| Should I get Centurylink DSL in western Colorado? I live in western CO (Montrose), and am trying to decide whether to switch my internet service from wireless broadband (Millenicom/Verizon) to Centurylink DSL 1.5 Mbps (only speed available). The wireless service is highly variable (2.-0.3 Mbps), but probably averages about 1 Mbps with a 20GB cap for $60/mo. It seems like I could save a fair bit of money by going to Centurylink, but the postings I see here give me some pause. The Verizon wireless service has been very reliable and hassle-free (no outages in 3 years), and Millenicom has been a pleasure to deal with. I get the impression Centurylink DSL might not be the same. I've never had DSL internet service, so I'm not sure how much trouble to expect (e.g. I use Linux, not Windows). I suspect I'm probably near the maximum distance for DSL service. Any experience or advice for my area would be appreciated. |
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 StuartMWWho Is John Galt?Premium
join:2000-08-06
Galt's Gulch
 ·CenturyLink
1 edit | said by haresear:I live in western CO (Montrose), and am trying to decide whether to switch my internet service from wireless broadband (Millenicom/Verizon) to Centurylink DSL 1.5 Mbps (only speed available).
Wow, I'm just south in Ouray and get 12Mbps with CenturyLink.
...but the postings I see here give me some pause.
Any experience or advice for my area would be appreciated.
BTW I started using DSL in the DFW area in early 1999. That was 256/64Kbps provided by GTE. Verizon took them over and that became 768/128Kbps with a new modem. I moved to Austin in 2005 and got 3Mbps with SouthWestern Bell (now At&T).
As already stated DSL is easy. You plug the modem into your phone jack (and put filters on any phones to eliminate the "hiss") and connect it to your router (advisable) or PC via ethernet. Your router/PC should get everything it needs (gateway, DNS etc) via DHCP.
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| reply to haresear
It depends a lot on whether you have high expectations. If you are in a new sub-division or they just put new fiber down the street by you I'd say go for it. If you are out in the boonies and 1.5mb is all you can get over your 50 yr. old phone lines you might not like it. On the other hand flaky 1.5mb service is still better than satellite and beats all the wireless services I could get here near Phoenix. It's a cinch to self install, all you need to do is get the modem package and plug it in at home then connect the ethernet cable to your computer and wait for them to turn it on. Doesn't matter what kind of OS you use since it's ethernet. They have no-contract, month by month plans so you could try and see if you like it. If you can you should try to find out what the distance is from your house to the central office because the distance is limited to 18,600'. It will still work over a longer distance if your lines are very good and may not work even that far if you have poor lines, YMMV. In my case the distance was 21,600' and it worked at night at the full 1.5mb speed but cut out in the daytime. |
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1 edit | reply to StuartMW
said by StuartMW:Wow, I'm just south in Ouray and get 12Mbps with CenturyLink.
Really? Impressive. I'm probably too far from the CO for anything like that. Not sure if anyone in Montrose has that kind of service. My 20+ year old house has a pretty long run of buried phone line, so I wonder if that might also be a problem for me.
Edit: I just checked some other addresses in Montrose, and indeed 12 Mbps service is available in the "good" areas. Sounds like my service would be pretty marginal because of my location. |
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| reply to haresear
Haresear,
We can answer all your questions about services, speeds and get you the best prices available. Email us at talktous@centurylink.com with the service address and a contact number for you.
Thanks
Patti
Centurylink Help |
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