Sonic.net

I'm one of "those people" who don't use the bundled phone service. I understand it's not going away, I have to pay the phone fee even if i never use it, etc.

But I also have to keep track of the ATA box that I didn't ask for and don't want. What I would like to do is *buy* the ATA, and put it in e-waste! Then I wouldn't need to track it down N years from now when I next upgrade. (I had some panicked moments when I couldn't find the ATA from my 2015 upgrade, and I would prefer to avoid that experience.)

Hi there,
I wanted to thank you for reaching out about the required ATA rental, and for giving us that feedback about the phone service. I apologize for the frustration that it has caused, and I know that this answer might not be what you were hoping to hear but the ATA is a required rental, and there is no way to purchase that equipment from us so that you can recycle it. I hope that there is a place in your house that you can keep the ATA in the box we sent it in so that you do not have to stress about misplacing for when you would need to return it in the future.
Thank you again for your feedback, and I hope you have a great day!
Tony Sonic Supervisor

I recently upgraded to fiber (via AT&T) and attempted to replace sonic's ATA box with an identical off-the-shelf one that cost me $30 and worked fine. I was told it was a required rental which just seems wrong to me. I can understand having to rent the AT&T modem (which is branded as an AT&T device) but the ATA is branded as Sonic and it is hard for me to believe that they are passing the money on to AT&T. So I am spending $6.50/month on a $30 item. It seems like a racket to me.

The rental is required, there is no technical reason for it.
I believe the fee includes the rental and the service in case sonic has to come to your service location.

I remember reading recently a deaf sonic member who did not have any need for a voice line but sonic did not let him return the
ATA.

With sonic fiber, the ATA is part of the ONT which is loaned, not rented and does not incur any rental fee.
The router is rented but one can opt-opt although sonic is strongly recommending members do rent it.

Reviving an old thread here. I just got my Sonic over AT&T installed and I will not be using the ATA either. I don’t want to buy it, I want to return it. Can I just return it without canceling service?

Call 611 and ask them.

They would know the current policy for over required rental when over AT&T.
If the device is required for the phone line, even if you don't use it, you may not be able to return it.

This is exactly why I’m not a Sonic customer. I know it’s only $6.50/month but that’s just a money sink.

Instead of looking at the $6.50, look at the big picture and check how what you are getting with Sonic compares with what you would be getting from another provider in terms of price and service provided.