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CenturyLink vs. Frontier: Which is Better For You?

CenturyLink has the best DSL deal but Frontier gives you the fastest fiber of the two.

  • Best for variety
    • Customer rating: 3.6
    • Price: $30.00–$75.00/mo.
    • Speed: Up to 100–940Mbps
    • Internet type: Fiber, DSL
    • Data cap: No cap
    • Contract: No contract
    Compare Top Features
  • Best for speed
    • Customer rating: 3.6
    • Price: $39.99–$154.99/mo.
    • Fiber Speed: Up to 500–5,000Mbps
    • Internet type: Fiber, DSL
    • Data cap: No cap
    • Contract: Optional 1-year contract with Visa Reward Card

Compare CenturyLink and Frontier head to head

CenturyLink (Lumen Technologies) and Frontier are mostly DSL internet providers with some fiber. Their DSL internet competes in the Nebraska/Minnesota/Wisconsin/Iowa area and in Florida around Tampa. We say go with CenturyLink if you can get it for fast DSL speeds. Frontier’s fiber internet is your best option of the two if you live in Tampa or Minneapolis.

Pros and cons: CenturyLink vs. Frontier

Pros:

  • Wide DSL availability
  • No data caps or price hikes

Cons:

  • No multi-gig speeds
  • Limited fiber availability

 

Pros:

  • Fast fiber speeds
  • No data caps or price hikes

Cons:

  • Limited fiber availability

Is CenturyLink or Frontier available in your area?

Enter your zip code to see the internet types and speeds they deliver to your home or office.

Plans and pricing: CenturyLink vs. Frontier

CenturyLink and Frontier rarely butt heads, but where they do, CenturyLink is the better DSL deal. Frontier has the fastest fiber of the two, with speeds up to 5,000Mbps if you can find it. CenturyLink’s fastest plan isn’t even a full gigabit.

PackagePriceSpeedInternet typeView plans
Simply Unlimited Internet 100Mbps$55.00/mo.Up to 100MbpsDSL
Simply Unlimited Internet 140Mbps$55.00/mo.Up to 140MbpsDSL
CenturyLink Fiber Internet 200Mbps$30.00/mo.*Up to 200MbpsFiber
CenturyLink Fiber Gigabit Internet$75.00/mo.§Up to 940MbpsFiber

CenturyLink’s fiber internet clashes with Frontier only in Minneapolis and Tampa. CenturyLink is your costlier megabit-per-dollar value of the two, pricing its gigabit plan—which technically only reaches 940Mbps—at $75.00 per month versus $59.99 per month for Frontier’s 1,000Mbps plan. CenturyLink’s rival is simply a better deal.

But CenturyLink’s DSL is where the megabits-per-dollar value is at. It heavily competes with Frontier in Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Florida, providing speeds of up to 140Mbps. It’s $10 cheaper than Frontier, too.

Frontier plans and pricing

PackagePriceSpeedInternet typeView plans
Frontier Internet$64.99/mo.*
w/Auto Pay & Paperless Bill
Call provider for detailsDSLView Plans
Frontier Fiber Internet 500$39.99/mo.
w/Auto Pay & Paperless Bill
Up to 500MbpsFiberView Plans
Frontier Fiber 1 Gig$59.99/mo.
w/Auto Pay & Paperless Bill
Up to 1,000MbpsFiberView Plans
Frontier Fiber 2 Gig$99.99/mo.**
w/Auto Pay & Paperless Bill
Up to 2,000MbpsFiberView Plans
Frontier Fiber 5 Gig$154.99/mo.#
w/Auto Pay & Paperless Bill
Up to 5,000MbpsFiberView Plans

Frontier has the fastest fiber internet of the two, reaching up to 5,000Mbps versus CenturyLink’s 940Mbps maximum. Technically, you’ll rarely ever see their fiber services compete unless you live in small pockets where they overlap. Frontier is our preferred pick of the two for fiber internet, although neither one scored well in our latest customer satisfaction survey.

On the DSL front, Frontier has a smaller nationwide footprint. Its single DSL plan is more expensive than the two offered by CenturyLink, making it your go-to DSL choice over Frontier if you can’t get fiber or cable internet.

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Deals and promotions: CenturyLink vs. Frontier

If you refer a new customer to CenturyLink services and they sign up, you and the new customer will both get a reward of up to $100.
Frontier
Order a qualifying Frontier fiber internet plan to get a free installation and a free rental of the Amazon eero Pro 6 or 6E router. You also get a $200 Visa Reward Gift Card if you sign up for the Fiber 2 Gig plan.
Get the Deal

Extra fees: CenturyLink vs. Frontier

Equipment feesInstallation feeOther fees
CenturyLink
  • Up to $15/mo.
  • $99.00 for pro install
  • Free for self install
  • $10–$25 per incident declined payment fee
  • $5.00 late fee (or percentage of balance owed)

  • Frontier
  • No charge for DSL modem or wireless gateway
  • Free expert installation
  • $10.00 disconnect fee
  • $9.99 equipment fee for extra devices
  • $5.00/mo. no AutoPay fee
  • $2.99/mo. Paper bill fee
  • CenturyLink
    Equipment fees
  • Up to $15/mo.
  • Installation fee
  • $99.00 for pro install
  • Free for self install
  • Other fees
  • $10–$25 per incident declined payment fee
  • $5.00 late fee (or percentage of balance owed)

  • Frontier
    Equipment fees
  • No charge for DSL modem or wireless gateway
  • Installation fee
  • Free expert installation
  • Other fees
  • $10.00 disconnect fee
  • $9.99 equipment fee for extra devices
  • $5.00/mo. no AutoPay fee
  • $2.99/mo. Paper bill fee
  • Frontier also offers self-install for some fiber plans. CenturyLink doesn’t charge you to self-install internet, but its pro install charge is expensive.

    Customer ratings: CenturyLink vs. Frontier

    OverallSpeedPriceReliabilityCustomer service
    CenturyLink3.63.63.43.53.5
    Frontier3.53.63.43.53.6

    CenturyLink ranks within the bottom half of four out of five categories in our latest customer satisfaction survey. Its highest placement is in price, while its weakest point is speed satisfaction, hitting rock bottom in that category and falling a few points shy of the national average (3.8).

    Like CenturyLink, Frontier ranks in the bottom half of four out of five categories in our survey. It ranks a little higher than CenturyLink in speed, reliability, and customer service but falls slightly behind in price and overall customer satisfaction.

    Internet types: CenturyLink vs. Frontier

    Internet typeOrder online
    CenturyLink
  • DSL
  • Fiber
  • Frontier
  • DSL
  • Fiber
  • View Plans
    CenturyLink
    Internet type
  • DSL
  • Fiber
  • Order online
    Frontier
    Internet type
  • DSL
  • Fiber
  • Order onlineView Plans

    CenturyLink and Frontier primarily offer DSL internet, which runs over existing telephone lines. Fiber-to-the-home is a newer connection, so those plans aren’t as widely available. DSL has slower download and upload speeds (topping out at 140Mbps), while fiber is capable of much faster download speeds and symmetrical upload speeds. Get a fiber connection over DSL if it’s available to you.

    Data caps: CenturyLink vs. Frontier

    Internet typeOrder online
    CenturyLink
  • No cap
  • Frontier
  • No cap
  • View Plans
    CenturyLink
    Internet type
  • No cap
  • Order online
    Frontier
    Internet type
  • No cap
  • Order onlineView Plans

    CenturyLink discontinued its data caps, and Frontier doesn’t have them, so there’s no need to worry about monthly limits and overage fees.

    Contracts: CenturyLink vs. Frontier

    Internet typeOrder online
    CenturyLink
  • No contract
  • Frontier
  • No contract
  • View Plans
    CenturyLink
    Internet type
  • No contract
  • Order online
    Frontier
    Internet type
  • No contract
  • Order onlineView Plans

    CenturyLink doesn’t enforce contracts. Frontier doesn’t either, but you must sign a one-year agreement if you accept a Visa Reward Card when you get new fiber internet service.

    Installation: CenturyLink vs. Frontier

    Internet typeOrder online
    CenturyLink
  • $99.00 for pro install
  • Free for self install
  • Frontier
  • Free expert installation
  • View Plans
    CenturyLink
    Internet type
  • $99.00 for pro install
  • Free for self install
  • Order online
    Frontier
    Internet type
  • Free expert installation
  • Order onlineView Plans

    CenturyLink installs your DSL or fiber service for $99. Frontier offers free expert installation  and also offer self-install for some fiber plans.

    Availability: CenturyLink vs. Frontier

    CenturyLink has a larger nationwide DSL footprint than Frontier. You’ll mostly find it scattered across the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones and in Florida. Its fiber internet is in the same areas, but availability is scarce compared to its DSL internet.

    Frontier’s DSL internet resides in the Northeast, in Florida, and around the Great Lakes. Other pockets are scattered across the south, in Texas, and in parts of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California. Its fiber generally occupies the same areas, but there’s far less of it than Frontier’s DSL internet.

    Is CenturyLink or Frontier available where you live?

    To find our, enter your zip code to see what’s available to you.

    Final call: CenturyLink vs. Frontier

    You’ll really only see these two providers compete for your business near the Great Lakes and in Florida, so the chances of you having to compare the two are slim. If both offer DSL in your area, then by all means, choose CenturyLink for its speed and price. It’s a far better deal than Frontier.

    If speed is what you need, Frontier’s fiber is your better option if you can get it. Its fastest plan is 5,000Mbps (if you can even find it), but it has a couple of slower plans that still outpace CenturyLink’s quickest “gigabit” plan.

    But here’s the thing: Both providers don’t rank well in our latest satisfaction survey, so keep that in mind. They do fairly well for price satisfaction, but that’s it. CenturyLink sits at rock bottom out of 15 for speed satisfaction, in fact—Frontier ranks thirteenth.

    View Frontier Plans

    Frontier disclaimer

    Author -

    Kevin Parrish has more than a decade of experience working as a writer, editor, and product tester. He began writing about computer hardware and soon branched out to other devices and services such as networking equipment, phones and tablets, game consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom’s Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others. At HighSpeedInternet.com, he focuses on network equipment testing and review.

    Editor - Cara Haynes

    Cara Haynes has been editing and writing in the digital space for seven years, and she's edited all things internet for HighSpeedInternet.com for five years. She graduated with a BA in English and a minor in editing from Brigham Young University. When she's not editing, she makes tech accessible through her freelance writing for brands like Pluralsight. She believes no one should feel lost in internet land and that a good internet connection significantly extends your life span.

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