web host?

[traq]

I'm looking into hosts, like fastdomain and hostmonster, basically the hosts that have "unlimited" nearly everything and are pretty cheap also. I don't need a lot of technical support or "web building" tools, but, obviously, reliability and up-time are important.

Anyone have specific experience with these (or similar) hosts? pros/ cons?

thanks, everyone.

[Snookerman]

I've used one.com (http://www.one.com/) several times and I am really pleased with them. Cheap and reliable.

Good luck!

[traq]

hey, that's cool. looks especially good for smaller sites/clients. anyone else?

[X96 Web Design]

Host Gator seems pretty good, lots of features, and only 5 bucks a month.

When I finally get around to getting a domain, I'll probably use HostGator.

(http://www.hostgator.com)

Cheers,
X96

[traq]

thanks for the link, but I was really looking more for firsthand experience. anything can be made to look good before you buy it. :D

[X96 Web Design]

anything can be made to look good before you buy it. :D

Very true!

//X

[Medyman]

A Small Orange (http://www.asmallorange.com/) - cheap, reliable, decent customer service
1&1 (http://www.1and1.com) - cheap, mostly reliable, ok customer service,
Dreamhost (http://dreamhost.com) - cheap but crap, stay away

If you have money to spend:
EngineHosting (http://www.enginehosting.com/) and MediaTemple (http://mediatemple.net/) are 100% the best.

[magicyte]

Why's Dreamhost, hahem, eh, crap? Looks good to me. There must be a catch, though....

[Nile]

I like dream host... Thats what http://unlinkthis.net is on.

[traq]

man, dreamhost's pricing structure is crazy. it's only 5.95/mo if you pay ten years in advance... that's more than $700 I don't have to blow.

1and1 is the host I use now. The main problem I have with them (and I suppose it's not *their* problem, exactly) is that full use of PHP (specifically, SSI) costs extra. I hardly ever use their tech support or customer service.

I'm basically looking for a cheap place that lets me use php, mysql, etc. and has good reliability/uptime. I may want to try out phpbb sometime soon, also. beyond that, I'm not really looking for any frills (re my first post: I'm not looking for "the best of the best," just usable).

[Nile]

Not if you use a special offer:
http://eight7teen.com/news-updates/eight7teen-dreamhost-insane-deal

[Medyman]

Why's Dreamhost, hahem, eh, crap? Looks good to me. There must be a catch, though....

The service is simply unreliable. If the control panel is up, it's something else that's not. "Config files" are changed without any notice. I signed up for Dreamhost only a little while ago. I'd heard some ok things and I was looking for a cheap host to host my personal site. It doesn't get much traffic and it's really only for me. So, I didn't want to spend too much.

I signed up with a steep discount -- $35 a year or something ridiculous like that (using Josh's discount that Nile posted above). So, I'm getting what I paid for. In that sense, I have no complaints. Once the year is over, I won't continue though.

But if you're looking for a reliable host, Dreamhost isn't it. I've had to contact them 3 times over the past 2 weeks over simple basic things that any decent host should know to do. And I get bascially the same response - "my boss" or "a sysadmin" changed the config files and messed up. Who are these people w/ access to the config files and why do they have access if they don't know wtf they're doing?

[traq]

medyman-
that's exactly the kind of info I'm looking for. FastDomain and HostMonster also have really low prices and "unlimited" whatever; it's whether or not I can trust that nothing basic will go wrong when I'm not looking that worries me.

[JasonDFR]

I use Sharkspace and besides the corny name, they are great.

They aren't the cheapest or most expensive. Their service has been great. The minor things I needed, were taken care of quickly. Customer support responds almost immediately. You can post questions or problems in their support forum and someone will take care of it for you.

If you get anything except their most basic package, you more or less won't be able to use everything that is included. Host multiple domains, unlimited mysql databases, phpmyadmin, cpanel, unlimited email accounts, etc. etc.

If you sign up with them, please use this link so I'll get a referral reward:

http://www.sharkspace.com/sharkcenter/aff.php?aff=023

[johnstuart]

Here's another vote for hostgator...