How long has ALTONet been in operation?

ALTONet has been in operation since 1997. When established, ALTONet was one of the first dedicated web hosting companies in South Africa. In comparison to almost all other web hosting companies and ISPs in South Africa, ALTONet has been around the longest and has firmly established itself as one of the market leaders when it comes to Internet services.

Does ALTONet offer dial-up Internet access?

ALTONet offers analogue and ISDN dial-up accounts at highly competitive prices. ALTONet is one of South Africa's fastest growing independent ISPs offering fast and reliable internet access. For more information on our dial-up packages, click here. In addition to dial-up access, ALTONet also offers a range of permanent internet connection from ADSL to Diginet Leased Lines.

I already have a dial-up connection with another ISP...

There is no specific ISP that you need to use in order to connect to the ALTONet network. You can make use of ALTONet or any other ISP for your internet connectivity. If you have a connection to the Internet, no matter where in the world you might be, you can make use of ALTONet for all your web hosting requirements. ALTONet has clients from countries throughout the world!

Can I have e-mail accounts with ALTONet and other companies?

Yes. If you have e-mail accounts with ALTONet, you can continue to make use of your ISPs free mail address as well, as almost all e-mail clients like Outlook Express support multiple e-mail addresses.

How is ALTONet different to most other hosting companies?

ALTONet is one of South Africa's very few first tier hosting companies. Almost 98% of hosting companies in South Africa are either second or third tier hosts, who either rent or host servers with a first tier provider like ALTONet. Not only does ALTONet own and manage all of its servers, it also manages and maintains its own entire network infrastructure and provides services to a number of second and third tier web hosts. In addition to running its own network, ALTONet is one of only a handful of South African Internet Providers that has its own IP address range and who runs full BGP on its network.

I have my own Internet server, can I host it with ALTONet?

Yes, ALTONet offers what is commonly referred to as co-location server hosting. With this option, a client can place his own server hardware in the ALTONet network room and make use of the ALTONet Internet backbone. For more information on co-location hosting click here.

I have my own hosting company, can I host my clients on the ALTONet Network?

ALTONet provides hosting to a large number of second and third tier hosting companies. Web Hosting companies can either sign their clients up on any one of ALTONet's hosting packages or they can either rent or co-locate a server on the ALTONet network.

Does ALTONet offer technical support?

Yes, ALTONet does offer technical support. ALTONet has a manned support desk for telephonic and e-mail support queries. ALTONet also has an Online Support Forum, where clients can find solutions to most support related issues.

Is my data safe – how frequently are backups performed?

Data hosted with ALTONet is very safe. Full system backups of all hosting servers are performed once a week and incremental backups happen on a daily basis.

How stable are ALTONet servers?

ALTONet makes use of both LINUX and Microsoft based servers. All of our servers have Intel processors with a minimum of 320MB of RAM. The servers used on the ALTONet network are extremely stable. No incidents relating to hardware failure or hardware related downtime have ever been experienced on any of our servers. All of the servers on the ALTONet Network are monitored 24/7/365 to ensure maximum uptime.

Does ALTONet run PoP before SMTP on their mail servers?

ALTONet does not run PoP before SMTP on our mail servers. This method for preventing unauthorised persons from sending email via a hosting company's mail server is most of the time annoying and an inconvenience to their legitimate clients. ALTONet does have other, more reliable methods in place to prevent non ALTONet clients from using our mail servers.

Does ALTONet provide spam filtering?

ALTONet hates spam just as much as everyone else. ALTONet is doing everything possible to filter out Spam e-mail.

Does ALTONet provide virus scanning?

ALTONet provides e-mail virus scanning on all of its mail servers. All incomming e-mail is automatically scanned for known viruses.

What about e-commerce?

ALTONet fully supports e-commerce.

Does ALTONet run any Affiliate Programs?

Yes, ALTONet does have a Reseller Program. ALTONet was the first hosting company in South Africa to introduce a reseller program of this nature and the success of it is evident by the large number of people who have joined and who continue to join on a daily basis.

Does ALTONet offer training courses?

No, ALTONet does not offer computer or network training in any form. ALTONet is an Internet Data Hosting and Network provider, not an educational institution.

Does ALTONet offer tours of its facility?

No, ALTONet does not offer tours of its hosting facility. Due to the fact that ALTONet provides data hosting for thousands of clients ranging from one- man businesses to large corporate entities, ALTONet cannot permit unauthorised access to its data and technical support centers. ALTONet clients are, however, more than welcome to come and visit us at our premises to discuss their hosting and internet access requirements.

Does ALTONet offer discounts to non- profit orginisations, schools, etc?

Discounts on certain ALTONet products are given to non-profit organisations, schools, etc. Discount is not automatic and each application is considered based on the circumstance and merits.