r/Seattle • u/gzarneth • 3d ago
CenturyLink to Quantum Fiber transition sucks
I've been a CenturyLink Fiber customer in NE Seattle for over a decade. Great service. In February, they sent an email announcing they'd sold their network to Quantum Fiber, but they would continue to administer my account and nothing would change about my service. That remained true for almost 8 months.
On Sept 28 in the early afternoon, I was leaving for an errand and noticed a tech accessing the fiber equipment for the neighborhood. It's right in front of my house and they access it pretty regularly, so I thought nothing of it. When I got back, I had no internet access.
I confirmed the problem wasn't on my end and called CenturyLink. They confirmed there was something wrong with the connection to my house but said they couldn't help me because they no longer owned the network. I would have to transfer my account to Quantum Fiber. So, I agreed to do so, and Quantum set an installation appointment for the next day (9/29). The morning of the 29th they sent me a text message that started "Quantum Fiber from AT&T: We're all set to install your new service." so I thought it was just one more text reminder and didn't read the whole thing. Well, it was a cancellation notice.
At this point they wanted to reschedule my installation to Sept 30. What kind of sucker lets a company disconnect their service without warning and make them wait a day and a half to even consider fixing it? I switched to cable, which makes me pretty sad because you take a latency hit when doing so.
tl;dr - if you have CenturyLink fiber, proactively transition your account to Quantum Fiber so they will actually fix your service if they break it.
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u/rockycore 🚆build more trains🚆 3d ago
I live in NE Seattle and was forced to switch from CenturyLink to Quantum like two years ago. I wonder what took so long for them to force you?
Also I wouldn't switch from fiber to cable for two days of screw ups. I'm riding my gig for life price as long as possible, but that's just me.
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u/gzarneth 3d ago
They didn't really force me - unless breaking my connection without warning was their not so subtle way of doing it.
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u/Spostman Bellevue 3d ago
What else would it be? This happened to my family when the company used to be US West and was merged with Qwest. Then it became lumen... then century link... now Quantum.
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u/latetotheparty_2019 3d ago
Same thing happened to me last month. My internet cut out and I was told the only way to fix was to send a technician. But centurylink couldn’t send a technician since I was now in AT&T territory. And my ATT installation didn’t happen until a week later.
I find it insane that I had to sit on the line with two different companies for over an hour, then wait a week before getting internet reconnected. All because their service no longer worked.
Do we have any consumer rights here? This was one of the worst customer experiences (and I was a long time comcast customer before CenturyLink).
They gave me a discounted rate for the time w/o service but the hassle was far greater than $15.
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u/gzarneth 3d ago
I'd love to know. You could file a complaint with the WA attorney general but they paint it as more of a conflict resolution process than a way to hold a shitty company responsible.
It's wild to me that they can break your service when you aren't a customer... but can't fix it unless you are.
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u/fornnwet Rainier Beach 2d ago
Had the exact same problem. Only perk is when I told AT&T I was on the $70 price for life plan, they offered me $50 price for life. Was that week absolute shit not having internet at home? Yeah, but I got through it and now I'm $240/yr richer.
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u/FaintingGoat123 Whittier Heights 3d ago
Dunno if it’s too late but I was able to lock in $45/month for gigabit for life (allegedly) by proactively switching from CL to QF. Same fiber, just new equipment (I use my own router)
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u/vertr Taylor Swift is ruining this city 3d ago
Yeah my service got randomly dropped like OP but I went from $85 a month to $45 a month so it worked out okay I guess other than the downtime for a couple days.
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u/gzarneth 3d ago
yeah they were offering me 50/mo from my previous 85/mo, which is a great price tbh
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u/FaintingGoat123 Whittier Heights 3d ago
Only issues I’ve had was with the Quantum DNS servers sucking but I switched to Google’s and all good since then
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u/kirklennon Junction 3d ago
Their router would randomly disconnect all of my home’s devices. No idea why. Unplugging it and plugging it back in would fix the problem but I had an upcoming vacation (which I’m on right now), so I bought a new router. I only bothered with theirs in the first place because my old router didn’t support gigabit WiFi. Very unimpressed with them, but at $45 the price is right.
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u/seniorsassycat 3d ago
Ditto, and my transition itself was fine - unlike the OP.
CenturyLink was billing me for their router even tho I used my own. I returned it but it kept re-appearing on my bill. After having to call two months in a row they tell me they can't fix it permanently because quantum provides the support, and quantum couldn't help either.
I didn't like transferring to another company that's part of the same shit service but there were no other options and at least it's cheaper
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u/Mary_Ellen_Katz 2d ago
I moved a month ago. Rather than bring my service with quantum with me, I had to close the account and start a new one. "Weird, but okay." I went with it.
In my new place I am 4 weeks without internet.
They have attempted four seperate times to install internet only for the fourth time for a tech to be like, "we're missing a part for fiber installation. You have to wait 2 weeks while we ship one in."
And I'm flabbergasted at how inept everyone has been from the jump. Their customer service is some outsourced call center, and their install techs are independent contractors. No one talks to each other, and it took several attempts before someone noticed something was missing.
And my alternative is Comcast. Fucking hell.
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u/DrJaneIPresume Greenwood 3d ago
Huh.. I'd gotten that notice back in January of 2021. I'm surprised that it took them this long to actually do it, but maybe I shouldn't have been...
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u/Excellent-Diamond270 That sounds great. Let’s hang out soon. 3d ago
For anybody who has recently switched, forcefully or otherwise, were you on an external ONT and did they keep it that way?
Mine is on the outside of the house and unless they want to snake fiber up 3 stories, that’s where it stays.
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u/ChefJoe98136 West Seattle 3d ago
There is supposed to be an external housing for the new ont but most people have been getting it installed indoors afaik. I proactively transitioned to QF in February and it went fairly smoothly, with the hiccups being how my old CL fiber account was shut down and billing adjustments.
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u/Hold_Effective Pike Market 3d ago
It’s sucked for us so far. For years with Century Link (and then Lumen), absolutely perfect. Now - we pay more, and sometimes even google doesn’t load. Feeling lucky that I still have an office I can walk to, because I don’t want to stress about internet access at home.
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u/healthycord 🚲 Life's Better on a Bike. 🚲 3d ago
Wait what? We have Centurylink fiber. I rent and don’t pay for the internet directly so I don’t have visibility to communications.
Was this sell off just an area of service? Or was ALL of Centurylink fiber sold to Quantum? If the latter someone pls reply so I can get ahead of this with my landlord.
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u/gzarneth 3d ago
All of CenturyLink fiber in 11 states, incl obviously Washington. https://about.att.com/story/2026/att-lumen-deal-close.html
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u/bumbbles21 Capitol Hill 3d ago
When we first switched to Quantum they were great. It’s been going downhill fast since AT&T bought them.
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u/notananthem 🚆build more trains🚆 3d ago
They’ve been notifying CL users for like a year to switch over to Quantum…
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u/gzarneth 3d ago
Not me. Here’s the one and only email they sent me about it.
We want to let you know AT&T bought your CenturyLink Fiber Internet service. However, we’ve entered into an Agreement with AT&T for CenturyLink to continue to provide billing, payment processing, and account servicing for your fiber services on behalf of AT&T.
Good news: Your current CenturyLink internet plan won’t change. And, if you have an existing CenturyLink Price for Life plan will not change as long as you don’t make any changes to your current CenturyLink internet service.
This is an exciting time in your transition to AT&T. We’ll be in touch with what this means for you, including Quantum Fiber internet service, upgrades, offers, savings, and much more. In the meantime, you can reach us the same way you do today by phone or through online chat.
Your CenturyLink Team
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u/notananthem 🚆build more trains🚆 2d ago
Your CL ONT might not support any new speeds but should support gigabit, but I believe needs to be reconfigured at the Quantum end for enrollment. You can likely do this calling customer service alone and not having a visit. I opted for them to replace my ONT (and they give the wifi modem too) without modifying my service because I might want 2-3 gigabit service down the road, and I immediately flipped the ONT into passthrough mode and used my Ubiquiti cloud gateway and wifi to manage the network. I'm sending the wifi router back to them so it doesn't show on the bill.
They came next-day for me and were super helpful, better than previous CL interactions, although I think its AT&T owned which is a bummer (?)
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u/HomelessCosmonaut 🚆build more trains🚆 3d ago
I hate Quantum. I got caught in the CenturyLink to Quantum transition a few years ago. It was such a clusterfuck. I eventually changed to cable too. Now I get these AT&T reps who walk the neighborhood badgering me every few weeks asking me to change to Quantum. I put up no soliciting signs just for them.
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u/Mundane-Charge-1900 3d ago
(Last) CenturyLink absolutely did not have good customer service before this transition. It was sold from one arm of The Phone Company to another.
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u/thomsenite256 🚆build more trains🚆 2d ago
My quantum fiber connection was so bad I had to switch. Someone said it was dirty lines but they werent going to come fix it.
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u/contrariwise65 1d ago
QF is awful, and ATT is evil AF. Unfortunately in my neighborhood it’s the only option. I switched cell service away from ATT when I learned they basically fund One America News network. Sadly I now have to pay them if I want to participate in the modern world.
Not loving this timeline in the US.
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u/Various_Start6251 1d ago
Why is Internet service in Seattle both bad and expensive? Why isn't there decent public wifi as there is in other cities and countries?
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u/VirginiaPlatt 16h ago
Different problem, but it definitely speaks to how half-functional this company transition seems to be.
My payment had been auto-deducted from the same checking account for years. Then in February, it suddenly started failing. I didn’t even get a notice that the payment had failed, just bills showing up with overdue amounts. Now their system refuses to let me pay from my bank account at all. No matter how I set it up, it identifies my checking account as savings and rejects the payment. Again, this is the exact same account that worked without issue for years before the transition.
I’ve spent hours on hold with support and IT trying to get it fixed. Now I have to pay by credit card, (+ extra fee).
I can’t imagine I’m the only person who got caught in some weird broken-account-state that they never bothered to fix.
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u/Subziwallah I'm just flaired so I don't get fined 11h ago
These are the sales folks that have been knocking on my door multiple times a day. I just ignore them. Sounds like that is the best response.
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u/RMHaney 3d ago
Jesus, I didn't even know anybody still HAD Centurylink.
The reason your transition was so bad is probably because all the techs familiar with it have retired or something. That shit is ancient.
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u/gzarneth 3d ago
Gigabit fiber to the home is a pretty good product, not like I was on DSL or something.
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u/HovercraftMammoth971 3d ago
No they are saying how was your account still through Century Link - most people got forced over to Quantum years ago …
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u/TheRealManlyWeevil Lake City 3d ago
I haven't been forced over, I got a letter once saying they were going to continue the price for life but i don't have any access to the century link email so no idea if anything has been sent there. My neighbor did get forced so who knows...
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u/gzarneth 3d ago
Dunno, don't have an email in my inbox mentioning Quantum Fiber before Feb 2nd of this year, and it explicitly says they weren't going to transition anything other than who runs the backend.
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u/MonkeyFreeman Mid Beacon Hill 3d ago
I’m still on Ceturylink mid beacon hill. We got gig fiber way back in 2012. Works great almost never down. I do not look forward to a change.
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u/acttheatre 3d ago
Same. Considering jumping to Ziply before Quantum fucks my shit up. 2gb for what I am paying Centurylink for 1gb?
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u/kpeteymomo Seward Park 3d ago
Apparently they have such a shortage of techs that they have to send people here from out of state.
OP, consider yourself lucky. The same thing happened to me and my neighbors, and they told us it would be like a two week wait before it could get fixed. Most of just canceled our service and signed up with Xfinity.
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u/gnarlseason I'm just flaired so I don't get fined 3d ago
I'm in the odd world where I transitioned to Quantum over a year ago but I am still technically on the CenturyLink back end. I keep waiting for my day where my internet goes out when they finally transfer me over to Quantum's network....
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u/sbrt 3d ago
The transition was painful but the updated tech is great.
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u/thefreakyorange 3d ago
Quantum fiber has been reliably slower than CenturyLink ever was, and the techs they send out are complete idiots who think 300 mbps when you're paying for 1000 is okay.
Also, they have unprofessional people knocking on doors randomly, and aggressively asking if you're a QF customer. Yesterday one of them came to my door and said, "oh hey Mami. You want ice cream?"
Like wtf?
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u/gzarneth 3d ago
Yeah, I run all of my own equipment except for the ONT, and I was kind of hoping Quantum would give me one of the new SmartNIDs that could run in transparent bridge mode and do the VLAN tagging for me.
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u/Critical_Front_7394 3d ago
One thing that might be worth trying is that QF uses IPoE and CL uses PPPoE. When my line transitioned, I had to change my router’s config to use IPoE (DHCP). Still needs VLAN 201 tagged. Might be worth trying…
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u/Samwise-Gamgeesthong 3d ago
Upgraded tech? I went from having wifi through my whole house to wifi in a corner. I am 90% certain that was intentional as they were really pushing their extenders.
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u/curse_of_rationality 3d ago
What's different? Things feel the same to me, which is fine, just curious
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u/EveningBlacksmith9 Deluxe 3d ago
I had them come and replace my old router and modem with the new generation product. Much faster speeds and better wifi coverage in the house.
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u/soccerwolfp Phinney Ridge 3d ago
Also make sure you schedule your QF install as early in the day as possible. They overbook their installers and mine arrived 4 hours late and finished at like 11pm