Here's something to think about: how many people renting their routers can actually afford the initial $100 plus that buying your own router costs? Given just how little people have in savings (what is it, like the average american can't afford an emergency over $500?) it's likely the $5 or $10 a month charge on your bill is more manageable at the start than shopping and spending the money on the router.

Of course, the added charge is more than the upfront cost of the router and we should be making it easier and cheaper for people to access the internet, but this is more me musing about the upfront cost.

And this doesn't even get into companies just charging anyway or not even allowing third party routers on their network.