The truth about "unlimited bandwidth"

Many web hosting providers offer plans that feature "unlimited bandwidth". The fact is, no hosting company can offer truly unlimited bandwidth! If you carefully read the Terms & Conditions, you'll discover there is a maximum amount of monthly data transfer (that is undisclosed) that comes with each plan, and once you reach that level you will either receive a warning or see your website taken offline.

But to be fair to the hosting providers, this doesn't happen very often. The vast majority of websites don't receive enough traffic to generate excessive bandwidth. You'll only need to worry about your site's bandwidth usage after the traffic level becomes high or if you have lots of large images or software downloads.

And also to be fair to the hosting providers, the bandwidth limitation is (or at least should be) laid out in the Terms & Conditions. I recommend that you always read the TOC and FAQs before signing up for any service, especially a web hosting plan.

There are web hosting plans that come with "unmetered bandwidth" however. Unmetered bandwidth simply means your data transfer isn't metered (measured). You can use any amount of bandwidth you need until your bandwidth usage begins to affect the rest of the network and the other sites hosted by the company.

If you operate a commercial website (or a site that simply must stay online at all times), opt for a web hosting plan that clearly states the monthly bandwidth allotment that comes with it and how much you'll be charged if you exceed that amount in a given month.

If you just need inexpensive hosting for a personal website, or a place to host a resume or a few photos, don't worry about the bandwidth. You'll be fine. If you do exceed your allotment, you can upgrade or change plans at that time.