Plans starting at: $50
Popular Package: CenturyLink internet - Up to 940Mbps.
Download speeds up to: 940 Mbps
Connection Types: Fiber & DSL
Plans starting at: $29.99
Popular Package: 2 Gig
Download speeds up to: 8 Gbps
Connection Types: Fiber
CenturyLink Staff rating
CenturyLink’s DSL internet has wide coverage but slower speeds
CenturyLink is a DSL internet provider owned by a parent company known as Lumen Technologies. Lumen is the seventh-largest ISP in the U.S., based on its combined internet service in both DSL and fiber. Lumen serves a total of about 3 million customers [1]. CenturyLink is the DSL brand owned by Lumen. The fiber brand of Lumen is now known as Quantum Fiber. This review will focus on the CenturyLink DSL half of the Lumen brand. We will cover Quantum Fiber in a separate review, because the two brands provide very different technologies. If your only available internet is CenturyLink, your DSL connection is likely to be slower than if you have cable or fiber. DSL speed can vary widely depending on your neighborhood and even on the wiring in your home. But CenturyLink, like most DSL companies, will charge you the same price for a slow 10 Mbps download speed as for 100 Mbps download speed. It’s luck of the draw, with no price break for slower service. DSL customers just aren’t getting the same kind of value that fiber customers are getting. And that’s one probable reason that Lumen separated its two brands. Now, it should be easy to tell what you’re getting – mostly. CenturyLink is DSL, and Quantum Fiber is all-fiber. On websites that still mix the two names, though, the speeds of each plan will often be a giveaway. CenturyLink sold half of its DSL network to Brightspeed in 2022. CenturyLink now has a very unusual coverage footprint: think of it as the Western half of the United States, minus California, plus Florida.PROS
Cons
Brightspeed Staff rating
Brightspeed's large network offers customers a planned transition from DSL to fiber
Brightspeed is a newer ISP that began offering internet services to customers in October 2022. Brightspeed bought out many networks previously owned by CenturyLink (Lumen's ILEC business) for $7.5 billion. That purchase instantly made Brightspeed the 12th-largest ISP in the U.S. [1]. The company's mission is to bring fiber internet to as many customers as possible, as soon as possible. Brightspeed launched its first Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network in March 2023 and has since made significant progress. The company has passed more than 2 million premises with fiber so far and expects to pass approximately 1 million additional homes in 2025 alone. With $575 million in new capital secured in June 2025 (expanding on $3.7 billion raised the previous year), plus more than $295 million in public broadband grants, Brightspeed is accelerating its fiber rollout to reach more than 5 million homes and businesses across its 20-state footprint in the coming years [4]. Brightspeed's goal to provide fiber to underserved areas is a worthy one. By creating more lightning-fast fiber infrastructure for those who currently lack access, Brightspeed is bringing opportunities to rural and suburban communities across 20 states in the Midwest, South, and on the East Coast. Customers will have ample support for remote jobs and responsive, smooth access to thousands of educational options online. The company's fiber network uses XGS-PON technology to deliver symmetrical multi-gig speeds across more than 530 communities [4]. All Brightspeed customers get the advantages of unlimited data and no contracts. Brightspeed also offers competitive, transparent pricing for its fiber plans. If customers are still on DSL, they will have to be patient with slower speeds while they wait for the fiber to arrive. The good news is that fiber is on the way, based on the aggressive buildout plans.PROS
Cons
CenturyLink Internet Plans
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Brightspeed Internet Plans
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CenturyLink FAQ's
Brightspeed FAQ's
