No question is too small, but please be sure to read the rules and [posting guidelines](https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/comments/3hvyg0/rhomenetworking_posting_guidelines_and_helpful/) before asking for help. Probably fine from Amazon but I wouldn't bother with 3rd parties in person. I'm certainly going to be doing this when my contract is up since my bill has gone up 20%+ with the rental fee and other associated taxes/fees that come with it. But the minute you hear that they have upgraded to DOCSIS 3.1, call them and ask for a new DOCSIS 3.1 modem. You can contact the FCC. It is now referred to as an "equipment fee", not a "lease fee". But ill look into it more. Don't mess with old people. Cookies help us deliver our Services. Can anyone shed more light on this whether I can use a second-hand 5031NV to work for my Internet-only U-Verse service to avoid the $7 monthly equipment rental fee? But wondering if anything needs to be done on their end before I purchase. I remember when I had DSL before, I think I had to enter my user/password in the DSL modem's configuration, but that's not how U-Verse works. Looking at completed sales, there are lots of people still buying such modems even though we are 8+ months into the new policy. I understand that starting this year, AT&T doesn't offer the option of buying a modem from them anymore. All rights reserved. Because there's a sucker born every minute? I've bought a used modem in the past, through Amazon actually. The previous subscriber takes off with it, never pays their bill, and tries to resell it. *I am not an AT&T employee, and the views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. The TOS are air-tight. And if that worked, should I be able to return the replacement modem the technician gave me and get the $7 rental fee removed since I would be using my own equipment? Furthermore this policy is clearly bad for the environment, generating unnecessary E-waste by forcing customers to buy new. If you want to give it a try, feel free, I'm just giving you the best information I have. No question is too small, but please be sure to read the rules and [posting guidelines](https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/comments/3hvyg0/rhomenetworking_posting_guidelines_and_helpful/) before asking for help. Good questions. Anyways, after I swapped to use their gateway at my place, I found that it worked fine and I could access the Internet as usual. Buying a Used Modem. But wondering if anything … or if the modem is stolen from the ISP, and is supposed to be returned, you could be buying something that won't work. Went through an ordeal last night trying to get COX to link a used modem. I'd like to buy a used modem from eBay and I was wondering if there is a problem buying a used one from eBay if the seller shows pictures of the modem showing the Mac address of it … We also welcome product reviews, and pretty much anything else related to small networks. Archived. Hello! Under that old policy, if you were not an IPTV customer (or a high-bandwidth HSI only customer that needed one of the rental-only RG's), you purchased your modem and didn't pay a monthly equipment fee. Be careful buying a second hand modem. Your ISP just might refuse to link it on their end. HomeNetworking is a place where anyone can ask for help with their home or small office network. I was going to buy a used modem on craigslist since it is half the price of a new one. I've read prior posts where someone has stated that such used modems offerred for sale are stolen or weren't returned when they were supposed to be and would be black-listed from AT&T's network. I understand why they don't let you register an already registered modem, but annoying AF. I know that TV Receivers are specifically provisioned to accounts and cannot be moved between accounts. Now, any U-verse customer that starts service, or has his RG replaced, has to pay the $7 monthly equipment fee; purchasing an RG is no longer an option. Many cable ISPs won't activate a "used" modem from another account because they just assume it is stolen property. I wonder how does AT&T know what kind of gateway one is using for billing/audit purposes. The modem was bought new from amazon about a year ago by my parents. Thank you. You pay the equipment fee so that ATT will continue to recognize and provision the equipment you bought. New to the AT&T Community? I can tell you that the RVG589 I purchased through an Amazon.com third party ($60 delivered) was able to immediately work with my U-verse service. A little hassle, but all was well in the end. No provisioning and no black list. I also wonder what would happen if a U-Verse customer brought their gateway to a different address to use. They finally did take it down. Thanks for your response. If I buy a used 5031NV modem (off amazon/ebay/craigslist/friend/etc....), would I be able to just plug it in and use it for my Internet service? I now wonder if I should have not had the technician replace my modem and instead just replaced the modem myself with a used one. But this should not be the case for Internet-only modems like the 3600HGV or 5031NV that someone has paid for before. It seems there's no value in the second-hand market for used U-Verse modems with the new policy in place. Hi, I have a question about buying a used UVerse modem to use for my internet service. The modem was bought new from amazon about a year ago by my parents. The previous owners info came up when I plugged it in and my cable company tried to make me go through the splash page. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. .css-dixatk{color:#000000 !important;background-color:!important;}.css-dixatk:hover{color:#141414 !important;background-color:#f0f0f3 !important;}.css-dixatk:focus{color:#141414 !important;background-color:#f0f0f3 !important;}.css-1ay6ky1{line-height:50px !important;}Forums. That would be disappointing if there's no way to avoid the rental fee now even with a second-hand modem, but I guess that's just the policy and if one doesn't like it, they can always shop for a different service.