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 Review by John Galt 
UPDATED: 25 days ago
member for 5.1 years, 2680 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Happy Camp
 $49 per month (12 month contract)
 about 7 days
 "Consistent speeds"
 "Occasional DNS issues"
 "Works great!"
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Moved DNS to 4.2.2.1 in modem...no problems since.
Have 5.0/768 service DSL
Provided with 2Wire modem
Local area techs are great and keep things humming along
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Review by INtech
UPDATED: 38 days ago
member for 256 days, 264 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Brookston,White,IN
$31 per month
about 1 days
 CenturyTel
"Cheap. They go where others don't."
"Reps misquoted price many times."
"I do enjoy it."
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First I tried a local Wireless ISP. After I learned my lesson, I went to CenturyTel to get internet service. When inquiring about Internet, depending on which day I called, I would get a different answer every time. I then called the local supervisors secretary who then set me up with all the proper quotes. The only thing that was hidden was a $1.25 "Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee" for internet. (She didn't hide it, it just wasn't on any literature or website small print) This is a fee by CenturyTel and being it is mandatory then it should be included in the price. They are not collecting it on behalf of any other agency. (that's my only rant) Once that was done, everything went smooth. I got the 512/256 package at $29.95 a month. They did have some promos/bundles, but I chose not to take one to stay out of a contract. I bought my own modem off eBay, set-up was a snap. I'm not far from the RO and sync rates are right on and always a stable connection. Speed is as advertised most of the time, except for peak times. (After school is the worst) Only last a couple of hours at the most. FYI, Pings are around 65-75ms. I waited a month to test the service and see if billing is correct and they have been spot on. I believe this again is due to using the local secretary to place my order. She was great. I haven't used tech support so I don't know about that part. I do use their landline and it has never gave me a problem.
Update 10-14-2009
It's been about 6 months and here's what's new. No billing issues at all. Great Job!
Uptime for my DSL, 99.9% I can remember 1 time that it was out for about 3-4 hours. I believe it was a fiber cut out of state. So I say Great Job!
Latency is 70-85 on good days, 95-115 on bad days, some days better than others. I don't game, so I don't care much on this.
Keeping up the backbone (bandwidth) is their flaw. It's not terrible, but they definitely let it go a little too long before they add another T-1. Hopefully things will improve as I know they have been getting new procedures for identifying this. We'll see, and I'll update again.
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 Review by Sheridan
UPDATED: 39 days ago
member for 1 year, 410 visits, last login: 12 days ago
Sheridan,Montcalm,MI
$41 per month (24 month contract)
about 4 days
"Fast; Ontime Install"
"maybe a bit pricey; Westell modems difficult to deal with."
"Overall Satisfied; wish for more speed."
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Fast Install on time to when they said they would be. Did not know if a faster speed would be attainable. Still haven't heard an answer. Useful Tech Support to bridge the modem to router VERY POLITE AND HELPFUL TECH SUPPORT. West-ell modem proprietary to Century-Link. High Latency. Somewhat buggy as time goes by...tech support have pretty generic responses for the problem have switched modem (owned) and have more luck since. wish they were faster speeds at a better price.
Attachments:
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Review by CIAgent98
Posted: 59 days ago
member for 59 days, 18 visits, last login: 19 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 GeekJedi
UPDATED: 81 days ago
member for 8.4 years, 3267 visits, last login: 1 days 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 rasparks0967
UPDATED: 88 days ago
member for 6.3 years, 691 visits, last login: 2 days 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: 96 days ago
member for 293 days, 133 visits, last login: a few hours 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: 150 days ago
member for 7.3 years, 58 visits, last login: 107 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 EmeraldPBW
UPDATED: 169 days ago
member for 179 days, 9 visits, last login: 151 days ago
Booneville,Logan,AR
$100 per month (12 month contract)
CenturyTel
"Reliable, helpful/friendly tech support, no bandwidth cap (That I'm aware of)"
"The provided modem can be a little sensitive about storms."
"Great service, great package deal with phone+internet or by itself"
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Note: The $100 listed on the monthly cost is phone+internet including caller ID, etc. "Pure" broadband, especially for the 1.5 service, is cheaper.
I've been a Centurytel customer for years, and I can honestly say the only interruption of service I've ever experienced was over the last couple of weeks, which turned out to be an equipment failure issue outside our area. Now that it's been fixed everything is back to normal. Speedtest.net testing routinely shows 1.58 to 1.61 down with servers 100-250 miles away.
I was advised by our tech when we had DSL installed at our new house out in the country, that I might see speeds slightly lower than the advertised 1.5 down due to distance, but as stated above, that's never been a problem short of the recent outage (And in the years since they've serviced our area, it's one of two that I can recall).
As always, your mileage may vary from region to region, but if you're in the northwest Arkansas/River Valley area I'd give CTel DSL a chance. Even if you're a little farther than recommended, have a tech check your line anyway.
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Review by mikefr24
UPDATED: 184 days ago
member for 5.2 years, 55 visits, last login: 22 days ago
Marlette,Sanilac,MI
$29 per month (12 month contract)
about 3 days
CenturyTel
"DSL is rock solid. No downtime and excellent pings."
"Slow to catch up to the rest of the world as far as bandwidth."
"Quality product. It's a nice option for rural areas."
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I have had Centurytel for over 2yrs. I pay $39.99 for 1.5Mb DSL. It's kind of pricey but I can't complain too much because I live in a rural area that has nothing else. The DSL is rock solid and it always works. I get my rated speeds at any given time and have had no issues so far. They do not seem to throttle or limit downloads at all. I have averaged 300Gb a month several times with no trouble so I do get my money's worth. I also am a huge online gamer and have had no problems whatsoever. The pings are great (50 or so). I had one outage last year due to lightning hitting my house. The modem fried along with my Linksys router. Centurytel had a new modem on my doorstep in 3 days (cost me $14.99 shipping) and they fixed the phones the next day for free. Tech support was helpful getting me setup with a repair ticket. All in all I have been satisfied with Centurytel. I have a lot of friends that get 6Mb for what I pay and they live less than 10 miles away (I also have buddies that are stuck on dial-up 5 miles away!). Centurytel seems to push out into the rural areas where no one else will so I will give them credit. I wish they would offer the "Pure Broadband" option here in Michigan.
---- Update 03-08-08---------------
I called them again today and they offer "Pure Broadband" in my area finally. Its $29.99 for 1.5Mb. I signed up with no problems. I now have DSL without the phone service. 911 works and I can receive incoming calls on the phone. There is a catch however. Your existing phone number is changed to a new one. The old phone number is lost forever. They told me they do this to prevent people from abusing the free incoming calls on the line. Who knows....I did not really care. Rock solid DSL for a decent price is nice in my area. There is nothing else to choose from.
---- Update 06-14-08 -----------------
I still have the 'Pure Broadband". It has worked perfect for months. I download 100Gb+ a month and never notice any throttling or issues. Great deal for $29 a month.
--- Update 02-25-09 -------------------
Still going strong. Absolutely zero problems and full speed (1.5Mb) way out in the rural country. Centurytel is supposedly getting 10Mb in my area very soon. I also got this confirmed from centurytel today. It will cost me $10 more a month to upgrade. Once 10Mb gets here the value for the dollar is excellent. Without centurytel, I would still have dial-up.
--- Update 05-22-09 -------------------
I have the 10Mb now. It's ridiculously fast and my pings went way down. I pay $39.99 now and it is rock solid. Cheers to Centurytel for their excellent service in my area.
Followup comments: 
dsldude08
Premium,VIP
join:2008-01-03
La Crosse, WI
·CenturyLink
| The "Pure Broadband" Call them, you can get the pure broadband option anywhere DSL is available as far as what I was told when I called. I called to ask about it but I didn't take it because I still wanted the landline, but a friend of mine has it and I guess they even give you dialtone for 911 but nothing else.
--
"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."
- Abraham Lincoln | |
| mmccrore
join:2008-07-05
Lapeer, MI
·CenturyLink
| centurytel in Lapeer, MI have had great service for years.
have had the same price plan since the first packages were offered in my area, and have been automatically updated as service became available.
49.95 when 256 became available
49.95 up to 768
49.95 up to 1.5Mb
49.95 next week up to 10Mb
I noticed that 15Mb is now available through centurytel, but I would imagine that fiber is required up to the house for this. I live far from the road, thus only having copper up to the house, so this will have to suffice for the time being. At least until cable or 802.16 are available locally. Nice to see that centurytel and my satellite provider have combined forces, however!
F* the cable monopoly in this neck of the woods! Haha! | |
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