Is Century Link Dsl .7 Upload Good
In this article
- CenturyLink internet availability
- CenturyLink home net plans and prices
- Fiber speeds are fast, but DSL, non so much
- Other aspects of CenturyLink internet to know
- CenturyLink's customer satisfaction numbers
- The bottom line and FAQs
Bachelor in 37 states, CenturyLink Internet may be best known for its former Cost for Life bargain. Simply my starting time introduction to the company was in 2011 with CenturyLink Field, home of the NFL'due south Seattle Seahawks. I thought CenturyLink was a bank or maybe fifty-fifty an insurance company. It turns out it'southward i of the country's largest internet service providers, available to over 49 million customers across the country, co-ordinate to Federal Communications Commission data.
In September 2020, CenturyLink (and the stadium it sponsors) rebranded itself to Lumen Technologies. The CenturyLink brand however exists as the name of its internet service offering, though. If you lot live in the Northwest (and are perhaps one of the 12s, every bit Seahawks fans are lovingly called), or in any of the other states where CenturyLink is bachelor, information technology might be ane of your pinnacle home internet options.
Like
- Some of the most affordable cobweb plans you can observe with CenturyLink's Fiber cyberspace
- Unlimited data and no contracts required, so no worries about counterfoil fees or overage charges
Don't Like
- DSL speeds can vary wildly based on address and sometimes fall beneath what the FCC deems as "broadband"
- Overall plan selection is express based on your address
CenturyLink offers customers either a digital subscriber line or cobweb-optic internet service. Basis-laid fiber-optic cable is a lot faster than phone line-based DSL connections, and so your speeds will vary significantly depending on what'southward available at your address. Of the 37 states it services, CenturyLink provides its Fiber Internet to 25 of them, and so not all of its customers will take access to those faster speeds. If yous do, don't hesitate to dive in -- it'southward one of the most affordable cobweb plans you tin can detect across the country. But if DSL is your only option, y'all might discover your internet feel lacking.
CenturyLink home internet service is available in 37 states. The company tells CNET that fiber plans are available at roughly 50% of serviceable addresses.
FCC/MapboxTo start, here'southward where CenturyLink internet is available
Y'all tin observe CenturyLink home net service in 36 states beyond the US.
| Alabama | Kansas | New Mexico | Texas |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | Louisiana | N Carolina | Utah |
| Arizona | Michigan | N Dakota | Virginia |
| Colorado | Minnesota | Ohio | Washington |
| Florida | Mississippi | Oklahoma | Wisconsin |
| Georgia | Missouri | Oregon | Wyoming |
| Idaho | Montana | Pennsylvania | |
| Illinois | Nebraska | Due south Carolina | |
| Indiana | Nevada | Due south Dakota | |
| Iowa | New Jersey | Tennessee | |
According to a spokesperson for Lumen, "Fiber is currently bachelor in about 50% of our footprint, including Denver, Portland, Table salt Lake City, Seattle and Springfield, Missouri," with additional cities planned throughout 2022. That listing now also includes Las Vegas, Omaha, Orlando and Phoenix, amongst others.
CenturyLink dwelling net plans and prices
CenturyLink currently offers DSL internet plans, with speeds up to 140 megabits per second, or a 100% fiber network featuring two available plans. A Lumen spokesperson told CNET the company is continuing to invest and expand its fiber footprint, so it volition proceed to unveil its Fiber Cyberspace to new markets this year.
CenturyLink plans and pricing
| Programme | Max speeds | Monthly cost | Equipment fees | Data cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Just Unlimited xx | 20Mbps download, 2Mbps upload | $50 | $15 for modem/router rental (optional) | None |
| Simply Unlimited forty | 40Mbps download, 3Mbps upload | $50 | $15 for modem/router rental (optional) | None |
| Just Unlimited threescore | 60Mbps download, 5Mbps upload | $50 | $15 for modem/router rental (optional) | None |
| But Unlimited 80 | 80Mbps download, 10Mbps upload | $50 | $xv for modem/router rental (optional) | None |
| Simply Unlimited 100 | 100Mbps download, 12Mbps upload | $fifty | $fifteen for modem/router rental (optional) | None |
| Merely Unlimited 120 | 120Mbps download, 30Mbps upload | $fifty | $15 for modem/router rental (optional) | None |
| Simply Unlimited 140 | 140Mbps download, 40Mbps upload | $50 | $xv for modem/router rental (optional) | None |
| Fiber Internet 200 | 200Mbps download, 200Mbps upload | $50 | $15 for modem/router rental (optional) | None |
| Fiber Gigabit | 940Mbps download, 940Mbps upload | $65 | $xv for modem/router rental (optional) | None |
CenturyLink offers just a handful of the to a higher place plans for many of its available addresses. In a few areas, you may take only one pick. That'south unusual among ISPs, nigh of whom offer three to five different plan options at most addresses.
As to the value of the plans offered by CenturyLink, the boilerplate toll per Mbps for the DSL plans is $1, which is a highly competitive rate for that particular connection type. By comparison, the average price per Mbps of the DSL plans offered by AT&T, Frontier and Verizon is $2.44. I should note that I'm comparing the regular rates, not promo costs, because CenturyLink doesn't practice promo pricing. The price you get at the start is the price you'll have later on your first year.
Over on the cobweb side, the boilerplate cost per Mbps of the Fiber Gigabit plan is 7 cents, which is significantly less expensive than the cable gigabit offerings from Spectrum, Comcast and Cox (all between 12 and 14 cents) and the gigabit fiber plans from AT&T, Frontier and Verizon, which all hover around ix cents.
Information technology should be noted that as it currently stands, CenturyLink's cobweb plans are some of the best values you'll find on dwelling house internet.
Fiber speeds are fast, merely DSL, non then much
If the Fiber Internet plans are available in your area, CenturyLink's internet service is plenty fast. You lot'll detect symmetrical download and upload speeds, which means better performance for work (no glitchy Zoom calls or frozen FaceTime frames) and play (less lag during online gaming and no issues streaming Ozark in 4K).
That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that CenturyLink fiber isn't available at every address in the footprint. Service is only available via DSL in many regions, which lags well backside cobweb and cable in speeds and performance.
For example, if you lot head to the speed-testing website Ookla, you'll find a Speed Score metric that tracks the fastest ISPs based on a combination of download and upload speeds. Its most recent scores, taken during the fourth quarter of 2021, listing CenturyLink in sixth place behind Verizon, Xfinity, Cox, Spectrum and AT&T Net. That might not seem so bad, but consider that the five providers above information technology averaged a score of approximately 170. CenturyLink rang in with an average score of but 65.33.
The gap isn't quite so vast when you await at Ookla's Consistency Score, which is a way of looking at how frequently a provider delivers broadband speeds to its customers. While CenturyLink once again came in sixth place, it notched a 55.viii% score to the other five's average of 86%. Similarly, non stellar, but not as stark a difference as the previous comparison.
Lastly, according to the FCC'due south well-nigh recent Jan report on fixed broadband performance, roughly 40% of CenturyLink customers experienced download speeds greater than 95% of the advertised speed, while another forty% or so reported speeds that brutal betwixt 80 and 95% of the advertised number. That leaves over 20% of the customer base reporting speeds less than 80% as fast as advertised.
That'southward in harsh contrast to cablevision and fiber providers such as Cox, Mediacom, Verizon and Xfinity, for whom 93-99% of customers found their performance equal to or amend than 95% of the advertised download speed. To be fair, the FCC numbers merely tested CenturyLink DSL plans and none of the fiber plans, so the numbers are strongly skewed towards the lowest speed tiers that CenturyLink offers.
Other aspects of CenturyLink internet you need to know
To offer y'all its competitive prices and no-term agreements, CenturyLink does require monthly prepayment. Only this as well ways no credit checks. Here are a few more details to consider when evaluating CenturyLink's net service.
Additional monthly fees
Like many other ISPs -- including Spectrum, Verizon and Xfinity -- CenturyLink gives you the option to avert a modem or router rental by using your ain device. You lot can check the list of CenturyLink compatible devices, but if you decide to go with your ain gear, you won't be eligible for CenturyLink'due south complimentary 24/7 tech support.
Going with CenturyLink's equipment will add $15 a month to your bill. One thing to note from the pocket-sized impress -- the monthly equipment fee does not fall under the previous Price for Life deal, so it'southward possible that portion of your pecker could increment during your fourth dimension of service.
One-fourth dimension fees
While there's no charge for cocky-installation, not all addresses are eligible for that pick. If that's the case at your place, CenturyLink will charge $99 for professional person installation. In some instances, that fee may go upward to $125. Additionally, you can expect a ane-time broadband activation fee of $20 when you brainstorm service.
If you wanted to avert paying the additional monthly equipment fee, you could opt to buy the CenturyLink modem for a one-fourth dimension fee of up to $200.
Lastly, CenturyLink currently has an online offer for new gigabit customers -- free installation also as no charge for the CenturyLink modem. That'southward a solid value of $299.
No data caps on whatsoever plans
In previous years, CenturyLink reserved its unlimited data for DSL plans only. At present, as office of the rollout of its Fiber Cyberspace plans, CenturyLink includes unlimited data with all cobweb plans, likewise. That's a significant change and one that means you won't need to keep an centre on your information usage or worry virtually gobbling up too many gigabytes before your billing cycle is over.
CenturyLink's customer satisfaction numbers are middle of the road
Although CenturyLink saw a pregnant 7% increase in its 2020 American Client Satisfaction Index score by earning 63 out of a possible 100 points, it took a small step dorsum by notching a 62 in the 2021 results. That's nonetheless the second-highest score the company has earned with the ACSI since 2016. The visitor also fared better than other providers that operate in similar suburban and rural areas, including Frontier, Mediacom, Suddenlink and Kinetic by Windstream. That said, CenturyLink is still iii points below the overall manufacture average of 65/100 for all ISPs, so in that location'southward room for additional improvement.
For the 2021 J.D. Ability US Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Study, CenturyLink earned a score of 674 on a one,000-point scale in the Due south region and 708 in the West. Those scores are beneath the industry average for those regions and below what CenturyLink scored last yr. On the plus side, J.D. Power positioned CenturyLink above Sparklight, Cox, Mediacom and Frontier in the West region. Like the ACSI data, it suggests that CenturyLink is a solid but unspectacular, heart-of-the-pack performer in terms of customer satisfaction.
The bottom line
CenturyLink scores summit points for its affordable, loftier-speed Fiber Cyberspace product. Information technology's bachelor in more states than any other provider'south cobweb packages and you lot'll be hard-pressed to detect improve rates. Once you add on the unlimited data for all speeds, y'all've got a compelling production.
But some of that enthusiasm is dulled one time you realize that more half of customers will only see CenturyLink's DSL plans -- and in some cases, those speeds are barely above the broadband minimum of 25Mbps download. As you'll often hear from us, the true worth of a service will depend significantly on your accost and which provider plans are bachelor in your area, and CenturyLink is no exception.
CenturyLink net FAQs
What is CenturyLink Price for Life internet?
The CenturyLink Toll for Life internet deal covered all plans up to 140Mbps. It's no longer available to new customers, as CenturyLink now has unlimited information for all plans and speed tiers. Customers who signed the Cost for Life deal still have it, but exist aware that any change to your account -- including switching speed tiers, moving to a unlike accost, etc. -- will nullify your previous agreement.
How do I become in bear on with CenturyLink customer service?
CenturyLink customer service can exist reached in several means. You can find assistance online at the CenturyLink Customer Support Center or y'all tin use the CenturyLink chat part. Also, you can do information technology the old-fashioned way and give it a telephone call at 866-642-0444.
Does CenturyLink cyberspace offer whatever deals or promotions?
CenturyLink isn't large on running short-term promotions and deals. Customers are able to get boosted savings by ordering online -- including, in some cases, free modem purchase and tech install -- and by choosing paperless billing and prepay options.
Is there a CenturyLink information cap?
For the most part, no. CenturyLink used to reserve unlimited data for its DSL plans, just since unveiling its Fiber Internet make, the unlimited data cap also extends to the fiber network. That said, the deal is available for new customers merely. Existing customers may still be tethered to previous data cap limitations.
What is Lumen Technologies and did CenturyLink buy it?
Lumen Technologies was non an acquisition merely is a rebranding of CenturyLink that occurred in September of 2020. Many home internet customers volition notwithstanding see the CenturyLink make for their services, while others will begin to meet the Breakthrough Fiber name later in 2022.
Source: https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/centurylink-internet-review/
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