Verizon does this for their FIOS service... at least they did back when I got it like 4 years ago. It's not free though, but they sorta' have to as it's got a port thingy you need for FIOS TV. As U-verse is pretty much the same I figure they do this too.
I may have found the problem. It looks like my wifi adapter had it's own profile settings that may have been messing with the Windows settings. Setting the router to WPA/WPA2 got me online but wasn't really a fix. I changed the adapter settings and should know by tomorrow if it works.
Well sometimes the cable modem you get is trash and a person can get a better connection with a private one. Using the providers wireless equipment seems a little weird to me. The would be able to see and log any internal networking you do because they would own it.