AT&T vs. CenturyLink: Which Internet Provider Is Worth It?

AT&T and CenturyLink both offer solid internet services. CenturyLink has both DSL and fiber-based plans—and it’s clearly pushing the better, more reliable fiber connection, as its cheapest fiber plan is cheaper than its cheapest DSL plan but offers faster speeds.

CenturyLink’s cheapest plan is $50 per month, which is fiber-based and offers 500Mbps. Its DSL plans are all $55, with download speeds ranging from 80Mbps to 140Mbps depending on your region. Its fastest plan is the Fiber Gigabit plan, which costs $65 per month and offers speeds up to 940Mbps.

Unfortunately, most can’t choose between DSL and fiber—you get the connection that’s available in your area. When it comes to upload speeds, CenturyLink’s DSL plans can be a little slow—as slow as 10Mbps. Its fiber plans are symmetrical though, so for the 940Mbps CenturyLink fiber plan, you get 940Mbps upload speeds.

AT&T has fiber plans only, and they range in price depending on the download speeds you go for. The base AT&T fiber plan costs $55 per month and offers 300Mbps download speeds. Plans range up from there, reaching a massive 5,000Mbps in download speeds. That plan costs $225. All of AT&T’s plans offer symmetrical speeds, which can make them better for uploading lots of data.

AT&T offers a few deals that can be helpful for potential customers, while CenturyLink tends to stick to smaller add-ons and other perks, rather than actual deals. Notably, AT&T is offering a gift card to those who switch to AT&T Fiber.

For the most part, AT&T customers love AT&T’s internet service. In fact, we interviewed four AT&T customers, and three of them had nothing bad to say about their internet service.

Danny Flanagan is an AT&T customer who lives in Ohio and loves his AT&T internet service. He called everything about the service “fantastic,” including AT&T’s customer service.

Jane Collins, another customer who is a retired healthcare administrator in the Detroit metropolitan area, says that AT&T is the best internet provider of the three she has used. “I would say their internet is reliable. It’s been relatively trouble free,” she says. “The pricing has been stable.”

Not everyone loves AT&T. Hayden, who is a customer in Oak Park, Illinois, prefers AT&T to Xfinity, which was his previous provider, but he still has some negative things to say about it. In particular, he has found his Wi-Fi extender stops working frequently. “I wouldn’t say it’s a good deal, but it’s comparable to the other ISPs I’ve used,” he says, calling it “better than the alternative in this town.”

We interviewed six CenturyLink customers and found that they generally have positive experiences with CenturyLink.

Cai Crawford, a staffer on the Reviews.org team and a CenturyLink customer, says that the service is excellent. “It's hard to beat the price I have, and service is generally really good.”

That said, Crawford notes that CenturyLink technicians recently cut a line while running fiber to another house nearby, leaving him and his neighbors without internet. Thankfully, the issue was fixed the next morning.

Other users, including some on Reddit, are also happy with the service. “I love that I've never had an issue with service,” says Reddit user FearthePack, who gets CenturyLink fiber internet at his home in Minnesota.

If you have the choice between AT&T and CenturyLink, AT&T is the way to go. AT&T offers faster speeds and better value, and with AT&T, you won’t be stuck with slow DSL connectivity no matter where you live. CenturyLink isn’t a terrible service, and if it’s your only option, you should still have a mostly positive experience. However, it generally doesn’t compare with AT&T’s service overall.