[Peter]’s folks’ cable company is terrible – such a surprise for a cable TV provider – and the digital part of their cable subscription will only work with the company’s cable boxes.

In the same way that upgrading to one of the best Wi-Fi routers does, purchasing your own cable modem means that you will no longer have to pay equipment rental fees to your internet service provider.

Internet access from the cable TV companies. The coaxial cable coming into the home or building is split into one line for the cable modem and another line for the TV set-top box. See cable modem.