Cox vs. CenturyLink: Internet Prices, Speeds, Reviews, Bundles

Chris Holmes Staff Writer

Updated 08 October 2025

In this Guide

Internet Speeds
Cost, Data and Value for Money
Availability
Customer Reviews
Bundle Packages
Winner: Cox vs CenturyLink

Article Summary

Cox and CenturyLink are two major U.S. internet providers. Cox specializes in cable internet with service in 19 states, while CenturyLink has a presence in all 50 and offers lots of DSL internet plans. Both providers also have growing fiber networks, though CenturyLink's is much larger than Cox's. In fact, in some places (like Arizona), CenturyLink has upgraded their entire network to fiber.

If you live in a place where Cox and CenturyLink are your primary internet options, you'll no doubt want to see how the two companies stack up in terms of prices, bundles and reputation.

Cox vs CenturyLink

Provider	Speed	Cost	Coverage	Reviews	Bundles
Cox	4		2	2	2	Go
CenturyLink	4	3	4	4	2.5	Go

Cox vs. CenturyLink: Internet Speeds

Winner: Cox

Looking for lightning-fast internet speed? Both Cox and CenturyLink deliver it via their fiber networks, giving customers up to 1Gbps uploads/downloads (where available). If your needs are a bit more modest, Cox also sells fiber plans that give you 500 Mbps—which is still pretty darn fast—for $80/month, while CenturyLink sells a significantly slower 100Mbps plan for $20 less.

Some of Cox's cable plans evidently match the 1Gbps performance of their fiber plans, while CenturyLink's VDSL plans only top out at 100Mbps. As such, we'll have to give Cox the edge in the speed department.

Cost, Data and Value for Money

Winner: Cox

Monthly Cost

To see which internet provider is a better value, simply take a look at the comparative costs of Cox vs. CenturyLink's 100Mbps plans.

Simply Unlimited 100 Mbps

VDSL 100/10 Mbps
Unlimited Data

$55/mo

Available in select locations. Paperless billing required.

View Plan

$55/mo

Available in select locations. Paperless billing required.

View Plan

It isn't even a contest. CenturyLink charges $5/month more for the same speed with a mere fraction of the data allowance that Cox offers.

Data Allowance

All of CenturyLink's plans include a data cap, as do Cox's. But while CenturyLink caps your data at 1,000GB/month (or 1TB/month—which, to be fair, is a massive limit), Cox provides a mind-blowing 1.25TB/month... even the highest power users are unlikely to come even close to using that much data. Cox is the winner yet again.

Deals

Both Cox and CenturyLink offer deals for new customers throughout the year.

Availability: Cox vs. CenturyLink

Winner: CenturyLink

CenturyLink is a bigger company than Cox, with a far broader coverage area that spans the entire country. Cox, meanwhile, is only present in 18 states. We have to hand this category to CenturyLink.

Customer Reviews: Cox vs. CenturyLink

Winner: Cox and CenturyLink (tie)

If online reviews are to be believed, both Cox and CenturyLink have ample room for improvement when it comes to keeping their customers happy (although, bear in mind that internet providers are generally the most consistently derided in the United States). Cox customers gripe about high prices and annoying data limits but by and large appreciate its speed. CenturyLink customers complain about frequent service outages and slow speeds.

Given the subjective nature of these customer reviews, it's hard to declare one provider "better" in this category. As such, we'll declare a draw between Cox and CenturyLink.

Bundle Packages: Cox vs CenturyLink

Winner: Tie

Both Cox and CenturyLink offer a wide assortment of double and triple play bundles (i.e. internet + phone or TV), making them two of the better providers to go with if you plan on signing up for multiple services. While Cox offers its own TV service, CenturyLink is partnered with satellite TV provider DIRECTV for many of its TV packages.

Winner: Cox vs CenturyLink

Winner: Cox

In this shootout, Cox bested CenturyLink in the speed, cost, and data categories (and tied for customer satisfaction), while CenturyLink took the crown in availability and bundles. Because we weigh the actual meat and potatoes of your plan more heavily over the other categories, we declare Cox the winner.

Cox Internet Plans

#1	Cox	Cox Go Fast Fiber 300/25 Mbps 1280GB Data $55/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations for 24 months. Available in select locations View Plan	$55/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations for 24 months. Available in select locations	View Plan
#2	Cox	Cox Go Even Faster Fiber 500/50 Mbps 1280GB Data $85/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations for 24 months. Available in select locations View Plan	$85/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations for 24 months. Available in select locations	View Plan
#3	Cox	Cox Go Fast + Mobile Unlimited Fiber 300/25 Mbps 1280GB Data $90/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations. for 24 months. Available in select locations. View Plan	$90/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations. for 24 months. Available in select locations.	View Plan
#4	Cox	Cox Go Super Fast Fiber 1000/100 Mbps 1280GB Data $100/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations for 24 months. Available in select locations View Plan	$100/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations for 24 months. Available in select locations	View Plan
#5	Cox	Cox Go Beyond Fast Fiber 2000/100 Mbps 1280GB Data $115/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations for 24 months. Available in select locations View Plan	$115/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations for 24 months. Available in select locations	View Plan
#6	Cox	Cox Go Even Faster + Mobile Unlimited Fiber 500/50 Mbps 1280GB Data $120/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations. for 24 months. Available in select locations. View Plan	$120/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations. for 24 months. Available in select locations.	View Plan
#7	Cox	Cox Go Super Fast + Mobile Unlimited Fiber 1000/100 Mbps 1280GB Data $135/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations. for 24 months. Available in select locations. View Plan	$135/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations. for 24 months. Available in select locations.	View Plan
#8	Cox	Cox Go Beyond Fast + Mobile Unlimited Fiber 2000/100 Mbps 1280GB Data $150/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations for 24 months. Available in select locations View Plan	$150/mo for 24 months. Available in select locations for 24 months. Available in select locations	View Plan

CenturyLink Internet Plans

#1	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
#2	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
#3	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
#4	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
#5	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
#6	CenturyLink	CenturyLink Simply Unlimited 30 Mbps VDSL 30/1.5 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
#7	CenturyLink	CenturyLink Simply Unlimited 15 Mbps VDSL 15/0.75 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
#8	CenturyLink	CenturyLink Simply Unlimited 10 Mbps VDSL 10/1 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
#9	CenturyLink	CenturyLink Simply Unlimited 6 Mbps VDSL 6/0.5 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
#10	CenturyLink	CenturyLink Simply Unlimited 3 Mbps VDSL 3/0.5 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

Chris Holmes

Staff Writer

Chris Holmes is a Contributing Writer for WhistleOut, where he covers the cell phone and internet industries. His work has been cited in publications like The Verge, The New York Times, and WIRED.

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