Abstract: Two VPSs with the same price tag, one writing 100Mbps unlimited traffic and one writing 1TB/month 1Gbps, differ not in price but in how it is billed. Traffic fluctuations are large but total volume controllable, priority is charged according to traffic; access persists and has a high total traffic, prioritizing unrestricted traffic and confirming exclusive ports; sudden peak significantly larger business, then evaluated at 95 peaks. Information verified for 2026-10-01, final official terms as standard
What: Bandwidth is not the same as traffic
Bandwidth is how coarse the pipeline is, and traffic is how much data actually flows through it in a month. Two VPSs of the same price tag, one writing 100Mbps unlimited traffic, the other 1TB/month 1Gbps, may be suitable for entirely different businesses: the former looking at continuous throughput, the latter looking at total monthly volume.
| Charging mode | Meaning | Suitable for Who? | It's easy to ignore. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charging by volume | Contain fixed traffic per month, such as 1 TB; excess may add money or slow down; port rate is the upper limit | Sites with fluctuating traffic and controllable volumes | 1Gbps is a peak limit, not an all-day run. |
| Unlimited traffic, by port | Unlimited total, but port rate caps such as 100Mbps shared or exclusive; late peak on shared ports may fail | Sites with consistent visits and high total traffic | Shared ports can be affected by peer neighbors |
| 95 Peak charging | 5% monthly charge for peak bandwidth during rush hours, excluding short bursts | Large business with high traffic bursts, single-serve or cabinetry common | Usually separate confirmation of billing caliber is required |
How to Choose: Estimate the Business and Then Compare Packages
1. Estimate the monthly flow
A typed site can be estimated to contain 1 or 2MB of images per page. Estimation formula:
Average monthly traffic ≈ Monthly visitors × average page size × number of pages viewed per person
A few hundred gigabytes of traffic per month is usually enough for a small station to get started; picture stations and download stations are charged separately depending on the size of individual files.
2. Determine the flow curve
| Business features | A more appropriate direction |
|---|---|
| Visits to Waikiki Valley, with monthly total predictable | Charging by volume, such as 1TB/month to 1Gbps |
| Requests continued throughout the day, with high total traffic. | Unrestricted traffic, but exclusive port confirmation prioritized |
| Short noticeable outbursts such as activity, pushing or large file sharing | Evaluate the 95 peak charges |
3. See if the port is shared or exclusive
Shared ports are multiple VPSs on the same physical machine sharing this bandwidth, which may be diluted when neighbors are busy; only writing exclusivity is closer to monopoly.
Note: Billing terms are more important than numbers
- Port rates are not the same as actual speeds. Cross-border links are also affected by line quality, and 50Mbps on a good line may be better than 200Mbps in congested lines.
- There are limits to unlimited bandwidth. The vast majority of packages retain fair use terms, such as limiting excessive occupancy and long run-up times, which should be read before ordering.
- Traffic may be counted in both directions. Most merchants account for incoming and outgoing traffic separately, or take a larger one based on each merchant's billing instructions.
- Excess handling varies widely. Common methods include downtime or limiting speed to ultra-low bandwidth, and resuming monthly; volume pricing may be much higher than the discounted price of a package; few merchants will automatically upgrade to a higher tier plan.
- When the budget is limited, priority should be given to ensuring the quality of the line and not talking about the amount of traffic.
Information verification for 2026-10-01 │ Excess policy varies widely among merchants, the following one-time published provisions are approximate. It is recommended to set up traffic alerts at the control panel │
Questions commonly asked
Can 1TB/month run at full capacity?
Not necessarily. 1 Gbps is the upper limit of a port, and 1 TB/month is the traffic allowance. If you keep getting close to 1 Gbit per second for an entire day, that's going to run out quickly; whether or not it counts depends on your actual traffic curve.
100Mbps unlimited traffic is better than 1TB/month with 1Gbps?
No. If the business only needs a few dozen GB per month, 1TB/month to 1Gbps may be better matched; if the business generates large amounts of traffic on an all-day basis, 100Mbps unlimited traffic is more appropriate, but confirm whether you have exclusive port rights.
95 peak billing for the average webmaster?
Generally suitable for large business or self-service, cabinet scenarios. Ordinary VPS hosts are more commonly billed per traffic or unlimited traffic by port.
What's the most important thing?
Look at three things: whether the traffic is counted in both directions, if it exceeds the speed limit or adds money, and if the port is exclusive.
Further reading
- What about the quality of VPS lines?
- Machine room delay and packing loss test methods
- Set up VPS accounts and traffic alerts
- Billing instructions for the standalone server cabinet
- Payment by credit card abroad
This article was last updated on 01/10/2016.
Image alt: Flat vector machine cabinets, bandwidth arrows and flow charts, no text, no branded logo, no real people
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