Centurylink gigabit service in Omaha

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Brad
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Re: Centurylink gigabit service in Omaha

Post by Brad »

CenturyLink, Cox services in tune with shifting TV marketplace

http://www.omaha.com/article/20140113/M ... arketplace" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Barbara Soderlin / World-Herald staff writer wrote:
CenturyLink's recent launch of its Prism Internet-based TV service in Omaha at about the same time Cox Communications started offering its Contour service upgrade has Omahans weighing new choices in the television service landscape.
NovakOmaha
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Re: Centurylink gigabit service in Omaha

Post by NovakOmaha »

Brad wrote:CenturyLink, Cox services in tune with shifting TV marketplace

http://www.omaha.com/article/20140113/M ... arketplace" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Barbara Soderlin / World-Herald staff writer wrote:
CenturyLink's recent launch of its Prism Internet-based TV service in Omaha at about the same time Cox Communications started offering its Contour service upgrade has Omahans weighing new choices in the television service landscape.
I never understood why Qwest didn't get in the game all that time. Around the country phone companies (ATT) jumped into the deep end of the pool. I suppose Qwest didn't have the deep pockets. Here in Detroit ATT & Comcast are duking it out and there is a service called WOW that offers phone, cable & internet in selected areas. When we lived in Omaha we had Qwest for tv & internet & it was cheap. The tv didn't offer much but at the time it was sufficient. The internet was very early cable modem & was fast for the time, maybe 1 meg but it beat dial up. It was certainly cheaper than cox. A lot cheaper.
Slipstream
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Re: Centurylink gigabit service in Omaha

Post by Slipstream »

For those that have jumped to CenturyLink, are you still happy with the service?

The CL sales guys finally caught up with me yesterday and convinced me to make the switch from Cox. I tentatively signed up for the middle Prism package and the 1Gigabit internet package. The latter is probably overkill (I might dial it back to 100d/50u before my trial is up), but part of me just wants to see the speeds for myself. I might also consider dumping Prism and going 100% streaming via Gigabit connection, ala Hulu+/Netflix/Amazon Prime.

The surprising part - the whole bundle is still $20+ less a month than the Preferred cable package and 20d/10u connection with Cox for the first year and only goes up $20 after that. And, I pick up the whole-home DVR which I do not currently have. Cox hasn't offered much to keep me as a customer outside of free Contour which seems to get mixed reviews.

How are your experiences with CenturyLink? I have been with Cox for 10+ years now (in various states) so I'm a little nervous to jump ship now.
efrantz23
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Re: Centurylink gigabit service in Omaha

Post by efrantz23 »

Slipstream wrote:I tentatively signed up for the middle Prism package and the 1Gigabit internet package.
Where are you located? Im at 168th/Blondo. Ive been waiting patiently to no avail. The 150mb from Cox is nice don't get me wrong, but our household does the 100% streaming for all our content except OTA channels.

Cheers!
Slipstream
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Re: Centurylink gigabit service in Omaha

Post by Slipstream »

I'm near 144th and Center (just west). I wouldn't mind going all streaming myself, but my wife is hooked on NBA and NFL. Besides, Gigabit gets dramatically more expensive without Prism added in ($89.99/mo vs. $149.99 by itself I think). That is actually a little more expensive than Gb + Prism together, based on the specials they offered me.

I am considering going with one of the "slower" fiber packages to save $30/mo or so. 150 down / 50 up still isn't bad.
cdub
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Re: Centurylink gigabit service in Omaha

Post by cdub »

I like the CL service so far but the billing has been a disaster. Theyve not yet come close to what they quoted. This is their last month to get it right or I'll be dumping them too. I work with a guy who warned about it so I was prepared, but apparently its a common problem.
Slipstream
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Re: Centurylink gigabit service in Omaha

Post by Slipstream »

That is my biggest fear about moving to CenturyLink. Cox may be overly expensive, but in the past 9-10 years I've never had any major issues and the minor ones I did have were resolved quickly and easily. I have spent the past few days researching CL and they are universally panned (no matter where you are in the country) as horrendous on customer support and billing. Some of the stories people are telling are frightening.

What kind of variance are you seeing in price? I was quoted $142/mo for 1Gbps + middle tier Prism, to go up after 12 months to $162.
efrantz23
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Re: Centurylink gigabit service in Omaha

Post by efrantz23 »

I understand what y'all mean. Even though Cox isn't the "fastest", maybe 1Gb is too fast or too much. There's no way for me to find out what the different levels of service there are for me yet, but with $100/month now, I suppose another $50 for 10x the speed isn't the end of the world.

We do enjoy streaming everything to the maximum extent possible. For the last NFL season, I bought Madden25 from Amazon and it came with Sunday Ticket online. NBA League Pass is $100 a season through AppleTV. OTA signals for the local channels work great, full HD 5.1 Dolby. Netflix/Hulu for kids. There was only a few things I wanted to watch that I couldn't.
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Re: Centurylink gigabit service in Omaha

Post by guitarguy »

Another thing to think about is.. how many people actually know how to maximize or even come close to utilizing 1 Gb/s.. Maybe Video Producers but most website servers have a max speed they'll transmit which is obviously way slower than 1 Gb/s. The way I see it is other than for rendering and uploading large video files there is no need for 1 Gb/s service. I watch youtube at 1080p all the time with no buffering and our speed is only 40 mbs through Cox.
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