Charter no longer allowing BYO modem?

Man-of-Leisure · 2025-07-05T21:10:37+00:00

In high-split upgraded areas, it looks like Charter is no longer allowing you to bring your own modem. The option to use your own equipment disappears from the website in high-split areas, and there’s a note saying you’re required to use their modem. Doesn’t this violate the FCC rule which requires them to allow you to use your own modem? Comcast allows you to bring your own 3.0 or 3.1 modem in 4.0 upgraded areas, you just won’t get the faster speeds.

MacLeech

toolman1990 It looks like Charter Communications is up to their old behavior again that got them in trouble with the FCC in the past.

How? There are no retail high-split modems currently approved for Charter, so none will work on Charter’s high split tiers. You want the FCC to punish Charter for retail modems that are not available?

Charter has also previously had to pay lawsuit fines over allowing modems that couldn’t get full speeds on higher tiers of service.
https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/18/18146210/charter-spectrum-174-million-settlement-new-york-state-attorney-general-internet-speeds
https://www.syracuse.com/business/2020/02/spectrum-to-pay-188-million-over-slow-internet-speeds-in-california.html

So they have to allow customer purchased modems, but they can’t allow slow modems on speed tiers they can’t handle. Now you can see why they don’t allow retail modems not approved for high-split on Charter to subscribe to high-split tiers.

toolman1990

MacLeech Spectrum does not have an option for BYOD cable modem in high split markets. Spectrum can just disable symmetrical speeds on BYOD modems and inform the customer of this at checkout.

MacLeech

toolman1990 Not all options are available on their website, such as low income plans or old speeds in high-split areas. If you want old speeds with your own modem, contact them, same as you would need to do for low income plans.

The FCC never required them or others to have all possible options available to order on their website, and they haven’t been sued for it as far as I can remember.

Man-of-Leisure

CommunityMember The FCC does not require an operator to offer legacy plans to new customers.

But they do require them to allow customers to bring their own modems, which they don’t in high-split areas.

CommunityMember if they do not offer legacy HSI tiers

Literally the only difference is the upload speed lol

Comcast does this without any issue at all. If you’re in a mid-split or 4.0 area but you have a 3.0 modem, they just provision your modem at 35Mb upload. Download speed is the same.

CommunityMember No government agency requires a company to market and/or sell everything to everyone on their website

The FCC requires them to allow customers to bring their own modems. If you can’t any more, that’s a violation.

They’ve been investigated and fined nearly $1 million for doing exactly this before.

MacLeech They’ll do it because they have to, but they’ll make it a major pain in the ass to get done.

Another person above just told me that they’ll refuse, and the option in their system to activate a customer-owned modem is completely gone in high-split areas, even if you call in.

We’ll see what the FCC has to say about it.

They’ve already been fined for doing exactly this before. I’m surprised they’re trying it again.

Comcast has no issue supporting customer-owned modems in mid-split and 4.0 areas. The option is right there on their website when you sign up.

MacLeech Why would want to use your own modem that doesn’t support higher upload speeds when Charter provides one for free and you get full upload speeds? Just can’t bear to part with that SB6190 you’ve been holding on to?

It doesn’t really matter why. The FCC requires them to allow it, so they need to allow it unless the FCC wants to waive or remove that requirement.

Charter also blocks the signal stats pages on their modems.

And because I bought a perfectly good modem that still works fine, so why throw it away? As long as they continue running some 3.0 channels, it will continue to work.

There’s still some people on Comcast with 2.0 modems lol, or there was as of a few years ago at least.

MacLeech So they have to allow customer purchased modems, but they can’t allow slow modems on speed tiers they can’t handle.

So they can provision the low-split modems at 35Mb up, like Comcast does.

MacLeech

Man-of-Leisure They’ve been investigated and fined nearly $1 million for doing exactly this before.

Actually they were fined $640 thousand for not allowing customer owned modems along with reporting requirement for a number of years, on the other hand they were sued for over $300 MILLION for allowing slow modems on higher speed tiers, that’s 468 times more. You could see why they don’t want slow modems on higher speed tiers.

Contact them if you want your slow modem in a high-split area. You’ll find it difficult to get done, but it’ll happen.

Man-of-Leisure And because I bought a perfectly good modem that still works fine, so why throw it away?

Perfectly good is very questionable. That modem is out of date (it also has known issues that were never resolved which the makers were sued over) and isn’t support the speeds you’re paying for. Spectrum will give you a better modem with higher upload speeds at no cost to use with the service.

Man-of-Leisure

MacLeech Contact them if you want your slow modem in a high-split area. You’ll find it difficult to get done, but it’ll happen.

Again, someone else here confirmed that’s impossible. The ability is apparently gone in their system to activate customer-owned modems in high-split areas.

Charter’s website directly says it’s not allowed also.

Like I said, we’ll see what they and the FCC have to say. I also contacted their executives.

MacLeech

Man-of-Leisure Charter’s website directly says it’s not allowed also.

The website says, “You may use a modem you already own that is authorized to work on the Spectrum network… Customer-owned modems are only authorized for non-symmetrical speed tiers.” See the screenshot I previously posted.

You can’t get the symmetrical speeds they offer on their website, on low-split modems. Obviously, they still have a lot of low-split modems in their network in high-split areas, be it customer owned, in cable boxes, eMTAs, power supply monitoring, etc.

What you’re really asking them to do is sell low-speed tiers in their high-split areas on their website.

Man-of-Leisure

MacLeech You can’t get the symmetrical speeds they offer on their website, on low-split modems.

Comcast doesn’t differentiate like this.

Even in DOCSIS 4.0 areas, I can pick a symmetrical tier and the option to bring my own modem is still there on the website, even a 3.0 modem if I want.

There’s a disclaimer that it’s not supported by their customer service and I may get slower speeds, but they still allow it.

Man-of-Leisure

MacLeech What you’re really asking them to do is sell low-speed tiers in their high-split areas on their website.

It’s not really a different tier. The modem would just be provisioned at a slower upload speed, which is very simple for them to do automatically.

Comcast does it easily.

If I sign up for service in a 4.0 area and bring my 3.0 modem, they just provision me at 35Mb upload instead of 300Mb. Download speed is the same, pricing is the same.

MacLeech

Man-of-Leisure Comcast doesn’t differentiate like this.

That’s Comcast, not Spectrum. They don’t follow the same marketing playbook. For example, Comcast allows customer owned eMTAs and Charter never has.

Spectrum does NOT sell the lower speed tiers through their website, be it low upload tiers in high split areas or low income tiers. Contact Spectrum if you want them.

Man-of-Leisure

MacLeech That’s Comcast, not Spectrum.

The point is, it’s technically possible.

If they can do it, so can Spectrum.

We’ll see what they and the FCC have to say.

MacLeech Contact Spectrum if you want them.

Why are you so confident that will work?

Another person above said it doesn’t.

MacLeech

Man-of-Leisure Why are you so confident that will work?

Because it’s been Spectrum’s SOP, for the 25+ years I’ve been a customer, on non-standard services that 95%+ of customers don’t order.

Man-of-Leisure

MacLeech Because it’s been Spectrum’s SOP, for the 25+ years I’ve been a customer, on non-standard services that 95%+ of customers don’t order.

I think the FCC will care that the option to bring your own modem disappeared from the website, and Charter is obviously intentionally making it difficult if not impossible to bring your own.

I don’t care if they only offer a 100/20Mb tier for old modems, they’re still required to allow customer-owned modems.

And they haven’t announced any plans to shut off the 3.0 channels.

MacLeech

Man-of-Leisure I think the FCC will care that the option to bring your own modem disappeared from the website

IT’S STILL ON THEIR WEBSITE FOR PLANS CUSTOMER OWNED MODEMS WILL WORK ON!!!!

Where is the feigned outrage over the low income plans that are required but not able to be ordered on their website?

Man-of-Leisure

MacLeech The low income plans can be ordered on the website, if your address pre-qualifies for them. Otherwise you have to provide proof that you qualify for it.

The option to bring your own modem completely disappears from the website in high-split areas. The FCC will care about that, I bet.

Instead, they could just have a disclaimer “You won’t get symmetrical speeds with your own equipment”

Or even better, just have the website present you with the low-split tiers when you select to bring your own modem.

Charter is the only one who seems to have an issue with customers using their own modems, and they have a long history of doing this.

MacLeech

Man-of-Leisure The low income plans can be ordered on the website, if your address pre-qualifies for them

Find one. The pre-qualifications ended with ACP.

Man-of-Leisure Charter is the only one who seems to have an issue with customers using their own modems, and they have a long history of doing this.

For 2 years, 13 years ago, out of the last 25 is a long history?

What is so difficult about calling for non-standard plans they don’t sell on the website?

px_eliezer_

There are a lot of good points being raised here, but at this point this is the dictionary definition of going in circles. 😃

Man-of-Leisure

MacLeech Find one.

Random address in Rochester, NY

MacLeech For 2 years, 13 years ago, out of the last 25 is a long history?

They did the same thing with the 1Gb tier for years. They didn’t allow that tier on customer-owned modems for years, for no real reason at all.

Though that wasn’t an FCC violation, just another way for them to force people to use their equipment.

Man-of-Leisure

MacLeech What is so difficult about calling for non-standard plans they don’t sell on the website?

Because there’s no indication that they’ll let you even if you call lol

It doesn’t say that anywhere on their website, and another person here said that doesn’t work either.

MacLeech

Man-of-Leisure They did the same thing with the 1Gb tier for years. They didn’t allow that tier on customer-owned modems for years, for no real reason at all.

Other than there were no DOCSIS 3.1 modems qualified for use on Charter, similar to how Comcast didn’t have any Comcast mid-split modems qualified for over the first year of their mid-split upgrades. Similar to how Zoom filled an FCC complaint against Comcast for not allowing their modems on Comcast’s network. It takes time, money, and desire for vendors to get their modems through the COAM qualification programs. The programs that started after the lawsuits against not allowing customer owned modems on their networks.

I forgot about the recent Supreme Court decision on a NY ruling that forces providers to offer low income plans to every one.
https://www.highspeedinternet.com/resources/ny-affordable-broadband-law-takes-effect

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