onweb Pty Ltd

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Administrative/Accounting

How long does it take the AuNIC/InterNIC to complete domain registration?

AuNIC: Two levels of service are offered: standard and premium. The standard service guarantees that the com.au domain name application is processed within ten (10) working days, and the premium guarantees that the application is processed within three (3) working days.
The current prices for services are:

  • Licence and Maintenance (registration and delegation for two years) - 10 day turnaround - $125
  • Licence and Maintenance (registration and delegation for two years) - 2 day turnaround - $225
  • renewal of domain name licence (for two years) - $125

For the latest changes to the "com.au" domain administration, you can find the details at Internet Names Australia.

InterNIC: Let us know if you do not receive notification that a domain name has been either registered or transferred within two weeks. Be sure to reference your NIC ticket number when contacting onweb with your InterNIC query.

Whom shall I contact regarding AuNIC/InterNIC billing?

AuNIC: The COM.AU Domain Name Bureau is a department of Melbourne Information Technologies Australia Pty Ltd. Questions regarding Invoicing and Payment Procedures should be directed to their bureau help desk on (03) 9344-9366 from 9am to 5:30pm EST on Victorian business days.
You can fax them on (03) 9349 4267.
You can send them mail at level 3, 207 Bouverie Street, Carlton Vic 3153.
You can contact their Accounts section by email: dna_opsadmin@melbourneit.com.au.

InterNIC: Questions regarding Invoicing and Payment Procedures should be referred to Registration Services. You can reach them by calling (703)742-4777 and selecting option number 1 or you may email them at hostmaster@rs.internic.net.
Customers wishing to make payment by credit card may call either (888)771-3000 or (402)496-9788 (outside the U.S.).
The InterNIC has now accepts First Virtual as a payment option for the registration of domain names.
To make FV payment: http://rs.internic.net/cgi-bin/fv/payment
First Virtual info: http://rs.internic.net/fv
With the tracking number and domain name, a payment can be made with or without a VirtualPIN. If you do not have a VirtualPIN, the process will create one for you.

How do I upgrade from a non-domain to domain plan?

You may place an order for domain web hosting service using our online order form, or by contacting our Customer Service department by either: phone (08) 8358 6000 or fax (08) 8370 2470 or send email to sales@onweb.com.au

You will need to upload files from your old web site once the new account is activated.

Can multiple domain names point to the same HTML files?

Yes, we offer a "domain only" service whereby multiple domain names can point to the same HTML files. You must have an active domain web hosting account of Plan 1 or higher in order to set up the additional domain name pointers. We can handle the registration or transfer ("modification") of Australian and U.S. domain names on your behalf. To request "domain only" service, send email to sales@onweb.com.au and be sure to include the desired domain name pointer as well as the domain name of your existing account. A one-time $50 setup fee and a $20 monthly fee applies for each domain pointer.

Can I change my domain name?

In order to change your domain name, you need to submit an order for the new domain via our online order form. Be sure to reference the domain name you wish to replace in the comments section. Please note that we must set up a new account to serve a different domain name. We can prorate the new account based on the unused portion of monthly rates collected in advance from the old account. However, another set up fee will be required and you will need to reupload files to the new account once activated. Please note that the AuNIC/InterNIC will require a registration fee for the new domain as well.

How do I change account billing frequency and mode of payment?

A Renewel Notification email will be sent to you about 3 weeks prior to your next billing date at which time you can request a different mode of payment. We accept Visa, Mastercard or Bankcard credit cards or payment by cheque (Australia only).

How do I update account contact information?

You can change your billing address and email address in Account Information within your Control Panel. If you have a change of email address, be sure to reflect this new address in your mail forwarding options in Account Settings. We suggest that domain users update the AuNIC database or InterNIC database since email is their preferred mode of communication.

Can I change my userid and password?

The userid is derived from the first six characters of your domain name and and cannot be changed. However, you can change your password in Edit Account Information within your account Control Panel. Valid passwords consist of no more than eight alphabetic and/or numeric characters.

How do I update my payment information?

Please email to admin@onweb.com.au - or -
fax to: 08 8370 2470 attn: accounts

We will be more than happy to update your payment method.

How do I get copies of my invoices?

If in the future you would like to receive a hard copy of your renewal invoices in addition to the renewal email invoice, please take this opportunity to update your Edit Account Information page. Simply change the Invoice Delivery field to snail mail or fax, and your next renewal will have a hard copy invoice either mailed or faxed.

What is your renewal procedure?

Shortly before your renewal date, you will receive a Renewal Notification email indicating that the account renewal is coming up. This allows you the time to make any changes to your account information. After the Renewal Notification is sent, an Email Invoice will follow. This will confirm the renewal information, and let you know that the credit card on file will be being charged.

If you would like to receive a hard copy of your renewal invoices in addition to the renewal email invoice, please take this opportunity to update your Edit Account Information page. Simply change the Invoice Delivery field to snail mail or fax, and your next renewal will have a hard copy invoice either mailed or faxed.

What will it cost to upgrade/downgrade my account?

Billing for Plan changes is processed within 30 days from the date of the change.

You will be charged a $75 plan change fee to cover the administrative effort to process the change. Additionally, the monthly rental fees will be prorated based on the time remaining in your billing cycle. The credit card on file will be charged for the Plan change within that 30 day period. If payment terms are not cc, the invoice (due upon receipt,) will be snail mailed to the address in the control panel.

Follow this link to read more information about switching from one domain plan to another plan type.

What is your Refund Policy?

Each of onweb's web hosting plans carries a 30 day money back guarantee. If you are not completely satisfied with our services within the first 30 days of your contract, you will be given a full refund of the contract amount excluding setup fees.

Setup fees are refundable for the following reasons only:
(1) the account order is cancelled prior to activation; or
(2) the domain name was not available at the AuNIC/InterNIC.

For web hosting contracts of 3 months or less, the full contract amount less any setup fees will be refunded if onweb is notified within the first 30 days following activation. No refund is available after the 30th day.

For web hosting contracts longer than 3 months, a refund equal to one-half of the contract amount less any setup fees will be given if onweb is notified prior to the first day of the second half of the contract term. For example, on a 6 month contract onweb must receive the notice of cancellation prior to the first day of the fourth month of the contract. No refunds will be given once the second half of the contract term has begun.

This policy does not apply to any additional services such as discounts, bounties, overages, disk space, pop accounts, etc.

What is your Refund Policy for Renewals?

onweb's refund policy relating to contract renewals is as follows:

Renewals of web hosting contracts of 3 months or less will be refunded if onweb is notified within the first 10 days following renewal date. No refunds will be granted for notications received after this date.

For renewal web hosting contracts longer than 3 months, a refund equal to one-half of the contract amount will be given if onweb is notified prior to the first day of the second half of the contract term. For example, on a 6 month contract onweb must receive the notice of cancellation prior to the first day of the fourth month of the renewal contract. No refunds will be given once the second half of the contract term has begun.

Do I have to relinquish my present dial-up internet connection?

Not at all. In fact you need to maintain your present dial-up service to be able to maintain your onweb site. You choose the best provider for you.

Can I transfer to onweb from my present host?

We recognise that many existing home pages are hosted by other providers whose service charges are higher than onweb's.

With little or no modification those pages can be transferred to onweb's host servers and you can start saving money straight away. Upon completion of the agreement form, we will implement the required transfer of your domain name information on your behalf, but you will be responsible for downloading your present pages to your own computer and then uploading them on your new onweb site. During the transition period you will need to keep both sites active.

What are the steps I must take to have my site hosted by onweb?

We have tried to make the steps to take very easy for you. See our steps to take page for full instructions. In essence they can be summarised as:

  1. Decide on a domain name and check that it is available. See our check-name facility.
  2. Sign up with onweb for your preferred period (3, 6, or 12 months).
  3. Upon receipt of confirmation of your site setup being completed, start loading your web-page material.

Are there any rules that must be followed when selecting a domain name?

The administration of domain names for Australia is handled by MelbourneIT. There is a comprehensive set of guidelines at http://www.aunic.net/policies.html that you should read through before submitting an application. Essentially it is a case of first come first served.

What do I do if the domain name I wanted is already taken by someone else?

In this case you will need to choose a different name, which may be an abbreviation or acronym, or perhaps a hyphenated word that makes your name unique. Refer to the MelbourneIT guidelines for a full description about constructing a domain name.

How does email aliasing work?

When you set up your site, you have available a number of email forwarding accounts that can be used specifically to filter or target inquiries from your web pages. By default all such accounts are forwarded to the initial email address that you supply us with (eg. me@xyz.com.au). You may have contact points on your pages to addressees such as sales@yourname.com.au or webmaster@yourname.com.au or support@yourname.com.au, but all communications to these addresses get forwarded to your me@xyz.com.au account. Of course if you have other people to handle specific inquiries, then those people’s email addresses would be used.

Does onweb send reminders when our plan is due for renewal?

Shortly before your renewal date, you will receive a Renewal Notification email indicating that the account renewal is coming up. After the Renewal Notification is sent, an Email Invoice will follow.

What happens if I do not renew my plan by the due date?

You may find that your web pages and access to your site are suspended if you do not renew your plan when it falls due. There is a $75 setup fee for reinstating a domain account.

How is onweb different from other ISPs?

Most ISPs adopt a generalist approach to the Internet, offering both dial-up services and some hosting. onweb has chosen to focus on the Internet Information Providers and provide them with a very cost-effective high quality service, rather than use them to subsidise the competitive consumer end of the market. Accordingly we can offer you the best of both worlds by choosing onweb as the host for your web pages, and letting you choose the most cost-effective provider of dial-up services.

How can our school set up a web presence with our own domain name?

There appears to be some confusion about naming conventions for schools. There is an explanation document at http://www.aunic.net/policies.html which outlines what the conventions are. In essence it says that schools fall under the domain .edu.au and more particularly, it suggests that the state subdomain should be used, thus giving a school located in South Australia a domain name such as myschool.sa.edu.au which then conforms correctly to the policy guidelines. Your full website would then appear as http://www.myschool.sa.edu.au and under one of the onweb plans, you could direct your email to several different recipients such as webmaster@myschool.sa.edu.au or principal@myschool.sa.edu.au . Presently there is no fee applicable to the registration of domain names under the .edu.au area, although this may change at the discretion of the AuNIC administration body.

Does onweb cater for small clubs and organisations?

You do not have to be a large organisation to establish your own web presence. If you find that our standard plan is a little too far out of reach, we also offer a clubs and societies plan at $38 per month. Under this plan you get 20Mb of disk storage for your web pages, unlimited FTP updates, account control panel via the WWW and 3 email forwarding accounts. Your domain would be set up as yourclub.org.au and with our generous discount your club can be set up and on the internet for under $600 in the first year, and a recurring annual equivalent expense of just over $400.

To make it even more affordable, onweb offers a bounty scheme which you can promote to your members as an indirect form of sponsorship.

What is onweb's bounty scheme?

Our bounty scheme is very simple. It works by a new subscriber to onweb's services nominating at the time of registration that they were referred to onweb by you and that they would like you to be the recipient of a nomination bounty. The bounty is one month’s bonus rental for you provided that the new subscriber takes out a plan of at least the same level as yours. This can be particularly attractive for clubs, societies, schools and other voluntary organisations where the members and associated parties come from a diverse range of backgrounds and may themselves need to establish a web presence.

When the new subscriber’s account has been established we will forward to you the relevant details so that you can in turn thank the responsible person.

What is onweb's discount plan?

While our plan rates are very competitive, what many people haven’t yet realised is that they are even more competitive if you take advantage of our DISCOUNT offer. As with everything to do with onweb, we try and make this as simple and practicable as we can. It works like this:

  • If you subscribe to a plan for 6 months  we will offer you an extra month at half price. That represents a 7% discount.
  • If you subscribe to a plan for 12 months we will offer you an extra three months at half price. That represents a 10% discount.

More details can be found here.

Please refer any questions not answered here to sales@onweb.com.au

Copyright © 1997-2003, onweb Pty Ltd. ACN 078 878 163. All Rights Reserved.