Some inexpensive overseas VPSs offer seemingly excellent value for money, making them popular with small and medium-sized website owners and individual users. However, cheap doesn't always mean a good deal. Many people, driven by the low price, fall into various pitfalls, resulting in unstable website performance, business development, and even SEO ranking damage. This article will analyze common pitfalls associated with renting cheap overseas VPSs from multiple perspectives and provide tips for avoiding them.
1. Low IP purity, leading to search engine taint
Problem symptoms: After launching a new website, it takes a while for it to be indexed, resulting in extremely unstable rankings. Access to some areas is difficult, and it may even be blocked by security software or browsers.
Cause analysis: Many cheap VPS providers assign old IPs that have been unsold or abused for a long time to new users. These IPs may have been used for spam or spam websites, leading to blacklisting. Even if your website is legitimate, this can still affect you.
Solution: Verify your IP before launching and choose a VPS with a native IP, avoiding cheap, second-hand IPs. If you discover your IP is contaminated, request a replacement from the provider immediately.
2. Unstable Connections and High Latency
Problem Symptoms: Access is normal during the day, but severe lag occurs during peak evening hours. Ping values fluctuate significantly, packet loss is high, and the user experience is poor.
Cause Analysis: Low-priced VPSs often use inexpensive international lines, which are prone to congestion during peak cross-border traffic hours. For example, some inexpensive VPSes in the US and Europe can experience access latencies exceeding 500ms at night, making websites nearly impossible to access.
Solution: Check whether the VPS offers CN2, GIA, or direct connections; don't be too picky about price. For cross-border e-commerce sites or websites with high domestic visitor numbers, prioritize data centers in locations close to home, such as Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea. Conduct frequent Ping, Traceroute, and packet loss tests during the trial phase.
3. Severe overbooking by merchants, resulting in reduced performance
Problem Symptoms: High CPU usage, resulting in severe lag even when the site is idle. The database and WordPress backend run slowly, resulting in poor I/O performance.
Cause Analysis: To reduce costs, some small vendors oversell multiple VPS instances on the same physical machine, resulting in insufficient shared CPU, memory, and hard drive resources.
Solution: Check whether the vendor clearly states "exclusive resources." During the trial period, use the dd command to test hard drive read and write speeds and sysbench to test CPU performance. Don't be fooled by claims of "unlimited data transfer" or "large hard drives," as low prices often mean reduced resources.
4: Lack of after-sales service and no one to resolve issues
Problem symptoms: Servers are down for hours, and support tickets remain unanswered. IP changes or refunds are difficult, and users may even be blocked.
Cause Analysis: Some low-cost VPS providers are small teams or even run by one person, lacking a comprehensive after-sales service. They focus solely on selling, not maintenance.
Solution: Before purchasing, check the vendor's reputation and consult forum and community reviews. Prioritize reputable providers or those with SLAs (Service Level Agreements). Don't rely solely on a single, low-cost VPS for critical business needs.
5. False Advertising and Hidden Limitations
Problem Symptoms: The advertised bandwidth is 1Gbps, but the actual bandwidth is only 10Mbps. Unlimited data is claimed, but the speed is throttled after usage exceeds a certain threshold.
Cause Analysis: Many cheap VPSs exaggerate their specifications in their advertising, even using vague descriptions to attract users. Users only discover various restrictions and additional terms and conditions when they actually use them.
Solution: Carefully read the Terms of Service (TOS), especially the data and bandwidth information. Avoid false claims of "unlimited data" and be skeptical of plans that are overly cost-effective. Verify actual bandwidth using speed test tools such as Speedtest.
6. High Security Risks and Susceptibility to Attacks
Problem Symptoms: The website is frequently attacked by hackers, resulting in abnormal traffic. Server port scans and brute force attempts are frequent.
Cause Analysis: Due to their diverse user base, cheap VPSs are often targeted by attackers. Furthermore, small vendors lack adequate protection measures, making users vulnerable.
Solution: Immediately change the default SSH port upon first use, disable root password login, and use key authentication instead. Install a firewall (such as CSF or iptables) and enable Fail2ban. For critical business, try to choose a VPS with basic protection (such as DDoS protection).
7. FAQ
Q1: Are cheap VPSs absolutely unusable?
A1: No. Cheap VPSs can be used for learning, testing, and non-core business. However, for e-commerce websites or SEO sites, it's recommended to choose a more stable mid- to high-end solution.
Q2: How can I tell if a VPS is oversold?
A2: Test the hard drive read/write speed and CPU performance. If the results are extremely unstable after multiple tests, it's likely oversold.
Q3: Which region is preferred when buying a VPS?
A3: It depends on my needs. For domestic access to Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea, I prefer. For international trade, native US IPs and European data centers are more suitable. Regardless of the learning environment, choose the one with the best value for money.
Q4: Are cheap foreign VPSs suitable for SEO?
A4: Generally not recommended. Low-priced VPS IPs have poor purity, which affects inclusion and ranking. Reputable SEO professionals recommend choosing a dedicated IP and a highly stable data center.
Q5: When renting a VPS, is monthly or annual payment better?
A5: For beginners, we recommend monthly payment first, then annual payment once stability is confirmed to avoid scams.
