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Frequently Asked Questions

Below you'll find some of the most frequently asked questions and answers about Host Tester.

What is Host Tester?
Host Tester is a service that monitors web sites to ensure that they are functioning properly around the clock.  (top)

How does Host Tester work?
Host Tester automatically navigates to your web page once every 10 minutes in order to make sure your website is available.  The process is exactly the same as if a real user sat down and attempted to visit your site.  (top)

What happens when my site is down?
If Host Tester cannot navigate to your site for any reason it will first verify that it is able to reach other sites on the internet by trying one of several major sites.  Once our internet connection is verified as working your site will be added to a potential problems list.  Your site will be tested again on 1 minute intervals for an additional 2 minutes to ensure that the site is actually down and not just experiencing a random routing problem or server reboot.  If your site is still down after the redundancy checks an email will be sent to your notification addresses to let you know your site is not responding properly.  (top)

What happens when my site recovers?
Once your site is determined to be unavailable, the testing interval is lowered to 2 minutes.  Once your site becomes available again you will receive an email at your notify addresses letting you know that your site have recovered and is functioning normally.  (top)

How much does it cost?
Pricing starts at 9.95/month for monitoring a single URL on a month to month basis and is as low as $2.50/month in our multiple URL packages. For full pricing information please visit our Sign Up Page (top)

Can I test more than one URL?
During the beta test period each users is limited to testing one URL.  Once the system goes live users will be presented with account options that will allow them to increase the number of URLs that are monitored.  (top)

What page on my site should I test?
This is entirely up to you, however there is one requirement for your test page.  The transmitted file size must be under 10kb.  This is to ensure that we don't run up your hosting bill by creating excessive traffic and also protects our system from using excessive bandwidth.  If the URL you specify is over 10kb Host Tester will notify you via email that the page is too large and disable testing on the site until you login and reactive or change the URL.

Beyond the size limit there are a couple other considerations in choosing a URL.  We recommend a dedicated URL for Host Tester, in other words a page on your site that is not used for anything else or linked for real users.  If your site has any sort of stats or reporting feature this will help you differentiate between real users visiting and automated Host Tester requests.

If your site uses a scripting language such as ASP or PHP we recommend making your test page perform a small task in the scripting language.  Occasionally it is possible for your site's scripting engine to crash which can allow your site to deliver plain HTML pages, but not process pages using scripts.  By testing a simple script page URL you can ensure that your site is functional on all accounts.

We have a zip file of a simple HTML, PHP, and ASP pages you can use for testing available by clicking here.  (top)

How can I get help about something not covered in this FAQ?
If you have a question or problem not covered here, feel free to contact us by clicking here or the Contact Us link located at the top of each page.  (top)

How do I sign up?
You can sign up by clicking here or the Sign Up link located at the top of each page.  (top)

I signed up but didn't get an activation email, what gives?
Some overactive SPAM filters block emails that are not actually SPAM.  If you haven't received your activation instructions email, be sure to check your SPAM box and/or add hosttester.com to your white list.  You can request your password at any time from the account login page.  If you continue to experience problems activating your account contact us using our contact form and we'll work with you to resolve the problem.  (top)

How do I recover my password if I've forgotten it?
You may recover your password by clicking here .  This will reset your password to a temporary password and send you an email with your new password.  If your email address has changed since you signed up you'll have to contact us and resolve the problem with a customer service representative.    (top)

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