In the past days many of my steemit friends have encountered an issue with their Bandwith; So I thought to research about it a little bit and make an informative post for everyone (especially for new members) * Note: As per the 30 January stats by @penguinpablo, steemit broke another record, with a new 20.898 users in the day! read more here
(Forgot to say Good Morning Everybody and to let you know that this post for some reason reminded me of this song)
As you understand the massive numbers of new users increase the platform's needs and all (or many of them at least) new users are starting to perform a variety of actions in their effort to socialize, to communicate, to interact, to earn.
We should keep in mind that steemit operates on a block chain. This practically means that any action is recorded in a node. Even if you edit, delete, undo your upvote, the former action will remain recorded for ever. And every action we take, consumes bandwidth.
It was very difficult for me to find information regarding how exactly bandwidth is distributed to users and how much is consumed with specific actions.
As I understand it depends on the amount of Steem Power the user has as well as their Rewards.
source
Simply Bandwidth is Information carrying capacity. In Steemit It can Be Explained as How much information you can upload and download in a certain block of Steemit. Bandwidth carrying capacity depends upon How much steem power you have and your rewards you get from a certain block of steemit. Because When ever you collect a reward you get a certain share in the block chain of steemit that increase your band width. […] .
I have seen a few informative posts that you can find here and here and I will try to provide simple steps in order to increase the bandwidth and not to exceed the limit.
Step 1. Check your current bandwidth
Please head over to https://steemd.com/@YourUsernameHere and check out your bandwidth levels.
Check your full bandwidth and how much you have remaining. Make sure you do not overdo it with unnecessary actions.
Step2. Interact with Care
Remember that every action you take reduces your remaining bandwidth so proceed to your steemit interactions with passion but cautiously!
Be careful not to:
Do not Overpost
Every post consumes a lot of bandwidth from you. It is important to be consistent with at least one or two posts per day. (Besides being sparing, it allows your posts to breath and your steemit friends to upvote more easily)
Do not Over Resteem
Resteeming also consumes bandwidth, so make sure you resteem what is important for you and you would like to have among your posts.
Do not Edit Posts or Comments (if not absolutely necessary)
So make sure you (or your friends) proofread your posts before clicking on the button : )
Do not add big and many files in your posts (signatures included)
The files you add in your posts add the size of the post so make sure to post not too many photos, files and if possible, optimize their size (dimensions)
Options if limits of bandwidth are exceeded
If you have already exceeded your bandwidth, what you can do is :
Take some time to rest and prepare your next post : ) and/or
Breath and/or
- Try to Power Up (buy steem via block trades or perhaps delegate steem)
I have seen the below comment here but have not tried it, so I am informing you with reservation
Anyway, you have two options, and none of them are really good. Option 1 is to wait. Bandwidth should refill pretty soon, maybe in a day or so, but it's changing all the time, so it's next to impossible to calculate. I tried to talk with witnesses about making a calculator, but this is seemingly impossible because the number is based on too many factors.
The other option is to Power Up from another account. They need to have some Steem, click on "Wallet" -> "Power Up" - > "Advanced" and type in your name. This will transfer Steem from their account, and give it to your account as Steem Power.
Conclusion
We have got to act with respect. Even if we do not remember all the above, please try not to abuse or overuse the platform. It should serve as a creativity hub that rewards good content shared.
Think. Act Respectfully. Breathe and let steemit breathe too!
I wish my post to serve as a reminder especially for new users, I will welcome all comments and insights you may have regarding the bandwith and are not included in my post.
And remember to check your Voting Power often; @tradewonk wrote a very useful post about it yesterday
[Edit] > I have found out this post where it appears to tell how bandwidth is calculated
The formula uses also 2 more Account parameters :
Account Vesting Shares (AVS)
Account Average Bandwith (AAB)
we need to keep our bandwith use below the limit we get assigned based upon our Vesting Power
which formula is this:
AAB/MVP < AVS/TVS
which is also :
AVS/TVS- AAB/MVP >0