BandwagonHost history doesn’t have a single launch day where it went from bargain bin to top tier. It changed between roughly 2017 and 2019, when the company stopped competing only on price and started selling China Telecom’s most expensive network route on cheap servers.
That question came up again on 20 October 2026 in a NodeSeek thread. A user wrote that they first bought BandwagonHost (搬瓦工) because it was the cheapest option, back when Linode was the name everyone wanted, and came back later to find it had become the default pick. This is the timeline behind that switch.
Key takeaways
- BandwagonHost is run by IT7 Networks, a Canadian company that has operated since 2004.
- In August 2013 it was a budget brand selling 512MB OpenVZ servers for $9.99 a year.
- Around 2017-2018 it began selling plans on CN2 GIA, China Telecom’s premium route, and that is where its reputation came from.
- Linode, the old favourite, now belongs to Akamai, which completed the purchase on 21 March 2022.
- In 2024-2026 BandwagonHost added China Mobile routes, new data centres and AMD EPYC hardware.
What was BandwagonHost before it got famous?
It was a cheap VPS (virtual private server: a slice of a physical machine that you rent and control yourself). A LowEndBox listing dated 7 August 2013 shows the “Basic VPS 5G” plan: 512MB RAM, 5GB of disk and 500GB of monthly traffic for $9.99 a year, in Arizona, Buffalo and Germany.
The same post describes the parent company, IT7 Networks, as a registered Canadian firm in business since 2004. IT7 wrote its own control panel, KiwiVM, which customers still use.
Why was Linode the top pick back then?
For people connecting from mainland China around 2012-2015, Linode’s Tokyo and Fremont locations were the standard advice. They were reliable, well known and close enough for acceptable latency.
The problems showed early. A V2EX thread from June 2013 describes a user moving from Tokyo to Fremont after Tokyo connections got worse. On LowEndTalk in April 2015, users said Linode’s Japan plans couldn’t be ordered and blamed heavy demand from Chinese customers. Linode was a general-purpose cloud. It was never built around the route into China.
When did BandwagonHost become top tier?
The turn came when it bet on CN2. China Telecom runs two international networks. The ordinary one, AS4134 (nicknamed “163”), is cheap and gets badly congested in the evening. CN2 is the premium network, and CN2 GIA (AS4809) is its top tier, with traffic kept on premium routes in both directions.
Think of it as an express lane on a jammed motorway. Most hosts sold you a faster car. BandwagonHost started selling the lane.
Here is how the dates line up. In a V2EX thread started on 29 October 2017, users said BandwagonHost’s Los Angeles CN2 plans cost nothing extra but only showed up after you logged in. By September 2018, reviewers were covering a “CN2 GIA Limited Edition” Los Angeles plan at $39.99 a year with 512MB RAM and 10GB of SSD. Plans like that, hosted in the DC6 and DC9 data centres, were shared all over Chinese forums and built the reputation.
The cost of the route explains why few rivals copied the move. BandwagonHost’s own CN2 GIA page says this kind of transit can cost carriers up to $120 per megabit. Putting it inside a $40-a-year server gave the company a lead its rivals struggled to match.
BandwagonHost vs Linode: how the two paths split
| Year | BandwagonHost | Linode |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | $9.99/year OpenVZ budget plans | Tokyo and Fremont are the go-to locations |
| 2015 | Still a budget brand | Forum users report Japan plans can’t be ordered |
| 2017-2018 | CN2, then CN2 GIA plans in Los Angeles | General-purpose cloud, no China-specific routes |
| 2022 | Premium line-up keeps growing | Akamai completes a roughly $900 million purchase on 21 March |
| 2024-2026 | CMIN2 routes, San Jose and New York data centres, EPYC upgrades | Part of Akamai’s cloud |
The Linode dates come from Akamai’s press release. Akamai first announced the deal on 15 February 2022.
What does BandwagonHost sell now?
Its official news page shows the company still building on CN2. San Jose (USCA_SJC5) opened with CN2 GIA on 5 June 2024. On 1 November 2024 China Mobile’s premium CMIN2 route was added to DC6 and DC9, giving users on all three big Chinese carriers a better path. On 24 December 2024 it announced an official partnership with NodeSeek.
The partnership produced a co-branded Los Angeles plan, covered by WPJAM on 7 March 2025: 1 AMD vCPU, 1GB RAM, 20GB of disk and 1TB of traffic for $36.36 a year. In September 2025 the main “E-commerce” (CN2 GIA-E) plan was listed at $49.99 a quarter or $169.99 a year, with free moves between about 15 data centres. From June 2025 to 12 May 2026, the company moved Vancouver, Los Angeles DC9, Hong Kong and New York onto AMD EPYC servers with NVMe storage.
Is the “top tier” label deserved?
My opinion: mostly yes, though for one specific reason. BandwagonHost isn’t the fastest or cheapest server you can buy. What sets it apart is its network into China and its decade-plus in business. If your users aren’t in China, a mainstream cloud will often give you more for the money.
The company spells out the trade-offs itself. CN2 GIA capacity is limited, so it copes badly with DDoS attacks, and BandwagonHost null-routes (cuts off) any IP address under attack. Hong Kong and Japan plans cost far more than Los Angeles ones. Whatever you rent, keeping it patched is still your job. One bad plugin can open a hole, as the Rank Math PRO backdoor showed WordPress owners.
What happens next
BandwagonHost’s lead now rests on two things it doesn’t fully control. One is China Telecom’s transit pricing. The other is rivals like DMIT, which sell the same premium routes and also came up in the NodeSeek thread. As those routes become standard, expect the competition to move to China Mobile and China Unicom premium paths and to hardware refreshes like the 2025-2026 EPYC upgrades.
FAQ
Who owns BandwagonHost?
IT7 Networks Inc., a Canadian company that has operated since 2004. Its servers sit on AS25820, IT7’s own network.
What is the difference between CN2 GT and CN2 GIA?
Both are China Telecom premium routes. CN2 GT still passes through parts of the ordinary 163 backbone inside China. CN2 GIA stays on the premium network end to end, so it holds up much better at peak hours.
Is Linode still around?
Yes. Akamai completed its roughly $900 million purchase of Linode on 21 March 2022, and the service now runs as part of Akamai’s cloud.
Before you buy any VPS, run a route trace from where your users actually are. That result will tell you more than any forum ranking.
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