XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-10, comp.mobile.android, misc.phone.mobile.iphone   
   From: marianjones@helpfulpeople.com   
      
   Carlos E.R. wrote:   
   > It is not a rental here. We can buy a router, the monthly fee doesn't   
   > change a cent.   
      
   Hi Carlos,   
      
   I need to be clear. I never said what you apparently thought I said.   
   It's not the "router", per se, that people rent out here.   
   It's the modem.   
      
   Sure, they "can" rent a router (or a router/modem combo) out here too.   
   But most here rent the "modem" & then buy their own router (AFAIK).   
      
   > The advantage is (probably) a more feature rich router   
   > and more control. The disadvantage is that you have to work out the   
   > configuration, which is a pain (AFAIK they don't publish it), and that   
   > if something breaks you have no support. They'll help, sure, depending   
   > on who you manage to talk with, but no support.   
      
   Thank you for that point of view. I disagree but I'm technical.   
      
   So I know that the modem *must* be set up by the cable company.   
   But not the router.   
      
   I have no problem setting up a router. And most people I know are similar.   
   But I'm in the Silicon Valley surrounds, where everyone is well educated.   
      
   I would never recommend renting a router given they're so cheap and you can   
   always get a better router than the cost of renting one forever out here.   
      
   Stores are filled with routers out here.   
   Modems are harder to find, but Costco/Amazon sells them.   
    <>   
      
   And setting up a modem is trivial.   
    1. You buy it & plug the coax cable into the back & power it up.   
    2. Then you call the cable company who sets it up over the coax   
      
   > When I was on ADSL I had their router, but I bought my own.   
      
   As far as I recall, when I was on ISDN, the phone company managed the ISDN   
   terminal adapter for ISDN, which is a DSL modem for ADSL.   
      
   Telecom providers often call these devices Customer Premises Equipment   
   (CPE). If it combines modem + router + Wi-Fi, it's often marketed as a   
   gateway or home hub. But it's the "same thing" as what we're discussing.   
      
   > The   
   > configuration was simpler back then, but the router had a wizard: I just   
   > told it what Telco it was, and it configured itself. I have not seen   
   > this feature announced with fibre.   
      
   In general, in the USA, the company selling you the service sets up their   
   devices over the air (for my WISP) or over the telephone lines (for   
   ISDN/ASDL) or over the coax (for cable) or over the fiber (for fiber).   
      
   They generally set up what we might collectively refer to as "the modem".   
   But we generally set up what we call the 'router'.   
      
   They can't set up the router the way you want it to be set up.   
   Only you can do that.   
      
   Hell, I flash DD-WRT on my routers. They would never do that.   
   But I won't disagree that some people don't set up their own routers.   
      
   However, as you noted, a "wizard" often pops up when you first boot up a   
   router on the Internet and it asks you questions as to how you want it.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)