Really!!
 

Sorry, NOT CHEAPER for Basic Internet; which is all you need for streaming services. (Actually, Cheaper (yes); less expensive (no way).

Been there, done that....

We left Century Link ($45 @ Mo) 7Meg service.
And went to Comcast ($20 @ Mo) 28 Meg service.

Also, Century Link's installers play "whack-a-mole" in grabbing your line pair and using it on another new install to quickly "earn" there contractor fee.
Leaving you to report the problem and get a repair to your service in about 3 or 4 days. SUCKS!

Frankly, Century Link sucks on all levels!

The Comcast $20 @ Mo is a one year promo rate, BUT at the anniversary you can go to Villages Comcast store and leverage its renewing at the same $20.

Century Link, on the other hand, has NO STORES for customers to go to.
They are strictly an internet business Model company. All installers are "independent Contractors" ergo, NO tax liability to Century Link. And, ergo, NO RESPONSIBILITY to the customer.

Again, can not stress it enough,
Century Link sucks on all levels!
:boxing2::boxing2::boxing2::boxing2:

200 Meg is enormous overkill for most residential uses.
If you run a "Server" function, maybe.
For normal streaming, it takes about 3 Meg per device for typical 4K video.
Comcast's basic 28 Meg service for $20 Mo will accomodate several devices simultaneously streaming.

YMMV

Do you lose connection a lot do to clouds, rain? When I lived in Ohio we had satellite and constantly lost TV when it was cloudy or rained. Thanks

Comcast Xfinity has changed a lot
 

We switched to Comcast Xfinity, great speeds on WiFi and great channel line up on TV. Yes their service at one time was horrid, but they have changed a lot, (I guess they needed to do that to stay in business) I called them for issues and it was cordially resolved within minutes and they called back to make sure that I was ok and resolved (my modem was frozen).
The others cannot compare in quality of service, also if you have their service, you qualify for their cellular service, I was a Verizon customer for over 40 years and went from $90 plus for 2 lines to $12 per Gigabyte of data plus the customary taxes, my highest bill for the past year has been $28.00 for 2 lines, Xfinity uses Verizon Towers so I have not seen any difference in service only a ton of Savings. :boom: :boom: :boom: :bigbow: :bigbow:

Any new main cable that was laid in 2012 and newer is Fiber Optic cable
 

Misunderstood Aspect that companies don’t really want you to know is Fiber optical cable is what is in your Nearest box in the yard, however the cable that goes to your home and the cable in your home that connects to your WiFi and TV, is NOT FIBER OPTICAL CABLE but regular wire cable, big misunderstanding, companies touted Fiber optics But Your home and the buried cable outside your home is regular wires.

Internet providers
 

In the Village of Caroline, we are told that we can only get Xfinity or CenturyLink. We had CenturyLink for a long time at $45/mo but it was only 25 MBPS and it rarely tested out anywhere near that. The streaming would stop and start constantly. We switched last year to Xfinity at 60 MBPS for $39/mo. Their streaming rate constantly tests out at or above 60 and sometimes as much as a 100 MBPS(using a separate app I downloaded for free, not their app)and we never have a problem. However, we were told that our cost would only go up $10 at the end of the 12 month intro rate but they've raised it to $72. I've tried contacting a live person to talk about his via online and calling and all I can get is their "virtual asst" which is worthless. Went to their office in Lady Lake where I first went and it is closed due to the virus. Since my sister-in-law bought this service at the same time & price as us but only had an increase to $60, something is not right.
So good internet service but a bait and switch tactic and lousy customer service, take your pick.

Sorry to hear about your issues but it would be unfair to say they are typical. It sounds like you are in an older area that is only supported by the older DSL technology over copper wires. In that case, I would not have selected CenturyLink. I have had CenturyLink internet only via fiber optic cable to the house for 6 years with no issues. The price is fixed at $45 per month for 80 megabits per second download, which is actually overkill since I retired and stopped moving around multi gigabyte tarballs.

Not exactly. You will use about 3-5 megabits per second bandwidth for 1080p Hi-Def. 4K (2160p) streaming via a source such as Netflix will consume 15-20 megabits per second bandwidth. I agree that for the vast majority of people, something around 20 megabits per second download bandwidth is more than enough.

If you can get AT&T FIOS, get that. I have seen it advertised for $65/month for 1GB speed. You don't mention TV. If you need that also, xFinity has a decent bundle. Stay away from anything that requires a dish. The problem we have had with xFinity lately, in the Pine Ridge area at least, is that service stops for 1-3 hours once in awhile for no reason. There is no 800 number listed for them anymore. No internet means you can't contact them at all.

Not exactly. Pretty much all of the backbones are fiber with coax for the run to your house. The exception is CenturyLink in many, but not all, parts of The Villages. I live between 466a and 44 and I have fiber optic cable to the house. It goes into the ONT box bolted to the outside of my house. From the ONT box , there is a home run of cat5 (Ethernet) cable to an RJ-45 jack in a room that we specified. Typically you will plug a router into the RJ-45 jack as CenturyLink is delivering a dynamic IP address to you at that point. No need for a “modem” as that functionality is handled by the electronics in the ONT. From a practical point of view, whether that last 100 feet to your house is coax (as with Comcast and Spectrum) or fiber optics ( as with much of CenturyLink) is most irrelevant. What I do like about CenturyLink is that I only need a router (any router) and not possibly specific models of a “modem/router” since the ONT handles the “modem” functionality as part of the fiber to cat5 conversion.

We are in Fenney, south of 44. Internet only with Centurylink have 1GB service and costs $65/month for life with no data caps like some of the others. Slower speeds are less $$ but we stream and up/download a lot. I've typically seen if you put your address into a services website they will tell you if it's available at your address and the cost/speed/package offers.

Ohiobuckeye
 

Well, it’ll be pretty cheap no matter who you go with the 1st yr. but every yr. after that it’ll go up little by little. In 6 to 9 yrs. you be paying about $200. a month for Cable & Internet unless they force you to take a phone line too.

With Century Link, you won't know until they hook it up if you have fiber optic because their customer service doesn't even know. I've had CL since 2011, the first 8 years I had 10mpbs, never had problem with internet speed, watching youtube, it was all that I needed and never thought about getting more speed.

Then with the thought that I might want to stream TV someday, I called and asked about a faster speed, they set me with 100 mpbs, but it tests out at 80 mphs, but still more than enough at $49 a month for life. When I on the phone setting it up, I told the rep I have fiber optic and I have no modem. She said, you may need a modem at this faster speed and put a $150 addition to my order for a modem purchase. The tech came that afternoon and in 2 minutes the speed was changed, he did nothing except a couple of things on his smart phone. I told him, they had charged me for a modem, he said I'll take that off.

When the bill came it was about $175 higher than expected. I called customer service and they finally removed the modem from my bill. They're very friendly and nice on customer service and the field techs, but no one ever seems to have a clue about what is going on.

Ohiobuckeye
 

Yes, satellite TV anywhere you’ll lose the signal when the weather is bad. Cable you won’t lose connection hardly at all. I lost connection only 4 times in 8 yrs. Twice I lost lost connection because of digging at neighbors & 2 other times cable company had electrical issues!