That might not seem too bad, but consider that the five providers above it averaged approximately 166Mbps. Its most recent scores, taken during the first quarter of 2022, list CenturyLink in sixth place behind Verizon, Xfinity, Cox, Spectrum and AT&T Internet.
Centurylink download speed test download#
Service is only available via DSL in many regions, which lags well behind fiber and cable speeds and performance.įor example, if you head to the speed-testing website Ookla, you'll find a Speedtest Intelligence metric that tracks the fastest ISPs based on median download speeds. The not-so-good news is that CenturyLink fiber isn't available at every address in the footprint. You'll find symmetrical download and upload speeds, which means better performance for work (no glitchy Zoom calls or frozen FaceTime frames) and play (less lag during online gaming and no issues streaming Stranger Things in 4K). If the Fiber Internet plans are available in your area, CenturyLink's internet service is plenty fast. It should be noted that as it currently stands, CenturyLink's fiber plans are some of the best values you'll find on home internet.įiber speeds are fast, but DSL, not so much On the fiber side, the average cost per Mbps of the Fiber Gigabit plan is 7 cents, which is significantly less expensive than the cable gigabit offerings from Spectrum, Comcast and Cox (all between 12 and 14 cents) and the gigabit fiber plans from AT&T, Frontier and Verizon, which all hover around 9 cents. The price you get at the start is the price you'll have after your first year.
I should note that I'm comparing the regular rates, not promo costs, because CenturyLink doesn't do promo pricing. By comparison, the average price per Mbps of the DSL plans offered by AT&T, Frontier and Verizon is $2.44. That's unusual among ISPs, who offer three to five different plan options at most addresses.Īs to the value of the plans offered by CenturyLink, the average cost per Mbps for the DSL plans is $1, which is a highly competitive rate for that particular connection type. In a few areas, you may have only one choice. The company tells CNET that fiber plans are available at roughly 50% of serviceable addresses.ĬenturyLink offers just a handful of the above plans for many of its available addresses. But if DSL is your only option, you might find your internet experience lacking.ĬenturyLink home internet service is available in 37 states. If you do, don't hesitate to dive in - it's one of the most affordable fiber plans you can find across the country. Of the 37 states it services, CenturyLink provides its Fiber Internet to 25, so not all its customers will have access to those faster speeds. Ground-laid fiber-optic cable is much faster than phone line-based DSL connections, so your speeds will vary significantly depending on what's available at your address. If you live in the Northwest (and are perhaps one of the 12s, as Seahawks fans are lovingly called), or in any other states where CenturyLink is available, it might be one of your top home internet options.ĬenturyLink offers customers either a digital subscriber line or fiber-optic internet service. The CenturyLink brand still exists as the name of its internet service offering. In September 2020, CenturyLink (and the stadium it sponsors) rebranded itself to Lumen Technologies (no, not that Lumon). It turns out it's one of the country's largest internet service providers, available to over 49 million customers across the country, according to Federal Communications Commission data. I thought CenturyLink was a bank or maybe even an insurance company.
But my first introduction to the company was in 2011 with CenturyLink Field, home of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks.