Buying a router/modem vs leasing ?

Leasing:
Con: cost
Pro: If you have problems, you contact service provider instead of having to buy a new one and set it up or deal with troubleshooting on your own (since most won't help much if you bought a 3rd party product)

Buying:
Pro: cheaper, you have more control over the device
Con: See the pro from leasing.

I have been buying my own modem for years. I have had to replace it about three times since their life span is about 5 years. I never had a problem setting up the new one and once it is setup, you just kind of forget about it. You save a lot of money with buying one since they run less than $100. I haven't had any issues with the ones I've bought (Motorola).

We bought ours, a dual router with farther reaching signal, for $125ish I think. We did buy it from our provider so they will service it as well and they broke it up in two payments on our service bill. They are also our cable provider.

Comcast are a bunch of See You Next Tuesdays. They pulled that crap on us. However we had Cox previously and they required you buy a modem and router so we already had one.  That modem and router are now going on 6+ years and we've never had a problem and saved tons of money on leasing. 
Also to note, we have used the same Cox purchased modem and router with Comcast and TWC with no issues through 3 states and 3 cable companies.

We've always bought routers and modems. We prefer it over leasing b/c of the $ savings.

Time Warner has always been less than helpful when it comes to servicing their own equipment (before we cut off cable TV, they were really crappy about DVR and other equipment issues).

We've always bought our own, but my DH is an IT guy, so I am sure it never even crossed his mind to rent one. I know it never crossed mine. DH is firmly in charge of all of that kind of thing here, so I have no idea what's even involved. Of everything electronic/computerish works when I use it, then I'm happy. And it does, so I am. 

I am, however, typically the one in charge of doling out funds for things, so the cost of the routers mustn't be enough to make me balk, because I don't recall ever getting myself worked up over buying a new one.   Save

We lease but ours has died 3 times in 6 years here -- twice due to lightning strikes...and yes, we have surge protectors so we think it is coming through the phone lines. Although it was a hassle to replace this last one (on hold way too long and had to drive 1 hour each way to exchange it), I agree that them servicing it is better in the long run for us.