Router Rental Fees

The statute

Federal law already bans rent on a router you own

This is the rare consumer complaint with a short statute behind it. 47 U.S.C. 562(c) says a provider of a covered service or fixed broadband internet access service may not charge a consumer for using covered equipment provided by the consumer¹. Buy your own router, and the rental line has no legal basis.

The same subsection covers the other common version of the problem. A provider may not charge for renting, leasing or otherwise providing covered equipment if the provider has not provided the equipment to the consumer, or if the consumer has returned it, except for the period running from when the provider handed the equipment over to when the consumer returned it¹.

Covered equipment is defined in the statute itself, and the definition names the device: equipment, such as a router, employed on the premises of a person to provide a covered service or to provide fixed broadband internet access service¹. This has applied since June 2020, six months after the law was enacted on 20 December 2019¹.

Six things the law and the label give you here

Two separate federal requirements work together: one caps what you can be charged, the other makes the charge visible in advance.

Your own equipment cannot be rented to you

The prohibition is stated directly. A provider of a covered service or fixed broadband internet access service may not charge a consumer for using covered equipment provided by the consumer¹. There is no negotiation to have and no retention offer to accept. The charge is not permitted in the first place.

Returned gear stops the meter

A provider may not charge for equipment the consumer has returned, except to the extent the charge relates to the period beginning when the provider provided the equipment and ending when the consumer returned it¹. Keep the return receipt and the date. The date is what the exception turns on.

Equipment you never received cannot be billed

The same subsection bars charging for renting or leasing covered equipment where the provider has not provided the equipment to the consumer at all¹. This is the line that answers a rental charge appearing on an account that was self-installed with gear the customer bought at retail.

It covers internet, not only television

The wording reaches both. The prohibition applies to a provider of a covered service or fixed broadband internet access service, and the definition of covered equipment likewise names equipment used to provide a covered service or to provide fixed broadband internet access service¹. Your internet-only account is inside the statute.

The rental fee has to be on the label

Providers must list all recurring monthly fees, meaning charges they impose at their own discretion, and the FCC's order names fees for the rental or leasing of modem and other network connection equipment among them². That label must be displayed at the point of sale for every stand-alone plan³.

Buying gear from them is a separate line

One-time charges get their own section. The Additional Charges and Terms block must carry the name and cost of each one-time fee assessed at sign-up, and the order lists a charge for purchasing a modem, gateway or router as an example². Purchase and rental are different rows for a reason.

Rent for a router you ownNot permitted, 47 U.S.C. 562(c)

Published rental fee amountsNone obtainable for this guide

What does it cost?

The honest answer on the monthly amount is that we could not find one. No dollar figure for a modem, gateway or router rental was obtainable from any provider page for this guide, so we are not going to print a typical fee. What is obtainable is the mechanism: the FCC requires each provider to disclose its own equipment rental fee in the recurring monthly fee block of its label², your bill must itemize equipment fees separately from the charge for the service itself¹, and the statute sets the amount at zero for gear you supplied¹.

Two providers publish something adjacent that is easy to misread. Comcast announced Xfinity plans starting at $55 a month that include WiFi equipment and unlimited data, with no annual contract required, in a press release dated 15 April 2025⁴. Ziply Fiber advertised internet plus WiFi equipment for as little as $35 a month when read on 6 August 2026⁵. Those are equipment included in a plan price, which is a different fact from a published rental rate. Verizon's stated $99 setup, read 7 August 2026, is a one-time charge, not equipment rent⁶.

The statute and label requirements come from federal law and FCC rules, the plan figures are two providers' own published prices on the dates shown, and no equipment rental amount is quoted because none could be sourced.

Hiring

How to get the rental fee off your bill

1

Who does the work

You do, and it is mostly paperwork. Buy a router that works on your provider's network, install it, return the provider's unit and keep dated proof of the return. The statute does the rest: it bars charging for covered equipment the consumer supplied, and bars charging beyond the date the consumer returned the provider's equipment¹. Nobody at the provider is required to volunteer this.

2

What pros will ask

Whether you want their gateway or your own, and how you plan to install. Expect a compatibility question, since the equipment has to work on their network. Expect a bundled-equipment pitch, because some plans fold the hardware into the headline price the way Comcast and Ziply Fiber describe theirs⁴⁵. Ask what the recurring equipment line is either way.

3

What to check before signing

Read the recurring monthly fee block of the label and find the equipment line, which providers are required to list among their discretionary monthly charges². Then read the one-time fee block for any modem, gateway or router purchase charge². Confirm what happens to the equipment charge if you supply your own, and get the return address and deadline in writing.

Equipment fee questions, answered straight

Can my provider charge me rent for a router I bought myself?

No. 47 U.S.C. 562(c) states that a provider of a covered service or fixed broadband internet access service may not charge a consumer for using covered equipment provided by the consumer¹. Covered equipment is defined in the same section as equipment, such as a router, employed on the premises of a person to provide a covered service or to provide fixed broadband internet access service¹. That is a statute in force, not a negotiating position, and it applies to internet-only accounts.

I returned their equipment and I am still being billed. What now?

The statute addresses this exact situation. A provider may not charge for renting, leasing or otherwise providing covered equipment where the consumer has returned the equipment, except to the extent the charge relates to the period beginning on the date the provider provided the equipment and ending on the date the consumer returned it¹. So the charge is allowed for the window you actually held the gear, and not after. Your dated return receipt is the whole argument.

How much do providers charge to rent a modem?

No published figure could be sourced for this guide, so we are not printing one. The route to your own answer is the label: providers must list all recurring monthly fees they impose at their discretion, and the FCC specifically names fees for the rental or leasing of modem and other network connection equipment as fees that must appear². Pull the label for the plan you are considering and read the recurring fee block.

When did this become law?

It applies from June 2020. The effective date note on 47 U.S.C. 562 states that the section, as added by the Television Viewer Protection Act, applies beginning on the date that is six months after enactment, which was 20 December 2019¹. So any equipment rent charged on customer-owned gear since mid-2020 has been outside what the statute permits. The rule has simply gone underused rather than being new.

Where does the equipment charge show up on my bill?

It has to be broken out. For a covered service, the bill must include an itemized statement separating the amount charged for the service itself from all related taxes, administrative fees, equipment fees or other charges¹. Before you sign, the same information belongs on the broadband label, where recurring equipment rental sits in the monthly fee block and any hardware purchase sits under one-time charges²³.

Sources

Where these facts came from

Every figure on this page was read out of the page linked below. We do not cite cost aggregators.

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