Avoid ISP Routers (2024)

Oh, absolutely. Even on just that last issue of cost, buying my own cable-modem paid for itself long ago, compared to the "rental" cost from my ISP.

On that note, it's better to buy a router separately from the modem. All-in-one devices are harder to diagnose and you can't reuse the router with a different connection type.

Not too many Fiber-PON routers out there that we can drop Linux OS into.

The part about a cockroach colony is a bit unfair.

Insects love electronics, with the heat and noise they generate. And when electronics sit in storage for a long time, the critters can crawl in from neighboring items.

This is just as likely to happen with a non-ISP router.

Ok, in all fairness I don’t have any stats to back up that claim. But nobody else does either.

That open source router you love so much may have been sitting in storage even longer.

I have mixed feelings about ISP routers, and ISPs in general.

But insect infestation is a serious issue in consumer electronics and has nothing to do with ISPs.

My ISP sent over a Fritz!box (though they offered a "bring your own" option as well). It came preconfigured for my ISP.

I turned off remote access and TR-069 through a toggle in the settings, then changed the admin password. Really, that's all you need to do to take control of one of these routers.

There are good reasons to dislike the AVM routers, but their software is actually pretty solid in terms of customisation and network security. It's not a bad device, and the large scales ISPs can order them at they can be had for a significant discount as a rental compared to buying your own in a store.

I have my own, because the idea of paying $5/month at the time seemed silly. It does seem like more and more, ISPs are trying to make it harder to bring your own modem, which feels like a cash grab.

Even 10 years ago with Comcast I’d have to call them and challenge their gaslighting to get it working. The model I had was listed on their website, but they would tell me it wasn’t supported. About once a year they would kill it and I had to call to get it working again, where they would again tell me it wasn’t supported, but with persistence on my part, they’d eventually register it and get it working again. I haven’t had as many issue with this recently with Comcast, but I figure it’s only a matter of time.