CenturyLink is a surprising customer pleaser that’s trying to step up its fiber game.
7 min readCenturyLink Internet includes both DSL and fiber (which are very different) with its affordable CenturyLink plans and deals. It doesn’t have contracts or data limits, and its customer service is well rated.
“CenturyLink has been reliable and affordable and offers enough speed for the average household,” says Cai Crawford, a customer (and Reviews.org staffer) who lives in South Jordan, Utah.
The main drawback to CenturyLink is its availability. It serves only a third of the U.S., and the slower DSL service is much more widely available than fiber—though CenturyLink intends to fix that.
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The rundown—CenturyLink Internet by our criteria
For all our internet reviews, we give a rating based on three main criteria: Speed and reliability, dollar value, and customer experience—which we then average to make an overall score.
Want to know how CenturyLink stacks up? See our full take below.
Overall score: 3.7/5
Speed and reliability
3.5/5.0
You can count on excellent speeds from CenturyLink’ fiber service, which is capable of hitting download and upload speeds up to 940Mbps—plenty of bandwidth to support streaming, gaming, video calls, livestreams, and lots more on multiple devices.
The customers we spoke to were all happy with the speeds they were getting, and even DSL customers had good things to say. “They are faster, cheaper, and more reliable than my previous cable internet,” says Bruce of Hurricane, Utah, a CenturyLink customer since 2019.
DSL is normally a sluggish service. Technically, it tops out at 100Mbps, and speeds are often much slower than that. CenturyLink’s non-fiber service is DSL, but the provider is able to deliver faster speeds in some areas using a technique called pair bonding, which uses twice the amount of paired copper wiring to deliver data and thus increases the connection’s total possible bandwidth to 140Mbps.
CenturyLink's speed test results are fairly decent, but nowhere near fiber speeds. According to our data, CenturyLink’s average download speed is 105.53Mbps, far slower than its cable and fiber competitors. The slower speeds are likely because CenturyLink’s DSL network is much bigger than its fiber network. But even with these slower speeds, CenturyLink still beats out satellite internet providers, including Starlink.
Bruce’s assessment of CenturyLink’s reliability is right on the money, though—everyone we spoke with agrees the service is dependable.
Dollar value
3.8/5.0
CenturyLink's dollar value is up to scratch with its affordable prices, decent advertised speeds, no contracts, and unlimited data.
“It’s an extremely good deal for very high speed,” Bruce enthuses.
Compared to its main DSL competitor, EarthLink, CenturyLink offers higher speeds at lower prices. If you had to choose between DSL and fiber, we definitely recommend fiber as the better deal. CenturyLink’s 500Mbps fiber plan is actually cheaper than the slower and less reliable DSL plans—a common trend you can see with other DSL providers as this increasingly outdated connection type drops in popularity.
Pro tip:
CenturyLink used to have a Price for Life guarantee, but unfortunately, new customers no longer appear to be eligible. Still, CenturyLink is a good deal, even with a modest price increase. And if things get too expensive, you can take advantage of the lack of contracts to bail and switch to a new provider, or you can sign up for its low-income Lifeline internet program. And don't forget to check out the latest batch of CenturyLink's new customer offers.
Use our six handy tips to lower your CenturyLink internet bill as much as possible.
Customer experience
3.8/5.0
The CenturyLink customer experience varies. DSL customers have slower, less stable connections than fiber customers, which is a point of contention for some.
“I wish they upgraded to fiber someday,” says DSL customer Peter C. of Phoenix, Arizona. The first time he contacted customer service, the reps were quick to reply. But he’s only needed to contact customer service a couple times in his history with the provider—a good sign, since it means that he doesn’t have to deal with frequent outages or terrible connection.
In contrast, Cai Crawford of South Jordan, Utah, had a completely different experience getting help with his fiber service. “They were not very responsive when I did have an issue,” he says. Other CenturyLink customers also complained that some service representatives aren’t always helpful, appearing to rely heavily on scripts and making generic troubleshooting suggestions.
HighSpeedInternet.com’s research indicates that CenturyLink customer service is okay but could be better. The company scored 3.5 on HighSpeedInternet.com’s customer satisfaction survey, just below average. Meanwhile, in the American Customer Satisfaction Index survey for 2023, CenturyLink’s fiber service took second place with 78 points, while its DSL came in at 62 points—four points below average.
How long it took to get a real human on the phone: I was on the phone for about two minutes but never reached a real human—the bot hung up on me after I declined to share my address. I probably would have gotten through if I’d had an existing account.
How the chat service is: The chat service connected me to a fellow called Michael S., but I’m not sure if he was fully human. Some of his responses seemed canned, and I had to repeat myself a few times to get a direct answer to a simple question (Are the plan prices listed on your website?).
Overall quality
3.7/5.0
Overall, CenturyLink holds its own for a provider with mostly DSL plans. The plans are fast and reliable enough for home use, prices are reasonable, and customer service isn’t utterly awful. We definitely recommend the fiber over DSL, though.
What makes this review legit?
Our fact-based research process centers on interviews with internet customers across the country to help us understand how internet services hold up against diverse needs and challenges.
To put together this review, we spoke with six CenturyLink customers, reached out to a spokesperson, and read a lot of confusing information about how CenturyLink and Quantum Fiber relate. We also compared CenturyLink’s prices with all its major competitors, read the fine print about installation and equipment costs, looked at results from our speed test, and pored over a range of customer satisfaction surveys and other data.
CenturyLink vs. the competition
CenturyLink holds up well next to competitors. In the DSL realm, it’s much more affordable than EarthLink. For instance, EarthLink charges $65 a month for 45Mbps; CenturyLink charges $55 a month for a minimum of 80Mbps. However, CenturyLink is far less available than EarthLink. So if you move a lot, EarthLink is probably a more realistic option.
Even though many cable providers offer faster speeds and greater availability than CenturyLink, they often require contracts and impose significant price hikes after a year or two. For instance, while Optimum is initially cheaper than CenturyLink, Optimum's prices could rise by $30 once the contract ends.
CenturyLink’s fiber offers a price-to-Mbps ratio similar to providers like AT&T and Google.
And it comes with a lot of the same perks, like no contracts, overage fees, or data limits. Rest easy knowing that you’re getting a solid deal when you sign up for CenturyLink fiber. Its fiber prices aren’t bad, either—you get just a little more per Mbps with CenturyLink than with Google Fiber, a flagship fiber provider.
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What do customers think of CenturyLink?
The six customers we spoke with were highly positive about most aspects of CenturyLink internet. Here's what customers think about CenturyLink in a nutshell:
- Great pricing for customers who locked in their plan when the Price for Life Guarantee was still available
- Affordable prices for reliable service
- Hard-to-reach and unhelpful customer support
- Desire for fiber services to be more readily available
“I love that I've never had an issue with service,” says Reddit user FearthePack, who gets fiber internet from CenturyLink at his home in a major Minnesota metro area. FearthePack sounds borderline ecstatic with their CenturyLink package, especially since they were lucky enough to sign up when prices were lower and the Price for Life guarantee was available. As the policy promised, they get the same price on their plan year after year, with no worries about price hikes.
“Service is generally really good.” -Cai Crawford
Cai Crawford, a staffer on the Reviews.org team, agrees that the service is excellent. “It's hard to beat the price I have, and service is generally really good.” However, he once had to deal with a bothersome technical malfunction.
Recently, CenturyLink technicians accidentally cut a line while running fiber to a nearby street. The damage left Crawford and his neighbors without Wi-Fi for an evening—a major inconvenience, especially if you have important work to do or a TV series that you’ve been dying to binge-watch.
“They ended up getting it fixed the next morning,” Crawford recalls with a shake of the head. “Reaching support took half an hour or so, even though the outage was relatively localized—only a few dozen homes, I think. And they were really slow to get me an estimated timeline for the repair.”
Need to contact CenturyLink customer service or tech support?
Here’s what to do:
- Call 1-888-930-4087
- Try the chat
- Go through the MyCenturyLink app
Are CenturyLink and Quantum Fiber the same?
CenturyLink and Quantum Fiber aren’t the same. The same parent brand, Lumen, owns both, but Lumen makes clear on the CenturyLink website that CenturyLink and Quantum Fiber are discrete services. “While Quantum Fiber and CenturyLink are related, they’re on different paths,” the company says.
While CenturyLink Fiber and Quantum Fiber plans are identical, fiber plans still labeled with CenturyLink’s name aren’t part of the Quantum Fiber service at this time. Eventually, though, CenturyLink fiber customers will upgrade to Quantum Fiber.
“We are transitioning CenturyLink Fiber to the Quantum Fiber brand,” says Lumen spokesperson Courtney Morton. “Going forward, all new fiber-enabled locations will be Quantum Fiber.”
Some customers we spoke with have already transitioned, while others are waiting for the change.
Why the switch? Some folks suggest that Lumen is using the brand change to eliminate the CenturyLink 2017 “Price for Life” guarantee contracts, but that’s a rumor without clear evidence. It is true, however, that CenturyLink has been challenged in a class-action lawsuit for allegedly violating the guarantee.
Want CenturyLink internet?
Get the lowdown on CenturyLink's current new customer deals and available plan perks.
Yes. Since users need at least 3 to 25Mbps speeds for streaming, any CenturyLink internet plan will have more than enough download speeds for all your TV binging needs. Even CenturyLink's entry-level Simply Unlimited plan offers up to 140Mbps download speeds.
CenturyLink customers praise CenturyLink's Fiber and DSL service for its reliability and speed. CenturyLink's speeds even surpass popular satellite internet providers like Starlink.
Yes. CenturyLink offers high-speed internet, with download speeds up to 940Mbps, for only $75 per month. Customers who spoke with Reviews.org report being happy with their speeds, including DSL customers.
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