"Need help on buying a cable modem"

I've been using cable internet service by ATT. I just realized that they're making a lot of money on cable modem rental ( 10$ / a month ). Is there any compatible cable modems out there that i can buy and not paying modem rental to ATT?. Is there is, which one is the best one? How much? and where is it sold at?
Thanks a million guys,
Anthony

Ok, there are so many different types of Cables Modems out there lets see what I could come up with. COMPUSA sells Toshiba Cable Modems for around $299, I heard those Cable Modems are up there in the really fast category. Or you can go to Compuplus has the Motorola SB4100 Cable Modems for around $107 go to "http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?id=273";, even though people claim that they are not as fast as the Toshiba but it is very reliable, is compatible with almost every Operating System, or OS, and it is the first Cable Modem to be Microsoft Certified. You can also get the Terayon Cable Modems which are superb. The only problem is they are not for retail so you have to check your Cable Company, which is AT&T, to see if they have them. go to "http://www.terayon.com";/ to find out more. But there are allot more out there.

I am a beginner in the high speed internet arena.

I would like to buy my modem, and I guess, an ethernet card for less drop-off BEFORE I negotiate my local companies for the best price.

Will ALL cable modems service the same, no matter what company I go with...or are there different parameters that say, Comcast will need that Earthlink won't??

Just a beginner...don't shoot me for not knowing.

You want to call your cable modem company to find out if a particular modem works on their network. Some firmwares are not installed in their servers for you to lock in on a signal with just any cable modem. As far as paying a company to lease a cable modem compaired to buying it yourself. Pros are that you dont have to pay that extra $10/month to the cable company. Cons is that once it has a problem and the modem dies you are stuck fronting the bill to get a new one. Once you go cable there is no turning back. So its up to you if you want to go out and buy or your own or lease it for $10/month.

Erik

'If you see someone without a smile, Give them one of yours'.

Cable modems work on internet service provided by a local cable company-usually only 1 company in your area. If you have 2 , thats better than 99% of the country. DSL modems work over your telephone line -It can be provided by your local phone company or another provider. You must be within 18000 ft of your telephone central office and be avaible in that central office. DO NOT buy a modem till you know if and what kind of service is aval.

The only thing you want to remember is to make sure you buy DOCSIS cable modem, even if a proprietary one is available at a lesser price. DOCSIS is a standard in the Cable Industry created by CableLabs. One of the features is if you move, the cable will work wherever you go, providing you are in a cable HSD footprint. Also, new features coming will be suported by this standard. The functioning version is outlined at the cable labs site and a list of vendors can be found at http://www.cablemodem.com/FAQs.html#FAQ5

Go to http://www.cablemodem.com/FAQs.html#FAQ5 to find CableLabs certified vendors fo the DOCSIS standard cable modems