US Telco Support > CenturyLink > in Minneapolis and thinking about switching to CL

in Minneapolis and thinking about switching to CL

CL blows balls in the area i'd try something different i have CL and probably switching to Comcast or something new soon

CL seems to have a bad rep just about everywhere. But Comcast is too pricey for me - I live happily without cable TV.

How bad is your DSL performance? Can you at least count on 3MBs download speed? Does it cr@p out during electrical storms?

reply to jimh12345
I have CL (old Qwest). I get 20 down/896 up, consistently get 18.6 down and 801 up. Pay 29 month (unbundled). They always want to raise my rate after promotion ends. I just tell them to cancel and they then give me back my 29 rate. Have had some minor line issues, actual field techs are great, phone support bad.

Hope this info helps.

reply to jimh12345
Forgot to say I live in SW Minneapolis even though my profile lists WI.

reply to jimh12345
Thanks guys, that's helpful.

reply to jimh12345
I am in St. Louis Park by Hwy 100, I was sold on the plan for 7MBps. They had to send out a technician to fix the wiring, and when I was connected is when I found I could get no faster than 3MBps. This was back in December. Over time performance and reliability has degraded significantly.

My average speed is about 1.1MBps, and even that does not tell the full story. My connections drop constantly, to the point I can not download any file or even bother to that is over 100MB. It only gets better after 10pm, when I disconnect the phone line and plug it back in, I can get 2.5MBps until about 5-6am. The latency can really be a killer, I can average above 100ms, but quite often see spikes or even constant 500+ which is when I just have to disconnect the line and re-connect.

I ping a server that is local as a measurement to quality, when I had Comcast I got about 60-70ms, best I can get with CL is over 100ms.

In short I have nothing good to say about their service. They should ONLY ever be considered if they are the last resort. Quite simply I believe I should never have been sold service to begin with. When Qwest was in existence my phone line never qualified, only after Centurylink bought them did my lines suddenly and magically qualify for service. Naive me thought maybe they had upgraded or installed new hardware. Instead I think Centurylink just does not have the quality restrictions that Qwest had.

p.s. Did have Qwest for about 7 years at an office in Mpls, there at least the service was 10x better than Comcast ever had. So, maybe you will probably luck out.

Sammy5, any idea what problems your line might have?

You're probably correct that CL is just selling the service to anyone who requests it and no longer bothering with line quality requirements. Years ago, Qwest might have feared some sort of class action if they didn't deliver the advertised performance; but over time all the broadband providers have found they can hide behind language like "speeds up to" and cut their upgrade and service costs to the bone.

If it makes you feel any better, USI Wireless hasn't delivered the goods either.

reply to jimh12345
Hi there!

My team would be happy to provide you any information you need regarding promotions and pricing, as well as what speeds are available. The easiest way to connect with us is to provide some information through our support link: »bit.ly/IArNlt. From there, one of will work with you and place an order as well if you decide to come back to us.

Thank you!
-Doug
@CenturyLinkHelp Team

reply to jimh12345

It's amazing, isn't it - here we are in 2012, bouncing from one 'broadband provider' to another, begging and pleading and hoping for just 3 MBps, which would be considered table scraps in a more technologically advanced nation like South Korea. And all the time subjected to endless ads for "blazing fast internet at speeds up to" blah blah blah.

This is a letter that Centurylink forum member Toby posted in another thread about unacceptably slow Centurylink speeds.

I personally think this letter speaks volumes on Centurylink's customer service philosophy.

It's an eye opener to see Centurylink state in writing the old disclaimer that contractually they only have to provide speeds "up to" and if you don't like...feel free to leave.

Of course, this "up to speed" has no mention of any kind of minimum speed that they're contractually bound to provide.

Is it "right" that they can use this "up to" excuse which has no "minimum speed"...while their own marketing claims state "consistently fast". Hmm, which will it be "consistently fast" or "speeds up to" ?

Toby, hope you don't mind me posting your letter in ANOTHER thread where customers are not getting what they thought they were paying for. Thread topics relating to Centurylink's slow DSL speeds are quite prevalent on this forum!


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Centurylink DSL...my evening speeds are sooo bad, it's worse than when I had Hughesnet!!

reply to jimh12345
I had Qwest DSL a few years ago and as I recall it was spotty back then, and it's probably even more congested today.

I think the way out of this insanity has to be metered pricing, with a defined quality-of-service. Deliver the promised bandwidth, and charge me accordingly. Don't sell me 7MBps and then tell me I can't get it whenever 3 kids on the block are watching videos. Just give me a real price for a real service.

I don't know how this will play out in years to come, but the U.S. public won't be satisfied forever, if the rest of the world continues to leave us behind. At some point it becomes a political issue and politicians see points to be gained by pushing regulation.

Or maybe the cell providers just end up with all the business. I already grab my 3G smart phone when I want to check something on the net and my "broadband" is down or at a crawl. I'm actually wondering if I could just upgrade my cell plan and use 'tethering' for my desktop PC. As people start to buy 3G-equipped tablets they'll have less and less need for DSL in the home.