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I got the 10 Mbps package and it seems fast but that's really all you get. The customizable home page has less features than a free page at Yahoo! and includes lots of links for add-ons from CenturyLink that all will add fees to your monthly bill. That page and pop e-mail are the only included features that don't cost extra. They even charge $3.95 a month for the modem and actually charged to send it to me. This company will nickel and dime you ruthlessly while charging you more than any other company I've ever dealt with for the same speed of service with far fewer included features than any other company I've ever even heard of. Want the security suite with your service? Sure they have it, but it's not Norton or McAfee and it costs you extra. Want to listen to music from your home page? Sure, just agree to pay the extra fees. I can't list it all here without seeming quite bitter. Just follow virtually any link on your new free customizable home page and you will find something available from CenturyLink for some extra fee added to your account. I never thought I would consider AT&T a bargain but that was before I moved here. As for the actual service, it seems fast and reliable so far, (about two weeks), but only occasionally tests over 7 Mbps even on the wired connection, but has tested very close to 10 Mbps a few times. I've had one customer service experience with their online chat function and they were slow to come on but understood my issue and provided a resolution promptly when they did finally come on. The issue resulted from the install & setup process for the pop email service. There is an http link provided in the software on the setup CD but mine didn't work, and I couldn't find the page online to set up the e-mail. It's reliable broadband, and it's usually fast, but I will switch to the first provider that offers fast service in this area even if they are only $5 less. CenturyLink is taking advantage of customers who have no choice in this area but as usually happens to such companies, someone will come along and take over their markets with reasonably priced reliable service primarily because people will enjoy watching CenturyLink sink after all the time they have sucked us dry when we had no options. Oh, and by the way, when I said AT&T I was referring to the new AT&T, I think we all remember what happened to the original... member for 21.1 years, 261 visits, last login: 13.5 years ago updated 13.7 years ago
I have been waiting for high speed internet for 15 years as all that I could get was dial up, I live in a rural area. Got an offer in mail for high speed so I called and bundled it with my phone. Got modem yesterday followed instructions after hooking it up. When the screen for downloading the installer program came up it said it would take over an hour to complete. after 45 minutes download stopped and I got an error. Called Tech support, waiting about 20 minutes until I got through. After going through several different fixes I was told to check my phone line. I am getting a beep beep beep noise instead of a dial tone. Phone worked fine until I tried installing the high speed. I am now waiting for phone man to come out and see what is wrong. If that gets fixed I will try to install high speed again. I am more than frustrated. member for 13.7 years, driveby review (so far) lodged 13.7 years ago
have been told by centurylink techs that slow speed is caused by lack of capacity in their system. evidently no plans for a fix so customers have to live with slow speed during peak hours. calls to customer service entail long wait times and nonsensical tests that cause calls to run about an hour on average just to find out it is a problem on their end with no timeframe for a solution. when dsl works it is great but cannot rely on service. member for 14.9 years, 59 visits, last login: 13.1 years ago lodged 13.7 years ago
CenturyLink has the most unreliable service I have ever had. Most of the time i am not even getting dial-up speeds. When I call to report the problem, I am always met with resistance by customer support. I am told the problem will be fixed within 24hrs and it has been almost a month, the problem is still not fixed. I should have known when the service started as the company kept pushing the install date back stating that I authorized the change. Well I did not authorize it. Problems from the beginning. BEWARE!! member for 13.8 years, 1 visits, last login: 13.8 years ago updated 13.8 years ago
It's always easier to complain that it is to praise... With that being said, my experience with Centrytel (at the time), which has since turned into Centrylink has been somewhat satisfactory. There's no other option for broadband internet where I'm currently located other then DSL through Centrylink. I'm very happy that I was able to receive broadband where I'm at, after all this time it turns out I'm 19k feet from the central office. In other words, it's no small miracle that I'm able to even get online with a connection faster then 56k. (Thank you Centrylink for that) The original ordering process was terribad. When I first arrived in this area, I tried to get service, and was denied. I double checked the online system, but again it informed me that there was no service on my street. Another phone call resulted in more of the same, although this time was prompted to continue to check back, "The more people in your area that request service, the more inclined we are to install central offices." Or some other such non-sense. More time passed, again I phoned in to express my interest in receiving broadband connectivity. Then finally I found someone that was actually interested in earning my business, a young lady that was willing to not only check for service, but also double check my street to see if anyone else had service. Several homes on both sides of my own were happily surfing the web with a broadband connection. I can only assume for longer then I had been living at this location. The installation was a better experience, the service tech seemed very familiar with the area, even went so far as providing a home-run installation (pro-install). The tech left wishing me well, saying he was fairly sure I'd have a solid connection. The installation went off without any physical problems, but I was left with a headache of a billing issue. I had ordered the DSL service alone, but when it was all said and done, I was being charged for the install of a phone line, and the line itself. All of which were successfully taken care of with a phone call and a credit on the next months bill. Little bit of effort and a lot of patience on my end had paid off. 1.5k down, and 256 up (WooHoo!) I've had this same service for over a year. There were intermittent connection issues from time to time. One occurrence was very bad, and lasted for several weeks. This episode resulted in a replacement modem being sent to my location, and when that didn't remedy the situation... I found out how lazy the phone technicians are. No less then 5 phone calls to tech support. I'm a fairly techy guy. Heck, I used to actually tech DSL and cable for Earthlink Inc before they outsourced everything to India. It's not rocket science. A speed test here, a line test there... Ping this, 10% packet loss... That's pretty poopy. Ran into a tech that I basically walked him through some trouble shooting steps as to what was happening... He told me a 10% packet loss was within acceptable range for what I was paying. After a handful of phone calls, trouble tickets, and visits from field techs... I finally found a phone representative that was nothing less then Awesome. This gentleman sensed I was a little frustrated, and took a few moments to review the case notes from the other techs I had spoken to before. What ever he wrote in the next ticket really got the field tech working... The fix eventually was swapping to another pair of lines coming from the road to the house. Everything from that point was great... Until now... A year and a half into my subscription with, what is now, Centrylink. Just this afternoon I made a visit to the local branch to square away my monthly bill, while I was on lunch. The customer service lady was very nice, and I while I was waiting in line, another couple in front of me finished upgrading their service. I love the service that I'm getting, maybe a little expensive, but with no connection issues lately, I would consider upgrading if possible. After looking at my account she made a remark about extended service and a 768 connection speed... Made a quick phone call, and notified me that she'd contact me later in the day after the engineer could work his magic. Stoked! I pay my bill, finish my day at work and head home... The young lady that I spoke to at lunch time had left a message on my cell explaining what the engineer had found out. Turns out I am 19,000 feet from a central office, I am very lucky to get broadband at all, and that my connection speed of 768 was the most I'd be able to receive. "Strange." I thought... as my connection has ALWAYS been 1.5k down. I turn old Betsy on (the computer) boot up, log in... Pop open good ol' Chrome and notice I'm browsing slower... about half the speed I was. DSLreports' confirms it with the speed test... 768 down, 256 up. If I had to rate the ISP from a connection standpoint... 97% of the time, they're running at peak performance. The equipment I've received has been high quality. Rating the ISP based on employee's performance... 15% you'll talk to someone that WANTS to make the customer happy. Hopefully over the next handful of phone calls to Centrylink I can convince someone that I've got a solid connection out here. I wonder if I can request being taken off the 'extended' program... I wonder how the billing department would take to me paying half price for the half a connection i'm being provided...? Hopefully this gets resolved quickly... Just out of curiosity -- What would you do in this situation?? member for 14.2 years, 4 visits, last login: 13.9 years ago updated 13.8 years ago
all i can say is don't even waste your money. i'll explain why its the worst in my opinion. 1. when ordered, the name on the box wasn't mine, even when i spelt it out for them over the phone about 10 times. 2. when i opened the box, and i come to find the only directions it came with were for when you actually had it hooked up. they also promised me a reciept of what i had purchased which i didn't get and still haven't gotten. 3. the connection never stays consistant, it will cut out continuously. the only way i can fix this is by unplugging everything, then plugging it back in and waiting for it to connect once more. i cannot count the number of times i have done this in the past couple days. and no matter where i place the modem it will disconnect. dont even get me started on how many times i will have to repost something for it to actually be posted, like a comment on youtube, you can forget about it unless fairly determened. 4. when it says it all fine and dandy and has a strong connection. IT LIES! i will get the "internet explorer cannot detect server" thing, so im back at number one. 5. i had to wait 24-48 hours from when i got the box to the point where i actually had internet. 6. i called customer service and when they came to help me, i asked about having an additional phone jack installed in my room. the only one we have is in the living room, which crosses two doorways, which are commonly used. thus making it able to become unplugged if my dog were to walk across the cable. the guy told me he could'nt because he did not have the tools. so i then had to buy an additional longer cord, about 25 ft. so it could reach my room. 7. the tech guy didn't even stay around to make sure the internet was working right. as soon as the setup screen came up he said there ya go. he left and when i tried hooking it up it wouldn't except my phone number. so this took another 2 hours for it to register. also befor when i called to make sure what arrived to me was mine, i was on the phone for 2 hours, and they couldn't find my info, and told me to use the internet connection anyway. so in the end im not sure how much it cost me, the connection........it's almost not even considered a connection. the tech support is really fast in arriving when you have a problem, but they dont stick around to make sure the problem ios fully gone. and when i want to get on the internet, refresh, refresh, refresh. and repost what you already tried to repost, and hope and pray it works. and as far as online gaming, you will most likely have to refresh this too loosing all the data you once had. and when i even want to go on a site like youtube or myspace or any other site, most of the time i will have to go to google and search for it. basically this was a mistake of a purchase. and im not even sure how long im on the contract for. don't purchase this, ive had nothing but bad experiences with it. also it take 10 gazillion years to get to the site you want, as i am an impatient person with an internet connection cause of all the bad ones ive had, its very frustrating. i have no virus's that could make any of these problems happen as my computer has only been in my possetion for under 3 weeks. not that this would affect internet in any way, as i am moderatly familiar with computers. im no expert but i know a virus can't cause this. i hope this is helpful to anyone considering this company as you modem, and as you can only imagine. i have come .5 seconds away from smashing it to bits with a sledge hammer, and shooting the crap out of it. member for 13.9 years, driveby review (so far) updated 13.9 years ago
Have had overall good service for the last 6+ years with CenturyTel (now CenturyLink since Embarq bought them). It took the local people here in Yuma 2 months of me harping at them, turning in Excel spreadsheets of speed tests during peak and off-peak times, for them to upgrade the network. It was simply oversold. They thought they were being so cool selling 10mbps packages. Now I can reliably get 10mpbs on good torrents (seemingly the only way to fully test your throughput nowadays). member for 22.8 years, 1272 visits, last login: 12.6 years ago lodged 13.9 years ago
On April 7, 2010, I called into Embarq to pay my bill. The first man took my card information yet said I had two phones active in my home( I dont) so he put me on hold. After a few minutes a woman answered and sent me on to a 3rd person to help me. The 3rd man said the 1st man never finished my bill paying transaction, so he tried my card. He told me it was denied, so he used my checking info. Finished everything up and my bill was paid. I checked on why my card was denied online. It was denied because they DID already take the money off my card! I called Embarq back and explained that they double billed me. I asked if they could credit my checking account back the money. They said No, that it would take 10-14 days to get it in the mail. They even gave me a Group ID # for my request of getting my money back. On April 17, 2010 we called and talked to Curtis. We explained to him because of the double charging that now we have overdr aft charges through our bank. He told us on the following Monday to fax a copy of overdraft charges to him. So I did. He also explained to me that my check was mailed out on April 12, 2010. On April 23, 2010, I called into Embarq to see where my $125.61 check was because I never recieved it. Another man named Curtis looked through my file and told me that there was never a check mailed out. He said his supervisor informed him that they could give the money back to my card no later that the following Tuesday, April 27, 2010. That it took a few days for it all to go through. I once AGAIN called Embarq on April 27, 2010 because still no money. I talked to the supervisor and she said that it was just filed on the Friday before to get my money and that they would mail me a check in 10-14 days. I explained it had been 10-14 already since I got the group ID # for my claim. I explained that they told me it would be back on my card by that morning and still nothing. She e xplained that they dont do that and that they mail a check to me. She kept putting me on hold and then finally came back online and said she just got an email from her supervisor saying that the money will be put back on my card within 24 hours. That was yesterday, April 27, 2010. Today is Wednesday, April 28, and still no money to be seen. For 21 days they have done nothing but feed me more and more lies. *Curtis* promised that we would get our money they would give us the $50 in overdraft charges that was caused by them double billing us plus the amount of $125.61 for double billing me. member for 13.9 years, driveby review (so far) lodged 13.9 years ago
No fiber optic options for the Internet services offered. Monthly DSL and phone service prices are too high. 63$ dollars a month for a 10 meg connection with the pathetically slow 768kbs upload speed is massively overpriced. Slow upload speed (768kbs) is too slow for X Box Live gaming and it makes for a frustrating gaming experience. I cancelled my telephone service account about 2 years ago because centurytel's support would not help me to diagnose and repair the persistent and very loud line noise coming through my phone. I tried 5 times to get an actual technician to take the time to diagnose the very loud line noise that was coming through my phone and absolutely no one from centurytel's support would take the time to try and find the trouble. Centurytel's telephone service is way too expensive and if something goes wrong, they blame the customer for the problem and they REFUSE to help the customer. Telephone support take up to 45 minutes to speak to an actual human being. If Centurytel had taken the time to help me with the line noise coming through my phone line, I would not have cancelled my phone account. The line noise was so loud and constant that I could not use my phone. My DSL connection is reliable and stable but way too expensive at 63 dollars a month. member for 14.9 years, 14 visits, last login: 13.4 years ago updated 13.9 years ago
In my area there is only one choice for high speed internet and that is centurylink. If there were another choice, i would take it in a heartbeat. I currently have the 3.0mbps package. It generally will run around 2.5-3.0 on average. I was expecting it to stay at or above 3.0 on average, but that is too much to expect i suppose. The router/modem combo is nice (2wire 2704HG-S), when it works. I am on about the 7th router in 3 1/2 years. The internet service itself is rather intermittent. There are periods where download speeds drop to under 1.0 mbps and ping times are in the range of 500-1k+. This often happens about 1-2 times per month. The worst experiences have lasted for days and have included periods of time where there has been no internet connection at all. Technicians have often closed open tickets without fixing issues (particularly those opened later in the week). There have been instances where field technicians were dispatched to the house, but never showed, then claimed that they were there but nobody home. The bad experiences occur about every 2-3 months on average. Recent experiences with customer service reps via telephone have improved, however, I do feel that they have left notes on the account that negatively affect our service. All in all, the initial experience was good, but has degraded significantly. If there were even one other option in the area, i would gladly switch. member for 14 years, 16 visits, last login: 13.7 years ago updated 14 years ago
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