To be honest, our site demands are small in some aspects, but a bit unique.

Absolutely, must have, cannot survive as a website without:

PHP & MySQL
Perl
50 (minimum) pop/smtp emails that WORK
50 (minimum) mailing lists that WORK (discussion lists, not announcements)
Support that doesn't resort to "your ISP is the problem" to solve _every_ issue (we have 4 countries on 3 continents as members of the website - there can't be that many ISPs blocked by a server or they'd _die_).

The lesser needs:
100MB or more space (ability to purchase more if needed or upgrade)
2GB bandwidth (currently we use about 1 GB but like a safety net)
Subdomains with FTP
multiple FTP (no anonymous needed)


Problems that are unacceptable:
AIM support that refers you to "email" regularly.
Email support that repeats questions 3-4 times to buy time on actually fixing a problem.
A company that doesn't have the brass to list their address, phone #, and multiple contacts if their site isn't working (I like to harrass via telephone when all else fails and I am still an unhappy customer).

30 day refund obviously a requirement, as my current host is the 3rd one I've tried that has fallen down in serving me.

Cost under $25/mo. Reliable uptime (one of the past hosts had 50% uptime *shudders*)


Any recommendations from the trenches?? I've searched, but the one that keeps getting kudos is one I'm with and I am definately not happy, even if they are offering to install a different mailing list script (currently Mailman) to try to solve the ongoing problems.

Hello,

I will gladly recommend my host: F5Hosting (http://www.f5hosting.com)

I think you'll find they have everything you're looking for, and the support problems you mentioned would be unheard of at F5. I've never had a question or problem that's gone unanswered for longer than 20 MINUTES. They have a support forum, and a "live help" feature (on their home page) and between the two you can always get immediate assistance.

I've had virtually no downtime since I've been on their server, and it's always fast and reliable. Feel free to check out my site and forums if you like.

Take a look through their support forums, and at their plan prices and you'll see what I mean :)

Good luck,
Michelle

I am also a happy client of F5Hosting who has a VB board and site with them.

Feel free to check it out, to monitor if you'd like.

CustomTruckShowcase.com Truck Enthusiast Forum (http://www.customtruckshowcase.com/forum)

shadowsfall

Try going over to the "Web Hosting Requests" section and post a message there. That way you'll get more responses from web hosts.

You can also try searching the board.

;)

Im also gunna reccomend F5 Hosting.....
:D

I did post there - got _one_ response, and the responder missed one of the most important notices - that I require any company going to host me to have their address and phone listed.

I'll check out F5. My worry is always that my current host I get talked over on the Support Forums when I tell others about how much trouble I've had.

So support forums aren't always a good test, but anything to get working email and not pay $50 a month for the email and lists.

Thanks!!!!

I recommend

Venturesonline.com
Aphosting.com

and I think you should go to hostsearch.com and take a look at all those webhosts that fit your pricing.

I tend to avoid "review" sites....long story why, but too many "ballot stuffers" in that sort of thing.

Aphosting can't meet my reqs. No address or phone #. I'll look at the other.

Thanks!

APHosting.com only provides Telephone support to our current clients, for emergency purposes.

www.f5hosting.com
www.aphosting.com
www.dim8.net
www.below10host.com

APHosting does have a physical mail and telephone contact in their welcome email.... I'm their customer and so far so good.:)

Well most hosts offering CPANEL as a user control panel offers only mail man.... But you can find various scripts and install them at www.cgi-resources.com

my recommendations :
Affordablehost.com
( if you are not after fancy cpanel like me you will love the Tinatype panel + fast support)
Tera-byte.com
( currently lots of posts against them , but my exp differ so far and pray they remain that way)
valuablehost.com
( if they have started sign up again - do provide 99.9 % uptime guarantee - wish Tina did that too )
dezines.com
( not much,if at all , discussed here but live chat support too at fixed hours)
doteasy.com
( 2 to 3 outages per year but very cheap, very professional)
discount-hosting.com
( got spare $10 for a year - no support they declare but provide fast answers thru a wwwboard)
________________________________________________

host your cows and your urge to moo at
http://flingthecow.com/flash

I will add my two cents in for Hosting Matters (http://www.hostmatters.com) and Future Quest (http://www.futurequest.com). I have tested a lot (a lot!) of hosts, and these two consistently come out on top of the pile. FQ might not have exactly what you're after for the price you want, but I'd drop them a note anyway. I know HM does custom packages for people if they don't have exactly what someone needs. Both of them are several levels above anyone else in reliability and support.