# band width ..



## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

What is this band width?

We have had a "free" site on "250free.com" for over 10 yrs now. We don't use it for selling anything. It is simply for our own personal use in putting something up that might encourage others. It is not advertised.

Just recently I find we cannot access it; but instead, we get the message "site on hold" and the opportunity to "log in" to "activate" additional (for money) bandwidth. Of course, we have no money for an internet site. That is why we have been with this particular host.

The only activity I know that has gone on of late is the pictures I placed on that site (maybe 20 pics total) so posters in these homesteading forums cn see what I would be talking about.

I am quite confused about what that host is doing now, have no idea of the amount of "band width" we have used (last I saw it was just a fraction of what we supposedly had); and cannot even get to the site to make changes without "purchasing" what they are calling band width.

Any ideas as to how to fix this situation would be appreciated.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

20 MB is a very small amount that is why they now are asking you to at the very least upgrade, and at a fee of $3.65 a month that is a good deal. 
Then at least there is a 1 GB a huge difference then just 20 mb, it doesn't take much at all to use up 20 mb.
And as time gets tougher in this economy you will see more and more of these "free things" get to a charge to use free is not going to be free much longer.
And at only a membership of 350,000 that is a very small site to begin with, that is why you have advertising on your site. If upgraded you would have no advertising. That alone is a plus.
But Go Daddy is even cheaper then that, at 4.90 for 3 Months.
10 GB Space
Unlimited Bandwidth~!


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Time to look for a new free host.

http://www.free-webhosts.com/webhosting-01.php


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

Bandwidth is the size of your pictures multiplied by the number of times they were looked at. Since this is a massive forum, I imagine you got loads of hits (people looking at your pictures).

THis is why so many people use free picture sites like photobucket.


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## Kari (Mar 24, 2008)

motdaugrnds said:


> What is this band width?
> 
> We have had a "free" site on "250free.com" for over 10 yrs now. We don't use it for selling anything. It is simply for our own personal use in putting something up that might encourage others. It is not advertised.
> 
> ...


If your are looking for free web sites, have you looked at Google sites. 

They have the following limits, however many personal sites would ever exceed this. 
Site quota: 100Mb/site
Max attachment size: 20Mb
Pages per site: unlimited

I know many people who use Google sites and are very satisfied with it for their personal needs. You can also consider other hosting options available such as Blogger and Wordpress. Both these also offer free hosting and easy to use web based software.

If you are looking for free and easy photo hosting, take a look at Flickr. They offer 100 MB of uploaded photos per month, this should not be confused with views which is unlimited. 

Flickr's "Pro" account is only $25.00 per year and it is one the best bargains on the net. I have the pro account and about 3000 photos on it now.

There are many low cost web hosting companies out there that start at $3.00 to $4.00 month. You need to be careful though and do your homework and research as many of these low cost companies come and go almost overnight which is not good for your website if you don't regularly back it up.

In the $10.00 to $15.00 range per month, there are much better web hosting selections that will handle any personal or small business website. I have 3 different web sites on these types of plans due to the options available and the reliability and uptime are a good ROI for my needs.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

You may not be using the site at all... but indexing spiders run through it all the time, and this indexing looks at everything, and eats thru bandwidth.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Well, I wouldn't mind paying a small fee for a site; however, we threw away all credit cards years ago and only pay as we go. This means sending in personal checks as I don't trust PayPal or eChecks. (This concern is the only reason we have kept the free account.)

I think you're right, texican. As it stands now, however, I cannot even get to the site to take the pics off. (David says he will help me set up Photobucket for showing pics.)


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

motdaugrnds said:


> however, we threw away all credit cards years ago and only pay as we go. This means sending in personal checks as I don't trust PayPal or eChecks.


Have you considered payment with a pre-paid credit card? Yes there is a cost to using them, a reload fee and monthly maintenance fee, and if I remember correctly an initial setting up fee. They work like a debit card drawing on the funds you have placed in the account. There are minimums and maximums to consider. Minimums are quite small.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Windy in Kansas said:


> Have you considered payment with a pre-paid credit card? Yes there is a cost to using them, a reload fee and monthly maintenance fee, and if I remember correctly an initial setting up fee. They work like a debit card drawing on the funds you have placed in the account. There are minimums and maximums to consider. Minimums are quite small.


Check to see if they will accept prepaid cards. Nearly all dialup isps for instance refuse them because it limits their ability to make a grab for money if they feel you have somehow violated one of their terms. Its not worth it for them to take you to court half way across the country, but they also count on it not being worth it for you to fight them over dipping into your funds for imagined damages.

And dont count on banks or credit cards standing behind you if some merchant makes small fraudulant charges. They dont consider it important. They only go after somebody who literally steals your credit or debit card (or the numbers) and tries to use it, they dont like dealing with merchant improprieties.


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

Good point HJ. At the same time however there really isn't a way they should know that the the card is a prepaid one. They look and work like a conventional credit card.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

We simply decided years ago to pay as we go. No credit cards of any kind.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

Well that is what a pre paid card would be. You Load it and use it when ever, and that then opens up the buying on the net, you can safe many $'s by doing just that, buying on the internet.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

mistletoad said:


> Bandwidth is the size of your pictures multiplied by the number of times they were looked at.


What you describe is more properly termed "traffic", not bandwidth.

The term "bandwidth" refers to how large of a data path you need to meet your immediate networking requirements. The term derives from how many T1s or channels of a T1 (even T3, or whatever) needed to be leased to meet the maximum anticipated networking needs to avoid system overload.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Windy in Kansas said:


> Good point HJ. At the same time however there really isn't a way they should know that the the card is a prepaid one. They look and work like a conventional credit card.


They must have some kind of filter that lets them know, cause they will turn down prepaid card. Now if you are buying some merchandise, they dont care. But when its an ongoing service they do. Same way I doubt you could rent a car with a prepaid card. They want a way of adding more charges if you do damage.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

Look at photobucket it's free


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