Mediacom vs. CenturyLink Internet

[jeff0514]

I know there are several older threads on this, but my 24-month promo ended with Mediacom (15 Mbps for $29.95 the last 12 months), so my bill went up to $64.95 a month. I suppose I could lower my speed, but don't really want to. This is stand alone internet pricing. The best Mediacom will do is $39.95 for 12 months and $49.95 for next 12 months on another 24 month agreement. CenturyLink is offering $29.95 for 12 months and its only a 12 month contract. I'd have to buy a DSL modem, but they seem fairly cheap on Amazon. I've had CenturyLink in the past, but they were previously limited to 1.5 Mbps in my area. I would lose the ESPN3 access, but doesn't seem like it offers much for Iowa State basketball content anyway that isn't already available over the air. Looks like most of the basketball games to be televised on ESPN3 are the Big 12 Network games, which will aired locally on ABC 5 I would assume.

Any thoughts on this? Should I ditch Mediacom to save $10 a month (next 12-months) or stick it out with Mediacom? I haven't had any major problems with Mediacom internet service... maybe a couple outages in the last two years. The speeds are occasionally spotty, but not sure if its the service or my modem or router.

 

[NATEizKING]

I know there are several older threads on this, but my 24-month promo ended with Mediacom (15 Mbps for $29.95 the last 12 months), so my bill went up to $64.95 a month. I suppose I could lower my speed, but don't really want to. This is stand alone internet pricing. The best Mediacom will do is $39.95 for 12 months and $49.95 for next 12 months on another 24 month agreement. CenturyLink is offering $29.95 for 12 months and its only a 12 month contract. I'd have to buy a DSL modem, but they seem fairly cheap on Amazon. I've had CenturyLink in the past, but they were previously limited to 1.5 Mbps in my area. I would lose the ESPN3 access, but doesn't seem like it offers much for Iowa State basketball content anyway that isn't already available over the air. Looks like most of the basketball games to be televised on ESPN3 are the Big 12 Network games, which will aired locally on ABC 5 I would assume.

Any thoughts on this? Should I ditch Mediacom to save $10 a month (next 12-months) or stick it out with Mediacom? I haven't had any major problems with Mediacom internet service... maybe a couple outages in the last two years. The speeds are occasionally spotty, but not sure if its the service or my modem or router.

Do they have the 15Mbps for CenturyLink? 1.5 is pretty slow if you want to do anything ever.

 

[ISUAgronomist]

I have 15Mbps via CentryLink in Ankeny. Have had great service and can only think of 1 or 2 days in the past year with a down time. Never had obvious slow times that have affected my usage (ie. video streaming)

 

[NATEizKING]

I have 15Mbps via CentryLink in Ankeny. Have had great service and can only think of 1 or 2 days in the past year with a down time. Never had obvious slow times that have affected my usage (ie. video streaming)

If you're getting the same (maybe better) thing for less, might as well switch. If you have Mediacom, you're still having to rent a modem unless you buy your own anyway.

 

[3TrueFans]

Just depends on the speed you can get from CenturyLink. I'd switch to CenturyLink if I could get a decent speed, but I can't. I've never really had any major issues with Mediacom though, just too expensive.

 

[CYCLNST8]

I've had high speed/low speed with both Mediacom & Qwest/Century Link in Urbandale and haven't noticed any difference in quality other than Mediacom's craptastic customer service. F 'em. I'd say give CenturyLink a try based on principal alone, but be sure to let Mediacom know you're switching just in case they try to offer you a better deal.

 

[Cybirdy]

We have CenturyLink in Ames and recently upgraded our speed (couldn't tell you to what, the husband takes care of the techie stuff). No real outage issues. Our 6yr old modem recently crapped out on us, got a new one for $30 on amazon (hubby wasn't too thrilled that I paid $9 for overnight shipping, but hello--need the interwebz). CenturyLink wanted $100 for a router/modem combo but only needed a router.

 

[jeff0514]

I already have a cable modem for my Mediacom service, but could always eBay that. I see the $30 DSL modem on Amazon, but wonder if its compatible with the 20 Mbps CenturyLink service. I can supposedly get 20 Mbps through CenturyLink where I'm at in Ankeny.

 

[Cyclonesince78]

I have century link and I'm getting 20 mbps. Had to buy a modem. Not sure how much I pay every month though.

 

[NATEizKING]

Mediacom charges $5 a month for a modem, might as well buy one yourself.

 

[tm3308]

I've got Mediacom in my apartment and we use Century Link at work. I haven't experienced many major issues, but there have been fewer problems with Mediacom.

 

[jeff0514]

Well I scheduled cancellation of my Mediacom service and scheduled activation of CenturyLink. Mediacom wouldn't budget on the pricing. Best they would offer without a contract is $49.95 a month for 15 Mbps. So now I need to buy a CenturyLink DSL modem...

 

[cyclone101]

Bump.

I'm going to be making this decision soon. It will probably just be internet service.

I see Centurylink has 100 mbps for $60 per month and they are advertising that as a price for life. Mediacom has 100mbps for $40/month but that's for "one year". How bad will they screw you in that second year?

So how do they stack up now, almost 5 years later?

 

[cyfan92]

Bump.

I'm going to be making this decision soon. It will probably just be internet service.

I see Centurylink has 100 mbps for $60 per month and they are advertising that as a price for life. Mediacom has 100mbps for $40/month but that's for "one year". How bad will they screw you in that second year?

So how do they stack up now, almost 5 years later?

About $10-$20 annually of increase

 

[VeloClone]

I have CenturyLink on DSL and it is terrible. We have constant outages and they don't seem concerned enough to address the issue. We will be looking for something else.

 

[Farnsworth]

I didn't see how old this was and started at the top and was shocked to see what people were buying for 15 mbps.

 

[cyfanatic13]

I have horror stories from this past year dealing with CenturyLink. Mediacom straight up told us right away they wouldn't be able to service us. CenturyLink said they could.. Long story short, if any of you saw David Montgomery's (and a lot of ISU football players) tweets about CenturyLink, I was his next door neighbor and dealt with the exact same issues. Didn't get internet in my senior year of college til the middle of April

 

[flynnhicks03]

Mediacom just upgraded me to 1GB internet for $70/month for a year. I was paying $100/month for 200MB. Gets installed tomorrow. Can't wait.

 

[cyclone101]

So it sounds like centurylink is still a mess in Ames. Is it any better in the Des Moines area?

 

[IOWASTATE]

CenturyLink is a pain to setup, but once they finally got it going we have had no issues in DSM metro. If you are willing to put up with guaranteed frustration initially I’d say it’s worth it. We have ~17 mbps or something close for $45/mo (price for life as long as you don’t move) no issues with reliability and fast enough to stream 2 TVs simultaneously Netflix/Amazon. We also did Directv through CenturyLink and they could care less what Directv is charging. They will give you whatever promo is currently running. Been happy so far.