The short answer: CenturyLink sells DSL for $55 a month over copper phone lines, and the speed you get depends on how far your home sits from its equipment. Out here, that is usually a long way. Add a leased modem and you pay up to $72 a month. In Hendry County, Streamline Essential is $65 for 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up, equipment included, and the price is locked for life.
CenturyLink has been the phone company in LaBelle, Port LaBelle and Golden Gate Estates for a long time, and for many homes its DSL was the only wired internet on the road. A lot of those homes still have it. One Streamline customer summed up her switch this way: “I had centuryLink and it was the worst.”
Every CenturyLink figure on this page comes from CenturyLink’s own plan page or from Lumen’s and AT&T’s public filings and announcements, checked in October 2026. Sources are listed at the bottom.
See what Streamline delivers at your address.
Coverage check takes 30 seconds. Most homes are connected within a week.
Check availabilitySide by side
| Streamline | CenturyLink DSL | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $65 to $105 in Hendry County, $99.99 to $219.99 in Golden Gate Estates | $55 with paperless billing [1] |
| Equipment | Included in the plan price | Up to $17/mo to lease, or up to $200 to buy [1] |
| Installation | Free standard installation by a local tech | Up to $25 self-install, $149 with a technician [1] |
| Download | 100 to 300 Mbps plans, up to 600 Mbps burst | Up to 100 Mbps advertised, depends on line length [1] |
| Upload | 20 to 60 Mbps, up to 120 Mbps burst | A small fraction of the download speed |
| What decides your speed | Your plan | Distance from CenturyLink’s equipment and the copper’s condition |
| Price promise | Lifetime price lock | None listed [1] |
| Network future | Being expanded | Copper managed “for cash flow” [2] |
| Data | Unlimited, no caps | Unlimited [1] |
| Support | Local team in LaBelle, 24/7, English and Spanish | National support |
Streamline prices are for our standard residential plans. Hendry County households on a fixed income can also get Streamline Basics, 50/10 Mbps for $55, the same monthly price as CenturyLink before its modem fee. See every plan and its FCC label on Plans & Pricing.
What CenturyLink costs now
CenturyLink sells one consumer plan, Simply Unlimited Internet, at $55 a month with paperless billing [1]. You get whatever speed your line supports. CenturyLink’s offers say up to 100 Mbps, or up to 140 Mbps on some pages.
Then come the extras [1]:
- Modem: up to $17 a month to lease, or up to $200 to buy.
- Installation: up to $25 for a self-install kit, or $149 for a technician.
With a leased modem, that’s up to $72 a month for a speed CenturyLink can’t promise until it tests your line. No price lock is listed.
Why DSL is slow out here
DSL runs over the same copper pairs that carried your landline. The signal weakens with every foot of wire between your house and CenturyLink’s equipment, so two homes on the same plan can get very different speeds. In town, close to the equipment, DSL can be usable. A few miles out, which describes most of rural Hendry County and much of the Estates, it often isn’t.
Uploads are the other problem. DSL gives you a small fraction of your download speed going up, which is what video calls, cloud backups and security cameras need. For the full explanation, see Fixed Wireless vs. DSL.
What happened to CenturyLink
In February 2026, AT&T finished buying the consumer fiber business of Lumen, CenturyLink’s parent company, including Quantum Fiber in Florida [3]. Copper DSL customers did not go with it. They stayed with Lumen under the CenturyLink name [2].
Lumen’s annual report describes the copper business as one “which we manage for cash flow” [2], and its executives have talked about exiting copper over time, pointing to fixed wireless and satellite as replacements [4]. No date has been announced, and we found no filing to end DSL in Hendry County or Golden Gate Estates. But a network run for cash flow is not a network anyone is upgrading.
If AT&T Fiber, formerly Quantum Fiber, reaches your address, that’s a different product from DSL and a strong option. Its availability is limited and checked by address [5].
Where Streamline wins
Speed you can count on
Streamline’s speed comes from your plan, not from how far your house sits from a phone company cabinet. Essential is 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up, bursting to 200/40. Plus is 200/40, bursting to 400/80.
Uploads
Streamline plans start at 20 Mbps up. That’s what keeps a work-from-home video call from freezing and lets cameras and backups run without choking everything else.
No add-on fees for the basics
Streamline includes equipment in the plan price and standard installation is free. CenturyLink charges for both [1].
A price that stays put
The monthly price you sign up at is the price you pay for as long as you’re a customer.
A network being built, not run down
Streamline is adding coverage across Hendry County every year. Every site is built with three independent upstream connections and battery backup, with generators at select sites.
Where CenturyLink wins
It’s already on your wall. If DSL works fine at your address, there’s no install to schedule.
Price in Golden Gate Estates. CenturyLink’s $55 is less than Streamline’s Golden Gate Estates plans.
Short lines. Homes close to CenturyLink’s equipment can get usable DSL speeds.
Two years of cost
Before taxes, leasing CenturyLink’s modem:
| CenturyLink DSL | Streamline Essential, Hendry County | Streamline Essential, Golden Gate Estates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $55 + up to $17 modem lease | $65, equipment included | $99.99, equipment included |
| Up-front | Up to $149 technician install | $0 standard installation | $0 standard installation |
| Speed | Up to 100 Mbps, depends on your line | 100/20 Mbps, up to 200/40 burst | 100/20 Mbps, up to 200/40 burst |
| 24-month total | Up to $1,877 | $1,560 | $2,399.76 |
In Hendry County, Streamline Essential costs less than CenturyLink with a leased modem and a technician install, and you know your speed before you sign.
Switching from CenturyLink to Streamline
- Check your address to confirm Streamline coverage and the plans available at your home.
- Book your install. Keep CenturyLink running until Streamline is live, so you are never offline.
- Cancel CenturyLink internet and return any leased modem so you aren’t billed for it.
Check if Streamline covers your address.
Coverage check takes 30 seconds. Most homes are connected within a week.
Check availabilitySources
1. CenturyLink. “Simply Unlimited Internet.” centurylink.com/internet/unlimited-internet-service.html. Accessed October 28, 2026.
2. Lumen Technologies. Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025. sec.gov.
3. Fierce Network. “AT&T’s $5.75B Lumen deal now complete.” fierce-network.com. February 2, 2026.
4. SDxCentral. Lumen second-quarter 2026 results coverage. sdxcentral.com. August 6, 2026.
5. Quantum Fiber. “Naples, FL availability.” getquantumfiber.com/availability/fl/naples. Accessed October 28, 2026.
CenturyLink® is a registered trademark of CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC, a Lumen Technologies company. Quantum Fiber, AT&T and AT&T Fiber are trademarks of their respective owners. Streamline Internet is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of them. Competitor information comes from the public sources above as of October 2026. Prices, speeds and availability change, so confirm current details with each provider.