1) Bandwidth
Bandwidth on the value network is not guaranteed.
Bandwidth on our value network is shared and therefore not guaranteed, most stations can average around 500-2000GB per month without any problems depending on the usage of other customers. Any streams using a considerable amount of bandwidth for a sustained period of time may have their bandwidth capped - this is done automatically by our scanner which runs at various times throughout the day - listener allowance and bitrate allowance will not be altered unless requested.
Please see the Fair Usage Policy for more info on bandwidth and CPU usage policies.
2) Quality of Service
If you are found to be using your account in such away as to affect other users on the server, your account may be suspended without notice or additional restrictions applied.
Resellers: Although there is no limit to the number of servers that can be set up per user, to avoid unnecessary load on the server we ask that you don't have large numbers of servers per user that you have created. If one user appears to have multiple servers online, then the scanner may stop some servers.
3) Fair Usage Policy
This Fair Usage Policy (FUP) has been implemented so that we can provide reliable and low cost value streaming for all customers. Bandwidth on the value network is not guaranteed unlike the premium network, this is one way of keeping costs relatively low while at the same time providing a reliable service for the majority of customers.
In general, only about 2-3% of customers will ever find that they will not be affected by the FUP as the majority of customers don't use exsessive amounts of bandwidth. If you are unsure about any of our policies or want to know if you have been affected by the FUP then please open a support ticket for more info.
If this FUP is not suitable for you then you may upgrade to the premium network at any time or order high priority bandwidth at just £2 per Mbps by opening a support ticket.
Server resources
Any stream found to be using more than 10% of the server's CPU or 10% of the available memory may be stopped to avoid problems with the server. This is, however, very rare.
Bandwidth
Any stream using more than 8Mbit/s for a sustained period of time during peak hours* will be transferred to the 'heavy user pool' which may shared by other high bandwidth users. This is to ensure that the vast majority of customers continue to experience a good quality service without any drops. The stream will remain in the pool for no more than 5 hours at a time. Once the stream is removed from the pool it may be added again the next day if it continues to use excessive amounts of bandidth.
Why do we have a Fair Usage Policy?
We have a very clear FUP to ansure that customers using the value network can continue to receive a good service. The value network is for radio stations that may need to peak to high listener numbers and is not intended for large professional radio stations that have 100s of listeners logged on constantly. Sharing bandwidth between customers means that individual stations can peak to very high numbers while keeping costs very low for everyone. If you require dedicated/unmetered bandwidth on the value network then please get in touch for a customised price.
You may find that there are other shoutcast hosting companies that don't have a FUP but are still very cheap. You will normally find that if you use too much bandwidth they will either suspend or terminate your server without notice or refund - this is something we hear about on an almost daily basis from customers moving from other hosts. We will never turn your server off or suspend your account for excessive bandwidth use.
Our bandwidth monitoring scripts are often turned off if the overall bandwidth on the server is at a reasonable level during peak times. This allows heavy users to use unlimited amounts of bandwidth without being added to the bandwidth pool.
How to avoid being added to the bandwidth pool
If you think you may be using more bandwidth than the policy allows then you can avoid being added to the bandwidth pool by reducing your bitrate and therefore using less bandwidth with the same number of listeners. Alternatively you can purchase another shoutcast server on the value network and relay your original stream. This will double the peak time bandwidth allowance to up to 16Mbit/s for a sustained period. Resellers may not create more than one server per user to avoid the bandwidth pool without prior permission.
* Peak hours are defined as 2PM-11PM GMT/BST, usage at other times is not monitored. We reserve the right to change the definition of "peak time" or "peak hours" at any time without notice.
The Fair Usage Policy and monitoring algorithm may be altered at any time without notice in cases where the majority of customers will benefit. Major changes to the bandwidth policy will be published on the status site at status.bellonline.co.uk.
