So I have CenturyLink's 1 gigabit Internet. One of the biggest complaints I've seen around the Internet over the last year or so is that it's really difficult to use the router of your choice with their service.
CenturyLink provides some pretty awful equipment with their gigabit Internet service. Wireless-N router. Seriously?
The 2 biggest problems I see are the VLAN 201 issue where CL requires you to put a VLAN 201 on the Internet/WAN port of our router. A lot of consumer routers don't support this, or you have to flash custom firmware, etc. And the 2nd biggest problem is consumer routers not being able to download up to the full gigabit speed. Some routers cap out at 300Mbps - 500Mbps.
I FINALLY HAVE FOUND THE SOLUTION! Between the 2 problems mentioned above, my steps below completely solve th VLAN 201 issue.
Now I'm not a networking person, so maybe this seems pretty obvious to some of you. However, over my last year of research, I have not seen this mentioned anywhere on the Internet. I finally found this info on DD-WRT forum website by someone who goes by the username "JAMESMTL." He suggested to a user "why don't you just buy a managed switch and create a VLAN 201 on it."
I seriously thought to myself, "is that all it takes to finally fix this VLAN 201 issue once and for all?" Absolutely!
So here's the switch I bought off of Amazon "NETGEAR ProSAFE GS105Ev2 5-Port Gigabit Web Managed (Plus) Switch (GS105Ev2)" I got it for roughly $40.
Once I got the switch in the mail, it was pretty much just configuring the switch with VLANs 201 on ports 1 and 2. This way the managed switch handles the VLAN 201 issue and then you can almost use any router you want with your CenturyLink service!
Keep in mind, I think you will still have to have a pretty new and kick-butt router, because the router needs to have decent hardware so it can download almost gigabit speeds. I think it's called "NAT acceleration?" From what I've leared online over the last year or so, some routers write their firmware to take advance of this. It's a mixture of hardware/software. If you're going to try and use an old router from a couple years ago, you may run into the 2nd biggest problem I've mentioned above. Your router may cap out download speeds of 300Mbps - 500Mbps.
2 routers I have tested behind my managed switch, are Asus AC3100 and the Netgear Orbi that just came out last month. Both routers performed excellent in speed tests! I was able to achieve 900+Mbps.
Now on to the good stuff! Configuring the Netgear ProSafe GS105Ev2!
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In a nutshell, this is essentially how your network is going to setup with the managed switch:
switch port 1 -> The ethernet cord going from your ONT box is to be plugged into port 1 on the managed switch.
switch port 2 -> The ethernet cord going from port 2 of the managed switch will plug into the WAN (or Internet) port on the back of your router.
switch port 3 -> The ethernet cord going from port 3 should plug into your computer's Ethernet port so you can access the switch's admin panel to configure it.
STEPS TO CONFIGURE THE SWITCH WITH VLAN 201:
So what you're going to do is open the Netgear Utility program to manage this switch.
1. Disable DHCP on the switch, as your router will be handling DHCP. You'll do this by clicking on 'IP Settings' after the utility program discovers your switch.
2. Make sure the switch is on the same subnet as your router. My default router's gateway is 192.168.1.1, therefore, after I disabled DHCP on the switch, the Netgear utility program assigned the switch an IP address of 192.168.1.15. Perfect! Now the Netgear switch is on the same IP subnet as my router. Apply the settings! Now it's time to go into the switch and configure it!
3. Click the VLAN tab in the Netgear configuration utility program.
4. Click on 802.1Q
5. Click on 'Advanced'
6. Enable Advanced 802.1Q
7. Create a VLAN ID with the value '201'
8. Now click on the 'VLAN Membership' link on the left-hand side.
9. In the 'VLAN Identifier' drop-down list, select 201
10. Click on the white box right below 01 port until the letter 'T' is displayed. (T stands for 'tagged.' Port 1 is going to be 201 Tagged.)
11. Click on the white box right below 02 port until the letter 'U' is displayed. (U stands for 'untagged.' Port 2 is going to be 201 Untagged.)
12. Click on the white boxes below the rest of the ports (ports 3, 4, and 5) until there is nothing displayed in the boxes.
13. Click 'Apply' to save your changes.
14. Finally, click 'port PVID' on the left-hand side.
15. Put a check-mark next to Port 01 and Port 02. Assign them both a PVID of 201. Click 'Apply' to save your changes.
16. Configure your home router with your CenturyLink's PPPoE credentials. You can get this info by calling CenturyLink if needed. However, most of us should have received this info from our technician when they installed our Internet. Once you do this, your Internet light on your router should turn green (or whatever color it turns to indicate it's receiving a good Internet connection!)
17. Now disconnect the ethernet cord going from port 3 of the switch to your computer. You now need to plug an ethernet cord into your desktop's LAN port and plug the other end into a port on the back of your router (your desktop needs Internet access after all!)
18. (Optional Step) If you want to be able to access the Netgear's admin panel later on in case you ever need to make changes, then plug an Ethernet cord into port 3 on the back of your managed switch, and plug the other end of ethernet cord into a free port on the back of your router.
REMINDER!: If you are using a router that does by chance allow you to set a VLAN 201 on the WAN/Internet port (like a lot of Asus routers) don't forget to go and remove that now! Your managed switch will be handling the VLAN 201 tagging from now on :-)
YOU'RE DONE! Your $30-40 managed switch is now configured with VLAN 201 so you can now use ANY router with your CenturyLink gigabit Internet (as long as the router supports PPPoE, which most do.)
I know this seems like a lengthy process, but it's actually not. I want to say I spent anywhere from 45 minutes - 1 hour tops! I'm not an expert, but I'm also not a novice.
If anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to answer!
So to wrap it up. What does this work-around provide? It will allow you to use the router of your choice with your CenturyLink gigabit Internet service. You don't have to worry about flashing custom firmwares to routers. You don't have to worry about finding a router that allows you to creat VLANs on the Internet/WAN port, etc. The Netgear managed switch takes care of this!
Hope this helps!
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How to almost use any router with CenturyLink's 1 Gig Internet!
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[Qwest] My gift card
My gift card did not arrive yet and should have by now, and I want to know what day it will be here.
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About getting higher speeds in my area.
Hey guys, first time here so be gentle, id like to give some back story on my situation as it may help me figure out what i should do. So firstly i live in the country and have one of them farm to roads address. Wasnt no internet out here for awhile except some lame satelite and radio type internet, skip ahead a year and i happen to see a Embarq truck driving around which Embarq turned into Centurylink later on but anyway. So i caught the tech outside and had asked him about getting dsl out here but told him i was told on phone my area dont qualify for dsl and he said well thats weird, he asked where i live and i said right there and pointed behind him. He told me he would personally call so and so and go from there.
So later on i got back in touch with him later that week and i was able to get 1mb down which at the time i was happy cause was better than what i had lol. Also to point out, im not sure what those boxes are called but here is a forum off here that shows the pics of what im talking about below.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r32147388-Qwest-CL-Aerial-Fiber-1000-feet-from-Aerial-Drop-Possibilities
In that picture it shows the boxes in ditch and the one right behind me is just like the one in pic 4th from left, like i could open backdoor and throw a rock at it. So anyway, back to it, cause when i went online to get the dsl it showed my address was not supported even though it was. So as the years go by i find out i could actually get 10mbs, so i do that, another couple years later i could do a bonded line i think it was called and get 25/2 so i did that. Well now this where it gets odd, i can go to site and it use to show i could get the 25 but it only shows 10mbs now instead of 25 for what i qualify for. It actually became a serious issue when i had went out of state for a few months and i thought i did the process right to stop service untill i came back to reactivate it and all but apparently i didnt and service was just simply cut off and ran into a big issue because i had 25mb down package but since the site was showing i could only get 10 the person on phone did not wanna give it back to me and i told her and asked why and i honestly dont recall answer but it took a few transfers and managers to finally get the 25 back.
So now...i was heading home and before u turn onto my main road there is a small century link building which i assume is where the magic happens, i saw a tech standing there and i was like, hmm its been several years and no speed upgrades yet to this day as it still shows only 10mbs so i figure i stop and talk to him and ask him if they were ever gonna increase the speeds out here, his first answer was no and my heart sank and he was like well hold on let me call ( enter guys name here ) if u dont mind waiting, so he calls the guy and the guy asks how far away i am from the something something box like i posted above to other forum and i told him same thing, i could open back door and toss a rock at it, he said oh u can get 60mb np....i was like um what....so then i explained to him situation about well online it shows i can only get 10 and wheni call them they say i can only get 10 even though im on the 25 now lol.
So the guy on other end of phone asked for my info and he said he would personally take my info to a person at office and she would call me back and talk to me and go from there, its been 3 days so far and nothing but my question here simply is, if that box is right there shouldnt that for sure show i can get higher than 25? If so then whats the issue on there end where they cant see that im that close to it, i have told them this too and explained im right by the box outside, i could probably spit and hit the box rly if wind was right lol. So anything i can do to kinda assure they could look into it as the 25/2 is kinda killing me as our family uses netflix and idk how many devices and i game online and i cant even upload anything cause 2mb up just dont cut it.
Anyway ya, rambled on there but im just tired of nothing being upgraded for so many years as 25 is overall decent but when so many ppl are on it there are some days i cant even watch a youtube video without it buffering let alone much else and when he said 60 i could get i got so excited lol and just wanna make sure they can look into it cause i just think its something wonky with my address because...when some ppl type in my address specially on android maps app, it actually shows my house about a mile up the road from where its actually at, ive even had it happen to me on my iphone so maybe something to do with that idk. Any info on how to go about doing this right way would be appreciate it so ty :)
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Tricks to Getting CenturyLink to Sell You Residential 1GB Fiber?
CenturyLink has a massive project installing Fiber through our rural community. First the contractors put in infrastructure for DSL. I am .3 miles from the switch. It works great and is so much better than WiFi. Then the contractors came through again and I asked them what they were doing. They said installing 1GB fiber. They have been done for about 3 months and they told me there is a terminus/switch box in the easement outside my house. There are also a couple of CenturyLink 1GB fiber signs at road junctions in our community
I've tried calling CenturyLink asking about 1GB fiber. All I get is some rep in business sales that wants to do a site evaluation and charge me $2500 a month for the service. I've tried explaining this is a residential rural community with no businesses to no avail.
How much is residential 1GB fiber and how do you get CenturyLink to give it to you?
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100Mbps on Fiber
In Snoqualmie, WA I have FTTH but the maximum speed is currently 100Mbps which it has been for the last 5+ years
Is there any insight to when this area could see an upgrade to 1gig?
I have tried customer care but they dont know anything
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Actiontec C3000A Modem IPv6 / IPv4 Tests - CenturyLink & VPN
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Fiber available in and around neighborhood, but not at my home
I've been hoping for CenturyLink to bring fiber to my area in Portland, OR, and today, I found out that it's been available within a large radius of my home for quite a while now. Unfortunately, when I look up my address on CL's website, the only options are 40 and 20 Mbps service.
I suspect this is because my home is part of a small HOA. When I look up the addresses of the single-family homes around me, CenturyLink offers gigabit and 100 Mbps fiber service. Here's what a small part of my area looks like (the circled part is the HOA community): [att=1]
Is there any way to request CenturyLink's fiber service to my home if the website says it's not available? The HOA is quite lax and minimal (and small), so I can't believe that would be an issue.
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Bonded Speed Tiers
What is CL's current offering of bonded speed tiers?
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CenturyLink Not Available To Me. Neighbors Have it.
I am building a new home in a rural area. A neighbor down the road has high speed internet through the company. It isn't available at our address.
I will be telecommuting for work as I'm a network engineer and VPN over satellite can be a real issue.
I tried sending a Facebook message to them today to start pushing, and the rep I talked to requested mine and the neighbor's address. They said the distance would require more than a new port and the only way to get anywhere is to fill out an interest card for my area.
I tried requesting an engineer contact me, as well as requested a site survey. They just told me "they don't do that".
How can I gain some traction here?
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Modem from Century link?
Hello everyone,
Just today I cancelled my Century link services. But still kept the internet until next Monday. In the e-mail I recieved it is mentioned that leased modems have to be returned? I am not sure if my modem is leased since I paid some 120 $ when I started using the internet service... Not sure if this is the price of the modem fully and that now it means it is mine and can be reused in the future?
I didn't pay any fee for the modem after that, by which I mean on a monthly basis. I only paid 45$ for wireless internet service and that is it. I really hope someone can help me if they had a similar experience in the past.
Thanks
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WIFI Speeds
I'm a new CenturyLink DSL customer. Signed up for 100/10. This is the first time ever I've left cable companies to switch to copper DSL. I'm actually pretty happy with the quality of the service. I pretty much get the full speed at all times on wired devices. I do have one issue which I won't mind living with if I have to. I think it may be related to MTUs but wanted to get some second onions. I'm leased a C3000Z device. Anything that I hardware in is able to get full speed. Mobile devices using wireless can't seem to pass the 30 Mbps threshold. I know it's not a signal issue because all wired devices work at full speed all the time. For wireless I'm testing with a laptop which has a network port I use for wired testing, and a mobile phone. To rule out it being the wireless radio on the C3000Z, I set the modem into transparent bridge mode with untagged vlan and configured a asus rt-ac68u with PPPoE and vlan tagging 201 on WAN port. Same thing, wired devices go full speed and wireless hits a cap of around 30. With my old cable provided, I know the MTU on the wan side was 1500. With PPPoE connections, I know the MTU is a bit less for the auth overhead. I actually get faster local links on wifi with the rt-ac68u. My mobile device using the C3000Z radio shows a local link of 86 Mbps as opposed to almost 900 with the Asus. So I know my Asus is definitely able to handle a 100 Mbps connection. Same setup with cable allowed full 250 Mpbs over wifi on my devices using AC. The only thing that changed on the Asus is I have a PPPoE connection now over a DHCP wan port. In both cases, wired devices always work full speed, but wireless stays at around the same speed cap. I can't help but think it may be an MTU issue with wireless devices, but wanted to see if anyone had seen something similar out there? TLDR: CL router/modem or Asus AP, wired devices hit full speed, wireless devices hit the same 30 Mbps. Only thing that changed on the asus is the switch to a slower 100 Mpbs connection. What else could cause this?
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[CenturyTel] Actiontec C1900a
Whats the good word for this modem? I have bonded pair at 80meg down and 10 up. Is it reliable or a piece of crap. I'm in SW Wisconsin and have had very good service from CenturyTel, just upgraded from 40-5 speeds to this and was wondering about reliability of this modem.
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[Qwest] Modem return issues
My parents have prism tv with 100mbps internet. When they signed up, they got modem rental free for 1 year.
The year was up in september, and we returned their modem. (I had a spare c2100t) - it was received on August 1st.
Now it's nearly november and i've had to call each month to get a credit and have them remove the modem off the account.
They give me change numbers each time, but somehow they magically disappear. Yes, i've kept the return tracking number, so that's not the issue. But calling them every month is exhausting. Does anyone have any other ideas?
Thanks!
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C1000A, C1900A, C1000Z PSA
Recently, these three modems have had firmware upgrades pushed to them. Most of them have been fine, but there have been a number of them that are getting stuck in a firmware upgrade loop. This will cause a Train and auth but can't browse. What I've been doing that's working, is a fac reset, push new firmware via the file, then fac reset again. (of course make sure you have your PPPoE username and password or that the modem is associated in ACS). This will clear the firmware upgrade loop I've been seeing.
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Another Frigging Fiber Cut.
Nine thirty this morning, it's hits the fan.
I lost a microcell, my MegaPath link and my personal link to the internet.
Himm.
Last time this happened CL, effed up a fiber throw, but that type of work should be long done by now.
Having no communications at my office, I get in the van head closer to highway 80 and connect by chat to MP and CL, neither of them have a clue as to what is happening, CL tests my line and advises me it's working properly, but because I am not a ADSL subscriber and on GPON, I need to contact by voice a provided number, I advise the tech support person I am a ADSL subscriber and shortly after was advised to disregard that.
Meanwhile MP pings me back they cannot see their router at my office and has nailed CL with a trouble ticket, good deal, clear time to repair not provided yet.
My wife who somehow found a signal from AT&T, called me and advised a CL Tech has arrived at the office, strange, I didn't request a truck roll yet and CL was clueless as to what was going on.
Turns out the Tech went to the wrong address.
Right now we up on a third backup wireless link, through T-Mobile, but I cannot without serious remapping bring the phone system up.
Did get a voice call from CL three hours later advising they finally figured out it wasn't my modem, they had a fiber cut.
What a bunch of clueless idiots they are.
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What happens if you install C1000Z firmware on a PK5001Z
I currently use a c1000Z modem from CL, i am wondering, if i download the firmware on it and install it on a PK5001Z, what will happen? Just wondering as i have an old PK5001Z sitting around.
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[CenturyTel] Anybody know how to fix issues on your own?
Since centurylinks line techs are useless I’m just posting this here to see if anyone knows how to fix issues without having to wait 2 years to be able to use internet. So basically my issues is the modem light is blinking red/green and they told me somehow the internet is being sent somewhere else. Anybody know if there are possible fixes, or had a similar issue in the past. I know this is a reach, but might as well try.
Thanks!
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Fiber cut update.
CL Fiber Cut 10/24/18
Around 9:30 am yesterday I lost all connectivity both the CL ADSL (sync no surf) and the MegaPath fiber went dark, the Canoga Perkins 9145 went into an alarm attempting to notify me of no light but with the ADSL down that didn't fly.
So it was time to open some trouble tickets.
Contacted CL on chat and after about 10 minutes I was advised since I was on GPON chat couldn't assist me and I needed to call an 800 number.
I advised the rep I am on bonded ADSL not GPON and that cause another delay.
At the same time I was chatting with MegaPath and at first they didn't see the circuit down but a bit more testing discovered they couldn't see their router at my office so they dropped a ticket on CL.
CL chat came back advising my service was testing OK and wanted to trouble shoot the router, so I went along with that.
Reboot the router, check.
What lights are on DSL1 solid green DSL 2 solid green, check.
Internet light, alternating red/green, check.
Log into modem please, check.
Connection status, CenturyLink DSL, connected, Internet not connected.
Pause.
Chat drops off.
10:39 AM
At 12:43 PM I get a call from CenturyLink asking me what is going on and can I work with them testing the modem.
Based on her accent she wasn't an American but understandable.
I advise it has been rebooted and DSL 1 and 2 are solid green and Internet is flashing red/green.
Pause.
She comes back, there is an outage in your area it is scheduled to be repaired by 1:28 AM on 10/25/18.
Finally something I can enter into the log and hammer CL with later.
It's just amazing how difficult companies can make solving the obvious.
Anyhow after a section of fiber was replaced and 12 ribbons where spliced service was restored at 6:11 PM 10/24/18.
The longest part of the repair was trying to find a section of 144 fiber, turns out CL doesn't managers stock fiber anywhere nearby, I solved that by commandeering 15 feet of 144 from a nearby (carrier) regen hut.
The guys doing the splicing though that was odd, but appreciated, someone shows up in a plain white van, asks about a cut which they showed me and once I discovered they where scrambling for fiber told them "I'll get you some" and 20 minutes later I pulled the 144 out the back of the van and handed it over.
Probably shaved a few hours off the repair.
Of course then comes the secondary problem, how does one continue working when internet access is required to access the systems I need to test sites, and both the primary and secondary paths are down hard and I live and work too far from the nearest site to get a single bar, if at all?
Simple take a hot spot and a USB charger, wrap it in a plastic bag and shove it up 45 feet into the air, and get 3 bars and 5/1 connectivity. ;-)
[ATT=1]
[ATT=2]
Just another day at the phone company.
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Centurylink DSL Service in Broomfield Colorado
I am in Broomfield, a town on the north side of Denver, CO. I am 550ft away from a DSLAM (underground cable length) and using single pair 40/20 DSL service for a few years w/o any issues. My 2 years discount will expire soon and looking at a few options including dumping CL and going for Comcast which offering much faster D/L speed. I talked to CS at CL, but none was knowledgeable enough to answer my questions. I hope that someone here could help me.
1) I have an option to go for 100mbps bonded pairs, but CS told me that the upload speed is only 10mbps. On my current plan, I just pay extra $5 to increase speed from 5mbps to 20mbps. CS told me that I don't have that option for this 100mbps service, 10 mbps is the only option. I wonder whether or not this is true, any comments?
2) I am currently configure my modem for 'bridge transparent mode'. Can I do the same if I use the bonded pair service? How many (dynamic) ip will appear on the bonded pair modem at any point of time, i.e. 1 or 2?
3) I have 2 pairs of unused pre-wired CAT5 cable from the NID box to the location intended for the modem. Would this be OK, or the tech has to rewire his own cable for the purpose?
4) There is an option to upgrade from 40mbps to 60mbps, but the upload speed is only 5mbps. Also, CS told me that there is no option to pay extra to get a 20mbps upload.
Upload speed is also important to me. I do know that Comcast also has 10mbps upload. Since CL can offer upload speed for those who need. I wonder why CL decided not to offer since it is not a technical limitation.
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Walled Garden?
I am a manager at a business and our Pk5001z modem got walled gardened sometime after I left work (11 pm) and this morning (11 am) when I had an employee call me saying our credit card machine was not working. I have since fixed the issue but am wondering why we got walled garden. The modem went through initial setup like when I first opened the account. I am guessing it went through PPPOE authentication. I have searched around and there are various reasons why you can get walled garden. Our credit card terminal is the only thing attached to the modem. Modem has WPS and wireless turned off.
We auto-pay our bills and we can't get DMCA'd so those can't be the reason why we got wall gardened. I also read that walled garden could mean that the modem got infected by a virus. That is my primary concern since we have people's financial data running through the modem. I know the credit card machine encrypts data but still.
Should I be worried that I got walled gardened?
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