# Centurylink PRISM / Internet

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centurylink-prism-internet/742191>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 5, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centurylink-prism-internet/742191 "2016-01-05T00:34:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centurylink-prism-internet/742191/1 "2016-01-05T00:34:39Z")

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Centurylink was by my house again touting their fiber to the premises and trying to get me to sign up on the spot with an offer that I could only get through there

1. I assume their line about it being a one time offer was bullshit, and there’s deals available all the time, so I didn’t just miss out on the once in a lifetime opportunity

2. What are the secondary boxes like? Do I have to put up with a wireless connection or is there an option to string an ethernet cable or something to them?

3. Is the picture quality as good as cable?

4. Assume I do switch, how do I tell Comcast to go pound sand without getting the runaround?

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**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centurylink-prism-internet/742191/2 "2016-01-05T04:36:56Z")

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I can only answer #3 for sure.

I have FiOS FTTP and love it. With fiber, there is plenty of bandwidth so video compression and asymmetric internet speeds are not needed. When I switched from Comcast, the video improvements were very obvious.

Maybe an answer to #2.

I believe all FTTP systems use an ONT - Optical Network Terminal - for each installation. This converts the fiber optic signals to Ethernet, four wire telephone and coax for Internet, landline and TV use. Typically, the Ethernet is fed into a standard router with both WiFi and wired outputs.

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**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/centurylink-prism-internet/742191/3 "2016-01-05T04:48:53Z")

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Forget my answer to #2 - it is FiOS centric. Looks like CenturyLink is using IPTV, so the ONT outputs TV over Ethernet. That will mean different router and cable boxes than FiOS uses.

I still think that the benefits of fiber are still greater than conventional RF cable systems.

This might be a good source for you.

> **[CenturyLink forum | DSLReports, ISP Information](https://www.dslreports.com/forum/centurylink?group=Prism%2BTV)**
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