If you are looking for internet services and the decision has come to choosing between Cox and CenturyLink, believe me, it’s going to be a tough one.
Both Cox and CenturyLink are among the top internet service providers in the US. They are both reliable and their services are available to millions of people nationwide. Moreover, both of the service providers offer incredibly fast internet speed to their customers.
Where there are so many similarities, there are some key differences as well. And these differences will allow us to determine which provider is the best option among these two. So without further ado, let’s have a look at it.
Service Availability
To differentiate among both of these service providers, the first thing we are going to look at is service availability. CenturyLink internet service is available in over 37 states. That includes states such as Washington, Florida, Wisconsin, Colorado, North Carolina, and Texas.
Similarly, Cox services are available in over 18 states including Arizona, California, Florida, Kansas, Ohio, and many others. However, both of these service providers don’t cover all these states in their entirety.
Mostly, Cox’s internet service is limited to cities while CenturyLink offers services in both cities and rural areas. Therefore, CenturyLink is a better option among both of these if you are concerned about availability.
Connection Types
The connection type of an internet connection usually determines the reliability and the speed that customers are going to get through that. At the moment, four internet connection types are common in the US. These include; fiber, cable, DSL, and satellite.
Fiber internet is the best internet option while cable, DSL, and satellite internet are respectively the next best choices.
If we look at Centurylink, it offers services through fiber and DSL connections. On the other hand, Cox is a cable internet provider that is also starting to offer fiber internet services. That means, there are better chances to get faster internet with Cox than CenturyLink (Unless CenturyLink fiber internet is available in the area).
Plans & Pricing
After getting to know about the connection types, the next thing we will look at is what they have to offer in terms of plans & pricing.
Cox offers a variety of plans where the download speed ranges from 25 Mbps to 940 Mbps. Meanwhile, the prices of these plans start from $29.99 per month and go up to $99.99 per month.
In comparison to that, CenturyLink plans are affordable and work for almost everyone. For instance, CenturyLink offers DSL plans with a download speed of up to 100 Mbps. These plans cost $49 per month and customers can get the maximum DSL download speed available in the area. Similarly, the fiber plan with a download speed of up to 1000 Mbps costs $65 per month.
From this aspect, CenturyLink is certainly a better option as it offers more speed and costs much less. However, if you are not able to find CenturyLink fiber in your area but have Cox available, you can get a better download speed with a little price difference with cox.
Data Cap
Data cap with any internet service provider determines the amount of data that you will get every month. Though every customer desires unlimited data, not every service provider offers that.
Between Cox and CenturyLink, all Cox internet plans come with 1.25 TB monthly data. If customers go over that limit, Cox automatically adds 50 GB of data for an additional $10. Moreover, Cox also allows customers to get unlimited data by paying additional charges every month. However, that is too expensive, not everyone opts for it.
CenturyLink DSL internet plans offer 1 TB of data per month for residential customers. However, if you are a business internet customer or have a residential fiber connection, you will not face any data limits at all. CenturyLink offers unlimited data for such customers.
Therefore, CenturyLink makes a better choice when it comes to data for both DSL and fiber customers. With Cox, the additional charges are a lot and if you expect to go over the limit every month due to higher usage, then simply upgrade your plan to unlimited by paying $50 additional every month.
Customer Service
The quality of customer service is an important measure of how good a service provider is and determines the kind of experience you will have whenever there is an issue.
If we look at the customer service for both Cox and CenturyLink, the only word that comes to my mind is poor. Both of these are quite famous for not offering up-to-the-mark customer service.
The one biggest challenge for customers while contacting customer service is to reach them. First, you have to navigate through the IVR, which is not easy for everyone. Then you have to wait until someone is ready to take your call. That wait time can be anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour.
Final Verdict
Though Cox and CenturyLink are good ISPs and both have their drawbacks as well, CenturyLink is the one that is a better choice between these two. Whether we look at the availability, prices, or data caps, CenturyLink is the one that makes more sense.
However, if CenturyLink DSL is the only option available in the area and you need a better speed, go for Cox. It will offer you cable internet with better speeds and reliability.