80% bandwidth usage

[patches]

What does this mean and how do I fix it?

[Brandon]

Hi Patches...taken from the FAQ in "Web Statistics" (fourth question on bottom) http://www.12wonderwebservices.com/faq/faqs.php?answer=0&cat_name=Web%20Site%20Statistics%20FAQ&category_id=17

This is a bandwidth warning. The servers send these out automatically when they detect that an account has reached the 80% threshhold for bandwidth usage for any calendar month. It will not tell you exactly how much bandwidth has been used; nor will it say exactly what percentage over 80% -- just that your hosting account has used at least that much of your allotted bandwidth quota for the month. To see the exact amount of bandwidth used, login at your hosting account cpanel (http://www.yourdomain.com/cpanel) with your hosting account username and password, and look on the left side of your cpanel main page. It will tell you how much bandwidth has been used by your account.

Since bandwidth is on a calendar month basis, you should decide whether you think you have enough bandwidth left in your account to carry you through to the rest of the month. Once you exceed your monthly bandwidth allotment, the server automatically suspends your account until the first day of the next month.

In most cases you can figure out your daily average bandwidth usage to help decide whether to upgrade or add bandwidth to your hosting account. Write down the total amount of bandwidth that has been used this month by your hosting account. (This is the number you get off the cpanel main page as described in the previous paragraph). Divide that number by the number of entire days that have already gone by this month. Do NOT include today. The answer will be your daily average. Now multiply the daily average by the total number of days in this month. The resulting answer is how much bandwidth you can reasonably expect your hosting account to require for this entire month (not counting sudden spikes/increases in visitors caused by advertising, or a mention of your website in high-profile publications, etc.) If the total bandwidth that will be required based on this average is MORE than your current hosting package allows per month, you should seriously consider adding bandwidth or upgrading your hosting package because your site likely will end up suspended for exceeding bandwidth before the end of the month.

Your bandwidth limits are based upon whatever hosting package size you have. If you have a paid hosting package you can either upgrade your entire hosting package, or even just add bandwidth, at any time. See How do I upgrade my hosting package? for how to upgrade or add bandwidth.

Hope this helps,
Brandon