(Feel free to direct me to an FAQ or a reliable source of ranked reviews so I can look at the top ones.)

I am about to sign a year contract for http://Web2010 (HostCentric) hosting at their most basic level: 50 MB UNIX for $20/month. ($22 with no contract.) Web2010 has been reliable for me, and I have been burned by two other hosts that either were unreliable or charged me $50/month.

Is $20/month still good for reliable but basic hosting? Is signing a contract usually necessary to get that pricing? Or should I shop around before signing? I am aware that some hosts are even cheaper than $20, I just don't know if I should be afraid of them or not!

Specific recommendations are welcome, but rather than waste people's time I wouldn't mind finding a (good) site that ranks hosts.

If you're looking for quality hosting, don't look at the price. it doesn't matters how much it costs as long as you are happy. :)

Hmm............. that depends on what level of service you require from them and the level of resources you would be using, I would say for 50 MB ...........less than $10 would get you some good service, and of course, monthly contract.......no long term contract.

you can usually find a good reliable host for around $10/month. I don't think a lot of places require contracts anymore so you should definatly look around. Beware of the $2/month hosts though. Always remember, you get what you pay for...=)

Originally posted by nagromme
(Feel free to direct me to an FAQ or a reliable source of ranked reviews so I can look at the top ones.)

..........................


Why don't you give yourself sometime and search few forums. You will find lot of good companies. Then you can decide the host.

:D

And I would do a yearly contract only with a company I have been some time with...

Originally posted by apricot
you can usually find a good reliable host for around $10/month. I don't think a lot of places require contracts anymore so you should definatly look around. Beware of the $2/month hosts though. Always remember, you get what you pay for...=)


I resent that. We offer $2 a month hosting and have one of the best reputations, in this business, for support/reliability.

You need to look at what you're getting for the price - not the price itself. If someone is offering 10 GB of transfer, for $2 a month, then you should be concerned.

To blanketly say "Beware of the $2/month hosts" is not fair to us.

--Tina

Originally posted by AffordableHost
. . . . .To blanketly say "Beware of the $2/month hosts" is not fair to us. . . .Yes. . . . .There are some in that price range that I would highly recommend.

I am satisfied with Web2010, although support isn't quite as good (still good, just not 24 hrs) since they became part of Hostcentric. But saving $120 a year is not something I can lightly overlook, so I will search a bit wider and look for recommendations. Thanks.

This is not an ad for them, but I have always regarded Futurequest.net as a benchmark for quality hosting.

It's a company run with a high standard of ethics, business acumen and technical knowhow as evidenced by the superb community that they have built and the fact that they are still around.

I don't host with them now, but did when I was starting out on the net about two or more years ago. They have never gone in for deep discounting.

Re-visiting their site today I see that prices are still firm. The entrance level package is

50 MB Unrestricted Disk Space
5 GB Unrestricted Bandwidth
20 Full POP Email Accounts
1 FTP Account
$14.95/mo if pre-pay 12 months
$19.95/mo if pay monthly

This tells me that they are not afraid to charge the right amount for quality hosting.



Why did I leave them two years ago? Well it had nothing to do with quality, I needed to start playing around with php/SQL and couldn't afford the extra $10/month they were changing at that time. I notice that php/SQL is now included in the starter package.

Originally posted by privatebox
50 MB Unrestricted Disk Space
5 GB Unrestricted Bandwidth
20 Full POP Email Accounts
1 FTP Account
$14.95/mo if pre-pay 12 months
$19.95/mo if pay monthly

This tells me that they are not afraid to charge the right amount for quality hosting.Well, it looks like they're charging for the bandwidth. Assumming it's high quality.
Someone charging $2 a month is not going to give you $15 a month worth of bandwidth. They're probably going to give you $2 a month worth.

You may have missed the point. At futurequest, you get more than hosting, you also get a superb, lively community.

I haven't seen this at other hosts.

Geez! I'll be talking myself into going back there soon.

I guess I'm just confused about the original poster's comments.
It sounds like he is currently using the host in question; but wants recommendations of them?? :confused:

You may have missed the point. At futurequest, you get more than hosting, you also get a superb, lively community.

I haven't seen this at other hosts.

Pair started this years ago. Most host have communities now. This seems to be the "in" thing.

Back to the original question -

You need to ask yourself if you are happy where you are. Think back to the last time you had e-mail trouble. Downtime. Or any support issue. If you can not remember when, then that is a good thing. If you can afford it, I would highly recomemnd you stay.

Consider this. When you move, chances are you will have trouble in some way, shape or form. You may get lucky and find a quality host. However, if you read these forums, you will see a 1 in 3 or 4 chance in hitting that 'one host'. (If you do your research here, you can probably cut those odds to 1:1 or 1:2. ;) ) Most customers talk about moving 3 times or so before they are happy. That means a lot of moving. You may save a few bucks, but imagine how much you will wish you had stayed if you get nailed with downtime. If your web site is mission criticle, then don't move.

and have one of the best reputations, in this business, for support/reliability.

I am pretty sure every web host believes their company is too. So, this really doesn't mean anything coming from the web host itself. Case in point - *****.