Wi-Fi customers are happier when they buy their own modem and router, study finds

Between the rental fees and the mediocre hardware, the latest numbers from the American Customer Satisfaction Index suggest ISPs have some work to do.Most internet service providers offer their own modem and router hardware when you sign up for an internet plan, but it’s a very common piece of tech advice that you’re better off buying your own gear. For starters, doing so might allow you to skip an obnoxious equipment rental fee. What’s more, buying your own router will give you the chance to upgrade to something faster and easier to use, or to bring a meaningful upgrade like mesh or Wi-Fi 6 under your roof.

Now, that argument is getting some fresh support from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which surveys about 180,000 consumers each year about the products and services they use across dozens of industries and hundreds of companies. And the latest numbers on ISPs, released in early June… well, they aren’t great.

For the first time, the ACSI surveyed in-home Wi-Fi satisfaction this year, with a particular focus on how your experience differs when you use your own hardware as opposed to the default ISP hardware. The survey looked at a number of different metrics, with consumers ranking each one on a scale of 1-100, with 100 being totally satisfied. Score for score, the customers using their own hardware came out ahead.