Re: [cobalt-users] dialtoneinternet.net

[Jeff Lasman <jblists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Richard Green wrote:

> Though their response time to problems is reasonable you should be aware of
> the fine print. The last time I looked at their web site they offered 65 GB
> of bandwidth,

You do understand that there's NO such thing as 65 GB of bandwidth,
right?  Bandwidth is measured in something per unit of time.

> but nowhere do they mention that bandwidth is measured by the
> 95% rule. Though when you question this they say the 95% is used by almost
> all major companies in determining bandwidth. And this is about the only
> answer you'll get. Believe me when I say that I have been bitten by this
> rule. One raq3, which reported 18 GB of traffic for the month, reported 88
> GB by their measurements. This is when they had 50 GB/month, so 38 GB of
> bandwidth extra at $3 per GB. This actually wasn't bad, considering the next
> month my server reported 55 GB of traffic, and their measurements reported
> 357 GB. Which resulted in $906 of excess bandwidth usage.

Actually, only three clicks from their homepage, at
"http://dialtoneinternet.com/services/bandwidth1.htm";, I find the
following explanation, which seems pretty straightforward to me:

  Bandwidth Usage and Charges
  
  Bandwidth is your server's connection speed to the Internet.
  We give you an unlimited, or burstable, bandwidth.  Up to 65
  GB/month (210 Kbps) is free.  Additional bandwidth is charged $3
  per GB (3.23 Kbps).
  
  Your Server bandwidth is constantly monitored at its
  dedicated port. We discard the top 5% (36 hours) of heaviest
  traffic and bill you at that level. This standard is known in the
  industry as the "95th percentile rule".

> Secondly, since they came out with the new policy of charging you if your
> server comes under attack, I get almost weekly (yes weekly) bills for this.
> My emails to them about how I am supposed to stop these attacks have gone
> unanswered.

Why are you getting attacked?  Most of the time if someone's getting
attacked it's because they did something to anger someone.  If you're
sure this is NOT the case in your situation, contract with them to
change your c-block.  If attacks begin immediately, and you know you're
not hosting anything to cause it, then some previous customer of theirs
has made them angry, and if you can't get them to NOT charge you, you
should probably leave them.

I recently left a well-known hosting company because after about eight
months I finally realized the reason they were always under DOS attacks
was that they were hosting spammers.

Jeff
-- 
Jeff Lasman <jblists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
nobaloney.net
P. O. Box 52672
Riverside, CA  92517
voice: (909) 787-8589  *  fax: (909) 782-0205