http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r21985410 en Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:43:24 EDT Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:43:24 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21985410 chlorophyl : I apologize if this is not the best forum for this, and I will not continue on with this item but wanted to start posting this here so that others are aware of this issue.

Cable Modem manufacturers are utilizing practices that restrict your ability as a consumer to choose. ALL, I said ALL of the major manufacturers of DOCSIS 3 cable modems will only sell exclusively with multisystem system operators (MSO’s) aka your “cable company” and cut out consumers. So far I have found that NETGEAR, MOTOROLA, CISCO (Scientific-Atlanta) and SMC all have DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem equipment available, but are only selling exclusively to MSO’s. I know this because I’ve called all of them and asked them! Some of these companies have gotten angry and upset that I’ve asked them about this question.

These new modems have been out for some time (Cisco has had theirs out since at least March 2008) and you still cannot buy one. Various MSO’s such as Comcast and Time Warner and they won’t sell them to you.

What does this mean to you as a consumer? If you want Internet service from your Cable Provider using one of the new DOCSIS 3 complaint modems you are required to "lease" the cable modem from them. It also means that if you decide you want to buy a cable modem of your own you are forced to buy an older model that will not last as long as the new complaint modems.

Does this seem like it is not right to you? There is something you can do about this and make a change in this practice. Go to the Federal Trade Commission and register a complaint about this. Let them know that we as consumers won’t stand for this type of price fixing.

»https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21985410 Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:26:06 EDT