features and scroll down to read reviews from customers
and one thing i want to point out here most of these listings will say xfinity approved device
front and center but it doesn't hurt to log into your xfinity account and use the my device info
page to just double check that it's compatible before you make a purchase because that list on
xfinity's website is bound to change over time the bottom line is that for a one-time cost of
around 150 dollars you can buy your own modem and router combo and say goodbye to xfinity's
monthly fees think about it this way the price of the errors gateway that i just showed you
is less than one year of your current rental fees from xfinity but 150 bucks is still a lot of money
though you may be wondering if you really need a device that is best for 600 megabits per second
or more when your internet plan speed is only 100 or 300 megabits per second remember i use
the 600 megabits per second filter so you can buy a new gateway today and not have to buy one for a
few more years but if you're on a tight budget there are cheaper gateways available and i want
to show you a couple options now for example the motorola gateway that i bought back in 2018 it's
still for sale and compatible with xfinity plans up to 100 megabits per second as of this recording
and the price has dropped a little bit over the years it's now 80 another affordable option is
the motorola mg 7540 for 130 bucks this one is on xfinity's list for plans up to 300 megabits per
second and it gets good reviews from xfinity users on amazon.com links are down below purchasing your
own gateway is a great way to save but it is not for everyone if you're planning to move soon and
don't know if xfinity is the internet provider in your new location think twice you may not be able
to use your new gateway with another provider while conducting research for this video i was
surprised to learn that some internet service providers include equipment free of charge and
others charge a fee and insist that you use their equipment another big exception is for xfinity
customers who are heavy data users xfinity's gateway is fourteen dollars a month as of this
recording but for eleven dollars more you can get unlimited data so for twenty five dollars a month
that's your gateway and unlimited data for comparison's sake if you own your equipment with
xfinity and need unlimited data that's going to cost you an extra 30 a month now keep in mind most
people don't go anywhere near their data limit check out xfinity's website here's everything you
can do with the 1.2 terabytes included in most plans you should know if you're a heavy data
user likely you've received alerts that you're nearing your data limit or you've had to pay
overage charges in the past now if you decide to buy your own equipment the next step is to install
it i've only been through this process once with that motorola device that i showed earlier
as i said in my original video it was a fairly simple process and took about 15 minutes start
to finish most of that time by the way was on the phone with xfinity so they can make some changes
on their end and after your new device is up and running remember to return your rented equipment
because that's the only way they're going to stop charging you for it thanks for watching