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scots
Are we there yet??
Premium Member
join:1999-12-06
Raleigh, NC

scots

Premium Member

[Embarq] CenturyLink Bill Question

I'm new to CenturyLink and was looking over my latest bill again. Noticed a couple things that puzzled me:

North Carolina 911 Fee - I have internet only (no phone service). Why would I have to pay a 911 fee on an internet only line? I don't think I can call 911 (or anything else) on it. I didn't have to pay a 911 fee to Time Warner Cable or to AT&T for U-verse when I had those at my previous residence (also in North Carolina) for internet only service.

Wake Sales Tax - It appears this is being calculated on the $6.99 monthly rental fee of the modem. The town used for my mailing address is located in Wake County, but my home is actually not in that town. It's not located within any town limits, and is actually in neighboring Harnett County. I don't *think* there's any difference in the sales tax rate between the two counties, but I could be wrong. Should I even bother mentioning this to CenturyLink?

Hazy Arc
join:2006-04-10
Greenwood, SC

Hazy Arc

Member

If you have the "pure" broadband offering, then you should still have dial tone and have the ability to dial 911, hence the inclusion of the fees.

Unfortunately, Centurylink no longer offers true dry loop DSL (with no dial tone). Undoubtedly, this is to allow the tacking on of the fees associated with dial tone.

As far as the sales tax, I'd recommend buying your own modem - thus getting rid of the $6.99 charge in addition to the sales tax.

scots
Are we there yet??
Premium Member
join:1999-12-06
Raleigh, NC

1 edit

scots

Premium Member

Ah...OK. Yeah...I think it is the "pure" thing. I have no clue if there's dial tone or not. It's a brand new house, and when I bought it there was no line from the pole to the house. The builder only put 2 phone jacks in the entire house (1 in kitchen & 1 in master bedroom). The room I wanted the modem in had no jack. The installer ran a line from pole to house, installed the NID, then a line from the NID to the room I wanted the modem in (actually a closet in the room). He took the wires for the other 2 jacks and stuffed them inside the NID, but didn't connect them to anything...so they're dead jacks. I've never disconnected the modem and connected a phone to that jack to see if there was dial tone. I just assumed there wasn't since I didn't order voice service.

I've thought about buying a modem. The installer brought me a PK5001Z. I put it into bridge mode and it seems to be working well so far (got installed at the beginning of April). Is that a fairly good one, or should I look at buying something else? Is it a pain to get them to switch me from a rental to an owned modem? There's a CenturyLink store not far from my house, and their web site says "modems available". Do they actually sell them in the CenturyLink stores? I'm guessing no, because they probably want that rental fee coming in.

Hazy Arc
join:2006-04-10
Greenwood, SC

Hazy Arc

Member

I only have experience with the old Zyxel 660R, which is what I have - so I can't speak on the status of the PK5001Z. Perhaps others can chime in on that.

Ken1943
join:2001-12-30
Brighton, CO

Ken1943 to scots

Member

to scots
Be happy you don't live in Colorado. The state is 2.9% bye the time the county and city chime in it's over 8%. Each county/city has their own rates and I just happen to be in the most expensive (I think). There are other taxes that are low, so it evens out +/-.

jmiller
@comcastbusiness.net

jmiller to Hazy Arc

Anon

to Hazy Arc
said by Hazy Arc:

Unfortunately, Centurylink no longer offers true dry loop DSL (with no dial tone). Undoubtedly, this is to allow the tacking on of the fees associated with dial tone.

This is incorrect. I have DSL only with no dial tone. I've tried connecting a phone to it, and measured the line voltage, which was near zero.

And incidentally, have no taxes. My total bill was 34.95 until this stupid 99 cent ICRF fee was added.

Hazy Arc
join:2006-04-10
Greenwood, SC

Hazy Arc

Member

How so? I didn't say it doesn't exist - I said they no longer offer it. If you had it prior to the Embarq/CenturyTel merger, you were grandfathered in (as I was prior to moving).

jmiller
@comcastbusiness.net

jmiller

Anon

said by Hazy Arc:

How so? I didn't say it doesn't exist - I said they no longer offer it. If you had it prior to the Embarq/CenturyTel merger, you were grandfathered in (as I was prior to moving).

I signed up around April of this year. Before that, I was not a CL/Qwest customer.

Hazy Arc
join:2006-04-10
Greenwood, SC

Hazy Arc

Member

Interesting - how did you order it? I have been told by every rep I've talked to (including the social media guys) that they no longer offer the true dry loop DSL, thus I lost my dry loop when I moved back in April.

jmiller
@qwest.net

jmiller

Anon

said by Hazy Arc:

Interesting - how did you order it? I have been told by every rep I've talked to (including the social media guys) that they no longer offer the true dry loop DSL, thus I lost my dry loop when I moved back in April.

I didn't do anything special. I ordered only DSL, and did it online but that shouldn't matter. It could be due to different geographic areas since I'm in the upper Midwest. But still, this would seem to me to be a marketing decision rather than a technical issue.

I know of no technical reason why you would need a dialtone for DSL.
colorbars
join:2003-03-20
USA

colorbars

Member

I know of no technical reason why you would need a dialtone for DSL.

There isn't. Back 10 years ago it took a LOT of "convincing" to get then-Qwest to allow dry loop without full dialtone. I think it was only complaints to the various government oversight agencies that got them to do it at all.

billaustin
they call me Mr. Bill
MVM
join:2001-10-13
North Las Vegas, NV

billaustin to jmiller

MVM

to jmiller
said by jmiller :

said by Hazy Arc:

Interesting - how did you order it? I have been told by every rep I've talked to (including the social media guys) that they no longer offer the true dry loop DSL, thus I lost my dry loop when I moved back in April.

I didn't do anything special. I ordered only DSL, and did it online but that shouldn't matter. It could be due to different geographic areas since I'm in the upper Midwest. But still, this would seem to me to be a marketing decision rather than a technical issue.

I know of no technical reason why you would need a dialtone for DSL.

There is no technical reason for needing dial-tone with DSL. It just makes it easier for the customer to self-install, and allows the use of field techs with less experience (cheaper) to do installs.
CenturyLink
join:2009-03-09
Boise, ID

CenturyLink to scots

Member

to scots
said by scots:

I'm new to CenturyLink and was looking over my latest bill again. Noticed a couple things that puzzled me:

North Carolina 911 Fee - I have internet only (no phone service). Why would I have to pay a 911 fee on an internet only line? I don't think I can call 911 (or anything else) on it. I didn't have to pay a 911 fee to Time Warner Cable or to AT&T for U-verse when I had those at my previous residence (also in North Carolina) for internet only service.

Wake Sales Tax - It appears this is being calculated on the $6.99 monthly rental fee of the modem. The town used for my mailing address is located in Wake County, but my home is actually not in that town. It's not located within any town limits, and is actually in neighboring Harnett County. I don't *think* there's any difference in the sales tax rate between the two counties, but I could be wrong. Should I even bother mentioning this to CenturyLink?

Hey scots, this is Joey with CenturyLink. I know you've gotten alot of feedback below and Hazy Arc did a good job explaining how our Pure DSL works. If we can help address any questions you have about your billing or service please let us know. You can email us at TalkToUs@CenturyLink.com. Thank you.

Joey H
@CenturyLinkHelp Team
TalkToUs@CenturyLink.com

toby
Troy Mcclure
join:2001-11-13
Seattle, WA

toby to Hazy Arc

Member

to Hazy Arc
said by Hazy Arc:

Unfortunately, Centurylink no longer offers true dry loop DSL (with no dial tone).

I got one less than a year ago, former Qwest area.