"Unlimited bandwidth" is one of the most abused terms in hosting marketing. No physical network is unlimited. Understanding what providers actually mean protects you from surprises.
What "Unlimited" Actually Means
Most hosting providers saying "unlimited bandwidth" mean one of:
-
No hard cap, but port-speed limited: You can transfer as much data as your port speed allows. A 1 Gbps port running 24/7 transfers 324 TB/month. Practically unlimited for most workloads.
-
Fair use policy applies: Unlimited with a fair use clause that lets them throttle or suspend extreme users.
-
Shared bandwidth: The port is shared among multiple VMs on the same host. Your "unlimited" degrades under contention.
How to Read Bandwidth Specifications
Look for:
- Port speed (Gbps) - Actual maximum throughput
- Included traffic (TB/month) - Monthly allowance before overage charges
- Overage rate (€/TB) - Cost per TB above allowance
- Network type - Burst vs. guaranteed bandwidth
Space-Node provides 1 Gbps+ port speeds with generous included traffic allocations - sufficient for game servers, streaming, and high-traffic applications.
Bandwidth by Workload
| Workload | Monthly Transfer |
|---|---|
| Minecraft server (10 players) | 50 - 150 GB |
| Rust server (30 players) | 300 - 800 GB |
| 24/7 streaming relay (1080p) | 20 - 30 TB |
| Discord bot (100k users) | 5 - 20 GB |
| High-traffic website | 100 GB - 5 TB |
Most game servers and bots are well within 1 - 2 TB/month allocations.
Monitoring Your Bandwidth
# Install vnstat for ongoing monitoring
sudo apt install vnstat
# View monthly usage
vnstat -m
# View daily breakdown
vnstat -d
# Real-time traffic
vnstat -l
Set up an alert if monthly usage approaches your allocation:
# Simple monitoring script
USAGE=$(vnstat --json | python3 -c "import sys,json; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(d['interfaces'][0]['traffic']['months'][0]['bytes']['tx'] + d['interfaces'][0]['traffic']['months'][0]['bytes']['rx'])")
LIMIT=1073741824000 # 1 TB in bytes
if [ $USAGE -gt $LIMIT ]; then
curl -X POST your_webhook "Bandwidth usage warning: approaching limit"
fi
VPS hosting with transparent bandwidth policies at Space-Node