You might be looking for getting an internet connection and you have got the last two alternatives which are Cable One and CenturyLink. In such a situation, you might get confused by the various competing deals, prices and speeds offered by Cable One and CenturyLink. You don’t have to worry a bit, we’re here to help you with our deep comparison between Cable One and CenturyLink which will help you to select the best one according to your internet needs.
Both Cable One and CenturyLink can give high-speed connections to their clients although they use different mediums such as cable and DSL to provide their services. Although cable is technically more powerful than DSL, in terms of efficiency and quality, real-world experience places them together under the same hood. It needs to come down to specifics to pick the winner for your household.
Table of Contents
Difference Between Cable One and CenturyLink
Cable One Internet Overview
Cable One is currently known as Sparklight as they took the decision to rebrand their services under the name Sparklight to signify the speed and reliability of their connections. Cable ONE offers broadband over cable, as its name indicates. They also have fiber connection available in some areas.
The traditional cable connection of Cable One provides good internet at a reasonable cost. They also provide download speeds as high as Gbps in several areas. Their TV options are really good in terms of quality. So, Cable One can be a good option for families.
CenturyLink Internet Overview
CenturyLink can be a good option for people residing in the urban areas of the country who can get access to the gigabit plans. It can also be a great choice for rural users who don’t have cable access because CenturyLink typically uses their DSL telephone network to give internet connections.
In a nutshell, CenturyLink comes with budget plans that will also give you a good speed. The fiber plans offered by them will give you reliable and fast download and upload bandwidth.
Service Availability
Broad coverage area ensures you have a better chance of reaching the broadband provider in your local region. Checking availability is a must when you’re considering having an internet connection. Before you go for the final decision, you should search and get information about your favorite service provider’s coverage area, as it may happen that your favourite service provider may not be in your area.
Cable One provides internet connection across 19 states in the US serving approximately 3.3 million people which make it the 9th biggest residential cable internet service provider. The places covered by Cable One are Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, Lowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Washington, South Dakota, Texas, and Tennessee.
On the other hand, CenturyLink provides internet connection to approximately 50 states in the US serving over 49.3 million customers which make it the 3rd biggest residential connection provider in the country through DSL. Top coverage areas of CenturyLink includes Arizona, Washington, Colorado, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, Mississippi, Minnesota, Nevada, Nebraska, New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, South Carolina, etc. Their fiber connection is also available in Las Vegas, Jefferson City, Omaha, Denver, Orlando, Portland, Seattle, and Platteville.
Clearly, CenturyLink is the winner here in terms of availability because they cover 31 more states and serve 46 million more customers than Cable One. You will have better chance of getting CenturyLink connection in your area.
Speed – How Fast is It
Bandwidth is among the key considerations people seek when it comes to deciding which Internet service provider is suitable. Speed does indeed have a lot to do with a smooth online experience, as it depends on a good bandwidth for stuff like downloading, uploading, gaming, streaming etc.
Both our competitors Cable One and CenturyLink has fiber plans which can give 1000 Mbps of speed max. You may not get fiber connection available in your area because both of them do not serve fiber connections covering a wide area. So, the comparison should be based on their main usual connection type that is DSL for CenturyLink and cable internet for Cable one.
The speed range of Cable One starts with 25 Mbps and ends with 1000 Mbps where the speed rang of CenturyLink starts from 10 Mbps and ends with 940 Mbps. However, the speed of CenturyLink connections can be 100 Mbps at max. So, our speed champion here is Cable One which is able to provide much higher speed than CenturyLink through their main connection type.
Price – Is iT Worth the Money
Price is among the major factors when selecting an Internet service provider. The variable price is more meaningful when you are looking for a budget plan that best suit all your internet needs such as surfing, streaming, gaming, broadcasting and so on. If you don’t consider this factor carefully, you could end up with a bad service provider for at least 12 months, because most ISPs provide services with a 12-month term.
The price range of Cable One starts with their starter pack of $39 per month for 100 Mbps cable internet and ends with $125 for 1000 Mbps cable connection. They have many price variants as they more plans than CenturyLink. The bandwidth also varies according to price and you have much more options to choose from as per your internet needs.
On the contrary, the price range of CenturyLink starts with $49 for 20 Mbps DSL connection and ends with $65 for 940 Mbps fiber connection. CenturyLink comes with fewer plans than Cable One to choose from according to your internet needs. Their starter plan also costs $10 more and provides 80 Mbps less bandwidth than Cable One. Thus, our winner here is also Cable One as their starter pack costs less and also provides more bandwidth and they also have many plans from where you can select your suitable plan and minimize your costs.
Who’s Got The Best Technology?
Network infrastructure is the principal distinction between Cable One and CenturyLink.
Cable One began as just a cable television service and offers Internet through the same coax cable network that provides TV channels.
At the other hand, CenturyLink was a telecommunications service company — and their Internet access typically operates through the same DSL copper cables (AKA telephone lines) that offer landline telephone service. As for strength, coaxial cable is usually stronger than DSL. Cable One is perfect for consumers, who select between DSL and cable, for that purpose.
Here, the deal-breaker is the fibre network of CenturyLink. In comparison to the cable or DSL, fiber connections are equipped for digital data. It helps CenturyLink to offer unprecedented bandwidth in the gigabit range-upload and download up to 1,000 Mbps. It’s around 10x the rate for mainstream cable and DSL, to place that in comparison. It emerges on a fair $85 / month as well.
Installation Information
Cable One comes with just one option for installation and that is a professional installation by their technician which will cost you a fee. It is helpful for households that have a lot of devices to be set up.
On the other hand, CenturyLink has both self-installation and professional installation. Self-installation can be done with the instructions they provide and save you from paying a large installation fee. If there are lots of devices to be set up and hard-wired and you are not a techie you should go with the professional installation option.
The winner here is CenturyLink as they both self and professional installation option available. You can save a lot of money by installing manually.
Data Caps
Cable ONE offers its internet connections in blocks of data consumption permitted. And that’s how they can deliver cheap prices generally. When you want unlimited broadband with Cable ONE you will have to pay an additional amount monthly fee which results in making the price far more equivalent to some of the more costly internet service providers around here.
Any data plan provided by CenturyLink tends to come with a monthly limit. This data limit, however, is very high, but according to CenturyLink most internet users can never even get near to the monthly limit. Additional charges would apply to advanced users exceeding limit implied in the data cap. Thus, CenturyLink is our winner here as they have big data caps than Cable One.
Comparing Deals
Both CenturyLink and Cable One offer various deals to attract new customers. Even when you are searching for their data plans or reading this comparison article you might encounter with some of the deals and promotions they are providing to new customers to subscribe to them. Usually both of them offers deals to new customers such as free installation, 50% off in installation, special price, giveaways etc. So, in case deals between CenturyLink and Cable One there is a tie.
Customer Support – What Do Customers Think?
Customer support availability and efficiency is the next big thing to consider when we are comparing between two competitive internet service providers. However, it’s difficult to select a winner because most of the ISPs receive huge negative reviews online. So is the case with both Cable One and CenturyLink. They get negative reviews about slow response, slow bandwidth, service outage etc.
Cable One slightly edges out CenturyLink as they do a better job of satisfying customers when they call their local company offices to get help with their connection.
Compare Internet Plans
Internet Plans of Cable One
Starter 100 Plus
- 100 Mbps Download and 10 Mbps Upload Speed
- Cable Connection
- 300 GB Data Cap
- $55/Mo.
Gamer and Streamer 200 Plus
- 200 Mbps Download and 20 Mbps Upload Speed
- Cable Connection
- 600 GB Data Cap
- $65/Mo.
Turbo 300 Plus
- 300 Mbps Download and 30 Mbps Upload Speed
- Cable Connection
- 900 GB Data Cap
- $80/Mo.
GigaOne Plus
- 1000 Mbps Download and 50 Mbps Upload Speed
- Cable Connection
- 1200 GB Data Cap
- $125/Mo.
Internet Plans of CenturyLink
Internet 20
- 20 Mbps
- DSL Connection
- 1 TB Data Cap
- $49/Mo.
Internet 100
- 100 Mbps
- Fiber Connection
- 1 TB Data Cap
- $49/Mo.
Fiber Gigabit
- 940 Mbps
- Fiber Connection
- No Data Cap
- $65/Mo.
Pros and Cons of Cable One and CenturyLink
Cable One
Pros
- No Contract
- Fast Bandwidth
- Variety of Plans
Cons
- Low Data Limit
- Higher Price After Six Months
CenturyLink
Pros
- No Price Change
- No Contract
Cons
- Low Coverage Area
- Slow Customer Support
3 Alternative Service Providers
Cox Communications
Cox offers similar internet connections at a reasonable price across 18 states in the US. They come up with a variety of data plans that might be affordable for you.
Xfinity
This is the biggest residential internet service provider via cable connection in the US serving over 41 states and 111.6 million people. It is quite likely that you will get access to Xfinity in your area and choose a suitable plan from their large number of plans.
Spectrum
You might be able to get reliable internet connection from Spectrum with good speed and a reasonable price. Double pay and triple pay bundles of Spectrum can help you to save costs.
FAQS about Cable One and CenturyLink
Are SparkLight and Cable One the same company?
Yes, Cable One changed its name to SparkLight in 2019.
How much do I have to pay for CenturyLink modems?
You can rent for $9.99 per month or pay a one time charge of $99.99.
Can I get CenturyLink internet only and not phone service?
Yes, you can get their internet-only plans without subscribing to phone service.
Bottom Line:
Both Cable One and CenturyLink become close competitors as we go in real-time comparison in many aspects. Both of them give tough competition to each other and it is wise to select the one which best meets your internet needs. For instance, if you’re subscribing for family use you should definitely go with Cable One and if you’re subscribing for business purpose you should go with CenturyLink business plans. So, it’s up to you which you will select as per your needs.
