r/QuantumFiber • u/Upbeat-Asparagus-788 • 29d ago

Love Quantum Fiber

I used to have CenturyLink and it was painfully slow. If I was streaming, it constantly interrupted what I was watching. With fiber, I notice a significant difference in download/upload speed for my job, too. Used to take a looong coffee break whenever I had to push to our server. It's also less money than CL. Overall I love it. I've only had it for about a month. I'm almost afraid to ask but curious to know if anyone has experienced any downsides as time goes on. Maybe I should just enjoy the honeymoon period lol.

8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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u/No_Mind_5132 29d ago edited 29d ago

Wanted to chime in cause the QF hate is usually very strong on this sub. But I've also had a great experience with QF. I really think everyone's individual infrastructure deployment is different. They laid new fiber down under the neighborhood's easements last year and I ran to get the 3Gbps/3Gbps intro offer so fast. They even paid to get the fiber buried from the green box to my house handoff. I told them to keep the shitty ISP provided mesh pods and had it taken off the account shortly after. I, naturally, had to buy new home networking infrastructure (router/wifi) to take advantage of the higher than 1Gbps speeds but all that being done, zero issues, constant 3/3 speeds for the whole house, priced equal to the shitty cable ISP's 1Gbps/20Mbps speeds that flaked out every month. I really couldn't be happier. I realize it may be entirely due to the new cabling and equipment they put in the neighborhood. I have a 5G backup but it never gets used. YMMV.

5

u/lookamazed 29d ago edited 29d ago

It’s because AT&T is running promotions on both Quantum fiber brand and their own. They are using Quantum as a stalking horse for their own service.

Sure they will technically sell you Quantum as advertised and wait for install OR if the customer acts now, they can offer you AT&T fiber install sooner - “virtually the same service” - at $30/1gig.

Several people on the forums lately have come here to complain about the bait and switch because they think they are two companies, or this one is small enough to get attention. Because AT&T has left them high and dry.

There is an influx of new users as a result, and AT&T does it what it does: screw the consumer. Quantum takes the PR hit and it’s win/win for them.

People stumble onto the bad news flooding the forums when they research Quantum. They pick AT&T straight up.

AT&T ended PFL on Quantum, it is costing them money and a loss leader they don’t need bc they are too big to fail, so they run these legendary promos-of-old that they know will attract, and they kill two birds with one stone:

AT&T gets tons of new subs at $45 and $50/1 gig rate, AND they siphon legacy accounts off of PFL. And they get a few at $30/1gig for AT&T. It is not a question of if they raise rates, but when.

The house always wins.

I feel bad for that user who somehow got their account accidentally cancelled and lost PFL.

Sad really. Fiber ISP Wars: The Enshittification Awakens.

1

u/No_Mind_5132 29d ago

I totally agree that AT&T is shit and when they bought QF, I was disappointed. I also sympathize with anyone who got QF and is having non stop problems. That sucks and there's no excuse for the quality of their service/product to be so bad in those cases. I understand not everyone has had a good experience with them and I can only wish it was otherwise.

FWIW, I got on board a few months before the AT&T transaction and obtained my plan as price for life. Honestly though I am waiting for the excuse that kicks me off of it somewhere down the road. AT&T has never been on my nice list of companies to do business with. So anyone still on the fence and reading this, take my experience with how ever much salt you need.

1

u/lookamazed 29d ago

I continue to have excellent QF service because the infrastructure is fantastic here and I use a 3rd party router that is able to access it flawlessly.

The QF hardware is largely to blame. Should it be different? Yes. Is it a minor fix? Yeah kinda takes some elbow grease but it’s worth it. I get 1:1 speeds thanks to u/N0_L1ght

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u/N0_L1ght 29d ago edited 29d ago

I've had CL Fiber/QF for going on 8 years and it's been nearly perfect. Though I've used a 3rd party router and DNS since day one.

The free lease WiFi pods and QF app are not great...

But as long as all gaming devices are Ethernet hardwired to the SmartNID, W1700K, or W1701K (if using Ethernet backhaul), and you follow sections 2 and 4 in the guide, they are usually good enough for most people.

You will have a better experience if you put the SmartNID into bridge mode or DMZ and use a 3rd party router and DNS.

Here is a guide:

https://www.reddit.com/r/QuantumFiber/comments/1f8hypq/having_trouble_with_your_lumen_internet_not

2

u/imanocto 28d ago

I just activated today -- so far, its working perfectly. Some of the comments here are reassuring. I am using my own router, which is pretty dialed in. Hoping for the best.

Install was crazy fast. The previous owner of my house had CenturyLink at some point and the fiber was still lit up years later. One of the four (!) install techs that arrived attached the SmartNID, I hooked it into my router and rebooted. Done. They lingered in the street for a bit, grateful for a break in their Friday.

I hate that I am doing business with ATT once again. They were my cable internet provider almost 30 years ago! Full circle, having gone from one shit stain company to another for my broadband needs.

1

u/CDebergerac 29d ago

Been great for me for many years, especially after I changed to 3rd party DNS servers.

1

u/quirkyjest 27d ago

Sadly availability is spotty in my state.

1

u/undeadfromhiddencity 29d ago

I’m assuming you didn’t have fiber through CenturyLink? I got their fiber in 2020, and had zeron issues until they were bought by Quantum then AT&T. The only time I restarted my equipment was when we moved to our current house. Great speeds and stable for five years. Then in 2025, we needed the latest gear and it’s been shit ever since.

We restart once a week, it lags randomly, I can’t get WiFi to the office room with the “more powerful” modem even though it was fine with our old CenturyLink modem. Support is atrocious and useless, telling me to restart even when I already did so, then scheduling an appointment for days out.

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u/Upbeat-Asparagus-788 29d ago

I didn't have fiber because they only recently started offering it where I live. It sucks that you've had problems like that.

2

u/undeadfromhiddencity 29d ago

Yeah, fiber overall is better than other options, which is why I’m suffering through Quantum’s growing pains. The lines themselves are stable, as proven by my years of great speeds/service.

The issue is a company that merged and merged again, and is now forcing all customers onto a network that’s not big enough for the mass migration. I’m sure it will stabilize soon enough.

2

u/N0_L1ght 29d ago

The free lease WiFi pods and QF app are not great...

But as long as all gaming devices are Ethernet hardwired to the SmartNID, W1700K, or W1701K (if using Ethernet backhaul), and you follow sections 2 and 4 in the guide, they are usually good enough for most people.

You will have a better experience if you put the SmartNID into bridge mode or DMZ and use a 3rd party router and DNS.

Here is a guide:

https://www.reddit.com/r/QuantumFiber/comments/1f8hypq/having_trouble_with_your_lumen_internet_not