Review by OOMJR  - Location: Avilla,Noble,IN
- Cost: $45 per month (12 month contract)
- Install: about 3 days
 CenturyTel
Good "Working after another heap through hoops. Things are not getting better."
Bad "Tech support is hard to get, but once you find a good # it's fine"
Overall "Worth it for the end result, just have to bother them on problems. This time around it's taking forever to fix anything..."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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9/20/13 Update
Back again to 70+ ping and 1-3 down on CL tests. Speedtest.net is showing 70 ping with 1 down and .76 up. Pingtest.net is showing 80ms with 90 jitter when on a good day it's 14ms with 0-1 jitter. Sync rates are in great standing. IHD team still emailing engineers but haven't heard back from them. Got a pathetic credit 28$ credit on my 45$ bill. They won't fully credit my account cause it's not bad all the time just when it's busy. Congestion resolution time is 11-15-13... So about two more months. Pathetic. I'm letting it go till then. If nothing changes I might be dropping service and just tether my 4GLTE cell phone that has unlimited data. Rage mode right now.
I suggest avoiding there services if you can and wait till they get things fixed. Wait till you see a good amount of updated good reviews 1st.
8/12/13 Update
Waiting for a response from IHD team. Last night was by far the worse. 2-4 down with 300+ ping. Patience is running dry and every time I touch the internet in anyway it just frustrates me more. So I've been avoiding it all for now and letting CL do their job.
8/8/13 Update
Well, I think the loss balance is effecting me again. Back to how it was in June. Slow at peak hours with high latency. Pretty much worthless again. Emailed my contacts multiple times and no one higher up ,including TalkToUs , is responding back. Pretty upset with it all. Wish there was a different provider up here....
8/6/13 Update
After a balance issue between two near by cities the internet was running fine until the outage on Aug 1st, 2nd. After which the internet was slow and unstable until 8/5/13. It now is running full throttle at 13 ms ping to chicago and 10 down .78 up. As of now I'm happy but I'm hesitant to say I will be forever. Things will happen again, I'm certain.
Support is good if you can weave yourself into the correct #'s. Took me a few phone calls to find the right person to talk to. I know have 3 contacts I can email on the issue that by passes the 24/7 line and chats.
Thanks
Matt
5/8/13 Update
So... Supposedly... The CO supervisor, local tech and his managers are in contact via email with corporate. The fix would consist of moving some DSLAMS to a different rack. They have 3 racks, each can hold 3 DSLAMS, one not being used, one used for 6Mbps or lower and one for 10Mbps. The 10Mbps rack is at 98% capacity at night and they don't see the issue at the 24/7 line, not sure if they can. Each rack is also connected to a gigE fiber line.
Waiting game and contacting them each day for updates.
4/30/13 Update
Check out my test history »/testhistory/1782576/cba7a . During peak hours the line quality tests fail due to packet loss. After peak hours the test works ok but there is packet loss. My connection from my Modem to the DSLAM is 8ms. After the DSLAM that's where the issues are. It's on their end and they can't except that very easily. Took me a 48minute call to the 24/7 line to get this through their head. Their finally looking into the issue.
The Central Office is one street west of my house and this morning there was a Centurylink Van there along with a normal pedestrian car(employee?)
.7 to 10 Down during peak hours(5-12:30) .4-.6 Up. Ping of 100+ to 500.
I can usually ping at 30ms and have 10 down and .78 up to chicago.
Yahoo.com times out on pings and traceroutes.
Google.com pings at at least 130ms.
After peak hours it seems to be testing ok but I'm not home to use it... I work 8-5.
This will be the 2nd time I've had ping/bandwidth issues in my area. The first time around phone support and chat wasn't helping so I filed a FCC complaint. They gave me a new modem for free and fix the issue. If came back about a week later and I was offered a tech's direct number. He went out and switch me to a newer card at the Central Office. This fixed the issues until 4/28/13. I seem to be back where I was before. I'm guessing it's a bad card or they are having packet loss on their end. I called the tech and he doesn't work in my area anymore so he wasn't of any help. I called the 24/7 service line and they said I had to average 300ms ping with low bandwidth for them to issue it as an actual problem. I kept on them and they said they would look into it. Put me on hold a couple times to talk to a 3rd party company(that I assumes monitors and remotely fixes issues). They said they would see if they could remotely fix the issue and if this wasn't possible they would send a tech out. The window of the issue getting fixed is 24-48 hours. I'm expecting this to be done within this given time line. If it isn't I will be filing my second FCC complaint against the company, which I don't want to do but I don't like getting horrible service and paying for it.
-Matthew Raupfer
1-23-12 Update
After about 6 months of service my package 10Mbps down and 860Kbps up has become a horrible experience. I'm getting "the engineers are working to resolve the bandwidth issue in your area" line for the last 4 months... I can't get my 10 down anymore at anytime and during peak afternoon/evening hours I will range from .6 down to 1Mbps. My upload usually stays around 860Kbps. I've contacted Joey once again about the issue and a local store about it. Waiting for replies right now. Online chat hasn't helped one bit with the issue.
Ordered 10Mbps/896Kbps
1st day it was installed was able to ping Chicago server @ 14ms with a bandwidth test of 10.5Mbps/860Kbps
2nd day the ping went up to an average of 50ms to the same server.
Called 1-877-646-3282 to see if they had me set on interleaved rather then fast mode.
They told me since I was using a Actiontec Modem and not a rental that they wouldn't support Fast Mode. Also, I never was able to get a answer out of them what mode they were sending me from the DSLAM. She was running me around. At the end she said that there was a fiber issue in my area and they were working on fixing it... I went ahead and hung up.
Went to »www.centurylink.com/Pages/Support/ContactUs/ and did the online chat.
WOW!!! The customer support rep was extremely nice and answered every question I had. I did have to wait here and there after certain questions due to having to look up the info but in the end she was able to tell me I was connected interleaved. She then went ahead and switch me to Fast Mode, then she tested the line.
Online Chat is Superb so far. Phone Support... don't waste your time.
My ping is now back down to ~20ms to the Chicago server and my bandwidth is doing well at 10Mbps/864Kbps.
Overall,
Service has been up 24/7 for 3 months and online chat support is great.
Phone support is terrible. Rude and just want to get the phone call over with.
member for 2.6 years, 185 visits, last login: 1 days ago
updated 15 days ago
Comments:
 | | comments I have heard a great deal of "bad" through acquaintances about cl. You always hear the bad more than the good. This is not an endorsement, although I am considering my options for service at this time. I would like to hear some of what they are doing correctly to help make a decision.
Seems service with a phone call is almost useless, but I see online chats are productive for the informed.
Need more input.
DC | |
|  |  linicxCaveat EmptorPremium
join:2002-12-03
United State
 ·CenturyLink
| Re: comments Understand. No mega corporation cares one byte about one kid with school work, or a housebound handicapped person; but business, yes.
Truthfully, for the average user who does not download movies, compose symphonies, or create massive scientific projects on line ... 10/2 will support a digital phone and a rock solid internet connection very well, but. When a local CO is pushed to the breaking point it usually does.
The one thing a telephone company can do that cable cannot do is separate the phone side from the Internet side of the service. Thus when the telco and cable are offline, the telco phone will continue to work. It's a federal requirement that telco maintain is backup power for the phone system in their communications center (co). It might be six blocks from your house or 20 miles from your office, but you can bet there is a very large backup power source for your phone.
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Mac: No windows, No Gates, Apple inside | |
| | linicxCaveat EmptorPremium
join:2002-12-03
United State Reviews:
·CenturyLink
| Trawocd, your best bundle is CL landline phone, Comcast Internet speed, and Dish crystal clear signal. It will cost you between $150 -$250 (depending upon the options you chose) plus the cost of installation, modems, etc..
BTW, you need to join us; you will get more help.
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Mac: No windows, No Gates, Apple inside | |
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