CenturyLink Internet Review: Cheap gigabit fiber

CenturyLink is one of the country’s oldest and most prominent internet service providers (ISP), with availability spanning 36 states. Best known as one of the top ISP options in rural areas, CenturyLink also provides internet deals in a handful of major cities.

Fiber connections and DSL are on offer through CenturyLink, with the bulk of its services consisting of the latter. Availability and pricing of both will vary depending on location. I live in an area covered by CenturyLink fiber, and I’ve relied on its services for over a year. Keep reading for our general CenturyLink internet review with insights from my own experience. 

CenturyLink	CenturyLink Simply Unlimited 140 Mbps VDSL 140/20 Mbps Unlimited Data $55/mo Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. View Plan	$55/mo Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. Available in select locations. Paperless billing required.	View Plan
CenturyLink	CenturyLink Simply Unlimited 100 Mbps VDSL 100/10 Mbps Unlimited Data $55/mo Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. View Plan	$55/mo Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. Available in select locations. Paperless billing required.	View Plan
CenturyLink	CenturyLink Simply Unlimited 80 Mbps VDSL 80/10 Mbps Unlimited Data $55/mo Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. + $149 Upfront Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. View Plan	$55/mo Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. + $149 Upfront Available in select locations. Paperless billing required.	View Plan
CenturyLink	CenturyLink Simply Unlimited 60 Mbps VDSL 60/5 Mbps Unlimited Data $55/mo Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. + $149 Upfront Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. View Plan	$55/mo Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. + $149 Upfront Available in select locations. Paperless billing required.	View Plan
CenturyLink	CenturyLink Simply Unlimited 40 Mbps VDSL 40/3 Mbps Unlimited Data $55/mo Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. + $25 Upfront Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. View Plan	$55/mo Available in select locations. Paperless billing required. + $25 Upfront Available in select locations. Paperless billing required.	View Plan

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CenturyLink Plans

When it comes to CenturyLink internet plans, it’s a tale of two connections. The vast majority of its plans feature DSL connections, with speed limits varying from 3Mbps to 100Mbps. The ISP also offers speeds up to 1Gbps with its fiber connections in select areas.

What we like: Cheap gigabit fiber internet

Fiber is the king of internet connections. That said, it can be quite expensive, with most internet providers charging around $70-80/month for fiber service. Depending on your location, CenturyLink fiber internet—with speeds of up to 1000Mbps–may be available for as low as $50/month with certain CenturyLink deals. In other areas, the price is a little steeper at $65/month. At my location, Centurylink’s fiber is available at the $50/month rate. This is the plan I’ve had for over a year.

What we like: Rural coverage

If you live in a rural area, you’re likely more than aware of just how hard it can be to find a reliable broadband internet connection. CenturyLink is known as one of the best providers in rural areas, with DSL as its primary offering. Of course, just because CenturyLink has better-than-average rural coverage doesn’t mean it’s available everywhere. There are undoubtedly more rural places without CenturyLink than there are with it, yet it has a larger rural presence than other ISPs.

What could be improved: Data limits

Each one of CenturyLink’s DSL plans comes with 1,000GB data usage limits. That’s more than enough for most households, but not all. If your house is filled with people who are constantly streaming TV, playing online games, and working or schooling from home, you might have to keep an eye on your data usage each month. However, CenturyLink does not place a data limit on customers with its gigabit fiber, which is pretty standard. Nobody wants access to all that bandwidth, only to be hindered by a data limit.

What could be improved: DSL prices

As much as we like CenturyLink for its cheaper-than-average fiber pricing, we don’t like that it charges higher-than-average rates for DSL internet. For instance, if you’re paying $45/month for DSL service from CenturyLink, you could be paying as little as $20/month through another company.

CenturyLink vs. Competitors

We’ve gone through the good and not-so-good aspects of CenturyLink. Now, let’s take a look at how it stacks up against the competition.

CenturyLink vs. AT&T

While CenturyLink has a large coverage footprint across the country, AT&T Internet has the absolute largest. Both ISPs offer up DSL and fiber internet, with DSL being more prevalent for both. As for pricing, CenturyLink and AT&T charge nearly identical rates for their respective DSL services, starting around $45/month. When it comes to gigabit fiber rates, CenturyLink charges $5-15 less than AT&T.

CenturyLink

4.5 out of 5 overall

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• Inexpensive fiber
• Rural Coverage
• Expensive DSL

AT&T Internet

4.5 out of 5 overall

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• Largest ISP in the country
• Fast speeds
• High fiber prices

CenturyLink vs. Xfinity

Xfinity is another giant ISP. Unlike CenturyLink, Xfinity primarily provides primarily cable internet, but also offers fiber internet connections in some areas. Xfinity tends to price its cable internet around the same range as CenturyLink charges for its DSL. Since cable is generally faster and more reliable, we’d recommend going with Xfinity when choosing between cable and DSL. However, CenturyLink’s fiber is cheaper than Xfinity’s (and even some of its cable plans). If you have a choice between both fiber offerings, we’d suggest going with CenturyLink.

CenturyLink

4.5 out of 5 overall

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• Inexpensive fiber
• Coverage
• Expensive DSL

Xfinity

4.5 out of 5 overall

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• Largest cable provider
• Fiber available
• Poor customer service ratings

CenturyLink vs. GFiber

Google Fiber doesn't have quite the coverage footprint as CenturyLink or the other providers mentioned here, but it’s still a popular ISP. As the name suggests, GFiber (formally known as Google Fiber) only offers fiber internet. Its gigabit plan is slightly more expensive than CenturyLink’s gigabit plan. However, GFiber is known for living up to its speed promises more often than other providers.

CenturyLink

4.5 out of 5 overall

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• Inexpensive fiber
• Coverage
• Expensive DSL

GFiber

4.5 out of 5 overall

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• High customer satisfaction
• Reliable connection
• Not widely available

Compare CenturyLink to other ISPs like Sparklight, Suddelink, Spectrum, and Mediacom. 

A Year with CenturyLink

As stated earlier, I’ve had CenturyLink internet for just over a year. Here’s a little of my own experience with CenturyLink.

Why I chose CenturyLink

Among the many decisions you have to make when moving, choosing an internet provider can be simultaneously one of the most difficult and one of the simplest. Difficult because the internet has become so essential to our everyday lives and you want to make sure you have the best service possible; simple because you usually only have a handful of providers as options.

When I moved, my ISP options were between Xfinity's cable internet and CenturyLink's fiber internet. More specifically, I had the choice between Xfinity’s 500Mbps plan at $45/month and CenturyLink’s 1Gbps plan at $50/month. To me, signing up for a superior gigabit internet connection for only $5 more per month (and locked-in) price seemed like a no-brainer.

Signing up with CenturyLink and installation

Signing up with CenturyLink was a complete breeze. I did everything online, and the entire process took minutes. There were plenty of available appointments for installation. I was able to get my internet up and running on the first full day in my current place. The professional installation was quick and didn’t come with an extra charge. Also, there were no extra fees for the modem or router.

Speeds

I signed up with CenturyLink’s 1Gbps plan. Of course, you should know that advertised top speeds typically reflect speeds in ideal situations that rarely occur in the real world. I never expected to actually reach 1Gbps with my internet connection, and in the year since I’ve had CenturyLink, I never have. I typically see speeds between 300-400Mbps for both downloads and uploads. I definitely use more bandwidth than the average user, and that 300-400Mbps is still more than enough for me.

Reliability

I really have no complaints here. Is CenturyLink perfect? No—my service has gone down a handful of times, but only for minutes. The longest downtime I had with CenturyLink—and it really wasn’t that long—was during a big storm. I could hardly blame them for that. Suffice it to say, I’ve had much less reliable internet in my longer-than-I-like-to-admit life.

Customer service

In the year (and some change) that I’ve had service with CenturyLink, I’ve had zero interactions with their customer service. This means I can’t really give a complete review on how they handle customer issues. However, I think the fact that I haven’t found myself resorting to contacting CenturyLink’s customer service says a lot about my satisfaction with the ISP. I’ll be more than happy to never contact CenturyLink customer service for as long as I’m with its services.

Would I recommend CenturyLink?

Yes, I would absolutely recommend CenturyLink. I get faster speeds for cheaper than I could with my other options, the connection is extremely reliable, and I have faced zero issues that required me to deal with customer service. I don’t think I could ask for anything more from an internet service provider.

Sure, there are probably better providers out there, and CenturyLink could do a better job of getting closer to the gigabit speed. Still, considering the fact that I don’t really need 1Gbps internet, and that the speeds I do get with my plan are more than enough for my needs (and most households’ needs), I don’t really see this as a huge issue.

I probably wouldn’t recommend CenturyLink DSL if you have better options (cable or fiber) from another carrier. However, if DSL is your only broadband option, CenturyLink probably does a solid job. As an alternative, check out Rise Broadband fixed wireless internet which is available in many rural and suburban areas.

Recap: Is CenturyLink Right for You?

While it’s not the biggest, CenturyLink is still one of the most prevalent ISPs in the country. CenturyLink’s internet could be right for you depending on your needs and what your other options are. It has relatively strong coverage in rural areas, which means it could possibly be your only viable broadband option. In that case, go ahead and feel confident to sign on. Overall, CenturyLink is known for the following:

• Strong coverage in rural areas
• Above-average DSL prices
• Cheap fiber

From my own experience, CenturyLink is a more than adequate ISP. I highly recommend CenturyLink fiber.

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