Seedbox Providers Now Offering Unmetered 1Gbps

October 07, 2010 by sharky

Within the seedbox industry, the well-known drawback to 1Gbps lies within the limits of how much monthly bandwidth is allowable: you get great speeds but it’s generally not sustainable. Reading the fine print, capped throughput limits of 3TB to 5TB per month are considered the norm, and can be consumed rather quickly on this superior pipeline. As the overall cost of premium bandwidth continues to plummet - especially for those who purchase it in bulk - more and more providers are beginning to offer unmetered 1Gbit seedboxes.

The Caveat: 100Mbit vs. 1Gbit

Seedbox users making the switch from 100Mbit to 1Gbit should naturally expect to enjoy a substantial increase in transfer rates, assuming that the seedbox provider is not drastically overselling the services. Whereas theoretically a 1Gbps offers "10 times faster" throughput than a 100Mbps line, it’s worth noting this 10x factor is never attainable. On a shared connection from a respectable provider, the normal 1Gbit seedbox user will typically experience average speeds more within the realm of 2-3 times quicker than its 100Mbit counterpart, with bursts sometimes higher.

Unless you personally rent your own dedi with both unlimited and unshared 1Gbps full-duplex uplink port (starting at €1,599/mo. - see Leaseweb’s Unlimited XL series), no middleman seedbox provider will be able to come close to guaranteeing realistic sustained 1Gbps traffic specs.

Metered 1Gbit Seedboxes

3TB monthly transfer allowance. Regardless of overall speed, a 1Gbps line (or even a 100Mbps line) with a capped limit of 3TB monthly data throughput will only allow for a total combined average of 1.196 MB/s (or 1,225 KB/s) when spread equally across each second of a month (24h/30d). Given that a 1Gbps line is capable (in theory, not actual) of 128 MB/s, the "3TB limit" is less than 1/100th of the potential monthly throughput allowed by a true 1Gbps connection (refer to Google calculator).

The ability to pump 321 TB/month is a grossly highballed (and blatantly unattainable) figure - but from this example one can easily conclude how quick it really can be to eat up the allotted 3TB in much less than a month. Heavy torrenters, general ratiowhores, or those using autodownload scripts would never go near a seedbox capped within 3-5TB/mo. An unshared 100Mbit line (on a dedicated server) may even outperform a shared 1Gbit over the long haul.

1Gbit Seedboxes: What to Look For

From a seedbox provider’s perspective, claiming to offer "unmetered 1Gbit" is a beneficial selling point; a marketing strategy. This half-truth should be held in scrutiny - what good is an unmetered line when it’s shared among 25 accounts and an untold number of active torrents? Not only can servers themselves be oversold (too many users per box), but the bandwidth (pipe) can be split among multiple servers. For example, a 1Gbps pipe might be pooled to 4 different dedicated servers, with each dedi consisting of even more VPS/slices or lower-tier shared seedboxes. It wouldn’t be uncommon to expect 10 or more seedbox accounts sharing the same 1Gbps line, and perhaps more.

Be especially mindful of providers that claim to offer unmetered 1Gbps on OVH - in all likeliness this is not happening. Evidence would clearly suggest that Leaseweb is the future - hands down they offer the best peering in the world, especially transatlantic (EU to/from US); keep this in mind. So shop carefully, and don’t be afraid to ask questions first.

Acquiring a true unmetered 1Gbit personal box (shared or not) is vast overkill unless you’re a reseller or seedbox provider yourself. The average torrenter needs not, and cannot use up the capacity for such unmetered traffic anyways, thus we conclude any reasonable limit between 10 to 15TB per month is more than adequate. Below we examine a handful of providers offering 1Gbit boxes (*not all are unlimited).

Xirvik.com

Xirvik.com launched a new line of unmetered 1Gbit servers, in both semi and dedicated varieties. The latter option, their gbit dedis with a $209 - $229 (USD) pricetag come with 100TB monthly traffic and between 1 to 4TB HDD storage - which is cheap compared to any real gigabit offer on the market. For comparison, OVH gives you 10 TB @ 1 Gbit and charges €1341 + VAT for the other 90 TB.

As usual these dedi’s can be configured as Xirvik’s standard seedbox configuration UI, or else left as plain server with root (ideal for new seedbox provider startups or personal resellers who want to split the server into multiple slices). It’s worth adding that these are not OVH; instead rather, members can choose from .NL, .US or .DE locales.

For those on a smaller budget but still want 1Gbps, Xirvik’s semi-dedicated offer users true unmetered 1Gbit (with absolutely no traffic limits) beginning at $70. We’d recommend their German box since it includes a large 800GB of storage for just $20 more. As with all of these semi-dedi’s there are just 4 users per server and comes with these unique features unseen elsewhere. In addition to those, here’s a peek at what’s new:

Avalanche	Rapidleech	Add FTP Accounts
(A new rTorrent GUI)	(Interface for DDLs)	(Add multiple FTP users)

Shoutbox	Speeds
(Chat with other Xirvik users)	(What to expect…)

RapidSpeeds.com

Like other serious contenders looking to gain traction within the 1Gbit market, at RapidSpeeds you won’t be finding any unmetered OVH. They use colocation at Leaseweb’s prime datacenter EvoSwitch - through their own equipment (in excess of 400+ dedis, probably more now) with 3Gbps being fed into each switch and 10Gbps trunks providing the rest of the bandwidth to the switches when they need it. £120 is the starting price for a high-specs dedicated server using premium .NL unmetered 1000Mbit bandwidth. RapidSpeeds has long been known as the seedbox supplier’s supplier, in the sense that they currently provide professional services to as many as five (5) different seedbox providers that you’ve probably already heard about. Other features include:

• • All dedicated servers come with the free option to convert into a ready-to-go seedbox server (your choice of 5 BT clients - Deluge, uTorrent, TorrentFlux, Transmission or rTorrent).
• • 1Gbps burstable; 200Mbps upload guaranteed throughput at all times.
• • No setup fee; 100% dedicated servers; free KVMOverIP; 99.9% uptime; PXE boots & bash scripts to reinstall/install torrent clients; cloud OS to manage servers & bandwidth.
• • Dual SATA2 HDDs in RAID0 or RAID1 for maximum efficiency.
• • A wide array of upgradable options (VNC/NX remote desktop, more RAM, additional IPs, your choice of Linux OS or Windows).
• • Even offers SSD hard drive seedbox servers (2 x 80GB | 1Gbps | 10TB/mo).
• • Discounts to seedbox resellers are available for bulk-buyers.
• • Check out the testimonials at RapidSpeed’s forums, there’s some interesting screenshots.

Seedbox Sneak Peek — Keep your eye on RapidSpeeds’ seedbox link, they’ll be officially entering the seedbox market by offering unlimited 1Gbit slots by as soon as next week. Here’s what’s coming:

• Real semi dedicated (max 4 users per box) — Equivalent to OVH’s RPS with an Intel Xeon quadcore 2.83Ghz, 8GB DDR3 RAM (4×2GB), 4×500GB drives, so each user will get their own hard disk (no slow/read write by other users - that’s what limits a VPS), and their own RAM stick. Same rule applies; 1Gbps download/200Mbps upload 24/7 - all this for £45 each.

FeralHosting.com

Like other providers in the list, FeralHosting has long since established itself to be both reliable and reputable. While pure 1Gbit is a rarity, Feral isn’t shy to disclose exactly what services users will be receiving. In fact, Feral’s most popular packages are those with Unlimited Bandwidth (which includes Helium, Neon, Argon, Xenon and Radon) - and although it’s not mentioned on-site, these use pooled resources from 1Gbit and/or 10Gbit lines via Leaseweb. From this assortment of options only the Helium is metered (a 750GB monthly cap). Even the Neon is connected to a 100Mbit+ pipe and offers unlimited/unmetered everything for just £15 a month. For this low price, don’t expect unbridled 1Gbps speeds (Feral doesn’t claim this anyways) but instead look for speeds in excess of what a dedicated 100Mbit can provide.

Feral is a major league player in the seedbox business, and they’re also a provider that I’ve never had the pleasure to test out personally. Customer comments on outside forums, including What.CD’s oft-read thread, "The Best Seedbox Provider" contains nothing but positive feedback in general. There was a slight hiccup in their FTP speeds related to overseas peering, but it seems Feral has resolved the majority of these issues by switching to Leaseweb for most of their slots.

• • Nearly instant setup when paying through Google Checkout (PayPal users will have to wait up to an additional 5 business days for PP clearance).
• • Has an IRC support channel in irc.what-network.com (or .net) #feral (hotlink).
• • 7-day pro rata money-back refund (for remaining time on monthly contract).
• • Each slot comes with SSH access allowing a lot of freedom on the servers.
• • Also resells OVH as unmanaged servers, but expect to inherit the same bandwidth restrictions for everything.
• • A plethora of tutorials, how-to’s and other helpful topics in their FAQ (requires site registration/login).

Rapidserverz.co.uk

Rapidserverz.co.uk might be the new kid on the block, but don’t let that dissuade you. Here’s a provider that’s competing with the big boys in every way - coming soon is a special unique RapidServerz User Interface which includes 3 rTorrent WebUIs (ruTorrent, Avalanche and rtGUI), Ajax File Explorer (view/manage files via the web-browser), Admin Panel (reboot, view server stats), TeamViewer support, and more. Available seedbox packages are neatly organized into Shared, Semi-Dedicated and Dedicated varieties; each contains 1Gbit options at reasonable prices.

• Shared — (All are unmetered) - 1Gbit prices begin at just £10 per month; this particular plan includes 25GB storage and 15 active torrents on rTorrent, with a maximum 10 total users on the box.
• Semi-Dedicated — (All are unmetered) - 1Gbit starts at £40 (plus £10 setup) and includes unlimited torrents, unlimited traffic, root/SSH access, the latest rTorrent/ruTorrent, 2GB of dedicated RAM, 500GB storage, max 5 users per server. For an extra £10, customers receive an extra 2GB RAM (total of 4GB) and 700GB HDD storage.
• Dedicated — Likely these are the best 1Gbit dedi deals we’ve ever come across. £100 (plus setup fee) gets you a quadcore 2.66Ghz, 12GB DDR3 memory, 2×1.5TB SATA2 drives, with the ability to add more users. These aren’t truly unmetered but come with ample 10 or 15TB monthly bandwidth allowance; surely enough for anyone.

No bullshit, no fine print. All specs are clearly outlined for each package without any hidden details.

VarsBox.com

VarsBox is a purposely smaller provider aimed towards a slightly more experienced seedbox clientele by providing self-contained slices or VPSes. Each user is allocated a percentage of the server resources divided by how many total users there are on each dedi. Members receive full root access in order to install any applications they wish, although VarsBox does include BitTorrent client installation - either rTorrent and ruTorrent, or uTorrent Server 3.0 Alpha (Linux) w/ WebUI - these are the default choices, but even Deluge or Transmission could probably be requested (or else done yourself).

By providing mostly unmanaged access with few frills or gimmicks, VarsBox keeps the costs down and thus offers some of the lowest prices for (virtually) unmetered 1Gbit we’ve ever seen. For $45 users receive 210GB storage with a whopping 20TB monthly throughput allowance - surely more than most torrenters could even dream to surpass. The drawback? You’ll need to pick up a few *nux CLI commands along the way since owners access the box via SSH/shell. That, and VarsBox presently has a small waiting list to get on the 1Gbit’s, although it’s said to be usually less than a week.

• • Not OVH - Employs premium .US bandwidth from both FDC Servers (100Mbit) or SoftLayer (1Gbit) provisioners; good peering to Leaseweb.
• • Customers can monitor traffic graphs which are on display.
• • Offers weekly rates, starting at just $13 for 1Gbps (w/ 4TB transfer limit).
• • SolusVM Management Panel; users can restart services, check traffic stats, etc.
• • Provides seedbox services to members from select private trackers.

Seedboxworld.net

Not to be confused with other seedboxworld domains, this one’s the real deal. Seedboxworld.net provides almost exclusively an assortment of VPS slices coupled with pre-installed BitTorrent clients of your choice. You’ll get a choice of distro, a VPS control panel (to restart, manage etc), Fluxbox Desktop, VNC/FTP/SSH access, choice of location (NL or DE) - all on a 1Gbps port starting at £35 (plus setup, if applicable). Other BT options include Deluge, Transmission, uTorrent, TorrentFlux-b4rt and KTorrent.

Not related to 1Gbps, but Seedboxworld also offers a comprehensive array of payment options which includes Moneybookers, bank transfer, pay by cheque, credit/debit card and of course, PayPal. Use this link so they know that Sharky sent you!

List of Other 1Gbit Seedbox Providers…

The six sites listed above are not take-the-money-and-run type of seedbox providers. Although no service would be considered perfect; opinion is mostly subjective anyways - it’s conclusive they are not in the business to Hit&Run your PayPal account without ever looking back. I stake my tarnished reputation on it - but I can’t personally vouch for the following providers. Caveat Emptor.

Do your homework — Check reviews, read forums, contact them first, Google their name, check incoming traffic stats (Alexa) to their main websites. We’ll do some of the work for you but the rest is up to you.

• • Seedbox.cc / Seedbox.fr — Offers gigabit unmetered starting at €10 but all come with limits on # of active torrents. TorrentFlux & Transmission only.
• • Rapidpeer[dot]com — For an extra $13, all accounts can be upgraded to 1Gbit. Before choosing, be certain to peruse this cheerful June 2010 review first.
• • www.seed-box.net — Can’t say much bad about these guys (although we haven’t tried them); decent visitor traffic and $20 gets you 50GB storage with unlimited everything on a 1000Mbps shared connection.
• • Seedbox.me/1Gbps.html — Another provider that has limits on active torrents; expensive! $15 gets you just 2 active torrents and 20GB storage.
• • www.seedboxsales.co.uk — Rather expensive, £40 for 120GB storage and £60 for 200GB. Not much traffic to the site.
• • www.seedbox4u.com/plans2.html — Not a terrible deal; 500GB storage for €50 but almost no traffic to site.
• • www.biohost.info — Sells tiny 2GB HDD slots for $5 on a 1Gbps line. Hmm, tell me, just how many users are sharing that 1Gbps line, anyways?!
• • www.iseedbox.net — No visitors to site; torrent limits on all 1Gbps plans.
• • www.seedbox.org.ua — Russian site; all packages are 1Gbit but watch out for active torrent limits; read their estimated approximate speeds before deciding.
• • www.seedboxworld.biz (& .com) — Very little traffic to both these 2 sites; most plans have torrent limits; uTorrent and TorrentFlux only.
• • www.seedcafe.info — Offers 4 different 1Gbit plans, but only one is unmetered.
• • Seedfoxuk.com — Has a few different 1Gbps shared packages, all are metered.
• • www.seedm8.com — 1Gbit are metered on the upload traffic.
• • www.seedmonster.net — Metered bandwidth on all 1Gpbs packages.
• • Seedstorm.com — Expensive! It’ll cost more than $300 to secure a 1Gbps dedicated server, and traffic is limited to 10TB/mo. Why not go directly with OVH instead?!
• • www.seedunlimited.com — Offers an unlimited 1000mbps on Softlayer for $65. Absolutely no details about servers, packages are explained on-site.
• • Serverscene.com — Upload traffic is metered on all plans.
• • Slikhost.com — Has one unmetered 1Gbps package for £40/month. Untested, very little traffic to site.
• • www.super-seed.me.uk — Site says their 1Gbps servers are not yet available. Reasonable prices, though (an extra £10 gets unlimited 1Gbit traffic).
• • www.superseedbox.com — Trustworthy provider, offers 1Gbit starting at $50/mo. which includes 220GB storage. All were sold out at last check.
• • Superseeder.eu — 1Gbps plans suggest "Unlimited Traffic**" but there’s no info about the conditions that the ** is referring to. Website is nothing more than a whmcs checkout.
• • www.torrent-remote.eu — Polish site. Cheap prices; a 1Gbit VPS with 90GB storage starts at £20 and comes with 7TB monthly bandwidth, if you can handle using TorrentFlux only. FSF’s quote of the day, "Why we choose TorrentFlux? Cause it’s lightweight solution" - now that’s funny!
• • Ultraseeds.org — Aside from weariness of knowing very little about them, they offer good pricing - $25 gets you 245GB storage and unlimited/unmetered everything on 1Gbps.

Happy 1Gbit Seedboxing!

Archived by FSFmirror