Best CenturyLink Internet Plans: Editor's Picks

Tyler Abbott Contributing Writer

Updated 12 December 2023

In this Guide

CenturyLink Plans Near Me
CenturyLink DSL Plan
CenturyLink Fiber Plan
Best CenturyLink Bundle
How to Choose Your Internet Plan

CenturyLink brings a lot of impressive perks to the table—generally low prices and no contracts. This is a big deal because most ISPs increase your plan price after 1 or 2 years.

Although CenturyLink offers several plans, many of them include internet speeds that won’t suffice for the average customer. The best Centurylink internet plans include the 100Mbps DSL internet plan for $55/month and the 200Mbps fiber internet plan for $30/month. Keep in mind that the DSL internet option and the fiber internet can be subject to price change. What you choose will really come down to what you have available in your area and what your household’s wireless needs are.

What Kind of CenturyLink Internet Plan is Available Near Me?

Although CenturyLink has broad coverage, providing internet service to customers in 36 states, its fiber internet plan isn’t as widely available. In order to find out which CenturyLink internet plans are available in your area, enter your address here. You will be taken to a results page where you can compare the various internet service providers available where you live.

If you want to filter for just CenturyLink (or any other ISP), click “All Filters,” then select “Providers” on the left and de-select all providers except for your desired ones. Click “Apply All” and you’ll be able to see whether you get CenturyLink internet service in your area, along with which CenturyLink internet plans you can sign up for. You might see just the DSL plans or the DSL plus fiber-optic.

Just look for this box and enter your street address

CenturyLink Internet DSL Plan

If you don’t have a fiber connection available, but you do live in an area that CenturyLink services, then you might want to consider going with a CenturyLink internet plan. The internet speeds offered range from just 3Mbps to 140Mbps, but your CenturyLink internet speed will depend on the connection in your neighborhood. But if you’re lucky enough to live where you can get the 100Mbps plan, it’s a good option.

On its face, a 100Mbps internet plan for $49/month offers solid value, especially considering CenturyLink won’t raise your price after a year (or ever, for that matter) like other providers, such as Xfinity or Cox. Unfortunately, you’re not guaranteed to get 100Mbps internet speeds in your area. Enter your address at CenturyLink’s website to get an idea of what speeds to expect:

When I enter my address, this the result that I got:

Yikes! Paying $49/month for 15Mbps internet speeds is not great. In my case, CenturyLink internet would not be a good option (thankfully I have Google Fiber in my area). Likewise, you should check what internet speeds to expect in your neighborhood with CenturyLink.

What Influences Internet Speed?

Many factors influence your internet speed, such as your proximity from the DSL internet hub, how many people are using up your internet bandwidth (this can include your neighbors), and the power of your CenturyLink router or CenturyLink modem.

Long story short, there’s really no guarantees with the CenturyLink DSL internet plans. If your internet connection consistently reaches near-100 Mbps speeds then you’re getting solid bang for your buck, but if your internet speeds fall much lower, then you may feel like you’re overpaying.

CenturyLink Fiber Internet Plan

If you’re lucky enough to have fiber internet in your area, then you can sign up for the CenturyLink fiber plan. Fiber internet allows for data to transfer way faster than a DSL connection, which means you can download things like movies, shows, and songs in seconds rather than waiting forever.

Given the option, you should always choose fiber internet over DSL internet, even if it costs more each month.

Best CenturyLink Bundle Plan

You can bundle your CenturyLink internet with a DIRECTV cable package and save money on both services. Out of all the DIRECTV channel packages you can pair with CenturyLink internet, we recommend the DIRECTV CHOICE + CenturyLink Internet combination.

Why the DIRECTV Choice Plan?

Long-story short: It’s the best DIRECTV plan for sports fans. For starters, you get NFL Sunday Ticket, which means you can watch out-of-market NFL games. You also get all the other essential sports channels like ESPN, TNT, NBA TV, MLB Network, NHL Network, SEC Network, as well as your local regional sports network. If live sports are your thing, then DIRECTV CHOICE makes the most sense.

How to Choose the Best CenturyLink Internet Plan For You

There are a couple factors to consider when choosing the CenturyLink internet plan that’s right for you, and these should be at the top of your mind:

How many internet users do I have in my house?
What do I mainly do on the internet?
What fits best for my budget?

How Many Internet Users Do I Have in My House

Generally speaking, the more internet users in your house, the faster internet speeds you’ll need. For example, a household of three would probably get by just fine with a 100Mbps DSL internet connection, but a household of six people would probably require more bandwidth to accommodate everyone’s online activities. As a rule of thumb, you’ll probably want to give at least 25Mbps per person in your household.

What Do You Do on the Internet?

The internet speeds you choose will largely depend on what you plan on doing with those internet speeds. If you love playing online games like Call of Duty or Destiny 2, then you’ll want reliably fast internet speeds all the time. But if you really only plan on streaming on a single device at a time and browsing social media, you can get away with slower download speeds and not notice an issue.

What Fits Best for My Budget?

The two CenturyLink plans cost $55/month for DSL internet and $30/month for Fiber internet. Beyond the monthly rates, you’ll need to consider equipment and installation fees. For equipment, you’ll need a modem, which you can rent from CenturyLink for $9.99/month or a $99.99 one-time fee to own the modem outright. You can also potentially purchase a modem for cheaper from a third-party seller like Amazon, but you’ll want to make sure it’s a CenturyLink-approved modem.

If you decide to go with CenturyLink internet, you will need to pony up and pay a one-time $59.99 installation fee. All in all, you’re looking at around $160 in one-time fees (or a $60 one-time fee with an additional $9.99/month on your bill). Make sure to check that everything fits in your budget before committing to a CenturyLink internet plan.

Does CenturyLink Have Early Termination Fees?

Nope! CenturyLink doesn’t require you to sign a contract, which means you can switch internet providers whenever you want without incurring an annoying early termination fee.

Pros & Cons of CenturyLink Internet

Pros:

Good value if you can get top internet speeds with your CenturyLink mode and plan.
Fiber internet option.

Cons:

Internet speeds depend on where you live
Fiber internet isn't available everywhere

Recap: The Best CenturyLink Internet Plans

If you have CenturyLink internet in your area, then either the DSL internet or fiber internet options offer potentially solid value. Here’s the rub on the CenturyLink DSL internet—you can get up to 100Mbps internet speeds (which is good), but it all depends on the internet connection in your home. If you have the option, we strongly recommend opting for the CenturyLink fiber internet plan that will get you speeds up to 1,000Mbps (which is amazing), and only costs around $20 more each month.

As for bundling your internet and TV together, pairing your CenturyLink internet with the DIRECTV CHOICE package will get you all the live sports you could want and give you a pretty significant discount on your internet service.

Tyler Abbott

Contributing Writer

Tyler is a Contributing Writer who's always on the lookout for the best wireless tech so he can watch all the sports and still have enough time to hang out with his baby. He has written about streaming, wireless, and TV for over three years.

Read full bio