Tricks of the Trade
March 22, 2006
There are a number of tricks that web hosts use to make their plans appear bigger, cheaper and better; this section unveils them all! After reading it you will be able to spot them before you get stung by the hidden costs.
Tip: It should be noted that Valcato Hosting uses no tricks.
“Unlimited” or “Unmetered” bandwidth
I can guarantee that a webhost advertising unlimited or unmetered bandwidth will impose one of the following conditions on you:
- A secret bandwidth limit or a slow connection,
- A fair usage policy or similar clause,
- Restrictions on what you can have on your account.
Generally the secret bandwidth limit in the small-print is around 60-80Gb - that’s definitely not unlimited! Another tactic is to limit server speeds; sometimes they can be even slower than your broadband connection!
Be sure to read their Terms of Service (TOS), Acceptable User Policy (AUP) or other documentation carefully for fair usage policies, or clauses that state that your account will be terminated for using large amounts of bandwidth.
Account limitations
A number of hosts limit the sort of thing you can use your website for; some will not let you host downloads, or forums, or image galleries!
Of course they would never publish this on their website, so again you need to do some digging in the small print. Read their Terms of Serivce or Acceptable User Policy carefully for clauses relating to acceptable content or account usage.
Annual price quoted as monthly price
This is a widely practiced trick; the price a host quotes as their monthly cost is infact their annual cost divided by 12. So you think you are going to pay £2 when you suddenly find a £24 bill on your doormat!
Another trick is to force you into a 12-month contract; this means you have to continue paying them even if you no longer want their services!
Uptime Guarantees
There are two types of uptime; server uptime and network uptime.
Server uptime is the time the physical machine is operating and serving your website to visitors. Network uptime is simply the connection to the server, regardless of whether your website is accessible or not.
This means that a network uptime guarantee is virtually useless as your website could be offline, but as the connection is fine you’ll never receive any compensation.
Tip: Check the TOS to see if the uptime guarantee relates to the server or just the connection.
Next: In Conclusion