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Free Cable Modem From The Shack

Posted by timothy on from the howard-countians-count-your-blessings dept.

Linuxathome writes: "I spent over $100 recently at a local Radio Shack (Columbia, Md.) and they gave me a free RCA cable modem with no strings attached (at least, to the best of my knowledge). Actually, it wasn't quite free, I still had to pay the 5% tax on it. Comcast has some deal with the Shack to push as much hardware as possible in hopes that the consumer will order the cable broadband service. At least I won't have to rent the equipment. I wonder how Comcast can actually make money this way? Especially since the Shack consumer has absolutely no obligation to buy the service. They can't even guarantee the buyer lives in an area where Comcast is providing service. Time to figure if this bad boy acts nice with a linux router." Soon we will be buried in "free" hardware and AOL CDs. Has anyone else encountered this giveaway? Is there any use more clever than signing up for cable Internet service? (And can you examine data which passes through it without violating an implied agreement? ;) )

36 of 163 comments (clear)

  1. The REAL Deal by FKell · · Score: 5
    We noticed this about 2 weeks ago over at Anandtech.

    Here is the REAL Deal. The way it is suppose to work is if you purchase $100 worth of stuff at Radio Shack, they will give you a cable modem free with a 1 year subscription to Comcast Cable Modem service. Now supposedly it is under the constraint that you purchase a 1 year subscription at Radio Shack, but it seems that no one informed Radio Shack that this is how it works. Instead 90% of the Radio Shacks are just giving you the mode free with the purchase of $100.

    Origionally a lot of us (meaning Anandteckers), assumed that the management never told the workers at Radio Shack how things work with this deal, but after seeing how widespread this was, the new concensus is that Management goofed. There is a copy of the ACTUAL deal/promo floating around on the net somewhere, but I don't remember offhand and really don't feal like looking it up right now (hey its Christmas weekend).

    Good luck to all those who get in on this, like I mentioned its about a 90% chance that you will not have to sign into a 1 year deal. If they ask you to, just go to the other Radio Shack that's 2 miles down the road :)

    1. Re:The REAL Deal by XO · · Score: 2

      Hey, I've done some quick researching into this deal. Here's the deal. If you buy a cable modem in the areas where this is opened (this is just happening in a few test markets), right now, they are giving you a $100 gift certificate. Therefore, they use this $100 gift certificate to buy the stuff you purchased for $100. Effectively, as you all sum it up, a free cable modem for purchasing $100.

      It apparently does -NOT- require that you sign up for the service - the modem is effectively useless without having the cable service.
      I did this same gig in my market (detroit) with a gift certificate promotion on some older cell phones i needed to get rid of - free phone with 60 minutes prepaid service, all you had to do was spend $50. It's really quite a nice deal.
      RadioShack is not all bad. In fact, it's mostly good. Maybe it's because most of you guys aren't in my area, or what not, but I train my people the right way. So :-P

      --
      "Champagne for my real friends - and real pain for my sham friends!" http://ericblade.postalboard.com/
    2. Re:The REAL Deal by alhaz · · Score: 2

      Nah, the cable modem is technically "on loan" to you and can only legally be used with Windows95 or 98. Oh, and all your packets will be routed through a logging facility, for market analysis. :)

      --
      This is just like television, only you can see much further.
  2. Re:Radio Shack == Funny by XO · · Score: 2

    Klowner, we rehashed the Satellite access for about 500 comments worth about 3 weeks ago right here on Slashdot. If you search for the articles that I posted on it, it's got most all the details you could ever want. Click on me and email me if you want to talk specifics.

    Hey, that -IS- one example. At least, probably of the brand of canned corn this guy tried with his Cue Cat. It's incredible difficult to sell something to someone (even if it's free) if they can't see a use for it. Actually, come to think of it, I've used mine a few times to avoid having to use a search engine to search for recipes!! It works pretty well for stuff like that. :-)
    I do love having the satellite hookup at the store, and having a customer come in and ask about the CueCat, and I ask them if they have anything in their pockets with a barcode on it. Like a pack of cigarettes, or bubblegum, or whatnot. Page loads instantly. Customer's jaw drops, if they've never seen anything faster than 56k.
    It's beautiful :)

    --
    "Champagne for my real friends - and real pain for my sham friends!" http://ericblade.postalboard.com/
  3. same deal at the wiz by phoem · · Score: 2

    cablevision is offering the same deal at the wiz, spend $100 and get hte modem free, but i believ you have to pay the $29.95 montly fee

  4. CueCat by gurnb · · Score: 3

    Is there a CueCat attached to it?

    --
    "This must be a Thursday, I never could get the hang of Thursdays."
  5. connecting them together by Skapare · · Score: 2

    What else would be needed to make 2 or more of these modems talk to each other (besides some 75 ohm coax and F connectors)?

    --
    now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
    1. Re:connecting them together by Southpaw · · Score: 2

      Unfortunately, you can't just hook up 2 cablemodems together and expect them to talk. You also need to get a broadband router with a cable module, and they're not exactly cheap. Basically, when a cable modem comes on line it needs to search for a forward and return carrier, then download its configuration settings through the cable connection.

    2. Re:connecting them together by buhr · · Score: 3

      The only other thing you need is a cable company.

      The problem is two-fold. First, these modems are broadband devices that transmit and receive at different sets of frequencies. The downstream signal is transmitted from the cable head-end and received by the modem at relatively high frequencies (above 550MHz, up past most analog broadcast channels). However, the modems transmit at relatively low frequencies (down at 5-42MHz, below the analog broadcast channels). Worse yet, the modems use different modulation techniques for transmitting and receiving. Even if modem 2 could "hear" what modem 1 was transmitting spectrum-wise, it couldn't understand it anyway.

      Second, the modems rely very heavily on control software at the cable head-end. This software, in addition to doing the usual high-level configuration like authenticating users and assigning IP addresses, also does low-level configuration, like telling a cable modem what channel it should transmit on, what time slot it can transmit in, and so on.

      The bottom line is that the technology was cleverly and carefully developed to make the client technology as cheap and simple as possible. All the intelligence and complexity is in the head-end.

      Getting two cable modems to talk without the cable company is exactly like getting two cell phones to talk without the phone company.

  6. I'm getting screwed. by Bad_CRC · · Score: 2
    I'm still paying over 10 bucks a month to "rent" my cable modem, as I have been for more than 3 years now.

    There are no other options I'm aware of with @home in my area.

    Anyone have any information on this? I'd sure like to knock a bit off the $50 a month I'm paying for cable modem service.

    ________

  7. Re:RE it like cuecat! If you get 2, can u link the by scumdamn · · Score: 2

    That wouldn't be the way to go at all. Buy the Linksys WPC11 wireless cards. They're only $150 if you have a laptop and $150 + $49 for the PCI carrier if you have a desktop. 802.11B is the future, son. It's a nice fast network and not too costly either. (By the way, the carrier doesn't work in Linux yet, but they're working on the drivers.)

  8. Re:Cablevision Does the Same thing!!! by generic-man · · Score: 2

    At The Wiz, you have to commit to two years of Optimum Online service AND spend $100 on other stuff to get the cable modem for free. This modem is supposedly "no strings attached," which means that you could potentially sell it for less than the Wiz is charging to someone in the New York area.

    Of course, knowing Cablevision's mindset on cable ("no access for you!") they would probably shut this down in a heartbeat. It took a lot of coaxing to make them let me set up my cable modem with Linux last year, when they were only doing in-home installs.

    --
    For more information, click here.
  9. Just say no to owning your hardware, free or not. by swillden · · Score: 3

    Here's another perspective:

    I've had DSL service from two different providers. With one of them, I owned the DSL modem and with the other (my current provider) I lease the hardware, and I'm much happier with leasing.

    The reason is that this DSL stuff isn't 100% reliable, at least in my area, and it really sucks to call tech support just to have them tell you that everything looks fine on their end and so the problem must be your hardware and would you please just call them back when you've replaced your modem. And yes, they'd be more than happy to transfer you to their warranty replacement department. What? Your modem is more than 90 days old? Well, in that case they'd be happy to transfer you to sales.

    Nope, I much prefer my new provider because they own and are responsible for the whole shootin' match, right up to the ethernet cable that plugs into my router. If anything goes wrong, they send someone out to fix it. Or at least they say that's what they'll do, because there's never been a problem.

    --
    Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
  10. Re:Other 'Free' Cable Modems by CritterNYC · · Score: 2

    Actually, some of the 'cable modem booster' registry tweaks do make a difference... at least they did under Windows 98SE on my box. I did the tweaks listed at speedguide.net in their Cable and DSL Tweaks section and was able to get a 30% increase in throughput. (based on actual tests) Most noticable at 3am... but hey, I'm on then alot.

    --
    Portable versions of Firefox, GIMP, LibreOffice, etc
  11. Re:aol by generic-man · · Score: 2

    Today in Newsday, New York's local cable provider (Optimum Online) ran a full-page ad in which it proclaimed that its cable modems would make AOL run faster. Imagine that -- using AOL as a selling point, catering to the uneducated masses who think that AOL _is_ the Internet. Of course, in the small print, they mention that AOL will still cost you at least $9.95 per month, and that Cablevision doesn't manage AOL. Of course, that combination of brilliant marketing will mean that there are now two points of failure for Joe Home User connecting to AOL, not to mention a lot of Cablevision billing reps flooded with calls from users wondering why their AOL now costs more than twice as much as it used to.

    --
    For more information, click here.
  12. Re:almost never go into radio shack by Trevor+Goodchild · · Score: 5

    Nothing says "High Fidelity" like Realistic. True audiophiles like myself are always shopping at The Shack to purchase the latest in equalizers and DSP devices to provide the warmth that you can't get anymore now that everything has gone digital. It is absolutely absurd to go out and buy some stripped down box for $1,500 when you can have all the latest in 5 channel simulated theatre and multiple hall settings.

    I've got this friend who spent close to 2 G's on some Nadcomm thing that he was all proud of. I went over to his house to check the thing out and he pops the cover with a flourish. I take a look and... there isn't a damn thing in it! Couple tiny boards and like three freaking wires connecting it all together! Compare this to my Optimus reciever (yeah, it's a bit snooty for my tastes, too) which is so packed with electronic goodness that you couldn't squeeze a paper clip into the thing and only cost me $299!

    Anyway, I hide my skepticism and tell him to fire it up. Guess what? He can't because the freakin' thing doesn't have an amplifier and the one he wants is out of stock! Two thousand dollars and it doesn't even fucking do anything!

    So the next week I went back to The Shack and bought a project box, a coupla RCA plugs, some A/B toggles, and a dual gang pot. I throw it all together and show my friend my sweet contraption that does the same thing as his but not only cost less than $100, it doesn't even need to be plugged in! I figure he'd feel like a fool and take his box back for a refund, but he just looked at me and shook his head like I was some kind of moron. I just don't get it...

  13. 5% of $0 is..... $0.00! by Sebby · · Score: 2
    if you paid more than nothing in taxes, then you got screwed! *grin*

    I guess you could always ask the government for the tax refund :)

    --

    AC comments get piped to /dev/null
    1. Re:5% of $0 is..... $0.00! by DrEldarion · · Score: 2

      5% sales tax? I hate you. Ours is 8.25% -- Dr. Eldarion --

  14. Re:reminds me by British · · Score: 2

    I remember reading a few stories of people hooking up DSL equipment to their lines without subscribing for it(borrowed/ebayed a DSL modem, and what not), and suddenly finding other people in Network Neighborhood.

    Anyone got more detail on it? This was like 3 years ago.

    I wonder if the same thing will happen with these freebie modems.

  15. Break out the soldering station! by BigBlockMopar · · Score: 3

    Soon we will be buried in "free" hardware and AOL CDs.

    At least you can use free hardware for door stoppers, expensive-looking paperweights, and - if you can throw together a Van Der Graff generator with a couple of stainless steel bowls and a very big rubber band - graphic demonstrations to your boss of why he shouldn't carry unbagged DIMMs across the office carpets on dry winter days.

    After you've done your static demonstration, perhaps all the little status LEDs on the unit will blink even without cable or UTP connections. Then, your little expensive-looking paperweight has been bestowed with LBL-factor.

    ("LBL" = "Little Blinking Light", (c)1993 Lawrence Wade.)

    LBL-Factor is, of course, incredibly useful; it keeps people from playing with all the techical-looking stuff on your desk, and it makes one appear smarter than the combined calculating ability of the collection of neurons in one's cranium. This increases your worth to your employer because your projects are no longer interrupted by upstart 23-year-old mechanical engineers who think that they're computer literate and therefore touch the pile of hardware scattered all over your desk, as well as making your boss feel that he's getting a better deal for your services than he actually is. (This, of course, means that he's basically resigned to the fact that he's gonna have to give you a big fat raise soon.)

    Thus far, these potential benefits have been tested and demonstrated with an old Anderson-Jacobsen 2400 baud leased-line modem; all this is undoubtedly possible from a little cable modem, especially if it has a cryptic brand name prominently displayed on the front of the case (as cable modems around here tend to have).

    Is there any use more clever than signing up for cable Internet service?

    See above.

    If you can get a couple of these, with a little creative hacking (and a good reflow soldering system) you might be able to make a long-distance coax network bridge.

    Then, you could hit the ARRL's website, grab the schematics for a good 2kW RF linear amplifer and plans for a nice efficient antenna, and give yourself wireless networkability... and big FCC fines. :)

    (And can you examine data which passes through it without violating an implied agreement? ;) )

    Sure! Plug it into your computer, toss it at a cable connection, install the drivers and a packet sniffer, and watch the entire contents of your hard disk being updated to the cable company for "market research" purposes.

    <sigh>

    It's probably unhealthy that I become more paranoid when I'm tired.

    --
    Fire and Meat. Yummy.
  16. Re:monopoly COMCAST WINS and consumers lose by SlashGeek · · Score: 2
    You are forgetting a few things here:

    1) ALL cable companies have protected terratories, no other company can attempt to compete in an existing service area with the existing cable co.

    2) Almost all cable internet service is actually RoadRunner or AT&T, and they sell internet access to the cable co's, and maintain the networks as well. The cable co's do little else than put their name on it and advertise it.

    So yes, Comcast may very well be a monopoly, but they are protected. This was done originally to protect the investment of the cable co's many years ago when they were running all the wire, etc. That was the only way that (they claim) they could insure a return on their investment. Wish I had that insurance for any business I start, but I digress...

    DSL, as you however, can go two different ways. I currently have Verizon (JUNK!) but I have only one other ISP offering DSL in my area. The other ISP, however, only resells Verizon service. Some DSL providers have co-located servers at the telco and do not depend on the local telco's network. This is probably the better situation, especially if your local telco is Verizon. Unlike the telco, they most likely won't also be a monopoly so good service is the only thing that will keep their customers. I will probably get a cable modem when it becomes available in my area, but either way, you are getting Time Warner or AT&T in the end. Ever wonder why the cable co so reluctant to offer service or tech support? It's pretty much a loss leader for them to keep people off of satelite, they make very little money at all on cable internet service.

    --

    --I assume full responsibility for my actions, except the ones that are someone else's fault.

  17. Other 'Free' Cable Modems by CritterNYC · · Score: 2

    Lots of places have been giving you the hardware free... or leasing it free with a free setup. I got RCN Cable Modem service a year ago. It was free setup, free leased modem, $40 a month, no contract, when I signed up. Granted there were a couple months that were hell as they grew their network, but things seem to be running smoothly now. I'm guessing that they've probably set the cable modem up so that it will only work with their network.

    By the way, I very much agree with the other posts here that prefer leased hardware over owned hardware. I'm on my 3rd cable modem (the Hybrid modems are kinda flakey). Each time I've had major problems, it was traced to a flakey modem. Swapouts aren't too painful. Buying a new modem is.

    Kinda Offtopic Note: Oh yeah... and if you're using a cable modem, make sure all your cable lines are clean (no staples or nails through em) and that all your splitters give less of a signal loss to the cable modem side of the wire. The better the signal, the better your performance.

    --
    Portable versions of Firefox, GIMP, LibreOffice, etc
  18. Re:Count your blessings !! by Barbarian · · Score: 2

    Well, I don't live in the US, but I do have cable. I live in Austria, and there are other cable services in the UK (I believe), Sweden, etc. So you're over-generalizing a bit, it's not *just* the US ...


    UK, Sweden, Canada, Nederlands, Australia...

  19. dhcp hostname setting by Barbarian · · Score: 2

    On a RedHat 7.0 style system (also 6.2 IIRC), set the DHCP_HOSTNAME variable in the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-INTERFACE file to the desired hostname. In Windows you set the computers name to the desired hostname, also you may want to enable DNS and set the correct hostname and domain as well. For example, hostname "c780677-a", domain "[cityname]1.[2letterstateabbrev].home.com". Also set the workgroup to "@HOME".

    Is that DHCP_HOSTNAME a documented setting? I never could find that myself and added it manually to /sbin/ifup.

    On Debian (which I use now for my cable router), it's in /etc/network/interfaces, FYI for anyone interested.

  20. RCA Cable Modems work fine with... by Speare · · Score: 5

    My RCA Digital Cablemodem works fine with:

    Single machine (win9x, winNT, win2k, linux), or

    Linux as NAT router to hub, or

    Win2k with WinRoute as NAT router to hub, or

    Dedicated linux-based VPN-tunneling NAT router to switch.

    I'm sure other schemes will do just fine for you.

    --
    [ .sig file not found ]
  21. @Home cable modem by Ergo2000 · · Score: 2

    I haven't had to pay for my @Home cable modem since getting the service 2 years ago. Right at the start they offered the cable modem with a "free rental" and every bill stated "Cable modem : Limited free rental ($10 reg)" yet this continues to go on.

  22. Re:Count your blessings !! by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 2

    I suspect cable is cheaper here; i pay $26.90 (in american dollars) / month.

    It's about the same here - I pay $29/mo.

  23. High speed connections & free equipment by Masem · · Score: 3
    Many cable ISPs and DSL providers are going the way of waving the equipment fee, assuming that the cost is easily adsorbed by the monthly fee. My telocity connection, for example, only incurred a $25 overnight shipping charge for their modem, with a reported cost of equipment and installation being around $250. Of course, the equipment is 'leased' in this case, but it's probably similar for other cases as well.

    Of course, being from Radio Shack, I'd be very wary in the first place.

    --
    "Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
    "I can see my house from here!" - ST:
  24. DSL by tiefling · · Score: 2

    When I signed up for DSL from Verizon they gave me the DSL modem and the ethernet card for free* that is you get the modem for free so long as you stay with them for a year...which is still a good deal

  25. aol by KevinMS · · Score: 2


    Does anybody know if dsl/cable is worrying AOL? I cant help but wonder that if dsl/cable became huge, if everybody traded up in bandwidth, in the next few years would AOL be toast?

    --
    Sneakemail is to spam filters what an ounce of prevention is to a pound of cure.
    1. Re:aol by QuoteMstr · · Score: 2

      Yes, it was, which is why it and time warner merged/are merging.

  26. Re:Just say no to owning your hardware, free or no by Croaker · · Score: 2

    Yeah, when I was getting my cable modem, I looked into how much the price was with leasing and with buying it outright. Hands down, leasing is better. Considering my father has gone through three cable modems in the last three years he's had the service, owning your own hardware is just going to end up costing you a lot more, even if you keep the cable service (or DSL, or whatever) long enough to pay off the initial investment and start seeing savings.

  27. Radio Shack == Funny by Klowner · · Score: 2

    I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere with a 26400 dialup and I hate it.

    I went into Radio Shack a couple months ago and asked about their MSN Broadband with the small dish. The guy there told me it was only available in St.Louis. I promptly asked how satellite(sp?)access could be limited to a single state when its up in space. He said "OH, I thought you meant DSL."

    I also asked what a CueCat was (I already knew about them, I just wanted one without getting funny looks). The guy explained it for about 5 minutes. "YOU GOT CANNED CORN? you Put this ON the can of corn, and you can SEE, what you can MAKE, with CANNED CORN!"

    ah I love radio shack :)

    1. Re:Radio Shack == Funny by geekoid · · Score: 2

      You got questions, we got blank stares -- RadioShack

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  28. Re:connecting them together - why? by Andre060 · · Score: 2

    Is there really a point to doing this? Just get yourself some network cards with some copper or fiber cable - you'll get alot further and it'll cost you alot less...

  29. Sell it on ebay by blogan · · Score: 2

    A search on ebay reveals that RCA cable modems are all going for over a hundred. Sure, some of them have no bids right now, but who knows. You could also try other auctions sites if Ebay is flooded with them. Spend a hundred on electronics and get a modem that you sell for a hundred. Math looks good to me :)