| Package |
| Best for speed CenturyLink Fiber Internet |
| Best fiber bundle Price for Life Double Play Fiber Gigabit |
| Best DSL plan Price for Life 100 Mbps |
| Best DSL bundle Price for Life Double Play 100 Mbps |
In our 2019 survey of customers from the top 10 cable, DSL, and fiber internet service providers in the United States, CenturyLink scored above average in billing and value but below average in support and technical categories.
Overall, we think CenturyLink fiber internet (if you can get it) is a really good deal. It’s a reasonable price and less prone to the outages than CenturyLink’s DSL networks.
| Package | Price* | Download/Upload speeds | Phone plan features | Price for Life? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for speed CenturyLink Fiber Internet | $65/mo.† | Up to 940 Mbps both ways | ✗ | ✗ | View plans |
| Best fiber bundle Price for Life Double Play Fiber Gigabit | $85/mo. | Up to 940 Mbps both ways | ✓ | View plans | |
| Best DSL plan Price for Life 100 Mbps | $49/mo. | Download: up to 100 Mbps Upload: up to 30 Mbps | ✗ | ✓ | View plans |
| Best DSL bundle Price for Life Double Play 100 Mbps | $85/mo. | Download: up to 100 Mbps Upload: up to 30 Mbps | ✓ | View plans |
Data effective 10/21/2019. Pricing and speeds are subject to change. Not all offers available in all areas.
*Rate requires paperless billing and excludes taxes. Additional fees apply.
We recommend CenturyLink’s Price for Life 1 Gbps plan. With download and upload speeds up to 940 Mbps, this plan will let you gobble (or reverse-gobble) a gigabyte of content in eight seconds. Also, there are no contracts and no rate hikes for as long as you’re with CenturyLink.
You also can bundle fiber internet and phone service with the double-play bundle Price for Life Double Play Fiber Gigabit. For $85 a month, you’ll get the fastest available internet speeds and unlimited nationwide calling (including to Canada and U.S. territories).
To the fiber internet-deprived: DSL is still pretty good. Sure, CenturyLink’s fastest download DSL speed, 100 Mbps, is 10x slower than fiber and the download/upload speeds aren’t equal. But 100 Mbps still offers a lot of value:
| Package | Price‡ | Download/upload speeds | Price for Life? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best fiber plan CenturyLink Fiber Internet | $65/mo.† | Up to 940 Mbps both ways | ✗ | View plans |
| Best DSL plan Price for Life 100 Mbps | $49/mo. | Download: up to 100 Mbps Upload: up to 30 Mbps | ✓ | View plans |
| DSL Price for Life 15 Mbps | $49/mo. | Download: up to 15 Mbps Upload: up to 1 Mbps | ✓ | View plans |
| DSL Price for Life 20 Mbps | $49/mo. | Download: up to 20 Mbps Upload: up to 2 Mbps | ✓ | View plans |
| DSL Price for Life 40 Mbps | $49/mo. | Download: up to 40 Mbps Upload: up to 3 Mbps | ✓ | View plans |
| DSL Price for Life 80 Mbps | $49/mo. | Download: up to 80 Mbps Upload: up to 5 Mbps | ✓ | View plans |
Data effective 10/21/2019. Pricing and speeds are subject to change. Not all offers available in all areas.
*Rate requires paperless billing and excludes taxes. Additional fees apply.
CenturyLink has six different internet speeds. All of them are Price for Life plans, meaning you can lock down the price for as long as you have your plan (paperless billing required). All plans have a 1 TB data cap, which is more than enough data for most users.
Now you just have to see if you qualify for DSL or Fiber. Fiber is awesome. It’s good for you. Your doctor recommends it and so do we.
The fiber we care about, fiber optic internet service, lets you send and receive tons of data in the tiniest of times. Massive downloads will seem to poof onto your hard drive magically. Buffering will feel like a fading bad dream.
But can you get it in your area?
If not, you won’t be disappointed with most of the DSL download speeds CenturyLink offers (15–100 Mbps). Well, unless the area-availability goblin rears its ugly head. You might live in an area where CenturyLink can guarantee only “up to 1.5 Mbps.” (I do.) And that’s unfortunate.
| Package | Price* | Download/upload speeds | Phone plan features | Price for Life? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best fiber bundle Price for Life Double Play Fiber Gigabit | $85/mo. | Up to 940 Mbps both ways | ✓ | View plans | |
| Best DSL bundle Price for Life Double Play 100 Mbps | $85/mo. | Download: up to 100 Mbps Upload: up to 30 Mbps | ✓ | View plans | |
| DSL Price for Life Double Play 15 Mbps | $85/mo. | Download: up to 15 Mbps Upload: up to 1 Mbps | ✓ | View plans | |
| DSL Price for Life Double Play 20 Mbps | $85/mo. | Download: up to 20 Mbps Upload: up to 2 Mbps | ✓ | View plans | |
| DSL Price for Life Double Play 40 Mbps | $85/mo. | Download: up to 40 Mbps Upload: up to 3 Mbps | ✓ | View plans | |
| DSL Price for Life Double Play 80 Mbps | $85/mo. | Download: up to 80 Mbps Upload: up to 5 Mbps | ✓ | View plans |
Data effective 12/12/2019. Pricing and speeds are subject to change. Not all offers available in all areas.
‡ Requires a Price For Life Home Phone subscription. Additional fees apply. Rate excludes taxes and voice fees/surcharges.
Everybody loves a bundle, especially when it means a discount. For the best savings—not to mention internet speeds, you’ll want CenturyLink’s Price for Life Double Play Fiber Gigabit bundle. At $85 a month, you’ll save $40 (32%) a month.
That recommendation presumes that you can get fiber at your house. If you have to settle for DSL, you can still do a lot with the 15–100 Mbps plans CenturyLink offers. They’re all priced at $49 a month, and if you bundle with home phone service, you’ll save $24 (22%) monthly.
At the time of this writing, the only active CenturyLink promotion is Price for Life. For what it’s worth, CenturyLink Price for Life is the gold standard in terms of billing and transparency.
But if you’re looking for low-income internet service, check out the Lifeline program. This government-sponsored program is for people who participate in federal assistance programs, and it can get you $9.25 a month off CenturyLink internet or phone service.
We explore Lifeline and low-income internet providers in “Free and Low-Income Internet Plans for Families, Seniors, and Students.” Check it out to find the right low-income internet solution for you.
We love CenturyLink’s Price for Life guarantee and the lack of contracts on internet and phone service.
But those bells and whistles come with alarms, given CenturyLink’s poor ratings on customer support, install and setup, modem satisfaction, and reliability. Fortunately, no contracts means you can give CenturyLink a shot without getting trapped. So maybe try the service out, especially if it carries higher speeds in your area.
If you want to find alternatives to CenturyLink internet, there may be another option or two in your area. Enter your zip code below, and we’ll pull up a complete list of internet service providers near you.
Here’s how to change your Wi-Fi password if you have a newer CenturyLink modem and it’s already connected to a device:
If these steps don’t work, check instructions for older CenturyLink modems.
To cancel your CenturyLink internet or home phone service, call 1-800-244-1111 between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday–Friday.
Expect a CenturyLink representative to try to keep your business by offering alternatives to cancellation. Sometimes those customer-retention deals are pretty decent, so there’s no harm in listening. But if you’re sure you want to cancel, stay strong. No means no.
At the moment, CenturyLink supports 31 different modems from manufacturers like Actiontec, Adtran, Calix, Cisco, D-Link, Technicolor, Westrell, and ZyXEL. We’ve narrowed down the list with our guide to “The Best CenturyLink-Compatible Modems.”
If you’d like modem help from a real human, call CenturyLink at 1-877-837-5738 or chat with tech support.
Yes, you may use your own router with CenturyLink service, as long as it’s compatible. If you don’t already have one, and you also need a DSL modem, we recommend some great modem-router combos in our guide to “The Best CenturyLink-Compatible Modems.”
CenturyLink plans have a 1 TB data cap on residential DSL plans with no overage fees. Business-class and residential 1G plans enjoy unlimited data.
To set up your CenturyLink voicemail, use the following steps:
*With 2-yr. agmt. on new DISH service. Actual speeds may vary. Installation, equipment fees, taxes & other fees apply. Services subject to availability and all applicable Frontier terms & conditions. Data as of 09/09/19. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.
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