Why is it so difficult to buy a cable modem?

What the hell are you talking about? There's tons of cable modems for sale out there.

Click here:

From: "Alasdair"

| I have internet service provided by Virgin Media which took over NTL, | my previous provider. It provides the internet by way of a cable | modem. My cable modem failed last week so I tried to buy another one | from Maplins and PC World but they didn't sell them. I was stuck | without internet while Virgin Media sent me one out in the post after | several days. | | Can someone tell me why it isn't possible to buy these modems since, | if I had ordinary ADSL service provided over my phone line, I could | buy a big selection of modems. | | It seems most odd to me in the age of the free market that Virgin has | a monopoly of supply of the modems. |

Not true. Since there are many standards for DSL, you cant just buy a COTS xDSL Modem and believe all models will work with your provider. However, DOCSIS is different and there are many Cable Modems out there.

Ah, but that's in the US! Things are different here in the UK.

Don't you have electronic stores similar to Radio Shack, Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, Fry's, etc. ? Or do you have them, but they just don't carry modems ? Not to mention online stores.

I think you could even buy a Euro-DOCSIS modem here. Once you know what models are supported by your ISP, just do an internet search or check eBay out.

Here's an ebay example:

You guys still get taxed for owning a TV???