When it comes to communicating with friends and family around the world, video chatting is the best way to keep in touch. Many people are also taking advantage of video chatting to meet new people online, and relationships are being formed around the world thanks to the different features offered by video chat sites. There are hundreds of sites that you can use to enjoy some live video chatting with people from around the world, and both free and paid sites offer you a great live video chat experience.

Server Downtime

One downside that many people who use free video chat websites often experience is server downtime. While not every video chat site has the same problem, many of them do share the same technical issues and server problems that make video chatting a nuisance. It is vital that you understand server downtime in order to be prepared in case it does happen to you during your video chats.

Server downtime comes about for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons for server downtime is the problem that many servers face when connecting to an unstable internet connection. If a video chat site is connected to a landline that has a number of problems, as so many do, it will usually end up with their server going down periodically. This is caused by the connectivity of the server being lost, or simply by the server itself losing power or getting disconnected from the internet.

Another common cause of server downtime is upgrades or changes being made to the website itself. When a website needs to make important changes, it cannot do so with the website remaining running. In order to make the changes, the website needs to be shut down, or at least the aspects of the website that will be changed need to do so. This causes parts of the site to shut down if the website is not properly programmed to handle this type of server shutdown, which is what can cause your video chat site to display the “Server Down” page.

When using a free video chat site, you will find that the server of the site is often down. This is one of the main reasons that people tend to avoid the free chat sites, as the server fails so often that it is nearly impossible to have a video conference or an important conversation when using the services of the free video chat site.

For reliability, it is best to use a paid video chat site. Despite the money that you will be forking over to use the services of these paid chat sites, the services tend to be much more reliable. The programming of the paid video chat websites are done in such a way that there is always a backup server in case the primary server goes down or maintenance needs to be performed on the website. Using a paid video chat site is the best way to ensure that you are always online and able to be connected.

To Pay or Not to Pay

When it comes down to it, the choice is entirely yours as to whether or not you want to sign up for a paid or free video chat site. Each site has its own advantages and disadvantages, and it is up to you to weigh each one to determine which factors weigh more heavily on your decision.

Free Video Chat Sites:

Advantages:

  • The main advantage of the free video chat site is the fact that it doesn’t actually cost you any money, a reason that has made these video chat sites so popular. People who don’t want to spend money just to allow them to chat with strangers will find that free video chat sites are always better.
  • Another advantage of these free video chat sites is the fact that they are so numerous. You can easily find a hundred different free video chat sites just by doing a Google search for them, and you can instantly sign up and get starting chatting with people around the world in a matter of minutes if you prefer to use the paid chat sites.

Disadvantages:

  • The reliability of these free chat sites is usually fairly poor, and you will find that there are a number of technical glitches and issues that will arise nearly every time you access some of the poorer quality free sites.
  • The people who chat on these free video chat sites are often vulgar or crude, and the class of people who use free chat sites are often far lower than those who pay to video chat.
  • There are often a large number of banners and advertisements on each of these free video chat websites, which is the price that you pay for choosing the free site.

Paid Video Chat Sites:

Advantages:

  • The quality of the services that you are offered on a paid video chat site is always a good deal better and more comprehensive, and you are able to do a good deal more on the average paid video chat site than on most free ones.
  • There are no banners or advertisements to annoy you, and the layout of the paid video chat sites are usually a good deal more attractive than those of the free video chat web sites.
  • The quality of people on these sites is often better, and you will find more interesting, cultured, and educated people usually frequent the paid video chat sites.

Disadvantages:

  • You have to pay for these chat sites, something which is a deal breaker for many people. If you can get around the fact that you have to pay to video chat with someone, there are no other downsides to using these paid video chat sites.