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| - This review will evolve over time. I am writing a review of CenturyLink DSL service only.
Earlier this summer I switched from Cox to CenturyLink. You can read my review of Cox here too.
I signed up for the slowest DSL service they offer, I think it's advertised as 1.5mbps, the installer showed up on-time and was pleasant. I am billed monthly, no contract, although I did get a 6-month promo price.
The service does NOT deliver anywhere close to 1.5mpbs. If you use an online speed checker it runs pretty close to the rated speed but ALL other data is throttled to a fraction of the advertised speed, which is something they outline in their terms of service. They throttle everything (deliberately slow it down) except internet speed measuring service pages. Those are allowed to pass at full speed, but my browser shows actual transfer speed, it averages around 0.18mbps, which is far below the advertised 1.5mpbs. This is deceptive advertising and at the actual speed the service is grossly overpriced.
So web pages load slow but okay, if you want to download something off youtube, vimeo, or other sites where files are transferred, like anything other than HTML web page loads the actual download speed is capped at 0.22mpbs which is only four times faster than dial-up service (1990's technology). There is also a significant lag time between click and response.
Luckily I don't play online stuff or watch streaming videos on netflix, which would be impossible with this speed. And I don't mind waiting two hours to download a 500mb video. There are other things in life other than the internet...
I may look into other providers. So far CenturyLink has been slightly reliable. I got my modem used on amazon for a third the price of a new one. See their website for a list of compatible modem models before you buy.
As of today you could say I am slightly satisfied, very slightly. If there was an alternative I would leave CL in a minute. Someday....
Suggestion: If you are signing-up for new service try going to one of their stores or mall kiosk places instead of online, you may get a discount not available elsewhere.
All in all I would not recommend CenturyLink, the company is dishonest and the service is greatly overpriced. The difference between Cox and CL is that Cox is a vile nasty organization that truly hates their customers and CL is just indifferent.
What the internet needs is competition. The only reason there isn't is because of local governmental corruption and greed.
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one year later:
Follow-up: My service still sucks and I get twice monthly junk mail now too which I mark refused and return (all their junk mail comes from: PO Box 4259 Monroe LA 71211 so pitch anything coming from there). There are alternatives in the east end of Mesa for some: Wydebeam Communications is wireless non-satellite ISP, Virgin Mobile (Sprint) LTE now works in east mesa too, 6gb for $55, lots faster than I get from Centurylink. Excede and Hughesnet are satellite based and get consistently bad bad reviews for performance and poor customer svc. Satellite is a no-no for online gamers. Verizon may also offer a 4g wireless like Sprint.
I am beginning to suspect that all ISPs game the online speedtest websites. They route those through un-touched but everything else is throttled to preserve their network capacity. My favorite actual speed test is to download something from youtube and watch my actual transfer rate. On CL I average 200kbps, sometimes as high as 225 but never over that.
CL sells 1.5mbps but I get 0.22mbps in the real world and that's why Century Link sucks. This service is about four times faster than dial-up back in the 1990's. Instead of paying $47 a month I should be paying about $19 for what I am really getting.
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