The Truth About Unlimited Bandwidth

The network of lines that carry some of the data network (fiber optic cable, copper wire, etc) have a finite capacity. There is a limit to the amount of data that can be transferred at any time. Also, the hard drive of a web server has a limited amount of space determined by the physical size of the hard drive.

Many hosting companies claim to offer “unlimited” plans (both disk space and bandwidth), but note that there are physical limitations to both disk space and bandwidth. Before buying a “unlimited” plan, know what you get.

The attraction to Unlimited

When consumers decide they want a website on the Internet, they are often unaware of the fact that there are limitations. Unlimited is attractive because it does not require further reflection. If is unbounded then never need to worry about running out right? While this is understandable, there are risks with purchasing unlimited plans.

Myth Unlimited

Many web hosting companies offer “unlimited” as a plan feature. It is impossible for any provider to offer unlimited bandwidth and disk space. But it is not possible.

So Why are there unlimited plans?

Most websites only consume a small amount of bandwidth and disk space. Web hosting companies offering unlimited nothing like a plan feature are banking on the fact that you will not use much. Unlimited is a marketing trick for your business. The web hosting market is very competitive. Although selling plans that pretend to be unlimited can seem dishonest, it does not mean that the hosting company does not provide good service. Check in the hosting company’s Terms of Service: there will probably be a note about what “unlimited” really means.

When Åre Unlimited Plans Ok?

If you have a small website and know they will not consume too much space or bandwidth, and then make plans without limit your options a little easier to understand. Most plans that offer unlimited will have some restrictions such as no download audio or video. The reason audio or video downloads are not allowed in unlimited hosting plans is because these types of files in large consumption of bandwidth and disk space which exposes the host to the risk of having to add more space the hard disk and bandwidth, which costs them more money. If you choose an unlimited plan and you know their needs will not be very intense, then it will not run into any problems.

When Åre Unlimited Plans Not Ok?

If you’re having a great number of visitors to your site, lots of downloads, including audio or video files, do not choose an unlimited plan hoping to get unrestricted bandwidth. You will encounter problems. Your web host will not operate at a loss for a long time - could be shut down your website or even charge you extra (read the Terms of Service).

So What is the best?

The best course of action is to plan ahead. Calculate the rate of bandwidth and disk space you need for your website (you can use the information and tools on the site FindMyHosting to do) and then multiply by 2 only to allow for the expansion. Remember, you can always buy more bandwidth and disk space if necessary - often only a few dollars a month extra. Look for plans that meet those requirements. Another FindMyHosting article “Understanding bandwidth” does a good job explaining the details behind bandwidth.

Only consider an unlimited hosting plan if you know your disk space and bandwidth requirements are very low. If on the other hand, you have an ecommerce site or a site you expect to grow in size and bandwidth in future, avoid any plans that offer unlimited bandwidth and disk space.

Review the list of Unlimited Bandwidth web hosting providers



cheap web hosting

In today’s web hosting, it is often typical to see all kinds of mouth watering web hosting features at low prices being advertised by web hosts. Because of the ever increasing popularity of the internet, thousands of new domains are being registered daily and equally, hundreds of new web sites are are hosted daily, making web hosting one of the top online business ventures on the internet. Because of that, there now exists a high level of competition among hosting companies, each trying to undo the others by offering irresistible features at very low prices to customers.

It is common to see features like UNLIMITED SPACE, UNLIMITED BANDWIDTH, UNLIMITED DOMAINS, UNLIMITED MYSQL DATABASES, UNLIMITED EMAILS, ETC, all attractively displayed by hosts on their websites in order to get the biggest customer share.

But the question remains: Do web hosts actually offer all those unlimited or are they just ways to attract new customers?

Today, let us analyze the issue of bandwidth. What is bandwidth? Bandwidth is the single most important feature in web hosting. Why? Because it is the feature that allows visitors to view your web pages. If there is no bandwidth, then there can never be any page view. All your hosting efforts would be lost if there was no bandwidth to support them or if you ever run out of it. Bandwidth (Also referred to as Monthly Data Transfer) is the amount of data transfer (in bytes) that passes between a web hosting server and an internet user. When a user logs on to a website, a bandwidth can be said to be the amount of data that will be downloaded temporarily to the user’s computer in order for the user to be able to view the site. If for example the user wanted to stream an online video of about 100MB then he would have to use a bandwidth of 100MB while streaming the video.

Bandwidth is so important that once your site visitors reach the monthly allowable bandwidth for your site then your site may become suspended until the next month when the bandwidth calculation would be reset.

Most web hosts offer you unlimited bandwidth hosting for cheap prices. But before you buy, ask, do they really? Can you get unlimited bandwidth for as low as $5 US per month? The answer is yes and no. Let us explore both answers. If you plan to host a relatively small website comprising basically of texts and pictures and you target low to medium traffic daily, let us say never exceeding 1000 visitors daily, then for you bandwidth can be unlimited. In such situation there is no way data transfer would ever be a concern for you. But if you were to host a large site like Facebook, Google or Yahoo with millions of daily traffic; or you have a website like YouTube, ABC.com, a movie Pay Per View site with thousands of people streaming or downloading large amounts of videos daily, then for you bandwidth is limited. The actions of your visitors using terabytes of bandwidth per day is enough to cause problems on a shared server.

So for a simple personal or company website with no heavy files and low to medium traffic Unlimited Bandwidth can be bought for as low as $5 but for big sites like Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo and Google it is not possible to obtain limitless bandwidth at such low prices.

Why then do hosting companies offer unlimited bandwidth? Web hosts often make offers based on internet usage trends, surveys and estimated calculations. They estimate that more often than not a single web hosting account can never exceed their actual monthly allowable bandwidth. They may offer you 10 terabytes of bandwidth hoping, and most times rightly, that you would never exceed that amount. Even if you were to host 200 websites on one account, there is a possibility that you could never reach that actual limit. But the fact remains that there is a limit.

What if you decided to create another facebook of a PPV site with tens or hundreds of movies? Then that becomes a problem. In order for you to really get unlimited bandwidth for such sites you would have to go for a different kind of web hosting that is however very expensive. It is called the Dedicated Server Hosting. Dedicated servers simply allow you to host your website on a single server paid for by you and not shared with any other customer. They offer you endless possibilities in web hosting but come at very expensive prices depending on the hosting company. They are more reliable, secure and they offer unlimited bandwidth. It is the ideal hosting solutions for creators of large websites who really require limitless bandwidth. They often cost more than $100.

In summary, having Unlimited Bandwidth depends on the kind of website you operate and the kind of hosting service you choose. Actual unlimited bandwidth is possible and available but you may have to pay more  for it. I recommend you carefully check the hosting features of web hosting companies if you require unlimited bandwidth hosting.

Free free to take a look at my blog The Top Ten Web Hosts on http://www.webmaster-guide.blogspot.com. The blog features a careful review of web hosts and a selection of the best ten in the world. You can read their offered features and select buy from your desired host.

Coming soon would be a review of Dedicated Server hosts in the world. The top ten would be available soon. So, that is it. I wish you happy hosting!



Home Business Directory

If you are in to web hosting or if you are starting your own website, you would encounter the word ‘bandwidth’ a lot of times. But what exactly is bandwidth? Bandwidth is the measure of the amount of data that is being transmitted over a website connection. If you wanted to set up your own website then you should know how much bandwidth is needed for your site and choose a web hosting plan with an appropriate bandwidth.

You may often encounter the term “unlimited bandwidth”. This may sound good to your ears. Everything with the world ‘unlimited’ may sound enticing. But technically, there is no such thing as unlimited bandwidth.

A broadband company is responsible for sending internet connection, and you never hear them claim that they can offer unlimited MB/ sec. In the same note, a hosting company cannot offer such a thing as unlimited bandwidth. Most web hosting company doesn’t even have their own access lines, so how can they claim to offer unlimited bandwidth if this is the case?

There is actually a catch when one web hosting company offers “unlimited bandwidth”. There are some website owners who have their website disconnected because they violated one of the terms and services policies when it comes to traffic or bandwidth. They would often say “that you have exceeded your bandwidth” and no refund would be handed back to you.

So if you happen to read unlimited bandwidth to any of the hosting plans that you are checking out. Make sure to read the company’s acceptable use policy and the company’s term of service.

When choosing a bandwidth for your website, the first thing that you need to estimate is the traffic of your website. You should also know the types of data that you would use for your site. Here are some questions that you can use as a guideline:

* How many visitors would you think you have?

* How many of your web pages would have frequent visitors?

* How much storage data would your text, images and script files use?

Here are the types of data that may need a large bandwidth:

* Audio and video files

* Computer applications

* Downloadables

* Flash website

* Virtual reality programs

* 3D audio-video files



Home Business Directory