CenturyLink Internet Review

If you’re looking for a new internet service provider, there’s a good chance that CenturyLink internet is available where you live. In fact, CenturyLink internet services are available to nearly 50 million customers, making it one of the largest ISPs in the United States.

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As a company, CenturyLink had a lot of time to get to where it is today. Its roots can be traced to 1930, and the name CenturyLink has been with us since 2009. In 2020, CenturyLink changed its name to Lumen Technologies, but the company continues to use the CenturyLink brand for its internet services.

But is CenturyLink internet still competitive in this day and age, or are better options available? This CenturyLink internet review has the answers you’re looking for.

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CenturyLink Internet Plans and Pricing

CenturyLink Internet Coverage

CenturyLink Internet Fees & Bonuses

CenturyLink Customer Service & Satisfaction

Summary

FAQ

CenturyLink Internet Plans and Pricing

There are two main CenturyLink internet plans to choose from:

Plan	Type	Maximum download speed	Limit	Promo rate
CenturyLink Internet	DSL	100 Mbps download	1 TB	$50 a month
Fiber Gigabit	Fiber	940 Mbps	Unlimited	$65 a month

The DSL plan relies on existing telephone lines, so its availability is great, but the speeds it offers are decent at best. The fiber optic plan, on the other hand, uses dedicated fiber optic cables for much faster speeds and greater reliability. Unfortunately, the required fiber optic infrastructure is concentrated in urban areas, with rural towns seldom being connected.

The good news is that both CenturyLink DSL and fiber internet plans are priced very competitively. The Fiber Gigabit plan even comes with unlimited data, so you can take full advantage of the symmetrical 940 Mbps connection. The CenturyLink Internet DSL plan is limited to 1 TB of data per month, which feels about right considering that it’s nowhere near as fast as the fiber plan.

According to an FCC report, the DSL plan doesn’t always deliver the advertised speeds, whereas the fiber plan is fairly consistent. This is something we see often, and we consider it to be the nature of the beast when dealing with DSL internet.

Since the price difference between the two types of internet offered by CenturyLink is relatively small and the advantages of fiber internet are so great, we highly recommend all those who live in areas where CenturyLink fiber internet is available to go with it.

CenturyLink has a dedicated web page for small businesses, but there’s actually no difference between CenturyLink business internet and CenturyLink home internet. You always get to choose between the same no-contract plans. It’s worth noting that there are no CenturyLink WiFi plans, but al customers get a WiFi-enabled router anyway.

CenturyLink Internet Coverage

CenturyLink high-speed internet DSL plans are available in the following states:

**Available in:**
Alabama	Iowa	Nevada	South Carolina
Arizona	Kansas	New Jersey	South Dakota
Arkansas	Louisiana	New Mexico	Tennessee
Colorado	Michigan	North Carolina	Texas
Florida	Minnesota	North Dakota	Utah
Georgia	Mississippi	Ohio	Virginia
Idaho	Missouri	Oklahoma	Washington
Illinois	Montana	Oregon	Wisconsin
Indiana	Nebraska	Pennsylvania	Wyoming

Unfortunately, the availability to CenturyLink fiber internet is limited to the following cities:

**Available in:**
Phoenix, Arizona	Springfield, Missouri
Tucson, Arizona	Omaha, Nebraska
Boulder, Colorado	Las Vegas, Nevada
Denver, Colorado	Portland, Oregon
Fort Myers/Cape Coral, Florida	Salt Lake City, Utah
Ocala/The Villages, Florida	Seattle-Tacoma, Washington
Orlando, Florida	Spokane, Washington
Idaho Falls/Pocatello, Idaho	La Crosse, Wisconsin
Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota	Platteville, Wisconsin
Columbia/Jefferson City, Missouri

If you live in one of the 19 cities where CenturyLink fiber internet is available, then don’t hesitate to give it a try. The fiber optic plan is affordable, and you can switch to a different internet service provider at any time since there’s no contract to worry about.

CenturyLink Internet Fees & Bonuses

CenturyLink is a consumer-friendly internet service provider because it doesn’t believe in contracts or early termination fees.

The only extra fees you should know about are for your router and installation. It costs $15.00 a month to rent a CenturyLink router, but you can also purchase it outright by paying $200 upfront.

The good news is that all modems offered by CenturyLink are pretty good, especially if you use a WiFi analyzer tool like NetSpot to install your modem in the optimal location. NetSpot can also help you avoid issues with wireless interference, which may happen when multiple WiFi networks share the same WiFi band and channel.

As far as the installation fee goes, CenturyLink charges new customers $59.99, but it’s easy to come across a promotion that brings the cost of installation down to zero.

No bundles with TV services are available, but there are CenturyLink internet deals that include phone services. The DSL + phone bundle costs $90 a month, and the fiber + phone bundle costs $105 a month.

We should also mention that all customers who enjoy the simplicity of the CenturyLink prepaid internet plan, which combines month-to-month pricing with no long-term contract, can manage their accounts online after completing enrollment in the My CenturyLink web service.

CenturyLink Customer Service & Satisfaction

You can get in touch with CenturyLink’s customer service by:

Dialing 1-866-642-0444
Visiting your local CenturyLink store
Using the online chat feature
Sending a direct message on Twitter
Messaging the company on Facebook

CenturyLink internet customer service is arguably the internet service provider’s biggest weakness. While the 2020 American Customer Satisfaction Index score indicates some improvement, in customer service quality, CenturyLink is still below the overall industry average.

The 2021 J.D. Power US Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Study paints basically the same picture, with CenturyLink earning a score of 674 on a 1,000-point scale in the South region and 708 in the West. These scores place it below the industry average for the two regions, so there’s definitely plenty of room for improvement.

To better understand what CenturyLink customers like and dislike about the provider, we can take a look at CenturyLink internet reviews published on BroadBandNow, where CenturyLink is rated 3.6 out of 5.

Here's what some customers have to say about the provider :

Far too many outages, one lasted 5 days. (Internet) Called yesterday, callers other than immediate area got busy signal when calling, fixed during night. Today can’t call out other than immediate area.wife on phone now for over half hour. Very poor situation.

• James Rosenburg

We switched to CenturyLink and could not be happier. It is so much faster, has never cut out and had the best installation customer service. The price is also great.

• Jenni

Great appreciation to the tech who was incredibly personable & informative while assisting us connect our service today. He was very diligent & professional with his problem solving, having to address unique obstacles in our residence as well as our outside property. CenturyLink is very fortunate to have such a positive & capable representative. Thank you again!

• K Palmer

Summary

Because of how broad CenturyLink internet availability is, there are many people who want to know if CenturyLink internet plans are any good. The short answer is: yes, they are! Without paying too much money or locking yourself into a long contract, you can get a fast internet connection in 36 states.

Sure, CenturyLink fiber internet plans are available only in large cities, but that’s to be expected. The biggest reason to avoid CenturyLink is the lackluster customer support and perhaps the fact that the provider doesn’t offer basically any interesting bundling options.

FAQ

Do you need a phone line for CenturyLink internet?

You need a phone line for CenturyLink high-speed internet DSL service but not for CenturyLink fiber internet.

Is CenturyLink a good internet provider?

That depends on what you’re looking for. CenturyLink offers attractively-priced DSL and fiber internet plans, CenturyLink internet speeds and customer service are not as good as they should be.

Is CenturyLink internet speed good?

Both CenturyLink DSL and fiber internet plans are fast enough for just about everything regular users do online, but real speeds are often slower than advertised speeds, so you should perform a CenturyLink internet speed test to confirm that you’re getting your money’s worth.

What is the highest internet speed CenturyLink offers?

The highest internet speed CenturyLink offers is 940 Mbps, and you can unlock it by purchasing the Fiber Gigabit plan.

CenturyLink Internet Review

CenturyLink Internet Plans and Pricing

CenturyLink Internet Coverage

CenturyLink Internet Fees & Bonuses

CenturyLink Customer Service & Satisfaction

Here's what some customers have to say about the provider :

Summary

FAQ

Do you need a phone line for CenturyLink internet?

Is CenturyLink a good internet provider?

Is CenturyLink internet speed good?

What is the highest internet speed CenturyLink offers?

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