Easily compare EdgeNext and Lumen for POP locations, products, pricing, features & support. We hope this helps you better understand the similarities and differences between these content delivery networks.
Company
| Company | EdgeNext | Lumen |
|---|---|---|
| Short profile | EdgeNext is a leading edge cloud platform with the largest CDN network in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). With 1,500+ edge nodes worldwide, a strong on-the-ground presence across MEA and other emerging markets and a flexible edge cloud architecture that unifies CDN, edge computing and cloud services, EdgeNext enables businesses to reduce latency and scale efficiently while meeting local compliance and data-residency requirements. | Lumen (formerly known as Centurylink or Level 3) owns and operates a global Tier-1 network and - logically - their CDN runs on top of it. Lumen CDN has POPs on many continents and their product focus is on video, large object delivery and edge computing. |
Products
| Product | EdgeNext | Lumen |
|---|---|---|
| Dynamic content deliveryNon-cacheable content delivery. User login, shopping cart ... | Dynamic Acceleration | CDN Edge Compute |
| Small file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of small files (file size <1 MB) | CDN | CDN and/or CDN Edge Compute |
| Large file deliveryStatic object delivery; caching of large files (file size >1 MB) | CDN | |
| Live videoDelivery of live video. RTMP? Transcoding/transmuxing? | Streaming | CDN and/or CDN Mesh Delivery |
| Video on demandDelivery of on demand video | Streaming | CDN and/or CDN Mesh Delivery |
| Image OptimizationAutomatic image transformation/compression/optimization | part of CDN Edge Compute | |
| DNSAuthoritative DNS for customer domain | Global, including China | |
| WAFWeb Application Firewall | Part of the Security CDN | WAF |
| Anti-DDoSDDoS attack protection. Specific product(s) for this. | Part of the Security CDN | Lumen DDoS Hyper (on-demand) and DDoS Mitigation Service |
| Private CDNDedicated edge resources & custom configs | CDN Mesh Delivery for Enterprise | |
| Edge ComputeRun your code on CDN edge servers | Edge Cloud | Edge Compute |
Network
How many POP locations do EdgeNext and Lumen have in different parts of the world?
| Region | EdgeNext | Lumen |
|---|---|---|
| North America | 13 | 28 |
| Latin America | 13 | 11 |
| Europe | 8 | 35 |
| Russia & CIS | 5 | 0 |
| Asia excl. China | 38 | 7 |
| China | 1100 | 0 |
| Oceania | 1 | 5 |
| Middle East | 20 | 4 |
| Africa | 25 | 3 |
Pricing
| Pricing & contract duration | EdgeNext | Lumen |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum contract term | 1 month | Unknown |
| Minimum monthly costs | None for self-service customers | Unknown |
| Requests costsCustomers pay for client to CDN requests | None | Unknown |
| Ingress costsCustomers pay for origin-to-CDN bytes transferred | None | Unknown |
| NA/EU traffic (low volume) | Unknown | Unknown |
| APAC traffic (low volume) | Unknown | Unknown |
| LATAM traffic (low volume) | Unknown | Unknown |
Features
| Web acceleration | EdgeNext | Lumen |
|---|---|---|
| Instant setupSign up, configure, start testing. | Self-service create account and configure account (EdgeNext to approve account) | Not yet, but coming soon. |
| Change propagation delayHow fast do config changes propagate to all POPs? | <5 minutes | No longer than 15 minutes - Often instant |
Apex/root domain OK  No performance degradation when using http(s)://domain.com |
Available with Section product for an additional fee | |
| HTTP/2 | ||
| HTTP/3 | Supported, need EdgeNext's operations team to help with configuration | |
| WebSockets | ||
| IPv6Do the edge servers have IPv6? | ||
| Compression Reduce file size for faster delivery |
Resend from origin, or compress on edge
Fetch compressed or uncompressed from origin (configurable)
|
Resend from origin, or compress on edge |
| Origin pull - protocolHTTP only or HTTPS possible too? | HTTP and HTTPS | HTTP and HTTPS. |
| Origin pull - Host headerUse client > edge value? Set specific value? |
Configure specific other Host header
CDN can also forward client request Host header to origin
|
Configure specific other Host header
CDN can also forward client request Host header to origin
|
| Origin ShieldOne POP pulls from origin, other POPs pull from the shield POP | ||
| Waiting RoomDuring peak traffic, route users to a virtual waiting room | ||
| Push / uploadStore your content directly on CDN, no customer origin | Upload in the portal or via API | FTP, SFTP, rsync. Storage costs apply |
| Cache control - CDN caching | Full and granular control | |
| Cache control - client caching | Full and granular control | |
| Serve Stale CDN serves cached but expired content in case origin is in trouble |
Cache-Control extensions support | |
| Purge Invalidate or delete cached objects on CDN |
Instant | Instant |
| Purge - capabilities | Purge all, purge by directory, soft purge | Purge all but not purge by directory or tag or header |
| Analytics | Many metrics in the UI | |
| Log files | Available for download in Portal or via API. Format can be customized. | |
| API | Purge, configuration, analytics, logs, DNS, WAF, Anti-DDoS, etc. | Purge, analytics, configuration |
| HTTPS & Content Protection | EdgeNext | Lumen |
|---|---|---|
| CDN domain HTTPSUse the CDN's domain, like cloudfront.net | Free | |
| Customer domain HTTPSYour domain in the CDN's certificate | SNI. Pricing is custom. | |
| Customer cert HTTPSYour certificate on the CDN | Pricing is custom | |
| Token authentication | Not self-service, support is needed | |
| Geo blocking | Not self-service, support is needed | |
| Hotlink protectionThird parties cannot deeplink to your content | Self-service | |
| Basic authenticationUser logs in on the CDN to get content | Self-service | |
| IP white/blacklisting | Self-service |
Support
| Customer support | EdgeNext | Lumen |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation | Good documentation | Yes, but not public |
| Humans | 24/7 email support and phone support. Multiple support packages are available |