We have a bit of a problem. It’s an issue we get every year in February whilst covering the Mobile World Congress, but this year it’s one we can’t get around. Our coverage of the event means a massive hike in traffic. In years past we’ve seen bandwidth triple, but this year it was 6 times higher than an average month.
The upshot, and I’ll put this bluntly, is that Coolsmartphone will disappear from the internet on Friday unless we pay our bandwidth bill.
I’ve literally found this out in the last few minutes. Our advertising revenue won’t cover the fees, so I’ve hit a rather large brick wall. My only remaining option is to go cap-in-hand to you guys. If you’ve enjoyed the reviews and stories that you’ve read here, please help.
This afternoon I’ll be emailing all our PR contacts, companies and networks to try and get some prizes put together. This is all rather rushed unfortunately but the intention is to give prizes out to random people who donate. I want to give you guys something back for helping us.
I hate doing this, but if you have any loose change in your Paypal account, please, please could you help us out. I’ll keep you informed over the coming days regarding the prizes and, if we’re still online past Friday, I’ll get more prizes added.
If you know or represent a company and would like to contribute prizes to those donating, please email me urgently.
£10 donation on the way. I really like this site and hope this helps.
Hi, I love reading this site since I got hold of my spv c500. I too have donated £10
Made a donation – hope it helps…can’t imagine NOT having Coolsmartphone! 🙂
It’s lovely to see you guys chipping in – thanks for the help it’s appreciated and we’ll do everything (as Writers) to help Leigh keep this site alive. Many Thanks
Thats why you shouldnt host with Hetzner, Best to host with OVH 🙂 (Or Kimsufi.co.uk)
Donated, can’t live without my Coolsmartphone fix ! !
Donation on the way, you run a great site, hope you get enough!!
Fiver on its way. Sorry it’s not more but bit skint myself too!
Switch hosts then. You should never be paying for bandwidth unless its truely extreme amounts.
I used to use Hetzner, they were great. Cheap but excellent bandwidth and if I did go over their very generious bandwidth allowances (5TB/month on my Dedi package) they just throttled to 10Mbps and e-mailed me the option of paying £5 per Terabyte to restore full bandwidth. I do not buy this at all, so no donation from me. But please, if you’re with a really bad host that does actually charge you per Gigabyte feel free to e-mail me and I’ll donate what I have in my PayPal account once I see the evidence.
Donated. It’s the least I can do.
Done! 🙂
You do need to sort this out though Gears. You’ve had problems with hosting/bandwidth every year for the past 8 years I’ve been coming here!
Donation on its way, hope it helps!
And a tenner from me. For anyone who is reading this, please remember that just being here uses bandwidth and the more you get out of the CoolSmartPhone site and the items the team create for our consumption, the more you should consider dipping into your pocket and helping out.
I for one would hate to see this site close and am happy to do my bit.
Donation from me too… I’ve been here since the very first Orange SPV came out, so I think I owe you guys one 😉
I’m amazed that you still get stung for traffic bills in this day and age, especially when it’s fairly constant the rest of the year. All the ads I ever see seem to offer free unlimited bandwidth – I guess that probably shows my level of ignorance! It’s probably unlimited*
*not really unlimited at all. If you use more than the ‘reasonable’ 5GB, you will get stung for a huge amount of cash.
…like all the Mobile providers do.
£10 from me. Love all that you do!
Take a tenner and get some beer if the interwebs cut you off! lol!
Another £10 from me, hope it all helps, as they say all the little bits add up to a lot, so hope everyone is able to donate even just a little.
Done!
This better not go on beers, Gears! 😛
Ha Ha! That rhymed!
Sent you a fiver….sorry times are hard….
Checked this site everyday since I first got the c500 (what a beauty!). Good luck, donation sent.
Done!
£10 sent from me – have been reading this site since I got my first XDA. Good luck, hope the site stays live.
Done….
Loooooong time lurker, so have some dosh – it’s on its way.
There is no way that someone who has given so much to so many should be allowed to be a victim of his own success. I don’t have much to give, but if anyone deserves it, it’s you Leigh. Fingers crossed its all sorted.
Donation made, keep this great site going.
Done!
I have been with Dreahost for years. They are superb. Support are great and know their stuff. I have unlimited bandwidth and storage.
Why not use a free mirror service like Cloudflare? According to my analytics they saved me 1.2 terabytes for free in the last 30 days.
They already use that. But i figured out they where using that host.
donation sent.
£10.00 sent, sorry cant send any more as baby on the way.
Donation made! I appreciate the hard work that goes into this Gears. BUT could we have the forums back please.
£10 donation sent – Hope it helps. Good luck!
Done. Good Luck. You are my favourite smartphone site!
Donation made! Thanks for your help and advice over the years
Ant
had some issues dontating via firefox… IE worked….. 20 quid heading your way… thanks for years of great work…
£5 from me, from an Orange C500 too..
Also a lurker, also donated a tenner.
Good luck to you Sir!
Donation sent, wish I could give more. if any of you love this website, please do give something, even if just a pound !!
Leigh
I have been with you since the very beginning, all those day ago with the very Orginal Orange SPV, donation sent
Donation made, I’d hate to see the site go, as it has great coverage, and a sense of humour that makes it entertaining as well as informative.
Another £10 on its way. Been coming here every day since my SPV E200. I’d be lost without it!
I have donated, it’s not much but every little helps
Money on its way. Thanks for all your work over the years.
Sent a fiver as well. Thanks for your hard work!
money donated – been looking here since i had me mpx200 (what a phone!)
Just donated £6, sorry its not much, but really want to see this live on. Been checking requarly since my t mobile mda Vario, and checking about 5 times a day for the last 3 years!!!!
This site must live on!
Donation made. Thanks for the many years of service to the Windows Mobile and Android communities.