Comcast in Maryland sets the default to being a router with a firewall and secure wifi enabled. Given typical users, I like that approach. (Of course, every router also ships with a comcast wifi link that allows any comcast subscriber to use your router as a hotspot. Don't like that so much.)

A quick phone call can convert the router to a dumb pass-through modem; if you know how to ask, they reprogram it for you, no questions asked.

-jk