Check e-mail once per hour?

[alk]

Hello.
I'm looking for a web hosting provider, and Hostgator's almost convinced me. I've asked some questions about the details of the service via e-mail, and got a opportune response, but there was something that came to my attention.
Hostgator's staff say that there is a limit for the frequency of pop3 and imap connections, 60 per hour per domain, and it affects all the shared hosting accounts (hosting and reseller). This made me think that the shared hosting with Hostgator is not the option for me, and now I'm deciding if a dedicated server from Hostgator suits well for my needs.

But more i think about it, more doubt i have. What is 60 pop checks per hour per domain? As it was explained to me, it seems that if i had a domain with 60 mailboxes (small to mid-size office), each one of them is checkable only once per hour. In this conditions, i don't see how it is possible to host a domain on a shared hosting, that have more than 10 mailboxes. And even so, 10 minutes poll interval looks too big for me.

I must be missing something, can you please clarify the matter?
I believe Hostgator's staff has much more experience than me in web hosting questions, does this experience shows that hosting a domain with more than 10 mailboxes deserves a dedicated server?

I hope to not sound too aggressive, i really don't mean to. Maybe the fact I'm not a native English speaker would excuse me.
If needed, i can plot here my scenario as i've done it by e-mail.
A can also make textual quotes of e-mails I've got form Hostgator's support, if someone consider it proper and Hostgator's staff approve it.

A few notes about the support i've got via e-mail:
- IMHO, it's a good idea to quote the question just before the answer to it. Even better, make multiple quotes, responding each part of the original message.
- When i get a response to a message i sent, in which i make several questions, i would expect to get a response to _each_one_ of them. An answer that covers entirely the question would be great, but if for some reason it is not possible an aswer "i can't tell you" or "you will have to ask this to someone else" is much better than a silent omission.
- I've learned that there are some details (in this case, at least the pop checks restriction, maybe there are others) that are not covered in any TOS published by Hostgator. IMHO, this is a serious issue that should be fixed. Judging by the references i've got, Hostgator is a very reputable provider, but i would feel really disappointed if I buy a shared hosting account only to find it completely useless for me because of a small detail in the restrictions.

Thank you.

[Pazeh]

Are you sure they said 60 connections / hr / domain? or 60 connections / hr / email address??

As far as I know, it is 60 connections / hr / EMAIL ADDRESS, which means you can check your email, every minute!!

[Pazeh]

Many of our servers have a 60 pop checks per hour limit per email address.

http://support.hostgator.com/index.p...129&nav=0,75,6

THERE YOU GO!!

[alk]

E-mail policy Knowledgebase article posted today, huh?
Well, seems like http://www.hostgator.com/mailpolicy.shtml is in clear contradiction with http://support.hostgator.com/index.p...129&nav=0,75,6

Mailpolicy says "There is a 500 hourly email limit per domain this limit is also applied towards mailman."
Knowledgebase says "There is a 200 hourly email limit per domain this limit is also applied towards mailman."
500 per domain is ok for me. But 200, i would have to think about it. I know, 200 outgoing mails per hour is a big abount, but i think i can occationaly hit the peack, and my users get themselves kinda nervious about error messages.

Mailpolicy says "Many of our servers have a 60 pop checks per hour limit per domain".
Knowledgebase says "Many of our servers have a 60 pop checks per hour limit per email address."
Much more reasonable. But than it's still unclear, why Knowledgebase stays "...make sure to disable auto checking, or at least set it to something higher such as 10 minutes."

Is there more?

Looks like a copy-paste to me. I don't care, it's good to know i'm heared. But would you people put more care about what you publish? And maybe you want to correct the contradictions?
I'm sorry, i'm not a pro, but IMHO this policy needs a deep and realistic revision, not a copy-paste with number correction.

And another question pops up. What is "semi dedicated hosting solution"? I thought you don't sell VPS...

BTW, mailpolicy is linked dyrectly from the TOS, and the Knowledgebase article is somewhere deep. Am I (a new customer) suposed to search for it? Why would i, if i have read the TOS?
Oh, and i did not get the e-mail notification about reply to my original post here in the forum, i've chosen "instante email notification". Yes, i've checked the spam filtered messages.

[alk]

Originally Posted by alk

E-mail policy Knowledgebase article posted today, huh?

Nop. "Created On: 03 Feb 2006 01:21 AM"

Originally Posted by alk

Oh, and i did not get the e-mail notification about reply to my original post here in the forum, i've chosen "instante email notification". Yes, i've checked the spam filtered messages.

Maybe i've messed up while posting the message, i'll try again to set up the notification.

[Pazeh]

Last time I checked, the limits are 500 emails /hr /domain & 60 pop checks /hr /email. It seems HG has missed to update some stuff on the site !!

[alk]

Pazeh, i appreciate your participation. Wht you say make sense.
But i still hope to get a authoritive answer form HG staff.

[Serra]

Originally Posted by alk

Pazeh, i appreciate your participation. Wht you say make sense.
But i still hope to get a authoritive answer form HG staff.

HG recently overhauled their outgoing email system and changed the limit from 200 to 500. The new system also helps cut down on shared server blacklisting.

You may still find references to the older limit, but the current limit is a soft 500.

[skeetr]

Originally Posted by alk

But i still hope to get a authoritive answer form HG staff.

Then I would ask Live Chat, send in a support ticket, or call them at their office. This isnt the best place to get official answers from HG.

[gtgeorge]

Brent the owner HG has posted along with GatorDaveC here in these forums. Brent has also posted the answer in the WebHostingTalk forums. 500 per hour is the limit. just search the forums for either of those 2 users and email limit.

[Goddess Dix]

the 500/per hour outgoing is relatively recent; it was 200 previously.

having done document ion and spending some time on the forums, i think it's easy enough to say "domain" when you mean "email address." if you point it out in suggestions, they'll probably fix it.

any desire for "official hg word" can only be satiated by contacting hg directly. this is a peer support forum. while staff sometimes participates, this is the least efficient channel for requesting that.

[alk]

Thank you, all the people who answered. I was really helpful.

I've got a mail form Angela form HG staff. I hope she don't mind if i quote her:

Our policy indicates a 60 pop check per hour per email address and no more than 500 emails per hour per domain can be sent. There is no policy on the amount of incoming mail you can receive. She also told that the correction in mailpolicy was made.

Originally Posted by Goddess Dix

having done document ion and spending some time on the forums, i think it's easy enough to say "domain" when you mean "email address."

You kidding? In a _policy_? Several times, by several people in support e-mails? Well, after i've seen 2 different policies and read this thread, it was obious it was a mistake, but not before.

Originally Posted by Goddess Dix

if you point it out in suggestions, they'll probably fix it.

Already done in a mail to sales@hostgator.com, i also named the people form support who gave me wrong informaiton. I don't think it would be polite to repeat it here. The policy was corrected, so i guess this closes the case.

Originally Posted by Goddess Dix

any desire for "official hg word" can only be satiated by contacting hg directly. this is a peer support forum. while staff sometimes participates, this is the least efficient channel for requesting that.

Yeah, i see now. Thank you.

[Goddess Dix]

Originally Posted by alk

You kidding? In a _policy_? Several times, by several people in support e-mails? Well, after i've seen 2 different policies and read this thread, it was obious it was a mistake, but not before.

Many support emails from larger companies will be canned responses to common questions. While this helps avoid mistakes overall and helps support efficiency, if the wrong info gets in there, it also means it's repeated.

At any rate, I'm glad you made them aware of it so that it could be addressed for others.