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Frequently Ask Question

We have compiled these answers from the most common enquiries we receive from potential customers. If these do not answer your question please click on this button:

Web Hosting FAQ

Do you offer a guarantee?
Yes! We are so confident you will be happy with our web hosting services that we offer a 30 day, no quibble money back guarantee.
Is your 30-day money back guarantee 100% money back?
Yes, full refund, except setup fees are not refundable.

Can I upgrade my hosting plan at anytime?
Yes, you can upgrade hosting plan at anytime, or you can switch to our dedicated server.

Is there any ftp access or website viewing before the names servers get changed in the registrars?
Yes, you can use the server IP for FTP and viewing the site.

Is there any way to view the website/pages before the DNS servers get changed in the registrars?
Yes, a temporary URL will be automatically generated. (Windows Hosting)

Do you support sub-domains?
Yes, you can have http://subdomain.yourdomain.com.

Do you support ASP?
ASP was originally developed for the Windows operating system and is only available on Windows 2000 hosting plans. Please contact us if you require this, as we do not have details of these plans on our web site.

How long will it take to create my hosting account? How soon can my site be up?
Account creation takes a few minutes from payment confirmation. Access details are sent by email.

What is a Virtual Domain?
A Virtual Domain means having your own domain name (http://www.your-name.com) without having to install expensive server hardware and software. With a Virtual Domain, you utilize our server's storage space, however you are still professionally represented via your own personal Internet web address domain name (www.your-name.com) and by your own personal e-mail address domain name (you@your-name.com).
You should check InterNIC's "WHOIS" service to make sure that your desired
domain name is available.

Are there any contracts to sign or minimum service length requirements?
No. You can stay with sampotek.net as long as YOU are happy with our service. You are free to move your domain to another service provider any time you wis

What sort of support can I expect from Sampotek Webzone Inc.?
We pride ourselves on our unbeatable support service. We have developed a huge Web Hosting Support Manual, which has in depth articles on all the features of your account. We encourage all our customers to become familiar with this and use its built in search facility to find help instantly. This is backed
up by 24/7 priority support from human beings.

Can I have MP3's or Videos on my site?
Yes, provided you own the copyright to them..........

Can I have pornography on my web site?
No, we have a zero tolerance policy towards pornography and other adult related content.
Please see our Terms and Conditions of Service for full details.

I want to sell things on my web site; will your shopping cart help me do this?
You need to start from the other end. Work out how you are going to process credit card transactions, then find a shopping cart that suits that method, then find a suitable hosting plan. If you are not an established business you will find it difficult to get a merchant account so you might be safer starting with Paypal: https://www.paypal.com This has its own shopping cart which can be
used with any of our hosting plans.

Can I use an Apple Mac with Sampotek Webzone Inc?
We are asked this a lot but it is not really a valid question. The Internet was designed to allow computers to communicate with each other regardless of operating system. This is done using standard protocols like SMTP and http. As long as you have an Internet connection, a web browser (and you must have these if you are looking at this web page), and a web design program you can use any web host and this includes Sampotek Webzone Inc.

Bandwidth FAQ

What is bandwidth?
Bandwidth is the amount of information that is transferred from your website to people surfing your site. For example, if your first page is 10KB and 100 people go to your page in a month, you've used 1000KB or 1MB. Each hosting package we have offers a different amount of bandwidth transfer per month. Please see our Packages section for specific details.

Is my bandwidth traffic per month enough for my site?
Most domains never exceed 200 megs of traffic per month, but let's put it in real terms. On a 300mb web hosting account we allow you 200 megs per DAY of traffic. 200 megs = 204,800 kilobytes. For a web page that takes up say 48 kilobytes of space on our server, the page would have to be accessed 4,266 times per day, or 128,000 times per month to reach the limit. If you go over the "free" limit, you will be notified by email that your site is exceeding the traffic limits before we begin to charge you for additional traffic.

What if I go over my allotted bandwidth transfer?
You will be contacted by email or by phone if you exceed your bandwidth transfer for the month.

How can I tell how much bandwidth I'm using?
Simply login to the Website and look at "Account Information" on the left hand side or you can click on Web Status and Display Report. Under Kilobytes you can see you how much bandwidth you've used for that month.

Reseller FAQ

How long does it take to open a Reselling account?
We can usually have your account setup within an hour of receiving payment for your order. At the current time, we request payment for at least the 6 months in advance when establishing your account. This measure helps Sampotek Webzone Inc, minimize operating costs and overhead and pass the inevitable savings along to you.

What are the terms of Sampotek Webzone Inc’s 99.9% uptime guarantee?
Should Sampotek Webzone Inc, not provide at least 99.9% uptime in any one billing month, you are eligible for a credit of one full month of hosting at your current plan level. A true uptime guarantee with real teeth!

Does Sampotek Webzone Inc, provide any backups services?
All data on all reseller services is backed up regularly. All backups are maintained both on-site and off-site. These measures help to greatly protect your sites and data from disaster. You are still strongly encouraged however to maintain reasonable backups of your own critical data, where possible.

Do you provide personal name servers (ns.mydomain.com)?
Yes. We set up reseller accounts to use our name servers initially. If you require personal name servers you should contact technical support to have these added to your account. There is no charge for this.

Can I have lots of IP addresses?
No. The regulations governing the use of IP addresses are very strict. They can only be provided when required for SSL certificates, name servers or other technical reasons.
Search engines know these rules and do not give lower rankings to sites on shared IP addresses.

I have one of your older reseller plans, can I switch to this one?
Yes, but you will need to move your accounts manually as the new reseller plans are on different servers. If you use personal name servers this could be problematic. The easiest way is to order a new reseller account, copy all the accounts over and update the name servers for the domains to our name servers. You can then cancel your old reseller account.

How long does it take to set up one of these accounts?
Once ordered we will set your account up within 12 hours. However, if your personal name servers are based on a .com/.net/.org domain they will not work until they are registered as name servers through your domain registrar. This process takes several days to complete depending on your registrar.

Does the price include domain registration fees?
No. You will need to register domain names yourself. You can use any registrar you like but we will be happy to register domains for you. Click here for info.

Support
As a reseller you have responsibility for supporting your customers with all normal operational issues. This helps you build a relationship with your customers and makes it your business, not ours. Sampotek Webzone Inc, works in the background and gives you technical support with server side issues.

Billing
This is not an affiliate or referral program. You are responsible for billing and supporting your clients while we support you. You can charge whatever you like for hosting, and with our low prices you are likely to be in profit after selling only a few plans.

Domain Names FAQ

What is a domain Name?
A domain name tells people (and the computers they use) how to find your homepage on the Internet. Your hosting provider assigns each domain name to a numerical IP (Internet Protocol) address. People remember names better than numbers, but computers translate www.yourname.com into IP address numbers.

Why do I need to register a domain name?
Registering a domain name for your business or organization is essential to your marketing efforts. A domain gives your business credibility and a unique identity on the World Wide Web.

What is a URL?
It stands for Universal Resource Locator. Some people refer to it as a web address (although URL is not limited to the web). An example of a URL is http://www.sampotek.net. Please note that a URL is a unique identifier. No two websites can have the same URL. This is the reason why you should register your domain name before someone else does.

How long will take to register my domain?
Domain registration takes a few minutes from the time of payment confirmation.

What is an IP address?
Every computer on the Internet has a numeric address called IP-Address that is used to identify the location of the computer. An example of an IP address is 210.222.12.102. This kind of addressing system is cumbersome and hard to remember for humans. Having a domain name will eliminate the need to remember an IP address.

What is a DNS?
DNS stands for "Domain Name Server". It translates domain names into IP addresses that computers understand. For example, if someone wants to access our website (www.sampotek.net), the DNS will translate the domain into the IP address 210.222.12.102 which will allow the computer to locate our web server.

What are the components of a domain name?
A domain name consists of two or more words separated by a period. The last word (the far right) is called a "top-level domain". Here are some common top-level domains and their use:

.COM
Used for commercial entities. It is the most popular top-level domain. Anyone can register a .com domain.

.NET
Originally used for networking organizations such as Internet Service Providers and backbone providers. Today, anyone can register a .net domain.

.ORG
Designed for miscellaneous organizations, including non-profit groups. Today, anyone can register a .org domain.

.EDU
Four-year, accredited colleges and universities.

Country Codes
Other top-level domains include those for countries (.CA for Canada, UK for the United Kingdom, .HK for Hong Kong, etc.), which are based on the International Standards Organization's 3166 standard for country abbreviations.

To the left of the top-level domain is what is called the "second-level domain." In Sampotek Hosting, "sampotek.net" represents a second-level domain within the top-level domain of .com.

Do you handle the domain registration process? How much does it cost?
Yes, we now register domain names for only US $9.35/year! We also take care of any modifications on your already existing domain (i.e. transferring your existing domain to our servers). By paying for the name yourself, you are assured of complete title and ownership of it.

How will I be able to tell if my desired domain name is already taken?
Before registering a domain name you will first have to do a "Whois" search to see if the requested domain name is available. You can do this right from our website. If you need more detailed information about the ownership of the domain name we suggest using the Sampotek WHOIS Page.

Once I have secured my name, how long may I use it?
If there are no trademark disputes, your secured domain name will be yours for as long as you maintain the yearly registration fees with Sampotek Hosting.

What if my desired domain name is the same as a trademarked name?
If you register a name in good faith, it does not belong to an internationally known company and you can show that you have a legitimate reason to use the name, you will probably be able to keep the name. This may not be the case if it can be shown that you purchased the name for the express purpose of re-selling it to a company with a legitimate claim to the name.

What are the valid characters for a domain name, and how long can it be?
The only valid characters for a domain name are letters, numbers and a hyphen "-". Other special characters like the underscore "_" or an exclamation mark "!" are NOT permitted. Example: your name.com (not correct, no spaces allowed) Example: your-name.com (is correct) A domain name can be up to 72 characters long -- including the 4 characters used to identify the Top Level Domain (.NET, .COM, .ORG, or .EDU). Do not type the www. before your domain name when registering.

I bought my domain from another company. Can I use your hosting?
You can host any domain registered through any registrar with us. You will simply need to point your domain name to the DNS nameservers provided in your hosting account information mail after signup. DNS changes have to be made in the domain name control panel provided by your registrar. If you do not have access to such a control panel, you will need to email the company you registered the domain through with the DNS nameserver details provided.
DNS would take 24-48 hours to resolve fully after the DNS changes are made.

Can I transfer an already existing name to your servers?
Yes, simply specify that you are requesting a transfer and NOT a new domain. You should keep the service with your current provider while waiting for your registrar to complete the transfer process. This can take up to 3-5 days.

Do you charge to transfer the DNS of my existing domain to your servers?
Absolutely not! If you use one of our hosting packages, the least we can do is transfer your domain's DNS to our servers for you!

How do I transfer my existing name to your servers?
Most registrars give you a username and password so you can go to their site, login and make the necessary DNS modifications (change hosts). You'll need to enter in our name server information as follows:

ns1.resourcesofnet.net
IP 72.232.119.130

ns2.resourcesofnet.net
IP 72.232.119.130

Feel free to contact our DNS department by email, sales@sampotek.net or by phone , and provide them with the necessary information (domain name, registrar, username and password), and they'll be able to complete the transfer for you.

Do I have to pay for my existing domain name again if I sign up with you?
Probably not. Most registrars, including Network Solutions, Register.com, and Open SRS, don't charge you to do DNS Modifications.

Can you host international domain names?
Yes, we can host any foreign extension. We will help you register these names when possible. Otherwise, we will provide you with the information that you need to register the name yourself.

I just registered a domain name and it's still showing as available! Is it registered?
Of course! It will take between 24-48 hours for DNS Propagation. DNS Propagation is the process by which the computers on the Internet update their records (DNS tables) to reflect new site name(s). When this is complete, your name can be accessed and recognized on the Internet.

Technical background FAQ

What backups do you run?
We store daily, weekly and monthly backups of each web site we host. Our servers also have spare disk drives installed so in the event of a hard disk failure we can restore all sites quickly.

What operating system are your servers running?
Our Advanced plans are hosted on servers running Apache web server under Fedora Linux. This is a highly stable operating system, integral to our aim of achieving 100% uptime for your web site.

What sort of DNS system do you run?
We use a distributed DNS system with primary name servers.
Many hosting companies run two name servers on the same server as your web site. You can spot these companies because they will give you DNS server names like dns12.hosting---company.com and dns13.hosting---company.com This is insecure, because if the web server goes down the DNS needs to propagate out when the system comes back on line.
Our DNS system continues to work regardless of any issues with your web site.
Some hosting companies will put two name servers on different physical servers in the same data centre. This is not sufficient because if they have servers in more than one data centre and the line to the first location goes down, all the sites they host will disappear from the internet.
Even having two name servers in different countries is not always enough if both are set to update from each other. When one goes down there is the risk that the other will update incorrectly.
By updating from one central server we avoid this problem. The master DNS server is protected by a firewall and sends updates to the servers that broadcast the DNS information to the Internet. This prevents the master zone file information being corrupted by worms, Trojans or other exploits. In the event that the master DNS server fails we have a backup machine running in parallel.
Some of our competitors think this system is overkill, but you should take this as an indication of how seriously we treat the business of hosting your web site.

Why is your bandwidth not "unlimited"?
When we set up Sampotek Webzone Inc, we wanted it to be the most reliable and honest web hosting company on the Internet. Many companies quote "unlimited" or "unmetered" bandwidth allocations, but in the small print you will find that they have the right to remove your site without warning if you are using too much bandwidth. Put simply, this means they have a limit but they are not prepared to tell you what it is. They need to have this clause because bandwidth (or data transfer) costs money. The telecom companies that provide Internet connectivity charge for every GB of transfer on their networks and many "unlimited companies" have found that they cannot sustain their service without regularly removing accounts.
Sampotek Webzone Inc, has a proper, sustainable, business model which offers high bandwidth allocations to all our customers with no automatic removal of sites for exceeding their allocations. We tell you how much bandwidth you have and give you a meter (in your control panel) to monitor your use of it.

E-MAIL FAQ

How can I retrieve my emails?
You can get your e-mails using a Pop3/SMTP program such as Outlook or log in from anywhere to http://www.yourdomain.com/webmail

What is spam? What are your policies regarding spam?
Spam is unsolicited email or newsgroup postings, usually advertising products or services. Spamming (sending junk email) generates a very negative response from most of its recipients. Since it is best to avoid this, we enforce a strict Anti-Spamming Policy. According to our policy, if you send spam from your domain, your account will be terminated. To ensure that you do not unintentionally generate spam, please obtain permission from your intended recipients before you add them to your distribution list.

What is the name of your POP3 and SMTP servers?
POP3 (incoming) Server: mail.yourdomain.com
SMTP (outgoing) Server: mail.yourdomain.com
Username or Login: user.yourdomain.com

Do you offer email forwarding?
Yes, you can forward your Mail accounts to any existing email account, whether it's on our servers or not. It's easier than forwarding a call on your phone!

How do I use your Web Mail feature?
To check your mail online, use our new WEB BASED email client accessable from the sampotek.net main page. Using your username and password, you can check your mail from anywhere in the world. Remember, your email will not function correctly until domain name propagation is complete. This typically takes between 24 and 48 hours.

Mails are bouncing with the error “retry timeout exceeded”
This error on Linux/Cpanel servers normally indicates that the disk quota of that account is full. Upgrade the account or reduce usage and retry.
“Your server has unexpectedly terminated the connection. Possible causes for this include server problems, network problems, or a long period of inactivity. Error Number: 0×800CCC0F”
This error is often modem or firewall relate`d. First, try to reconfigure.

Where is Neomail?
Neomail support has been discounted in cpanel as the script will soon be obsolete and support discontinued by cpanel developers on the script.
Emails will remain unaffected and can be accessed using the other interfaces.
To view the same folders in Squirrel mail, login, select Squirrel mail, click folders and subscribe to the folders you used previously in Neomail. Refresh folder list or the page to see the folders listed in the left column.

Billing FAQ

What credit cards do you accept?
We currently accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express cards. We also accept paypal and cheque payments.

Do you accept cheques?
Yes, Click Here to order your hosting account. Choose the pay by cheque option when prompted to do so. You will be given instructions for printing the order form and sending the cheque to us.

Can I pay in other currencies?
Yes, you will be given the choice of paying in US dollars, Canadian Dollars, UK
pounds or Euros when you enter your credit card details.

How do I change the credit card used to pay my account?
We only retain credit card details for customers who pay monthly.
Please Click Here to make the changes.
Cancellations

How do I cancel my account?
To cancel, contact our sales department by email sales@sampotek.net

If I cancel, do I get any money back?
If you cancel your hosting account within 30 days, you fall under our 30 day money back guarantee. If your account is cancelled because you do not follow the terms and conditions, you may not be eligible for a refund. If you have been a customer for over 30 days, we cannot refund your money unless you' have an annual account. If you have an annual account, we will refund you for unused months.

Why has my site been suspended?
The reason should be displayed in place of your web pages.
You have gone over your bandwidth allocation.
You should monitor your bandwidth usage through the control panel every week or so and contact us if you are likely to go over your limit.
Your credit card has failed.
If your credit card fails for monthly payments and you do not respond to our emails then we will suspend your site. Its possible we do not have an up to date email address for you. Please contact us if this happens. Sites suspended for non payment are deleted after 10 days unless you contact us to make other arrangements.
Your annual hosting plan has not been renewed.
We send out one reminder per week for six weeks prior to the renewal date of annual plans. If you have not renewed we suspend the site for 10 days and then delete it. By suspending the site, we hope you will contact us with an up to date email address.