Domain Name Service: Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I am not in the United States. Can I register a .com domain?

A: Yes, you can. Domain names processed by InterNIC, such as .com domains, can be registered by any company in the world. Your company doesn't have to be registered in the United States. You don't have to have an office in the United States. You can register "yourcompany.com" as your domain name.

Q: If I register my domain name, "mycompany.com," do I need to register www.mycompany.com for my World-Wide Web site?

A: No. The domain name www.mycompany.com is a subdomain of mycompany.com. If you registered mycompany.com as your domain name, then only you can set up subdomains of mycompany.com, such as www.mycompany.com, ftp.mycompany.com, division.mycompany.com, etc. Using subdomains of your domain name doesn't require InterNIC's approval.

Q: How long will it take to get our domain name approved?

A: New InterNIC domain names normally can be approved within 24 hours. Please make sure the domain name you choose is available, i.e. it is not registered by others. Domain name transfers may take more time. InterNIC needs to verify the domain name owner approves the transfer.

Q: How do I choose my domain name?

A: If your company is a commercial company, your domain name will be yourcompany.com. If your company is a non-profit organization, your domain name will be yourcompany.org. Short, easy-to-remember names are the best. Most companies choose their domain names from their company name, initials of company name, or company's product names. For example, Hyson International Corp. chooses the domain name: hyson.com. Special Interest Books and Software Inc. chooses the domain name: SIBS.com. Anheuser-Busch company chooses the domain name budweiser.com.

Domain names are not case sensitive. SIBS.com and sibs.com are the same domain name. Valid characters in a domain name: any number, any letter, and the dash,"-". Underscore, "_", is not a valid character. Your domain name can have up to 24 characters.

If you run out of ideas of a good domain name, please feel free to contact us. We will give you some ideas.

Q: How do I know if the domain name I choose is available or not?

A: For InterNIC domain name, you can check domain name availability at: Bestnet Domain Name Search Page .

Q: I have already registered my domain name with another provider. Can I transfer our domain name to your name servers?

A: Yes, you can transfer any registered domain name to our name servers. We can help you to file the transfer application. There is no transfer fee if you order any Bestnet service. You don't need to pay any transfer fees to your old service provider.

Q: We may purchase our own Internet servers in the near future or transfer to a new Internet service provider. Can we transfer our domain name to the new servers?

A: Yes. Transferring your domain name to new servers is easy. Just send a request to your parent domain name authority, such as InterNIC. InterNIC does not charge any fee for server changes. Bestnet doesn't charge any fee for transferring domain names to other servers.

Q: I have one name server. Do you provide secondary name server service for my domain names?

A: Yes, we do. For each domain name, we charge $25 one-time setup fee and $50 for one year secondary name server service fee.

Q: I have my own Web server. Can I register my domain name with you and use my Web server to serve my Web sites?

A: Yes, you can. You need to set up an IP number for each of your virtual Web sites (www.company.com). Using our URL forwarding service, we can map www.company.com to the IP number and broadcast it to the whole Internet. It works just as if you have your own name servers.

Q: What are the new generic Top Level Domains?

A: They are:
.firm: for businesses, or firms
.shop: for businesses offering goods to purchase
.web: for entities emphasizing activities related to the World Wide Web
.arts: for entities emphasizing cultural and entertainment activities
.rec: for entities emphasizing recreation/entertainment activities
.info: for entities providing information services
.nom: for those wishing individual or personal nomenclature, i.e., a personal nom de plume

Q: When can I register a domain name in one of the new Top Level Domains?

A: The simple answer is that we don't know at this time. The Registrar selection process to service the new Top Level Domain began on July 18, 1997 and continues until October 16, 1997. The new registars need to coordinate, design and develop the technology needed for the shared database/repository information and it is difficult to put firm dates on availability of registration services by all the new registars. We will notify our customers as soon as we have an official date.

Q: What subdomains can I have? Do I need to register my subdomains with InterNIC?

A: You can have any subdomain you want. Domain "GreatInc.com" owner can have "anything.GreatInc.com" as a subdomain. All the setups are done by Bestnet. You don't need to get NIC's approval for your subdomains. You don't need to pay any NIC fees.

If you use our Web service or FTP service, we will create subdomains www.yourcompany.com and ftp.yourcompany.com for you at no charge.

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