CenturyLink vs Comcast: Price, Features & What’s Best in 2019

In the battle of business internet service providers (ISPs) Comcast Business vs CenturyLink, CenturyLink has some attractive options, including month-to-month billing and affordable internet-only options. However, Comcast offers speeds up to 1 Gbps. Pricing for business internet from these ISPs range from $65 to $499 per month.

When to Use CenturyLink

CenturyLink is a good option for small business owners who have the most basic of business internet needs. The Simple Internet plan offers speeds from 40 to 140 Mbps, which might be enough for a small office using internet for email, browsing, and light data transfers. If you choose an internet and digital phone service bundle, your monthly cost stays less than $100.

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When to Use Comcast Business

Comcast Business is the internet solution for companies that need a powerful, fast connection at all times for large data transfers and lots of internet users. Comcast’s Business Internet plans are customizable so you only pay for the speeds that are appropriate for your business. Some of the plans even have an added bonus of a 4G LTE backup, so your connection will go wireless should the power fail.

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Comcast Business vs CenturyLink at a Glance

How We Evaluated CenturyLink & Comcast Business

When we evaluated Comcast Business vs CenturyLink, we weighed several factors, including cost, speed, and ease of installation. We also considered the availability of each small business ISP, and whether you must commit to a contract, and the support each provides.

The criteria we used to evaluate the best small business ISPs include:

• Price: We compared the monthly price of each service to determine the best value.
• Ease of installation: We looked at whether the ISPs allow you to install the service yourself, or if you’re required to pay for a professional installation.
• Internet speeds: We considered the max Mbps download speed each service offers.
• Uptime: The reliability of your business’ internet service is important, so we considered the guarantees each ISP offers.
• Availability: We considered which states each ISP offers services, but it’s important to remember that not all areas (especially rural) will be able to get business internet.
• Contract length: A month-to-month plan may be preferable for you, but we also looked at the value of plans that require longer contracts (and any cancellation fees).
• Customer support: In addition to comparing the ways in which you can receive customer support, we also looked at the average customer satisfaction rating of each ISP.
• User reviews: We studied several customer reviews of each ISP to gauge the level of customer support, uptime, and service they receive.

At the end of our comparison, we found that Comcast Business may be the best choice for small business internet service. The speed for the cost may provide the best value for your business. However, CenturyLink offers month-to-month plan options at low prices.

Comcast Business vs CenturyLink: Pricing & Features

Choosing between Comcast Business vs CenturyLink is going to come down to how much internet your company uses and what your speed requirements are—the more data you transfer, or the more employees you have using the internet, the faster speeds you’ll need. Comcast offers far better speeds in more areas than CenturyLink, while CenturyLink has a lot more flexibility when it comes to payments and contracts.

CenturyLink Pricing & Features

CenturyLink offers a simple internet connection for as low as $65. All plans have max internet speeds of just 140 Mbps, which is relatively slow compared to other business internet services we evaluated. If you choose to bundle your internet with phone service, you’ll get some additional benefits like complimentary licenses to Microsoft Office.

CenturyLink Tiered Features

CenturyLink Simple Internet

If all you need to do is get online, this CenturyLink plan may be right for you. It provides an internet connection with speeds up to 140 Mbps. This is a great option for general, day-to-day internet use. It has the added benefit of being a prepaid month-to-month plan, so there’s no long-term commitment.

CenturyLink Simple Internet + Traditional Phone

This plan for CenturyLink combines internet service with a traditional landline telephone service. The big differences in this plan are that it requires a two-year contract and your internet speeds get slashed to only 40 Mbps. It’s a much slower internet speed, and is only appropriate for basic internet needs.

CenturyLink Simple Internet + Digital Phone

CenturyLink offers another bundled plan for small businesses to give you internet and digital phone services. The plan costs slightly more, but there’s no contract, and you get the same 140 Mbps speeds as you do with Simple Internet. You also get the same unlimited nationwide calling, traditional video, and voicemail that you do with the traditional phone plan, as well as two licenses to Microsoft Office.

Comcast Business Pricing & Features

Comcast Business’ offerings are geared around getting you exactly the internet functionality you need and none of what you don’t. If you just need a basic connection for browsing and email, you can pick a plan with speeds as low as 25 Mbps. Conversely, if you need to run massive amounts of data on a regular basis, there are plans with connection speeds up to 1 Gig per second.

Comcast Business Tiered Features

*Business Internet 300 only

Comcast Business Starter Internet

This Comcast Business entry-level plan is essentially the same deal as CenturyLink’s Simple Internet plan. It’s a regular connection with no real frills. However, internet download speeds are limited to 25 Mbps, which is hardly enough to do more than light web browsing and email. This would be great if it were a discount plan. However, it’s actually $10 more expensive than CenturyLink’s internet-only offer.

Comcast Business Internet

This is where you start getting more options tailored to your needs. Comcast Business allows you to buy plans with top speeds raining from 75 to 300 Mbps. Additionally, the 75 and 150 plans offer a unique 4G LTE backup in the rare event that your service is interrupted. So, if the power fails, your business internet connection won’t. If your company is dependent on the internet to run, this is an invaluable feature.

Comcast Business Internet 1 Gig

If you need the fastest internet connection available, Comcast Business Internet 1 Gig is the plan you want. CenturyLink’s offerings don’t even come close to this kind of speed. This is the sort of connection you want if have a very heavy data transfer load, consistently broadcast high definition video on the internet, or have an enormous amount of people using your business’s internet connection.

Comcast Business vs CenturyLink: Availability

Both CenturyLink and Comcast offer service throughout most of the United States. CenturyLink is available in 37 states and Comcast in 39. However, even within these states, service availability and quality vary wildly. The only way to know for certain if service is available at your specific location is to contact a service representative.

CenturyLink Availability

CenturyLink Business is available in the following states

Comcast Business Availability

Comcast is available in 39 states, but primarily in the following metro areas

Comcast Business vs CenturyLink: Ease of Installation

If you choose to sign up with Comcast, you’re going to have to let one of their technicians install everything for you. The good news is, there’s no added cost to you. However, CenturyLink allows you to buy your modem and install it yourself, which is easy to do if you have some experience.

CenturyLink Ease of Installation

If you know how to install a cable modem, router, and other technical aspects of your connection, CenturyLink will waive its $60 installation fee and let you do it yourself. Keep in mind that it’s only easy if you know how to do it. It’s better to pay the $60 than make a more expensive mistake because you weren’t qualified to set up the connection.

Comcast Business Ease of Installation

While Comcast doesn’t allow you to install your own connection, the company won’t charge you anything to have it set up either. The benefit over CenturyLink is obvious. There’s nothing easier than having someone else do it for free.

Comcast Business vs CenturyLink: Speed & Uptime

Both companies guarantee their monthly uptime percentages at above 99%. So, they’re both reliable. If speed is what you need, then Comcast Business is the clear choice. You get more choices over how much speed you’re paying for and can reach lightning-fast speeds with Comcast Business compared to CenturyLink.

CenturyLink Speed & Uptime

CenturyLink’s business speeds top out at 140 Mbps. This will suffice for most small office’s regular business needs. However, if you’re a power user, transfer a lot of data or have a large staff, speeds that slow will cut productivity fast. This makes CenturyLink a better option for those businesses that aren’t internet and data hogs.

Comcast Business Speed & Uptime

Comcast Business’ speed options come with a price. The entry-level offering is for a mere 25 Mbps per month, though, which probably isn’t worth the cost. It’s when you start getting into the faster speeds for more internet-dependent businesses that you’ll see value. CenturyLink’s offerings simply can’t compete with Comcast’s speeds of up to 1 Gbps.

Comcast Business vs CenturyLink: Customer Service

Comcast Business and CenturyLink can connect you with their customer support teams through a variety of methods. Whether you prefer to chat live with a representative on either ISP’s website or call to speak to someone, you have options.

Internet service providers of all kinds have a bad reputation when it comes to customer service. The ISP industry as a whole scored a 64% satisfaction rate with the American Customer Satisfaction Index. And Comcast and CenturyLink both scored below that average.

CenturyLink Customer Service

CenturyLink has answered many customers’ questions in its knowledge base on the website. You can also contact a customer service rep via live chat on the site, or call in to speak with someone who can help with your issue. Customer support phone hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central time Monday through Friday.

With a satisfaction score of just 59%, CenturyLink tied with Spectrum for the worst-ranked business internet provider we evaluated. And unfortunately, it’s been on a downward trend. Five years ago it was at a high of 65, and even beat the industry average.

Comcast Business Customer Service

The support page on Comcast’s website offers a lot of helpful articles to direct you to an answer to your question. There’s also a live chat option, and you can find a separate phone number for new or existing customers to call. However, there are no hours posted of when customer support agents are available.

Comcast’s ASCI score of 61 is only slightly lower than the industry average. And its score has remained more or less consistent in the past few years—it’s even up over last year.

Comcast Business vs CenturyLink: User Reviews

In several user reviews for CenturyLink and Comcast Business, it was clear that there are a lot of unhappy customers. However, there were positive reviews, too, for both ISPs.

CenturyLink User Reviews

The CenturyLink reviews we saw averaged around a 3 of 5-star ranking. Most of the complaints centered around substandard customer service, improper installation, and generally slow speeds. Higher ranked reviews highlighted knowledgeable and polite technicians and the convenience of prepaid month-to-month plans.

Comcast Business User Reviews

User reviews for Comcast Business were harder to come by than CenturyLink—possibly because of the brand’s close ties to Xfinity. What we did find was generally negative. They were mostly 1-star ratings with stories of poor customer service, wasted time, malfunctioning equipment, and unresolved billing issues.

Bottom Line – Comcast vs CenturyLink

If you’re choosing between Comcast vs CenturyLink, Comcast is the way to go. The company delivers higher speeds and tailors your internet to fit your business. The only exception is if you go with CenturyLink’s base internet-only plan—Comcast’s starter internet is just too expensive for what you get.