Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• Where are your servers?
• My web site is down, what's wrong?
• I can't send e-mails, what's wrong?
• Can I upgrade or downgrade my hosting account?

Q: Where are your servers?

A: We don't actually own our own servers, we use hardware maintained by another company.  That may seem like a cop-out, but it actually means that we can focus our time on providing our clients with a top-quality service and leave the complicated technical bits to people more qualified.  We use a company called PearTreeUK, who have servers in a docklands datacentre.

Q: My web site is down, what's wrong?

A: There are a number of reasons that could cause a web site to disappear, and these are the reasons that pop up most often:

• Bandwidth.  If you use up all the bandwidth allocated to your hosting account, your web site will appear to be offline.  You'll also be unable to receive e-mails.  If this is the case, contact us to upgrade to a bigger account.
• HTML errors.  It's possible that if you've been editing your web site you may have knocked something out of kilter, causing the web page to get confused and possibly stop loading without showing anything.  If you've recently been editing your web site prior to it disappearing, that may be something to look into.  We can help problem-solve this sort of thing, so give us a call and we'll see what we can do to help.
• Server outage.  There are times when a server has to be restarted so that it can install software updates or for settings to be changed.  This is perfectly normal and is nothing to worry about - it's the server technicians making sure the server is working at its best.  Most of the time such outages are very short and will likely go unnoticed.  Leave your site and come back 5 minutes later - if it's still down then give us a call and we'll let you know if we're aware of any serious problems.
• Cancellation.  Use of any of our hosting packages is subject to your acceptance of our Terms & Conditions.  If you breach those terms, we may deactivate your account until the situation can be resolved.
• Connectivity problems.  If your internet isn't working, you won't be able to see your web site.  Sounds obvious, but if your site isn't working then trying checking some others to see if it's just yours that's affected.  If you're reading this web site, chances are you're connected to the internet fine!

Q: I can't send e-mails, what's wrong?

A: This depends on who you are using to send your e-mails.  When you set up your e-mail account on your computer (for example in Outlook) you will be asked for an 'outgoing mail server' or 'SMTP server'; your computer sends the e-mail to that server, and that server in turn sends it out to your recipient.  If that SMTP server is down for whatever reason, you will not be able to send e-mails.  Usually you will use the SMTP server provided by your ISP, although we do also provide SMTP servers with our hosting packages.  Try changing from one to the other and see if that helps.

If you are using our SMTP servers then bear in mind that the mail you send also counts towards your bandwidth usage - if you send lots of e-mails with big attachments you could use up all your account's bandwidth, which will temporarily deactivate your hosting account.

Q: Can I upgrade or downgrade my hosting account?

A: Yes.  Contact us and let us know what you want and we'll set it all up for you.  No data is lost in the upgrading process, neither should you see any downtime, it's just a flick of a switch and it's done.  If you want something that is not covered by the packages listed on this web site, let us know what your requirements are and we will let you know if we can provide it.