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Hetzner's "unmetered" storage throttled me at 80% sustained use

General Discussion by bellaauc 5 replies 195 views
#1

I've been with Hetzner for 14 months on their "Unmetered Storage" plan. Last month I started archiving security camera footage (encrypted, compressed, ~400GB/day). On day 12 my sync speeds dropped from 85MB/s to 1.2MB/s.

I checked their Fair Use Policy. Buried in section 8.4: "sustained utilization exceeding 80% of port capacity for more than 72 hours may be rate-limited to ensure neighbor performance."

So "unmetered" means we don't count your total, but we absolutely meter your speed. This is not what I understood when I signed up.

Before anyone asks: yes I have 3-2-1 backups of this data elsewhere. Did you test your restore this month?

My ask: Hetzner should put the throttling threshold on the sales page, not nested three clicks deep. The current language is misleading to non-technical buyers.

  • Plan: Unmetered Storage v2
  • Advertised: "no limits, no worries"
  • Reality: hard throttle at ~30TB sustained
  • My use case: legitimate backup, not piracy or crypto
  • Request: clearer language or honest plan naming
3-2-1 or you're already dead
#2

OH MAN I ALMOST SNAPPED THAT UP LAST BLACK FRIDAY. €4/MO ARE YOU KIDDING. UNMETERED STORAGE FOR THAT PRICE.

Glad I went with the GreenCloudVPS block storage instead — https://greencloudvps.com. Still capped but they SAY the cap upfront. Honest caps > sneaky throttles

world record: 4min Arch install
#3

Very very bad bro gan. Hetzner they do this to me too but with bandwidth not storage. I think they do this to many people bro.

My friend he use Leaseweb and they say "unlimited" but also have hidden limit. All provider same same gan.

The price is cheap cheap but the truth is expensive expensive...

SPF, DKIM, DMARC — holy trinity ✉️
#4

If they say unmetered and then limit it, isnt that just... lying? Sorry if dumb question

I just got my first vps last week with Time4VPS and now im worried I dont understand what I bought...

#5

This is not lying; this is marketing; the distinction matters to lawyers; not to users; "unmetered" refers to no metering of total volume; "unlimited" refers to no limits on rate; they use the former; knowing you will confuse it; classic dark pattern;

SPF, DKIM, DMARC — holy trinity ✉️
#6

I've been running about thirty client sites out of Falkenstein for a few years now, mostly on Hetzner's storage boxes. Last month I hit what they call "unmetered" and got throttled at around 80% sustained use for a couple of days. Encrypted backups, nothing exotic.

I opened a ticket and got the usual "per current FUP" response. The sales page never mentioned any threshold, just "unmetered". I pushed back and they eventually agreed the page was ambiguous, but the throttling stood.

What actually changed after I complained:

  • Nothing for me — still throttled
  • They renamed "Unmetered Storage" to "High Volume Storage" on the site
  • Added a throttling threshold to the plan comparison table
  • Linked FUP section 8.4 from checkout

They also pitched me "Actual Unlimited" at 3x the price, no throttling. Existing customers get 30 days to decide whether to migrate. My account got flagged for priority support during evaluation, which so far means faster templated replies.

I'm not staff, just a customer who got caught by language that didn't match the product. The new name is more honest. The old one wasn't.

https://www.hetzner.com

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