VPS GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS
Buy the route,
not the specs
Two boxes with the same core and memory can feel like two different machines, because the route back to your home broadband is different. CN2 GIA, three-network return paths, Unicom 9929, Mobile CMI — here is what each one actually means, and which one your broadband should buy.
The bottleneck on a cross-border link is never the CPU. A 1-core 1 GB GIA box feels faster at peak hour than an 8-core 8 GB box on an ordinary route.
Your video, your downloads and your pages all travel back to you. If a vendor writes "CN2" without "GIA", it is usually half-optimised.
Pick operators with a track record. Brand-new vendors: pay monthly, never annually.
What you are actually buying is the return path
The outbound trip is your request, and it is small. The return trip carries your video, your files and your pages back, and that is where the weight is. So when a vendor says "route", they mean what the return path uses.
The 10 routes, side by side
Scores are editorial ratings out of 5, not measurements. The ASN column is what you look for in a return-path trace.
Eight-lane expressway, no traffic jam
Telecom broadband with a comfortable budget. Look for 59.43-prefixed nodes in the return route.
Half expressway, half country road
Telecom broadband with a moderate budget. If a vendor writes "CN2" without "GIA", assume GT.
Country road, gridlocked at peak hour
Learning, simple sites, bulk downloads — anything where latency does not matter.
Optimised — but which backbone?
Anyone on a limited budget who wants to avoid plain 163. Ask for a test IP before paying.
No optimisation, but cheap
Learning, simple sites, downloads, backups — anything where latency does not matter.
Unicom's own child
Unicom broadband. Unicom's ordinary line is AS4837 — slightly better than 163, but the same tier's floor.
Mobile's own child
Mobile broadband plus an Asian datacenter. A Mobile user buying GIA is simply paying Telecom's tax.
The short hop
Mixed carriers, low latency, moderate budget. Limited stock sells out — if you see one, do not wait.
Single-digit latency, at the cost of ICP filing
Sites whose visitors are mostly in mainland China, and anything that needs low latency more than bandwidth.
Unicom's global egress
Unicom broadband, and only on products whose vendor explicitly names CUG. Do not assume an unnamed "Unicom optimised" line is this one.
Still not sure which one to buy?
Four questions decide it: which carrier you are on, what the machine is for, what you will spend per year, and whether you want low hassle or best value. You get the route you should buy and the vendors worth looking at first.
Start here
How to Evaluate a VPS: Four Steps
People search for VPS reviews and VPS recommendations every day. These four steps give you your own order of judgement, so you can stop asking which vendor is best.
Testing a VPS Route: How to Measure at Peak Hour
Vendor speed charts are shot during the best hours. One test between 20:00 and 23:00 tells you whether this box is your workhorse or a toy.
Has Your IP Been Blocked? Check It First
Check a fresh VPS for a blocked IP before the refund window closes. Whether the vendor swaps it depends on their policy, but every day you wait makes it worse.
Tuning Your VPS: Eight Things to Do After You Buy
A fresh VPS arrives bare: no swap, SSH still on password login, default file-handle limits. Do these eight and the box is actually usable.
Buying a Cheap VPS Without Getting Ripped Off: Six Checks
Beginners rarely overspend on price; they overspend on the wrong box. Each of these six has cost somebody real money.
One rule that saves the most money
Never buy a route you cannot verify. Ask the vendor for a test IP, then check the return path between 20:00 and 23:00 with NextTrace — identify the ASN segments yourself, and ignore the sales copy.
The 49 vendors on the shortlist
Filtered by your broadband carrier and what you actually want to run. Prices are typical tiers at the time of writing.