Web Host Reviews 2004: A Single Page Review of Over 30 Hosts
The Hosts
Information
Well at last I have found the time to review a good chunk of our hosts. Not all are here, but I ran out of time.
The first thing I MUST say... these are OUR experiences. Yes, they may differ to others, but I report them exactly as we have found them. We have no affiliation with any host whatsoever - we are simply customers, hosting at least one site with each of these (and many others) for ourselves and our various partners.
I have listed them in 5 categories:
- Good solid hosts with no problems
- Recent additions but the signs are very good
- You could do worse
- I wouldn't consider them
- Avoid like the plague
It is also worth pointing out that we have different types of accounts with different hosts. Some are multi, others are not. The hosts also comprise a large spectrum of different offerings, prices, etc. When choosing, we simply plucked the package type we needed at that time.
Anyhow, without further ado, I hope this is useful to a few people:
GOOD, SOLID AND NO PROBLEMS
We've been with these for quite a long time, certainly long enough to form a solid opinion. None of these have let us down, and have provided a good solid service.
Pair Networks (Multi)
Big time player, but very reliable and very competitively priced. Never had any problems at all with them. An excellent choice for multi-hosting and single site hosting.
ROCHEN (Multi)
We have 3 sites with Rochen. The sign of a good host is that you never have to contact them. So far we have had no need to. We actually found them on WHT, when we put out a cry for help. They got us up and running quickly. Not a squeak of a problem since.
X-Calibre (Multi)
Several sites here as part of their multi-hosting package. A little pricey, but again fast and reliable. Support? Certainly during working hours it is good. No too sure about after that in terms of the phone, mainly because we haven't tried it.
HostMySite / SmarterLinux
The support from these guys when we first set up was outstanding. The sites load fast and have been up all the time since we moved in there. Support is true 24/7 and has been extremely good for both Windows and Linux.
AlwaysWebHosting (Multi)
The support has been excellent for a small firm. Reliable hosting at budget prices, and although loading can be sluggish, the availability puts many big firms to shame. 2005 Update: A pity they couldn't maintain it!
DixieSys (Multi)
We have a basic multi-hosting package here, and frankly, have been really impressed. Excellent uptime, good support, and bags of flexibility via their control panels. We are likely to be extending our presense at DixieSys .
OpenHosting.Co.UK (Multi)
This budget multi-hoster has been extremely reliable with virtually no downtime over the three years we have been there. Good value honest hosting, and good support at normal times (again not certain on out of hours, as again we haven't needed it). They have an excellent and extremely helpful forum.
FutureQuest
Almost forgot them, which is actually a very GOOD sign, as our sites there are always up. Never had a problem at all in 2 years.
FastHosts (Multi)
This UK based host has everything we need: real 24x7 support (incl phone), nice control panel for multi-hosting, big and safe. We have quite a few sites there, but use them for emergency backup as well (if a host screws us, we transfer here because we can set up everything automatically ourselves). Multi-hosting here isn't cheap though: £UK 500 pa.
Note: FastHosts have recently fallen from grace as I have encountered serious problems with their support. They will not be in the top league in the next edition.
MORE RECENT ADDITIONS BUT THE SIGNS ARE VERY GOOD
We've been with these guys for less than 12 months. But so far they have impressed. Too early to say too much, but are impressions are as follows:
Myacen
Had a bad start with an early issue. The good news is that the guy was clearly concerned and worked hard to sort it, which he did (in fact the problem wasn't actually their fault at all!).
Since then, the signs of a very good host are there. In other words, we haven't had any cause to even go to their site. Our sites are up all the time and are served quickly.
Webfusion (Multi)
Similar to FastHosts, but they give you less control over your destiny. Good uptime and speed so far, and 24x7 phone support. A trifle expensive.
Purple Paw
Every now and again we unearth a host that takes us by surprise. PurplePaw is one of these. Cheap... but a nice control panel bristling with facilities. Uptime so far has been excellent and has exceeded expectations.
Media Temple
Been there only a few weeks, but the signs of a really excellent host are all there, including very responsive round the clock support (incl telephone). We feel very comfortable with them.
Superb Internet
Again, just a few weeks, and again absolutely no cause for complaint. Another good value multi-host with true 24/7 support.
Clook
Good package, and so far no downtime.
YOU COULD DO WORSE
These have delivered decent service, but certain events or features have raised question marks. Generally OK though.
SupaNames
Well known for single site budget hosting. Very reliable. The doubt is with support. They used to offer 24x7 telephone support to all accounts, but not now. As a result we have doubts (they were quite poor last time our site went down, which to be fair is very rare). Could jump up the rankings considerably if they returned to the old system.
Note: This host has let us down a bit recently.
DonHost
Middle range single site hosting, with whom we have 2 sites. Extremely reliable... the BUT is that they seem to clear off on public holidays/etc in terms of front line support. I don't really appreciate emails telling me that they will be closed from this date to that. If your site goes down on the first day, WORRY!
On the other hand, no reason to believe it will, as they have produced extremely good uptime. But you know that nagging doubt is there as long as they don't commit to full time support.
Ghoulnet We have a long term multi-package with this firm. Fast and fairly reliable. Support could be better though. There's a telephone response during the day, but outside hours there are a few doubts. They will work hard and late if there is problem daytime, but they could step up if they were hungry enough. Lots of potential, but they need to want it to move any further.
AffordableHost
Lasted just a few months here before leaving, due to downtime. However... we have recently given them a second chance, as they look to have improved across the board. This is unheard of for us! No probs so far...
HostingKey
Based in Liberia or somewhere or other (can never work it out). Very cheap single site host, fairly reliable and they get most things right. They respond very well to emails, but let themselves down a bit because they do the odd daft thing. For instance, one of our sites was chopped because we apparently didn't pay our annual bill. Except we always pay instantly when we are told we are due. To be fair... they are always seem to be up.... and for the price... extremely good indeed.
I WOULDN'T CONSIDER THEM
These guys let us down for one reason or another
Dominet
Seemed OK, until they got hit by a virus. They didn't tell us, even though our index page was wiped out. Two months later we spotted it (fortunately this was not a critical site). We fixed it, but they offered no compensation, refund or hosting extension even when asked.
Dathorn
Didn't get very far at all with these characters. We told them we would buy a package if they could have a unique IP address (which we were happy to pay for) and if they could give us the nameserver names in advance, just to save time with DNS resolution (simply so we could re-point immediately). Incredibly, the answer was no and no! We would have accepted no for the first but the second just seemed churlish. Also though, they failed to notify us when their sign-on period re-opened, and taking a look at their forum recently reveals some very long outages.
Freenetname
This UK host is free, so you can't expect a lot really. In actually fact they are excellent in terms of up time and speed. The problem is, if you don't dial in for 30 days using their dial-in number, they simply pull the hosting from under you. You then have to get control of the domain name and re-point to another host, all the time your site being down.
AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!
Say no more. These proved to be a nightmare.
EASYSPACE
If you want an example of truly horrendous support here it is. Take a look at their web site. Try to find a telephone number. Now try to find proper email details.
That's just the first barrier. Hack through the so called database and eventually you will find a form to fill in. Not for support, but to ask a 'question'. Ask away. Expect a long wait. Chances are your question will be designated as 'solved' when you go back often without even a response. If you are lucky enough to get a response, it is most likely to point you to the database that didn't answer your question in the first place. If you are really really lucky you will get a response that doesn't actually answer your question.
But it's even worse. Make the grotesque mistake of letting them both register and host your domain, and then repoint your domain to another host (costs you £5 by the way) and guess what? They punish you by stopping their servers serving your pages instantly. Nice people. My advice is to AVOID AT ALL COSTS
EdgeHost
These guys are toast, and deservadly so. So it's no longer worth explaining just how bad they actually were.
WestHost
Everything fine until they unilaterally decided to 'upgrade'. Many, many of their customers suffered substantial downtime. And for good measure: they turned off the phones and removed the live chat. Support tickets were simply ignored. Next step: delete the posts of screaming customers from their forum. They must have lost a hell of a lot of customers, including us.
BargainHost
Frequent, lengthy, downtime. Lack of support. We had to invoke their local trading standards to get a refund
Names.Co.Uk
We transferred the tag on our domain name so we had control of it. They took down the hosting, without telling us, shortly after. It was down for 6 weeks before we noticed (we never monitor level 3 sites). Coincidence?. I know what I think.
SquareInternet
Another that has gone. Very poor and totally ruthless. Taken over I think by Starhosts... which must raise questions about them. We found them to be totally objectionable in every respect.
Noc24
There's more written on this guy than almost any other host... all for the wrong reasons. Scratch the surface with a search on WHT and you'll see what I mean.
FINALLY
There you go - our experiences, for what they are worth. Please remember not to shoot the messenger. I have just posted what we have found ourselves.
JenniH is a committed contributor to WHT. She manages sites hosted by a significant number of hosts, and hounds the rest of us (and others) for serious input on our hosts as well.
Her quest is impossible: to find the perfect host. However, her pursuit equips her better than anyone we know to review independently and fairly.
We hope you will find her reviews and opinions to be helpful and instructive.
Well no... not a stack of brand new hosts. These are simply hosts we have only recently opened accounts with, so too early to make firm judgments. However, we can give our opening gambits:
BLUEWHO
Clean issue-free sign up, and responsive to emails, which gives good vibes as there is no phone support. Nice WHM/Cpanel package. This looks promising.
DINIX
The curse of TekSalon strikes again. A couple of weeks after we sign up, they change location, causing downtime. We have also had severe spedd problems with our low volume PHPnuke sites. However, everything else seems to rock, so we are riding and hoping the speed picks up. If it does, things will be going swimmingly with Dinix.
JVDS
Our guy went for the rock bottom package (it was all he needed at the time), so maybe it's not a great perspective to review from. Getting the package working though was heavy, with a catalog of errors on their part. However, since then... 100% uptime and decent speed. If they can keep this rolling we'll all be happy bunnies.
HOSTGATOR
Everything is rosey so far. No down time, good speeds, and quick support. This site is hosted with them
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