Why Does CenturyLink Internet Slow Down At Night
Having your internet slow down when you’re in the middle of work, studies, or watching a movie is one of the worst things that could happen in your day. It’s very annoying when that happens, don’t you agree? And of course, it irritates you even further if it becomes a daily occurrence. Luckily for you, there are some good ISPs out there that do not have frequent outages and problems. One of these ISPs is CenturyLink, recently rebranded as Lumen Technologies.
CenturyLink provides Fiber and DSL internet services across 36 states to households and businesses. This means CenturyLink Internet is available to more than half of America and can easily be found in a lot of areas and cities. If you live in one of these states, you are sure to find it in your area:
· Alabama
· Arkansas · Arizona · Colorado · Florida · Georgia · Iowa · Idaho · Illinois |
· Indiana
· Kansas · Louisiana · Michigan · Minnesota · Missouri · Mississippi · Montana · North Carolina |
· North Dakota
· Nebraska · New Jersey · New Mexico · Nevada · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania |
· South Carolina
· South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Virginia · Washington · Wisconsin · Wyoming |
No ISP has a 100% clean record and 0 outages. However, the next best option is less downtime and a high response rate. CenturyLink, just like many other ISPs, does have its outages and downtimes, however, due to its response rate and excellent quality of service, they rank as one of the top 5 ISPs in the U.S. With its Fiber and DSL internet services, CenturyLink has managed to serve both residential neighborhoods and businesses alike.
But of course, sometimes outages and slow internet is something that cannot be avoided. So, to better understand, let’s look at the possible reasons for slow internet.
Causes of Slow Internet At Night
Network Congestion
Network congestion is the primary reason for slow internet. What is this? It’s when a large number of users, that use the same network as you, are connected to the internet. This can cause an overload on the ISP’s network. You might also refer to this as rush hour or peak hours. Usually, this falls around 7-11 PM as this is the time most people get off work and relax and students like to kick back by playing games or watching something.
To explain this in another way, think about the internet bandwidth that you get when you purchase an internet plan. Now, if your internet plan can work perfectly fine when connected to 4 devices and not any more than that, you go ahead and connect the 5th device to the network. What this will do is slow down the internet for all your connected devices regardless of which was connected first or last. This is exactly what happens during peak hours.
Web Browser Problems & Slow Websites
It is possible that you might have forgotten to clear your cache and so your web browser is slowed down. Additionally, every website relies on a different server across the network. So, that means every website is built to run differently and certain pages and websites will load faster than others. There isn’t a lot you can change about this though.
Viruses and Malware
You might not realize it at the moment, but sometimes your system might have a virus. How, you ask? When you’re switching between websites, you might have accidentally clicked on some ad or link. This would have landed you on a suspicious website and that’s where the virus must have come from. This virus can harm your system in more ways than one including slowing down the internet or the overall speed of the computer/laptop.
Bad Weather
Mother nature is a force to be reckoned with and unfortunately, this works against us more times than we might think. If there is a terrible storm outside, don’t be surprised when your internet connection becomes slower or disconnects entirely as these things are out of anyone’s hands.
Signal Strength
What is the reason for weak signals? It means there is some interference with the Wi-Fi signals. It could be anything ranging from electronic devices like fridges, microwave ovens, etc. to concrete walls, metal surfaces, and more.
Faulty Equipment
What if your modem or router has stopped doing its job? You might not be able to tell right away, especially if the lights on the modem and router seem to be fine. Maybe the fault is not in the modem and router, rather it is the wires that are connected to them. Once again, it’ll be hard to tell, but it is still a possibility.
If you doubt something like this, simply reach out to CenturyLink tech support. Or, send your query to their official representative via Live Chat on their website.
How Do You Fix Slow Internet?
So, whatever the problems, how do you fix this? It depends on the kind of problem it is. If the problem is due to network congestion, there isn’t much you can do except try not to keep usage of the internet light. If you have any important work, you should get it done before the peak hours. If you feel like the internet is just generally slow and not during peak hours only, you should think about upgrading your plan.
To avoid your internet slowing down due to cache, try and make it a practice to clear your cache every 3-4 days or at least every week.
As for bad weather, you will just need to wait for the storm to pass through before you can do anything. And for weak signals, look into the list of things that can interfere with your Wi-Fi signals and place the modem and router in your home accordingly. If you do confirm that your equipment is faulty in some way, just contact your technician or your ISP to let them know. They will send an expert over to check out your connection and equipment accordingly.
To avoid a virus getting into your system in the first place, install anti-virus software so that any suspicious activity will be caught immediately.
CenturyLink Internet Plans
Last but not the least, here we have the CenturyLink internet plans. The important information about them like Internet plans, connections type, and data allowance is given in the table itself. However, there are still some matters we wish to discuss. Check out the pricing and conditions below:
CenturyLink Internet Plans | Connection Type | Data Allowance | Price | Conditions and requirements |
CenturyLink Simply Unlimited Internet | DSL | Unlimited | $50/mo. | · Requirements: entail paperless billing and/or prepay.
· Speed availability is dependent on location. · Taxes, fees, and surcharges may apply. |
CenturyLink Fiber Gigabit | Fiber | Unlimited | $65/mo. | · Requirements: entail paperless billing and/or prepay.
· Speed availability is dependent on location. · Taxes, fees, and surcharges may apply. |
Key Takeaways
Let’s take a look at some key points of this article before we leave.
- Not every time the internet slows down it’s the provider’s fault.
- Network congestion, weak signals, and faulty equipment all are reasons for slow internet or no internet as well.
- To fix the internet, there are some things you can manage on your own like looking after yourself or installing anti-virus.
BuyTVInternetPhone is the website to be if you want to find out more about CenturyLink or to compare its plans against another well-known ISP. So, go ahead and check it out already if you haven’t. You are guaranteed to find your next ISP through this website.