You're wasting money if you use a modem from your cable company ' here's a cheap replacement

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.We've said it before, but it always bears repeating: There's a good chance you're throwing money away if you rent a cable modem from your internet service provider. If you can replace it with one of your own, make the switch ' over time, all the monthly fees you forgo will help your new modem pay for itself.The Arris SurfBoard SB6141 tends to be the consensus pick among potential replacements ' it's the most popular of its kind on Amazon, and it has been recommended by reviewers at The Wirecutter, Lifehacker, and Tom's Guide. It supports the (current) most common DOCSIS 3.0 standard, it allows for speeds that should be more than fast enough for most people, and, by all accounts, it's reliable.As of this writing, Amazon has a refurbished model of the SB6141 down to $30.That'sthe lowest it's been on the site, and lowenough to let the device (likely) pay itself off in less than a year. And while it's not a brand new model (those go for $70), being refurbished shouldn't result in much, if any, performance difference.Per usual, the SB6141 won't work with every ISP ' Verizon is the notable absentee ' but it covers most of the major players, including Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, and Charter. There were also reports last month that the SB6141 was subject to attacks causing it to involuntarily reboot, but as The Wirecutter notes, Arris has started rectifying the flaw, and fixing it yourself doesn't take more than a quick update to your router's configuration page.In any case, if you haven't made the move yet, this is a good time to start putting some cable money back in your pocket. Arris/Motorola SurfBoard SB6141 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem (Certified Refurbished), $29.99, available at Amazon.This article was originally published on 5/17/2016.SEE ALSO:Why you should take advantage of this widely ignored part of Amazon to save moneyREAD THIS:50 must-have tech accessories under $50DON'T MISS:I've written about a lot of great tech, but these are the gadgets I use every dayJoin the conversation about this story
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