how-to block ads
|
»next review in page
Review by cbn 
UPDATED: 360 days ago
member for 1 year, 3 visits, last login: 321 days ago
 Columbia,Boone,MO
 Contract price not specified. (12 month contract)
 CenturyTel
 "cheaper than cable. Nice techs, good at crediting bill for problems"
 "Random constant disconnects and slow connections"
 "In my area Cable internet is down on a daily basis, so better than cable"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I have some weird connection problems with losing dsl sync at random times and randomly connecting at slow speeds, it can last anywhere from 10 min to all day. Here is the weird part.. when i lose sync i can do everything to try to get my modem to re-sync (unplug, change cables, disconnect cables, etc..) no luck, but when i connect my other dsl modem it almost immediately syncs up and connects, sometimes this fixes it for both modems and it stays up other times the other modem will start doing the same thing and i switch again and starts working again..
almost always before it losses sync the modem connection speed starts dropping.. then its gone my line signal and attenuation also start fluctuating. but go back up when i switch modems... this does the same no matter what modem i use first.
I dont know for sure but i think it might have started about the time i switched to PureBroadband, it could have been a fluke or about the time i started using the internet more (i only had it for about a month and half and was gone a lot so i might not have noticed the problem).
so far CT has sent me a new westell modem, changed dslam ports, changed my phone number, tested all my lines with no obvious problems, replaced the lines to the modem (they even tested them too) replaced the box outside my house. I have also tested ppoe, ppoa and all other settings..
One thing i have noticed on the one modem it may have signal but it may not get a dhcp . The other modems only show if they are connected or not and what speed.
It does seem like it may be worse when it is damp out but its not always the case.
Oh, i have had techs come out to my house about 15-20 times and only once did they show up when it started happening.. but like most problems it went away before he could do anything..
1.5mb dsl purebroadband.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of CenturyLink |
 | »next review in page (previous review)
Review by jmikey
UPDATED: 1 year ago
member for 4 years, 1097 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Humansville,Polk,MO
$45 per month (12 month contract)
 about 3 days
CenturyTel
"Tech support is good"
"High pings and slowdowns in the afternoons"
"They need more speed tiers here and new nodes"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I am a new customer, I understand it can take up to 10 days to get the speed just right, but so far everything is ok. There was a mix up on my Due date, I was told Nov. 3rd, but turned out to be Nov. 4th, but tech on here put me back on Nov. 3rd and gave me 2 weeks credit for the screw up, so that was taken care of. The best speeds here right now are 4 Mbps over 558 kbps, would like to see that go up in the future. I had my own 2wire 2700 HG-B, so they didn't need to send out any equipment.
So far everything seems ok, will update as I go.
Update: Have had the service almost 3 weeks, having huge drops in speed at night. My speed averages about 1005/365 evenings and nights. CenturyTel swears there is nothing wrong, but considering I am on the 4 Mbps tier I think that is way off, but can't seem to get them to do anything about it. During the day my speed averages about 4.1 Mbps down and 515 kbps up. I think they have oversold the service and definately need to do some updates.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of CenturyLink |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by Radman1969
Posted: 1 year ago
member for 7.4 years, 129 visits, last login: 45 days ago
Piggott,Clay,AR
$51 per month
"Very reliable speeds!"
"Seem to have a lot more drops since upgrade"
"Overall very satisfied with service."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
I was using the 1.5 Mbs dsl for a few years. I decided to upgrade to the 10 Mbs service. I have been very satisfied with the speeds I am getting. I was using an old Westell Wirespeed when I first upgraded but was getting only about 5.5 Mbs. I called the company and had them to send me a new modem. I received the modem in 2 days and now I'm getting an average of 9.34 Mbs. I have always received good support from Centurytel. The only downside I am having now is I seem to be getting frequent drops. I am working with support to fix this problem.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of CenturyLink |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by jeepers94
UPDATED: 1 year ago
member for 8.8 years, 55 visits, last login: 184 days ago
Platteville,Grant,WI
$49 per month
about 29 days
CenturyTel
"Connection speeds 10.44mbps/747 down/up"
"It took them 4 tries to send my modem=22 days"
"I am so far very satisfied!"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
This was the typical Centurytel service order! I was told dsl was to be up by Dec 1,2000.It was April before it was up! I then called LaCrosse to order it,and was told it was not available here!I called my local office and they contacted the customer serevice supervisor.I filled out the form and sent it in.
They said the modem would be here in 3 days.Waited 10 days and called back.Modem was shipped that day(I was told)Waited another week +
Stil no modem! I recieved my modem 22 days LATE!
Bottom line..it works great connections are very good,ping times in the low 60s! It looks like they raised their prices and now charge more for the
modem,since May 1!
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of CenturyLink |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by mythgard
Posted: 1 year ago
member for 3.8 years, 169 visits, last login: 37 days ago
Onalaska,La Crosse,WI
$80 per month (12 month contract)
about 5 days
CenturyTel
"FAST Service, good online support, responsive."
"Telephone Technical Support"
"Great speeds, find support online if you can."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
I joined CenturyTel a year ago when I moved to Wisconsin from California. I work for an ISP in California but we do not offer DSL in Wisconsin, so I had to find another provider. I found CenturyTel online through BBR and looked at their website for information on pricing, packages, etc. I was a little disappointed that I had to call them up to get any sales information and pricing.
When I finally made the move and requested service activation, it came up 2 days early and I was able to get online once I updated my router with the correct login information. I was only getting 8mbps on what was supposed to be a 10mbps connection. I never really had time to follow up on it, but when I tried to call support they started telling me that I needed to go into the control panel and change some settings which I couldn't do because I was on a Mac. I had logged into the modem interface and was seeing just the 8mbps cap, so my settings had nothing to do with it.
I made a post in the forums here and was quickly helped and it turned out to be my old DSL modem that was supposed to be ADSL2+ compatable, but apparently it wasn't. They sent a tech out and swapped in another modem and voila! Service running at 12mbps!
Service has been steady as a rock and I have not had a single outage and the speed has always been great!
The &80 price include phone service as well.
Followup comments:  jdcleay
join:2008-12-01
Bella Vista, AR
| DSL Modems For Centurytel? My daughter in wisconsin is getting Centurytel DSL and I wish to buy her a new but inexpensive DSL 1 port modem that will run on her 1.5 mbps service.
Can you tell me what choices I have an perhaps where I should look to buy one.
Thank you. | |
| | | |
| Forums » comments on review of CenturyLink |
| »next review in page (previous review)
 Review by NFLITE
UPDATED: 1 year ago
member for 6.7 years, 21 visits, last login: 362 days ago
Troy,Lincoln,MO
$49 per month (12 month contract)
about 2 days
CenturyTel
"Great Network / Field Techs, Good Choice of Plans, Great Price"
"Sketchy throughput / ping / latency on occasion."
"Get it if you can."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
After having high speed wireless for almost 12 months I got a call from Century Tel telling me DSL was finally available. Note: Verizon was the previous company before Century bought out MO and they had said for 3 years DSL was never coming.
Well I hadn't had any major issues, lighting hit my antenna once, with my wireless but I wanted lower pings and decided to move. I ordered the service on the Web and 2 days later my equipment showed up. They said it would be 7-14 days for the service to be installed but I hooked it up anyway and low and behold the modem synced right up. I go through a Linksys wireless router so I plugged in the PPoE account stuff and connected right up and have been going good ever since. I do not have a static IP or need one.
I've had one outage but all I did was bounce the modem and the router and it came right back. I have the 1.5/256 package and average 1-1.4 daily.
Since Charter has no plans to bring Pipeline into where I am, I am definitely sticking with Century Tel especially now they began offering 3.0. When that is available here I am getting it. Only $10 more bucks a month and since I have their whole phone package thingy it gets discounted anyway.
IMHO Century Tel offers an excellent service at a competitive price and I have not one complaint in the 6+ months I have had their DSL service.
:::Follow Up 6 Nov 08:::
I've had Century Tel for a while now and I upgraded to the 15 Mbps Package for the same price I was paying a couple months ago. I didn't like the fact I had to get a new modem because the Netopia I originally had couldn't hit the high speed. I figured what the heck I'm getting a huge speed boost so suck it up.
I got a new Westell 6100 and my pipe was cranked up within 48 hours of the upgrade. Then all hell broke loose. When it rained I lost connectivity. When the wind blew I lost connectivity. When the sun shined I lost connectivity.... see a pattern here.
I called a clueless tech support person that wanted me to rip apart my network so he could follow his scripts. I told him I knew what the problem was and asked him 10 times to just tell me what my distance was to the CO, which he never did. I kept telling him all I needed was for him to cap me at 6Mbps instead of 10.
So I get a call from a Field Tech saying he is coming out to check my inside wiring etc etc. I told him to save his gas and just tell me what my distance to the CO was. Well what do you know, I was around 8.75K from the CO. I told him to turn me down to 6Mbps and my connection never went down again.
My only real gripe now is the frequent "scheduled" maintenance that no one ever seems to want to tell me about. I told a CSR I need to be informed of scheduled and unscheduled maintenance due to the nature of my work. That went over like a lead balloon and I still don't have a clue.
Overall the past 3 or so years I have Century Tel I've been pretty happy and I guess lucky compared to some people. I am downgrading the following categories due to the recent outages and headaches I've had.
Connection reliability: 5 to 4
2+ years only 1 major outage - Major Cloud Outage - Not their fault.
Last 6 months - Multiple outages ranging from 15 minutes to 8 hours.
Sketchy throughput & ping times.
Tech Support: 5 to 4
It would've been a 3 but their Network and Field guys are very knowledgeable and helpful so I can't hold them responsible for a couple idiots at the help desk.
Value for money: 4 to 5
I upped this because I got upgraded from 1.5 to 6 for no price increase.
Bonus Rate - 4
For bringing Fiber to CPE. Even though I can't get Fiber now at least they are trying like hell to upgrade their network and availability of options.
Final Thoughts
Even though Century Tel is the only player in the game around here, I have had no real major complaints. Speed is good, price is great, plan options are great and the Network and Field techs are great to work with.
Even though I've had more downtime recently I still would recommend them to anyone looking for High Speed connectivity. When Verizon was running the show they were never going to bring in DSL. Within a couple months of Century Tel taking over we had High Speed and they have dumped millions into network upgrades so Kudos to them.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of CenturyLink |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by Relorian
UPDATED: 1 year ago
member for 7.3 years, 89 visits, last login: 173 days ago
Kila,Flathead,MT
$30 per month (12 month contract)
about 14 days
CenturyTel
"Easy Install"
"Tech Support, Speed Drops, Did I mention the Tech Support?"
"I Wish I had Cable or higher speeds, Especially Now"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Well the Install went well... Until I had to put in Username/Password. Bundle was ordered online through a 3rd party and no username/pass was given to me. So I had to call on behalf of my aging mother (Who i do inhome healthcare for) and get the information. Then all was OK.
Speed is semi solid. I spent a month at my line max or 1.5mbps, now im running at 1mbps with horrid up speed.
Their marketing team should know the area better. I called them directly to get hooked up after 3rd party fiasco and was told that 15/1 service was available in Kila, Montana. Great, Sign me up. Tech comes, informs me that the lines max out here is 1.5mbps and manages to fix my sync issue at the box.
Its Ok, Its not as good as Verizon was in Idano but its better than MediaCom in California... Now if they could only BOOST my speed id be happier.
---------------------------------------------
Added on 10/8/2008
---------------------------------------------
Horrid local techs, Do not wish to help customers. Thankfully this forums hosts CTel techs that care. Line speed issues that are not corrected with out extreme amounts of hassle with local techs. I'll update in a few days if anything new happens
======================
Added 10/28/08
======================
Thanks go out to the techs on the forum. If it were not for them, My local techs would not be working on the problem. Really, The techs here are great and should be getting rewarded for the extremely helpful assistance they provide. My lines not 100% up to speed yet but my download issues have been resolved with the help of Icon and CTEL Guy.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of CenturyLink |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by douggrif
UPDATED: 1 year ago
member for 2.5 years, 5 visits, last login: 1 year ago
Sulphur Springs,Benton,AR
$45 per month
about 1 days
"Performance as advertised, Reasonable DSL Cost"
"None"
"Moved from Wildblue Satellite to DSL and I am very satisfied"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)
|
I live in a rural area and years ago had CenturyTel service. I left CenturyTel to use an AT&T cellphone with 3 watt amplifier and Yagi antenna for home use and I signed up with WildBlue Satellite for Internet access. I was paying $55 per month for the phone and $80 per month (plus tax) for the highest speed Wildblue access (varied, but speed around 1.5 mbps to sometimes much lower). When I found out CenturyTel was now offering DSL I signed up. Now I pay $81 (plus tax) for an everything package for land line (Unlimited, Nationwide calls and every add-on package available) and including the DSL service (about $45 of the $81 total). In our rural town the best Internet connect speed advertised was 1.5 mbps, but I generally average better than that, up to around 1.7 mbps. Upload speed is around 280 bps. The service has been very reliable and I am very satisfied.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of CenturyLink |
| »next review in page (previous review)
Review by mikehd
UPDATED: 1.1 years ago
member for 9.3 years, 2178 visits, last login: 10 days ago
Lebanon,Linn,OR
$45 per month (month by month)
about 15 days
CenturyTel
"usually always on, usually dependable, local techs are excellent"
"EXTREMELY spotty CSR competency - it's a roll of the dice (loaded against you)"
"Still no other choice in our rural area. Lucky to be in the magic radius of the RO."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
CenturyTel now offers its ADSL service in rural Oregon. I lucked out when they pushed it out to a remote office (blockhouse) about 2 miles from my house. Only one speed available (512/256) for $49.95 per month, no limits on usage. VPN fully supported, dependent on home hardware. No home networking supported. Westell Wirespeed DSL modems used ($120 from CenturyTel), and they allow you to spread the cost over 12 months if you like. Order process was a bit confusing in that the hardware came but no notice what to expect next. Service was delayed 2 days past the promised date due to inexperienced field techs (finally found load coils on my line at the RO). PPPoE with DHCP is used. Actual speeds are typically 450/220. Very happy to have a stable broadband service.
***
Update Jan 31, 2002 - since my first signup with CenturyTel I have experienced about 5-10 days of service interruptions, mostly due to loss of their carrier out of the state. Some troubling tech support issues occurred during the most recent service "brown out" (not gone but slowed way down). I got one tech to tell me that they were having problems on their network, but the second time I called the tech just said that my Netgear RO318 router was the problem. The symptom was slow connection and IP address expiring every 5-10 minutes.
Also, if you check out community.centurytel.net you will see that they are running a promotion where you get your ADSL modem for $49 (regularly $120) and first month of service free if you commit to a year service.
***
Update July 7, 2003 - Service has been very steady and reliable over the past 18 months. Some slow down issues lately where a reboot of the Westell was required to get full 450Kbps speed (512Kbps advertised). Not clear to me why they don't offer higher speed service - is it their hardware? infrastructure?
***
I've been using the news service and their website more often lately and am a bit disappointed to how weak they are in those areas. The news has a very low retention rate, and their website just repeats the same info available everywhere.
Oh well..
***
July 15, 2003
Thought I would take the time to report a rarity with our ADSL service: an outage today! It may have been foreshadowed by increasing frequency of disconnects over the past few days. Today we could establish synch with the RO, but couldn't find a PPPoE server to get our IP. Just talked with a local field tech who was on his way to the Lacomb RO to turn things back up.
I had contacted the CT 800 number on Sunday (July 13) night to let them know things were starting to have trouble. Monday afternoon (July 14) we got a message from a local field tech to discuss the issue. Today (July 15) we get contact with the same field tech who is going out to fix the problem, and said that he would call back to the house to verify that service was re-established. I'm impressed.
****
More good news on the CT front: they will be offering higher speeds very soon. They have the network capability and have made the business decision to become more competitive with cable (Comcast in Lebanon, OR).
****
Aug 1, 2003
No news yet as to when CT will roll out the higher speed packages.
****
June 17, 2004
CT has been offering 512/256, 768/256 packages for a while now. For the same price that used to get you 512, you know get 768.
They also switched to Giganews for their newsfeeds, which has been a big improvement.
Stability has been excellent. Their web-chat CS is not usually useful for me. Their 800 number CS typically results in the problem really being solved.
Bottom line: CT aDSL still delivers.
*****
December 31, 2004 - Happy New Years!
The last six months has been the worst in terms of network stability with CT. Numerous calls to the 800 number result in the usual "all ok up here" and "reboot the modem, disconnect your firewall" routine. Most problems peaked in September, and have again smoothed out in the past month or so. I'm downgrading my rating of CT based on the past 6 months to average overall.
In an attempt to resolve the connection stability issues, I purchased a next generation Westell dsl modem (6100) to see if it's vaunted and hyped technology would enable more stable connects at higher speeds. No help.
I'm back on our old 356 and haven't had to power cycle it in weeks. Service is set to 1500/256 and typically we get 1200/220.
****************
September 5, 2006
CT has upgraded our local RO to be fibre fed. Must say that this is the most exciting development in the world of CT since they discovered aDSL technology. They are apparently now offering 3Mbps and 6Mbps packages but I don't know pricing yet.
Their website portal is still pretty clumsy and hard to find info. Looking for the latest offerings? can't find it here, gotta call them. Their 800 number tech support has been reworked to be more responsive and human, feels like you're working with someone that cares about the issues not just a drone. They still have that delightful southern accent.
Local tech support continues to be strong. Although a recent RO upgrade resulted in our service being left at 512/256, a call to the 800 line got a ticket opened (after the typical modem reboot, no router troubleshooting steps). Got a return call from the local tech who validated our MTU didn't change then set us up the bomb to 1.5/256 again.
Need to see what the line conditioning steps are to get to reliable 3Mbps service.
*******
November 5, 2006
We got 3/512 service this past week. Been very steady. Replaced the 5 year old modem with a new 6100 series. $50/month for the 2x faster service.
********
March 8, 2007
Another round of calling CT's CSRs to get some resolution on our periodic synching issues has concluded. Resolution was attained by insisting they open a repair ticket and having the local tech see the issue from his gear in the Lebanon office. A field tech was sent out to troubleshoot the cable pair. He found a bad splice that was grounding out the pair during wet weather (which we have a bunch of during the winter). Having the local phone number for a sympathetic tech is invaluable, but it is also a responsibility to not abuse the relationship. I still call the CT CSR line to open tickets, but it is good to know I can call (and I get calls from) the local tech for issues such as this.
************
Sept 26, 2007
Further issues with unsynching and speed degradation over a 24 hr period forced me to call in the CT CSR center again. Took a few tries as one of the CSRs wouldn't open a repair ticket if I could reboot my modem to restore speed. Another wanted me to put my netgear router back into service to address the PADT disconnect issues. Sigh. Eventually I got a repair ticket opened and the once again excellent folks in the Lebanon Oregon office were able to track it down to the last piece of hardware: my Network Interface Device. They upgraded it to a new one that uses a whole house splitter/filter. I did three home runs to it: one for data, two for phones. The dsl tech did the final tie in and an excellent job of dressing the cables down to the house. We went a record of 90+ hours without an unsynch or disconnect. The record was broken due to a power bump that reset the modem and router.
Summary: CSRs... meh. Local techs... EXCELLENT!!
***
Update 10/8/08
August was a month or more of 'nightly slowdowns' where our 6Mbps service would magically drop to less than 1Mbps, then restore back to 6 by morning. Of course there were no issues at CT's end . Noticed a post in the new dedicated CT forum by another local CT user in Lacomb with the same issue. Luckily CT techs are now participating in that forum and were able to investigate a bit for us folks. By mid-September the problem was resolved.
Once again, I am very grateful that CT has invested in our rural community in the technology needed to provide HSI access. I just wish they would upgrade their CSR group and provide them with real tools and real info on the true status of the network.
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of CenturyLink |
| »next page (previous review)
Review by BoycotCTL
UPDATED: 1.2 years ago
member for 1.2 years, 5 visits, last login: 2 days ago
Sarepta,Webster,LA
$29 per month (12 month contract)
about 5 days
CenturyTel
"They do 'offer' internet"
"Support nonexistant, inflexible, run by inbred rednecks"
"They know the're the only JACKASS in a 1 horse town !"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
Have been a $ donor to Cenurytel.net for 9 years, they offer existing long time customers NO deals; the support line is of no use to anyone who has any experience whatsoever with using/maintaining computer.
Here in the boondocks ( N Louisiana- Centurytel's backyard) - they are the only telco, the only broadband ISP, and they treat customers like feces - "Here's what we got, if ya want it, pay too much and don't expect any help, if not; use tin cans or smoke signals "! They offer great specials - but only for new customers; who the hell does that apply to when anyone that has a phone line is by definition a customer of theirs !!
Recently I saw on the web that Centurytel was offering Pure Broadband; I checked availability ( using legit personal info), was qualified, placed an order and was promptly refused. Here is their reply:
"Thank you for your interest in CenturyTel as your service provider. Unfortunately you are not eligible to get pure broadband due to you already having service with us; however, you do qualify to get up to 10.0 dsl .You may respond to this email as adequate communication to send in this information or you may contact our Customer Service Department at 1-800-201-4099, Monday through Friday, 7am-7pm CST/EST/Pacific for any inquiries. Should you contact them, your account number is 300155419 you will need this when you get the representative on the phone. "
If you have any other viable options RUN LIKE HELL !!!!!!
We recently had a severe lighning storm, one bolt hit the transformer on my block - the only damaged equipment ? Anything connected to Centurytel's landlines ! Had to buy a new computer - they wouldn't even cut me a deal on a new modem.
But, in all fairness, the local service guys are top notch !!! Courteous, helpful, offer insider advice to customers, and some have even helped out local residents while off the clock ( somehow a used modem/router appeared at my doorstep shortly after mine got fried... THANKS DUDE !!!! ) Hopefully some of these guys might eventuall get promoted to upper management - if they can stick with this bloodsucking outfit long enough !
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of CenturyLink |
|
|
CenturyLink
(12)
(15)
(21)
·
·
