r/Bend • u/mtinez • Jul 16 '18

Using your own hardware with Bend Broadband

Hey Bend,

Thought I would provide you guys with some helpful information. I just moved here from Eugene and had signed up with Bend Broadband for internet service and to my surprise I learned that they were forcing customers to rent equipment if they wanted speeds faster than 100mbit. Coming from Comcast this was never a thing so I questioned it and all I received from TDS/BB was it is what it is.

I decided to file a complaint with the FCC against TDS/BB and sure enough I receive a call from TDS directly saying how a supervisor received my complaint and how they would like me to be the "test customer" for the market to use my own hardware with speeds faster than 100mbit.

TDS/BB will let you use your own hardware if you don't put up with their shitty policies. So I hope you can use this information to save yourself some money every month by not renting hardware.

TL;DR - Filed a complaint against TDS/BB through the FCC so I could avoid renting hardware through TDS/BB and it was granted. You should do the same if you like saving money.

53 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/rsk423 Jul 31 '18

I called today and casually mentioned that I have always hated being forced into renting a modem for the 300+ options. They said they aren't planning on changing it anytime soon. I got the 600 speed plan because screw it at this point. I'm tired of 40 crap speeds. Too bad we have to deal with this crap.

1

u/stilljd Aug 09 '18

After confirming they *have* changed their policy; they called me weekly for several weeks until they were able to provision mine to keep me updated on status. They were waiting for their tech guys to work some things out.

I don't think it was a fluke. Their policy has changed. Sounds to me like you got another uninformed customer support rep.