Best Router For Centurylink Fiber (Great for Beginners)

We often get asked what the Best router for CenturyLink fiber is, and with good reason. The C4000 router that ships with a default CenturyLink installation is fine, really, but it isn’t exactly what we would call a high performance or an enthusiast grade piece of hardware. Can you use a different router with CenturyLink? Yes!

For normal internet browsing, content streaming and general online use it works just fine, especially if you don’t have a ton of highly demanding wireless users in your home. 

However, if you are like us, then you probably need to squeeze as much performance out of your existing CenturyLink fiber connection as possible. We have gathered many different types of routers in different categories for you to choose from in this article, along with the relevant Amazon Affiliate links to those products.

Using these links gives us a small commission, which helps us to keep the lights on- so thank you very much if you use one of our suggested links.

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What is the best router for CenturyLink Fiber?

Best router for CenturyLink

Most review sites will give you a brief run down of each router and then give you a list of pros and cons of each unit, which is helpful in a sense but is also a little redundant when you consider that the exact same information is available on Amazon.

What we will instead do is explain what each feature is in general for your CenturyLink router, why you would want it, and then give you a list of similar routers that you can go and check out for yourself. This is a much quicker way of getting what you need without being forced into buying something more expensive unnecessarily.

Below is a list of things that you should think about when deciding on the best WiFi router for CenturyLink. Once you understand what these are, then choosing the best router to use with CenturyLink will be far easier.

Type of Network

Before the popularity of high performance smartphones and next generation gaming consoles, WiFi was not really designed to offer high speed connectivity between multiple devices. Instead, it came in several different formats that offered varying degrees of functionality and speed.

All we need to concern ourselves with regarding what is the best router for CenturyLink in the WiFi department is 802.11ac for most current devices. 802.11ac is the WiFi 5 standard and that is what most devices currently in peoples homes are running.

WiFi 6 is coming out in newer devices, and if you have specific WiFi 6 requirements then you must make sure that your router supports the 802.11ax standard.

Internet Connection Speed

This is something that many people don’t think about when trying to figure out what the best modem router for CenturyLink is for their particular setup.

For instance- if you have a 10Mbps, 20Mbps or even 100Mbps connection then the speed of your WiFi router is not going to have much of an impact on your overall internet experience.

Only once your internet speeds approach the 1Gbps range then you will start relying on your WiFi to carry the full speed of your internet connection to all of your devices

Even at those speeds, most people will not notice any difference whatsoever in the speed of their CenturyLink WiFi routers. That’s because the real limiting factor for most people is the speed of their existing internet connection and not the speed of their WiFi.

Required WiFi Range

This is quite a straightforward element of a CenturyLink fiber router. WiFi is the signal that gets sent out around your home so that your devices can send and receive data. Most modern routers that are compatible with CenturyLink are capable of broadcasting WiFi throughout your home.

If you think that you need to cover more areas of your house that cannot be accomplished with a single unit then you should read our Best Mesh for CenturyLink article here.

Frequency Requirements

Another aspect of WiFi routers that should not be overlooked is which frequency your devices operate in. What does this mean? WiFi operates in 2 main frequencies: 2.4GHz and 5GHz. 2.4GHz is the older standard that most WiFi devices still use.

It has a greater range than 5GHz, but 5GHz has better transmission speeds. For these reasons most routers come with both standards and they are able to independently change according to the needs of the wireless devices around them.

Most modern routers support both frequencies at the same time, which makes it very easy to switch between networks manually, or to allow the device that the user has to decide on the fly, depending on its capabilities.

Channel Selection

WiFi routers have 11 channels that they use to segment the network depending on how much interference they detect. If there is a near by network that is using the same channel as your WiFi network, then CenturyLink compatible routers are able to automatically change to the next channel until a solid link is established. 

MIMO capabilities

Routers that sport the MIMo tag are great for high speed WiFi. MIMO is a wireless technology that communicates with multiple transmitters and receivers at the same time. MIMO is supported by 802.11n wireless products and above.

Ultimately the best CenturyLink modem for you will be the device that does everything that you need it to. This sounds a little obvious but you should think about it this way: if you buy a router that has 2×2 MIMO with blazing fast speeds but your CenturyLink connection is only running at 10Mbps.

Your internet connection is a bottleneck that no WiFi technology can overcome. First, check your current internet connection, then look at the WiFi router or CenturyLink modem as a next step.

For a full list of compatible modems be sure to check out CenturyLink’s list of devices here.

We hope you have found this information useful, and that you will be able to make a more educated decision before spending money unnecessarily.

FAQ

Can I replace my CenturyLink router with a better one?

Yes you can. There is a full list of routers available on CenturyLink's website https://www.CenturyLink.com/home/help/internet/modems-and-routers/compatible-modems.html

What is the best router for Fibre?

There are too many choices to land on a single make or model. Ultimately the best fibre router will be the model that has all of the features and performance that suite your needs.

Does Linksys router work with CenturyLink?

Yes. There are some Linksys models that work with CenturyLink such as the Linksys Tri-Band AC2200.