26 replies to this topic

[GrimShadow]

One of the hardest parts about starting out in the website business, is finding a good host for your website. As well as a good domain registrar (not as hard to find). So I figure it would be a good idea for everyone that has had their website hosted, or knows how one of them works, to say what they think of the company. So if you've ever had your site hosted, at cost or otherwise, state what you think about the host. Negative or positive.

I'll start it off with a few:

www.technolojik.net

The first paid host I ever went with, and consecutively, the first I wish I never went with. Over the time they hosted my website (www.grimshadow.com) they have had a dire habit of deleting the files. The first three times they did it without warning, just deleted the files, no email before or after. I had to email them and ask what happened. The response I got, "We switched servers". The next time it was deleted was because of one of my subdomain users having a few mp3 files. They never bothered to tell me about the mp3 files, never kindly asked that I have them removed, or even notify me prior to deleting the files. All I received was an email after the files were deleted, say that my domain was under inspection, nothing more. Had I not found a loophole in one of their emails, my hosting account would have been deleted for good. The next time was becuase of a dipshit technical support agent, which I'll mention later. The next time it was deleted..no idea when exactly, is when I just checked it right now. Again, no emails at all. I'm assuming it was probably another server switch, but I'm not even worried about finding out, waste of time.

Aside from their horrible server switching and extremely poor contact, their support is absolutely appalling. The idiots I've talked to had no idea what they were talking about, In the beginning, I had to go to advanced support to figure out how to get my dns settings changed. When I first asked the support agent (non-advanced) to change my dns settings on one of the parked domains (not the main domain), I was told to save my files, as they would not be transfered (obvious). The next thing I know, all of my files for the main domain were gone as well, as he was trying to change the dns on it. Later do I find out, the support agent could barely even read english, so much for "World-class support that never closes".

End Rating: Need a testing server? Heres your host (keep a backup of the tests).

www.webhost2.com

I myself have never been hosted by them, so I do not know exactly how good they are in support. However, I've known three people that have had to cancel the order because they could not get the right pass to the cpanel. Now this should not be hard at all, I believe I asked them to reset the pass then give it to us, they did that, but wound up giving us the wrong pass again. We had to email them about 10 times before we received any mail back. Most of their support is given through their hardly monitered support tickets. The next person I knew was never even told their password, never received any email besides the order confirmation. Then canceled a few weeks later after still not receiving any email.

End Rating: I know something you don't know...the password.

www.surpasshosting.com

This is the other host that I'm going with right now. They have a great assortment of plans to go with (7 hosting, 6 reseller, and 6 dedicated), ranging from $40 a year to $200 a month. When I ordered a reseller server from them, it was activated within five minutes. About a week and the domain was up, only because it took a week for my other host (technolojik) to get the dns changes right. They have a moniter on your site that checks if it is up or down, and send you an email right away if it is down, as well as help you get it back up. They also have a forum for support (rare I've come to notice). I've never had any downtime at all with them. Also, when ordering a reseller they give you 10gb of bandwidth extra for your main account, as well as give you the amount of disk space you have on your plan, extra.

End Rating: Great host, good support, assortment of plans for all sites. One of the best I've seen.

[Malicious Agony]

www.webhost2.com

I myself have never been hosted by them, so I do not know exactly how good they are in support. However, I've known three people that have had to cancel the order because they could not get the right pass to the cpanel. Now this should not be hard at all, I believe I asked them to reset the pass then give it to us, they did that, but wound up giving us the wrong pass again. We had to email them about 10 times before we received any mail back. Most of their support is given through their hardly monitered support tickets. The next person I knew was never even told their password, never received any email besides the order confirmation. Then canceled a few weeks later after still not receiving any email.

End Rating: I know something you don't know...the password.

Yep i was 1of them i caneld my acct because they said they would supply me with things that were never install liked phpmyadmin.... witch i use alot. There help was horrible took them 4 days to respond 2 over 20 emails of mine. i finally got a hold of 1 and got my domain name switched to a new host adn my acct canceled.

[poseidon]

Amxhost.com

This is my current host. as far as i have seen they are very good. The support have been instantainiace almost. Unbeleivably you can actually use everything they offer. They're prices are incredible. Having said that tho. they dont have enough staff and because of that when the admin goes on vacation orders have to be halted. Other than that tho it is incredible. Only real down is that you have to buy your own domain and i heard something about some no-responses from the DNS for about 15 minutes. that hasnt happened lately

[NightHawkae]

www.vivehosting.com

This is my current host, at the present moment they are a fairly new company, they have only been up for about a year. Current clients is a little over 20. they give you affordable prices for basic starting plans. there techincal support is alittle slow, but when they respond, they get the problem fixed and your on your way. no setup fees, and the basic plan is $2.99 a month which is what i'm using for now until i get a job and people start to continusly visit my site. over i give it about an 8 out of 10. they are lot better then any other host that i have previously had.

reguards,
NightHawkAe

[Burner03]

i use hostsave.com but i hear thier webmail blows.. (see forum) but other than that they never have downtime (that ive saw) and i use them for 4+ sites that i run.. pretty nice cheap hosting.. good if ur just starting *lol* (like me)

[Shokaku]

I've been recently helping a brother-in-law look for a new web site host. His requirements are very modest for the actual web pages, but he also wants email service. The problem that he is having now is that his current web host is not very good at blocking spam or viruses (it's in China as well, ). As a result, his customers may not receive his emails due to blocking of spamming or virus-infected email servers. So, he's looking for a web host that can provide top-notch spam-blocking and virus protection for his email service.

Anyway, I found some web site hosting REVIEW sites:

CODE

http://bestwebhostingreviews.com/
http://www.100best-web-hosting.com/index.php
http://www.upperhost.com/

and wanted to ask if anyone had any comments on these review sites.

If I am to believe their reviews, then a couple of web hosting sites that appear to be well-regarded are:

CODE

http://www.lunarpages.com/plan1.htm
http://www.ipowerweb.com/

So, if anyone has any comments on these two sites, please let me know, as well.

Shokaku.

[GrimShadow]

This one is another great site, http://www.webhostingforums.com , a lot of the people that run the web hosting sites come to this forum. They also have a quote system where you type in your email and the general service you're looking for, and they'll send your message out to all of the participants on their site. That is how I found the current server we're using. Stats:
Registered Members: 69,664
Total Threads: 274,600
Total Posts: 2,139,762
User's online record at 2657 on 05-19-2004 at 03:43 AM.

I'd suggest looking at this site and asking for a general concensus before you decide to purchase a hosting plan, as there are some people on that forum who purchase packages from companies just to review them for others.

[Malicious Agony]

Well all i can say is wow bout that site grim.. Thx for the tip

[Shokaku]

Thanks! That's just the kind of info that I've been looking for. While googling the Internet is informative, I really wanted to get some feedback based upon experiences. I'll continue my research at the forum site.

[androbre]

My current host is pretty good, has everything I need. Link's in my sig.

[XxSiC-TormentxX]

Most of the above hosts are payed hosts. I have tried that host as well and it's pretty good but they recently inserted ads so now they aren't the best.

900th post w00t

Edited by DragonFire-N[R], 27 December 2004 - 07:42 PM.

[DeathIsUpon]

ok well a good one is www.1and1.com they are offering 6 months free 2 gig of space and free domain with it great deal

[GrimShadow]

Yea I used 1and1 for registering my domain name, they're pretty good from what I can tell. My only complaint is the assholes put 8 page adds (technically 16) in one of my computer magazines, lol. That and the fact that they don't allow for any advanced domain management (such as creating nameservers). I've found www.namecheap.com to be a great domain registrar, especially since your domain is up in about 24 hours (has been for the 4 domains I registered with them).

[?]

They just dont come any better than http://www.deadhost.net


lol


on the serious side Bluewho.com is amazing i have a reseller account for hosting all my commercial domains

support is instant through there support forums which are pretty much manned 24/7 by one of there staff

The couple of small issues i have had were resolved within minutes after posting which they encourage you to use the forums as it assists other resellers who may have similar problems

great host with the best support system bar none


btw i found them thru webhosting forums on recommendation from Grim

[Gelus]

oh my goodness that is one of the best laughes ive had in a long while

[HACKMODE_AMF]

I friend of mine co owns this web hosting buisness, it isn't cleared by admins however... So I won't post it as a link. pwnhost If you put www. and .com you will get there. I'm not sure if you guys know much about this buisness.

[Windborn]

Check out http://mindintentionshosting.info



You have to put their google ads or buttons on your site, but that's a small price to pay for their excellent free plans.

Hosting Plans are here: http://www.mindintentionshosting.info/foru...a2a9672626faabc

Paid Plans range from $4.99 to $24.99 per month. No restrictions (ads or others) for paid plans of course, other than illegal and copyrighted material.

They speak for themselves With MySQL, CPanel, phpmyadmin, cgi/perl and FTP access, what more could you ask for?

All languages are allowed.

Also, there is no upkeep like having a certain number of posts every month. You only need to meet the target number of posts. Your free account will be terminated though if you're inactive for more than 3 weeks.

And if you have a domain from somewhere else and wish to use it on mindintentions, there is ZERO transfer fee, even for the free accounts.

Note that illegal stuff like roms and warez, and also porn/hentai sites are not allowed.

Edited by Windborn, 26 February 2005 - 05:21 PM.

[Windborn]

err I can't edit my reply anymore...

anyway, a little change in what I posted. Putting their ads/buttons on your site is voluntary, not compulsory.

[Gelus]

ok

surpasshosting.com

very very good host one of the best...
cpanel x, great prices, and support.
this is the only host I use

[Malignant Anomalism]

yea you didnt untill i told you 2

[Gelus]

that is true haha thanks again jon my other host screwd me over and i started with surpass and they are just amazing

[HACKMODE_AMF]

I am being setup by www.pwnhost.com as we speak, very professional.. and they will bargain and match and beat any hosting price.

[99Elite]

I'm currently hosting my site freewebtown.com. Its pretty good for someone starting out.

Good Points :

• 1.0GB webspace
• 1.0GB bandwidth (monthly limit. More bandwidth can be bought if needed).
• Can check how much bandwidth has been used and site traffic
• Can use FTP to upload files

Bad Points:

• Their template web pages aren't to my liking
• Site creates a backup in the form of a tar or gz file.
• Can't use PHP

[SOJ_PhreakPhy]

I have used blushost.com before. I forget why exactly, but I ended up leaving them because they did something to upset me. If I recall I left because they once offered SSH access to their shared hosting users and then removed it because a SSH 0 day exploit was announced and they were supposedly hacked. However, the the exploit only effected a specific version of a back ported SSH server. I thought that the combination of removing an advertised feature, and inability to securely manage their servers was inexcusable. So I left.

I have used surpasshosting.com. They were pretty good, a little slow at times, but I think they were going through some growing pains. Left surpass because I got into doing ASP .NET web development, and they did not offer shared Windows hosting plans at the time.

I used CrystalTech for my Windows hosting, but ended up not using it much, and Windows hosting generally costs more than Linux hosting.

Now I am on HostGator.com. They are great. No complaints, and I am not an easy customer to satisfy. Since I am fairly technical I have not personally used their tech support, but I have heard that it is stellar as well. They have very competitive deals.

[UOK-Gamers]

My grandfather allways taught me if you want somethng done right , do it your damn self. So Ive been self hosting my website for awhile now and Its awsome. I have less down time and issues then 90% of my friends who use offsite hosting. The cost is a little more because I upgraded my internet package through my ISP but its well worth the extra expense I think. Overall, it will pay for its self if you have a good product or service to offer. So i recomend you self host your self. buy a domain from Go Daddy or something, buy a server ( a real server not a shoebox computer), instal a server OS like 2003 enterprise and host. I have unlimited amount of storeage and I can do what ever I want to the server with out having to pay extra fees or expenses. Im also about to setup a private email system. Ive also networked the server into my home network so access remotely is just a click away. I was even able to build my own custom security setup for it since its my machine. Over time is has proven to accually be cheaper then paying a monthly service bill. When my IP changes. the web site will auto update it self as well to the new ip so switch over is just a tiny glitch on the radar. Ip changes occurs only once every 2 years so rarely have to deal with it anyway. Just a great solution I think.