Review by Mr Matt 
member for 5.1 years, 1332 visits, last login: a few minutes ago
lodged 1.1 years ago
 Eustis,Lake,FL
 $85 per month about 7 days "Reasonable price, easy installation, very competent technicial support, no contract.." "Speed varies depending on time of day. No worse than Comcast was, when I signed up with them in 12/2006." "Good value if you can schedule large downloads during off peak periods."
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Please note my previous reviews under Embarq now CenturyLink was for voice service. This review is for CenturyLink broadband service.
I finally received a solicitation from CenturyLink that I was actually interested in. The reason for my interest is that I just received notice from Comcast that as of January 1, 2012 internet access was increasing by $4.00 per month from $43.95 to $47.95 plus taxes and fees. That is in addition to a $1.00 increase last year from $42.95 to $43.95. An increase of about 12% over two years.
The solicitation I received from CenturyLink offered to add 10Mbps down and 768Kbps up, to my existing voice service for $15.00 per month plus modem rental fee of $3.90 per month and taxes and other fees. I was paying $63.04 per month for local service, unlimited long distance and unlimited features. I estimate that my monthly cost will be about $85.00 per month with the addition of Broadband service. The deal also includes a 5 Year price lock and no contract. I will update the cost information when I receive my next bill. Speed varies depending on time of day from 10Mbps+ download speed during off peak hours to as low as 2Mbps during peak hours. When I first signed up with Comcast service in December of 2006 the maximum download speed was 6Mbps and regularly fell to below 2Mbps during peak traffic periods.
Pre-sales information: I was not advised of all costs to install the HSI service. The customer service representative indicated that he was waiving all installation costs. My bill includes a $14.95 Shipping/Handling fee to deliver the modem plus a $15.95 HSI activation fee. There is also a modem rental fee of $3.90 per month which we did discuss. I expect to purchase a modem so the modem rental fee will be eliminated.
Order/Installation: When I confirmed the price I placed the order immediately, for the 10Mbps service. I received the modem in about two days. I had already installed a DSL splitter so all I had to do was plug in the modem and it automatically configured itself. The next step was to fill out some forms on the CenturyLink website to activate service, create passwords and set up a primary email account.
Equipment: CenturyLink sent a ZyXEL EQ-660R-F1 combination modem router. A generic version of this modem router is available at retail under the ZyXEL product code P-660R-D1.
I really did not have any bad experience save the sales CSR not fulfilling his promise to wave the HSI installation fee. On the other hand I was very satisfied with CenturyLinks technical support when I contacted them to learn how to bridge the modem. As soon as the first level technician realized that my request was above their level of knowledge I was immediately transferred to the second level technical support. The technician advised me of how to bridge the modem and warned me to be sure I released the IP address to avoid being locked out of the DSLAM until the lease period of the IP address timed out.
I strongly recommend that anyone not familiar with DSL service read the installation manual for the ZyXEL P-660R-DI to familiarize themselves with the modem router to improve the installation experience.
Compatible Modems: I have already purchased three modems are returned one. The ZyXEL P-660-D1 provides some of the same features and functions that the CenturyLink supplied modem provides. One feature that the retail version lacks is a release and renew radio button that should be used when placing the modem in the bridged mode. The Actiontec GT710D provides similar features and does include a release and renew button. Both modems provided the same performance as the CenturyLink provided modem. Specifically 10Mbps+ down and 760Kbps up. Both modems are on the list of CenturyLink supported modems. I returned a TP-Link TD-8816 because while it was able to provide 10Mbps+ down it was unable to provide higher than 550Kbps up.
Comments:
 | | Billing/Service issue Hello Mr Matt,
If there is anything you need assistance resolving regarding your CenturyLink billing or services, we can help. Please email us the account and address info at TalkToUs@CenturyLink.com, we can get you taken care of.
Regards,
Steve | |
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