We continually invest in providing customers with next-generation equipment and technology that delivers advanced voice and Internet services with enhanced capabilities. Our costs for this new equipment will increase by 167% over the next two years. As a result, we will increase modem equipment charges by $2.

If you have voice with them, I don't see how they can charge you to rent the modem since it's a required part of the service you're paying for. Just like the cost of the first STB is included in digital cable.

Voice/data Equipment 09/08 - 10/07 3.00

In my case, my cable modem box serves both internet and Comcast Voice, so I think I'm stuck

Remember, with Comcast everything is negotiable

It isn't every company that inspires such a passionate public response: "Comcast must die!" wrote one dissatisified customer on the aptly named ComcastMustDie.com. "Comcast is evil and Satan's firstborn child," opined another via a blog of The Boston Herald.

What has people so eager to weigh in? Well, it could be the Comcast (CMCSK) service blackouts. Or its sometimes questionable billing practices (such as an auto-payment option that helpfully charges your account in perpetuity). Or the Comcast cable boxes that occasionally tune into QVC during a crisis, instead of the Emergency Broadcast System. Or the repairman who infamously fell asleep in a customer's home.

But people keep signing up for its services, even if it fills them with maniacal rage -- because they have no choice. In many markets, Comcast is the only game in town -- which doesn't do much to endear it to its customers.

Read more about the company so many love to hate -- and what it has to say about its customer service gripes.