Short answer: You can control your bandwidth on Lumen in three ways: change it by hand in Lumen Connect, call Lumen's API from your own code, or use a scheduling tool that places the changes for you. All three change the same service. The right one depends on how often you change speed and how many connections you run.
This guide covers Lumen Intelligent Internet (formerly Internet On-Demand), which I call IoD below, and Ethernet On-Demand (EoD). Apptifi is an independent product and is not affiliated with Lumen.
Three Ways to Change Bandwidth on Lumen
| Method | Best for | Effort | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lumen Connect | Occasional, one-off changes | Log in and change it by hand | Forgetting to change it back |
| Lumen API | Teams with developers and a simple pattern | Build and maintain your own code | Upkeep, webhooks and limits |
| Scheduling tool | Recurring changes or many connections | Set up a schedule once | Another tool to pay for |
Option 1: Lumen Connect, the Lumen IoD Portal
Lumen Connect is Lumen's own portal for managing IoD and other NaaS services. Lumen says you can adjust bandwidth there and that changes take minutes, with no change orders. For a one-time increase, such as a migration weekend, this is the simplest choice.
The weakness is that it depends on someone remembering. On hourly billing you keep paying for the higher tier until someone lowers it.
Option 2: The Lumen API
Lumen also lets you adjust connectivity through APIs. On IoD, a bandwidth change is two calls: a price request that returns a quote, then a modify order that uses it. On EoD, it is a single PATCH to the EVC. Our Lumen API guide has the endpoints and steps.
This suits a team with developers and a stable pattern. You own token renewal, webhooks, failures and reporting.
Option 3: A Scheduling Tool
A scheduler stores when each connection should run at each speed and places the changes for you. Apptifi does this with a visual calendar, including recurring events, an option to exclude weekends, and blackout windows that stop changes during a freeze. There are other tools too, and our comparison of four tools covers Apptifi, Flux, BandwidthIQ and CarrierControl.
What Limits Your Control
Whichever method you use, these rules apply:
- • Billing plan. On hourly billing, you pay for the tier you have ordered, whether you use it or not. Term plans have a fixed monthly rate for committed bandwidth, and Lumen says you can scale above that commitment in Lumen Connect during spikes and then scale back.
- • Daily change limit. Lumen allows 24 change orders per connection per GMT day on IoD.
- • Speed range. Lumen lists speeds from 1 Mbps to 100 Gbps on existing Fabric Ports, but what you can order depends on your port and location.
- • Add-ons. Lumen says Defender is not available above 1 Gbps, so check your add-ons before you schedule a higher tier.
- • Listed bandwidth. Lumen notes that listed bandwidth is not guaranteed and may vary.
How to Choose
- • A few changes a year: use Lumen Connect.
- • One or two connections on a fixed pattern, and you have developers: a script against the API is reasonable.
- • Recurring changes, several connections, or finance needs the numbers: a scheduling tool usually costs less than the time it saves.
Not sure a schedule would pay off? The IoD savings calculator gives you an estimate for your own hours and tiers.