How to Stop Paying Xfinity Internet Equipment Fees Forever - YouTube

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