This is hopefully a post that will help some people out who are facing bandwidth issues on the platform and something I hadn't considered before. I just came across a friend who's friend was having an issue and then did a little digging.
Essentially, an account's Steem Power is the access to the blockchain which means under heavier loads, it will affect the smallest accounts first. This account I came accross had 29 SP, which was the minimum amount required to create an account on Steeminvite.com before the prices of Steem went up. Now it is half that at 14.5 I think.
Great, more people can create accounts for friends and family and their multiple alts but, the amount doesn't buy a lot of bandwidth and if removed before enough is earned and powered up, the created account is going to struggle heavily for access.
However, 29 is enough bandwidth to access so why the problem? If an account powers down to zero, for all intents and purposes, it is locked as it has no access. The only way to re-enable it is to delegate to it as even transferred SP will require bandwidth to power it up. I delegated some to this account to get it some access but then when I went to check the delegation, I noticed something odd. It had only 3 SP delegated. Huh?
Well, the delegation of course goes both ways but the number only tells a minus or a plus. for example, I have paid delegation of around 25,000 Steem but my account delegation reads (+22,088.240 STEEM). This is because I delegate out about 3000 Steem to other accounts from my own Steem power. If I only delegated out and had none coming in, it would read (-3000) in the wallet.
So, the account had 29 SP + the 30 I delegated but only read 3 as delegated. That means it was delegating 27 Steem out to something else. This could be another account or in this particular case, it was going to . Delegating to them may get returns but people need to remember that while SP is delegated, it is no longer theirs which means, no bandwidth. The account had been left with 2 Steem power to navigate the blockchain. That is not enough.
People must consider this when they are creating new accounts for example as if they do not have enough Steem Power, they will run into trouble, as will the created account if not enough is delegated to it. If delegating to things like , you have to make sure that you leave enough Steem Power to vote, post, comment etc.
If anyone from or similar initiatives read this, please update the information so that people are aware of this as it seems many are not and are delegating too much of their Power leaving them short on bandwidth.
If you are in this issue or know of anyone in this issue, please share this along and let them know that if the undelegate or power up more, they will likely solve many of their hassles.
Hopefully this helps some people struggling with bandwidth issues.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]