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Review by jdbob 
UPDATED: 57 days ago
member for 154 days, 172 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 John Day,Grant,OR
 $44 per month
 about 4 days
 CenturyTel
 "Download Better than Tachyon Satellite"
 "Dynamic IP"
 "Not a lot of choices out in the boonies"
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Looked at Verizon mobile data but I'm not comfortable with Cell phone companies policy of just letting people run up absurd overages rather than just contacting the customer when they get close to their monthly limit.
CenturyTel just started offering their "Extended Internet" (which translates into we are too cheap to install a cabinet) recently to this area, at least officially. A couple of neighbors have contacts with local CT employees, so they were able to get it 6 months or more ago.
I called them on a Tuesday and received the modem friday morning by UPS. The lineman showed up in the afternoon but wasn't optimistic at that point about getting the signal here. He called later in the afternoon to inform me that I now had a connection, although there was a lot of noise on the line.
After about a week they got things fairly stable, now seems to stay synced at 352 down and 256 up instead of jumped all over the place. They charge me for 1.5Mb service in any case. Some test results at »/testhistory/1656151/adcfa
Update 19 Sept 2009: DSL and dial-tone dead since 18 Sept 2009 4PM. Neighbor had his go down the day before. Lineman told him the wiring is falling apart up here in the hills.
Update 21 Sept 2009: DSL back around 10AM, so that's about a 66 hour outage, not impressed.
Update 9 Oct. 2009: Ever since the outage the modem has been reporting a upload sync of 128 but only a margin of 1db. As a result actual upload speeds are in the range of 10kbs to 20kbs. Contacted Centurytel, both via phone in Louisiana and in person locally. In both cases they don't care.
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 Review by rupst2
UPDATED: 67 days ago
member for 6.9 years, 549 visits, last login: 57 days ago
Columbia,Boone,MO
$60 per month
about 25 days
CenturyTel
"adsl2+ 10mb"
"Price, outages"
"typical overpriced telco dsl"
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Called 3 weeks prior to move to have my 10mb dsl activated. No signal on the Saturday I moved. Had to wait until Monday to have telco guy fix it. Connection was pretty marginal for 10mb. Had to do a short 8' homerun line to keep it stable to get my 10mb speed. First bill came and $6.46/mo in taxes and fees. Never had that with ATT's version of PURE dsl. Centurytel supplies dialtone you don't use but you get stuck with state and local taxes, 911, and relay charges for it. Oh, and charged $1/mo on call block. So it amounts to $60.41/mo after $5 promotional discount. Then my service was out again yesterday and had to have telco guy come out and fix. At this point the connection has been OK, but really not fitting the bill. Ordered 12mb/1mb medicomm cable service to be installed tomorrow. I'm very pro dsl and anti cable, but as much as it hurts to say it, cable wins. 
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Review by CIAgent98
Posted: 73 days ago
member for 73 days, 19 visits, last login: 2 days ago
Jefferson City,Cole,MO
$29 per month (12 month contract)
about 7 days
Enhanced Telecommunications Corp.
"Cost and reliability"
"none"
"Excellent service"
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I've had CenturyLink (previously Embarq) for about 2 years, the service has consistently been excellent!
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Review by rick_farrow
Posted: 83 days ago
(review was emailed from domain centurytel.net)
West Plains,Howell,MO
$39 per month (12 month contract)
CenturyTel
"up most of the time"
"no announced outages via email"
"overall ok"
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Overall I suppose I am satisfied with Centurytel. I have been a customer of
their dsl for about 5-6 years. In my area Centurytel is the only dsl
provider ; we have been promised Charter Cable Internet for years but no
luck so far. My complaints about Centurytel would probably be:
1. There are no announced outages (due to maintenance) which is emailed
to subscribers. I think they post alerts about upcoming outages in some
remote portion of their site but I couldn't tell you where that is. There
have been no outages lately but there was about a six month stretch a year
or so ago when outages seemed to occur weekly. This was very frustrating.
2. The homepage Centurytel offers is really just a tweaked Myway.com
homepage. There is nothing to it, really, and I would not consider making
it my homepage.
3. The security software offered (for a fee) by Centurytel is from
Computer Associates which is a mid-tier performer at its best. Why they
don't offer F-Secure, Norton or even Trend Micro or McAfee is beyond me.
4. I purchased a dsl modem with firewall when I started with
Centurytel. There has been one software update/upgrade to the modem and
that was about a year after I purchased it. It has a built in firewall
although I am not sure how secure it is anymore. Now Centurytel leases
their modems although a person could save a lot of money just purchasing one
at walmart.
Followup comments:  
JoeConsumer
@myvzw.com
| Centurytel Facts Olive Branch and a small area just outside the city limits is the only area Centurytel services throughtout our region. Centurytel is larger in othe areas but very small in North MS. The city of Olive Branch has a contract with Centurytel and receives a handsome return on all services. Centurytel is high and not competitive with the neighboring AT&T service areas which surround it. Centurtel does NOT have to be competitve they own the rights through the FCC to serve the area in Olive Branch which results in higher revenues for both the city and company. There are literally neighbors in surrounding areas that live next door to each other that have to make a long distance phone call to call each other. Centurytel's solution a pricey area wide calling plan which makes an average phone line nearly $50 with any coomon features such as caller ID. I had Centurytel before I dropped my home phone because of poor service, dropped calls, etc. Yes a landline with calls that failed and it has been a cronic issue with many OB residents.
I have a solution. Drop your Centurytel phone service. Get Comcast high speed Internet and get a magic jack. You'll save money and put am end to Centurytel's monoply in out community. It will not be profitable for Centurytel to remain in our area and the will sell their rights mist likely yo AT&T which is now offering U-verse TV, phone and Internet. It will also give an incentive to the City of Olive Branch to Enter contract talks with AT&T to give all of us a oppertunity to choose who we'd like to use for our phone, cable and Internet. The time is now but unless we drop Centurtel we are only holding ourselves back! | |
| | Telephony
join:2008-10-10
Olive Branch, MS
| Re: Centurytel Facts Centurytel Facts ha.
Fact 1: OB was about middle of the pack in Centurytel territory's in terms of access lines and closer to the top in growth. At least before the recent merger, it may have affected this one way or the other.
Fact 2: Centurytel does not have a contract with the City of OB, other than to provide them phone service.
Fact 3: The only return the city gets from Centurytel is in the form of taxes and community involvement.
Fact 4: On the area calling plan, well they could have no solution. Plus it caps at $10 a month. ATT has the same plan.
Fact 5: Centurytel does not have a monopoly, Comcast offers dial tone in OB for competition's sake.
Those are the real facts. I understand your frustration, but to post stuff that is just not true is well, just wrong. ATT had this area way back in the day and chose to sell it, they did not want it. | |
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 Review by GeekJedi
UPDATED: 95 days ago
member for 8.4 years, 3286 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Mukwonago,Waukesha,WI
$39 per month (12 month contract)
about 7 days
CenturyTel
"Right at advertised speed, low latency"
"None anymore!"
"No problems here."
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Let me start by saying that I'm not a big downloader. I surf/email quite a bit, and VPN into my office. Speed is important, but not everything.
Having said that, I was using RoadRunners 3000/512 cable service (without their TV) which was running me $50/mo. Unlimited calling through Vonage was $24/mo. Since the competition is heating up around here with TW phone service, CenturyTel has become quite competitive.
I called to check availability, and found the package that I wanted. The modem cost and installation fees were waived, though it's a 12 month contract. If I want out early, I pay a prorated charge for the modem. Anyway, this was a Friday. By Monday the modem was on my doorstep. five days later, Friday noon, it was up and running.
I now get unlimited phone service, and 1500/256 PPPoE DSL for less than what I was paying for the old configuration. Yes, a reliable phone service and a still snappy connection for less. Even after taxes and fees, I save a couple of bucks.
Do I wish they offered faster service? Sure. They don't offer their 3000/512 service yet, and if they do, it will probably cost more than I'd like to spend.
As I said above though, speed is not everything to me! I do have to say though that the low latency has made surfing and email seem "peppy" to me. I haven't wished for the higher speeds at all!
Good job, CenturyTel!
*UPDATE 5/6/06*
This service has been absolutely rock-solid! The low pings make surfing "snappy", and there has been no downtime that I've been aware of. I absolutely do not regret making the switch. The phone/DSL bundle is great, even if a tad on the expensive side.
*UPDATE 9/1/06*
3000/512 now available. Painless upgrade, still working very well!
*UPDATE 4/8/07*
A big win for customer service! I moved to the next town over, also serviced by CenturyTel. I wanted to switch my 2 phone lines (one is a biz line) and DSL from the old house to the new one on the same day. about 11AM, service at the old house is shut off. Pack up the phones and modem, and sure enough everything was up and running at the new place, without even missing a beat!
Now I find out that they have 10Mpbs service in my area for the same price as the 3000/512 I have now. No problem, they say, we'll have you hooked up by 4/12/07. I'll come back (hopefully I'll remember!) and do another update then. The overall reliability - only an hour of downtime in well over a year - and service has earned them in increase in score from me.
Good job, CenturyTel!
*UPDATE 4/13/07*
Wooo hooo! I'm now getting 10000/768 and it ROCKS! The one thing to be careful of is that older CTEL modems won't sync to the higher speeds. Be sure to ask them about your modem when you upgrade.
At any rate, 10000/768 for $10/mo less than 3000/512. Am I happy? You bet!
*UPDATE 11/2/07*
Everything is still great. There was a week when I my speed was brought down to 6000/768 due to some technical issues. It was resolved quickly, and I'm back up to my full 10000/768. The service has been great, especially when dealing with the local techs. I highly recommend them!
*UPDATE 5/22/08*
Well, I narrowly averted disaster! I had a cable modem installed yesterday because "dry DSL" was going to cost me $59.95/mo. Fortunately, a CenturyTel rep informed me of a deal where I could save enough to make the price comparable to cable. I called in, got it worked out, and I'll be taking the cable modem back tomorrow. I'm glad that I was able to keep CTL!
*UPDATE 7/15/08*
True to their word, not only was my bill lower than what I would have paid for cable, but they also credited me (pro-rated) the rest of the month when I switched to a different plan. Everything switched with no hiccups. I am excited - I see lots of trucks laying fiber in my area..I hope that we'll be seeing 15000/768 around here soon!
*UPDATE 9/1/09*
Everything is still rockin' along. CTL did have an outage a week or two back, but other than that, I'd say it's been better than 99% uptime. Speed has been very good as well. I have no plans to switch away from CenturyT...oops I mean CenturyLink! 
Followup comments:
Simon Kodousek
@centurytel.net
| Should Be Better Hi,
I've had Centurytel's DSL internet service (1.5 MBPS) for about 2 years now. When we moved here, we had Centurytel's dial-up service, however when DSL was available we jumped on it. At first I loved the speed, but 2 years later it's pretty slow. Right now I'm considering switching to Road Runner since it is 5 MBPS VS. 1.5 MBPS and it is only $5 more per month for 12 months (after 12 months the price raises from $34.95 to $44.95).
Here are some things I'd like to add: First off, Centurytel's customer support is absolutely terrible. You usually get very rude people, people who don't know what they are talking about, or people who don't seem happy to help. They also require a social security number for every small task, even adding an e-mail account. Second, there are parental controls built into the internet, so you have to call to turn them off. These controls block popular sites such as Google Video and YouTube.
As soon as Verizon FiOs service becomes available in my area I'll be getting their 15 MBPS service.
Thanks,
Simon | |
| | | | BigVe
join:2005-07-15
Gulliver, MI
 ·CenturyLink
2 edits | In reply.I have been in contact with the customer service several times and they Always where polite and helpful so i don't know what customer support you ended up with.Also doing changes on your account requires verification and that IS for your protection.If not anyone could do changes on your account and you wouldn't like that....right.I use YouTube with NO problems as well as Google video.You should check your setup.Are you using the included software?? If so dump it.What it goes for speed vs price Yes, if i ever would get a chance to something cheaper and faster i would jump on it too since Centurytel's offerings is Highly overpriced.I will never be able to get any Verizon Fios (and if you do, Do you have some extra rooms to rent out  )at my location but wish you the best. | |
| | Dolgan
Premium
join:2005-10-01
Sun Prairie, WI | LOL I just wonder how Simon plans to get Verizon FIOS in Century Tel territory. Verizon will not be overbuilding into other carrier's territories. | |
| | | 
Icon
Time Keeper
Premium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Crockett, TX
·Windstream
·CenturyLink
| Re: Should Be Better said by Dolgan :LOL I just wonder how Simon plans to get Verizon FIOS in Century Tel territory. Verizon will not be overbuilding into other carrier's territories. Exactly. No such luck there bro. As for blocking the websites you mentioned, there is nothing on CenturyTel's service that blocks those sites.
--
Something unknown is doing we don't know what. Sir Arthur Eddington | |
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Review by xD3G3NERATE
Posted: 95 days ago
member for 112 days, 15 visits, last login: 57 days ago
Pell City,Saint Clair,AL
$42 per month
CenturyTel
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Bandwidth is terrible. For a $40 plan, you'd think something more than 1.5Mbps would be given.
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Review by rasparks0967
UPDATED: 101 days ago
member for 6.4 years, 704 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Aurora,Lawrence,MO
$85 per month
about 3 days
CenturyTel
"If I have issues, tech support is friendly and tries to help"
"Not a bad company if they can get some upgrades made."
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I activated both phone and DSL service, I signed up for 10 Mb DSL but was told by the installer that only 1.5 Mb was available since I run out of a remote office. When I need a tech the guys are right there in town and are extremely knowledgeable and friendly.
I have some latency issues in the evening within CenturyTel's network, but they are working on that. Hopefully we can get those resolved soon and I can bump up my rating. I am still a little peeved about the speed because the customer service people should have known about what speed was available.
08/26/2009 CenturyTel fixed my latency issue, The problem resided upstream from the DSLAM, they changed the connection to an ethernet pipe and now it is smooth sailing. I will be glad when they upgrade the DSLAM so that I can get something other than 1.5 Mb.
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Review by vicrider
UPDATED: 110 days ago
member for 307 days, 136 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Kalispell,Flathead,MT
Contract price not specified.
CenturyTel
"Tech Guys/service"
"The only game in town"
"Even though there are no other choices, service is reliable and it works"
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I own a business and do some work from home. The package includes phone/data/vpn, and phone with unlimited long distance from home. I am running 5000Kb/s down and 1445Kb/s up and a 30ms latency from home and better at the office. The service guys are great.
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Review by cehenke
Posted: 164 days ago
member for 7.4 years, 58 visits, last login: 120 days ago
Columbia,Boone,MO
$51 per month (24 month contract)
about 7 days
CenturyTel
"good speeds"
"bad service"
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after seven years of reliable service our modem died, however, it took centurytel almost three weeks to do anything about it. the local techs kept closing the tickets when I would call into the national support line and I could not get them to send anyone out to check my problems out. So - I cancelled them and went to Mediacom. Sorry CenturyTel - you lost a customer because of your apathetic local service people. If you would have had someone out the next day or even two days later to see what was going on instead of waiting three weeks I would still be a customer. By the way - the tech walked in to the house, looked at the modem, and immediately said it was dead, I ordered a new one and had it up and running within 24 hours...why that took three weeks I will never know.
Followup comments: BigVe
join:2005-07-15
Gulliver, MI | What do you have? You say in the earlier part of post you canceled Centurytel and went with Mediacom.Further down it say you ordered a new modem and had it up and running within 24hrs.So what is the deal here? | |
| | cehenke
join:2002-07-03
Columbia, MO
·CenturyLink
| Re: What do you have? sorry for the confusion - I was jumping around in my story - eventually I got a modem from Centurytel - when they finally sent a tech out - the problem is that it took national tech support three weeks to convince the locals to come out and look at my problem and although they got me back up and running within 24 hours of coming out I couldn't continue to give my money to a company that would treat a long time customer like that so I moved over to Mediacom. | |
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Review by bmac58
Posted: 168 days ago
member for 236 days, 58 visits, last login: 132 days ago
Manila,Mississippi,AR
$93 per month
about 3 days
CenturyTel
"the service is fairly reliable. speeds are pretty consistent"
"we were told it would be $63 and got hit with $30 in other charges"
"it's the best i can get for where i'm at"
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i've had some disconnection problems but it's not from the centurytel service. I'm having problems with my dlink ebr 2310 router.
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Enjoy even 1.5 MB!
Centurytel's High Speed Shortfall