Bandwidth Scam

Plain and simple. Web Hosting is a service. And disk space and bandwidth are the main elements in any web hosting plan.. Disk space is the amount of space you have been allotted on the web server to store your website and bandwidth is an amount you have available to transfer web pages from the web server to the browsers of visitors to your site. Web pages and graphics consume bandwidth or capacity on the web. Both are price and case sensitive.

The network lines that carry data around the web through optic fiber, cable, copper wire etc have a finite capacity. There is a limit to the amount of data that can be transferred at any point in time. In the same way, the hard drive of a web server has a limited amount of space determined by the physical size of the hard drive.

Companies pretty well gouge your quantitative bandwidth requirement for your website. So, they can upfront offer you a unlimited bandwidth because they know pretty well understand that you are never going to use much more than your specific quota, like you wont need bandwidth like yahoo.

This is probably one of the more popular ploys that some companies use in order to attract your business. It's worked on this principle - the vast majority of web site hosting clients will not be big bandwidth users, therefore lowering the average bandwidth usage across the entire client base.

This situation allows hosting companies some room to move and if a few clients use a few hundred megabytes above the average, it's no real problem. But if you start using a few gig or more above the average, they will start getting nervous - all bandwidth costs money - anywhere from around 50 cents to $3.50 a gig - depending on the company's upstream provider.

Bottom line: for the companies that offer "unlimited bandwidth" hosting, it is not in their interests to have clients that will actually use appreciable bandwidth.
Try testing this out. The next time you visit an unlimited bandwidth company web site, send a note to their sales department stating that you are interested in using their services and that your site draws 50 gigabytes a month. We would be very surprised if you received a "hey, no problem" type response, unless the company is charging a sizable flat rate

It acts much like the unlimited bandwidth scam. All disk space must be paid for by the company and if you demand much more than average, you may find one fine morning that you cannot upload any more files once you reach their quota limit. There are instances when clients are treated as a problem and stop taking care of the account - without warning.

If you are a gift provider, you can expect more traffic on your website during festive days. Like any business, some days are busier than others. Unfortunately, some hosts don't recognize this, intentionally or unintentionally and limit the amount of bandwidth able to be used in any one day. If you have a web site that is date/day active e.g., the weekends, this may have a serious effect on your site's viability.

In a usual month, your quota may be more than sufficient, but what if you become No.1 on a major search engine overnight? - this does happen. Suddenly, people are flocking to your site and your quota is gone! So sustained traffic surges can also be a problem, if your web host doesn't allow excess, your sudden good fortune may also be your downfall. If a web host does offer excess bandwidth, check on the prices.

It is important to ascertain whether your host will decrease the availability of your bandwidth based on server activity. This isn't a decrease in your quota itself, but a "slowing" down of how fast this bandwidth can be used. Bandwidth choke can result in your entire web site being slow to load. Excess throttling can mean that some of your visitors may not be able to access the site.

File downloads

It's all well and good to be able to host your MP3's, but will others be allowed to download them? Enquire with the hosting company about their downloading policies. Some very well known host companies do not allow you to use their accounts for the express purpose of being a software or music archive - even if the items are legal.