Hello all,

I've been a happy consumer with lunarpages for 2 years now. Can't complain. They've been wonderfull.
I'm now planning to buy an additional Reseller account to host mostly friends on. (publish their pics, some help with scripts, host school projects in php... maybe asp.net as well... and so on...)

I've narrowed my search to a few companies. (I've used the search already but I like to hear it directly as well :stickout: )

so here a my findings: (underlined stuff is what I really like in each company)

HostGator - basic plan (5 GB, 50 GB), some free templates, whmautopilot, enom reseller, Cpanel-WHM...

all great features for the $24,95.
do they actually provide RVSKIN ?
I miss ANtivirus protect here alongside Spamassasin.


Quality Hosting basic plan 3GB for clients and 3GB for my own... Cpanel, WHM, RVSKIN... still a nice offer at $29


Hosting Zoom - basic plan (5GB, 50 GB), overselling, billing software, domain reseller, free end user support (nice feature), CPanel, whm, Rvskin
about $24,95.... same as Hostgator...


WHThost very cheap but I've got my doubt for this one...
forum is only viewable if you are on the mainpage... it doesn't seem to have that much activity... all features are not mentioned.. you have to view FAQ and Registration's first page to notice they also provide WHM and ClientExec (which they missed typed actually)

but cheap though.. :)

MXHUB basic plan 5 GB - 50 GB along with 5 GB for resellacount.., Cpanel-WHM, Spam & Virus protection.
nice price of 19,95

DIYHOSTIN H-Sphere... all nice features but too expensive for me actually....

SSWEBHOST - nice features... about the same price range


I'm planning to offer kind of Mail hosting too (a little space, a domain name and a few mail accounts)

so the Antivirus protection along side the standard spamassasin is a nice feature (but I miss it on a lot of hosts)

DIYHosting also provided DWMAIL (a very nice interfaced webmail system I prefer above Horde, squirrel,)



basically I've got a little preference for Gator

any feedback very much appreciated...
if you have knowledge about another Host which would provide me what I like... please do tell


Thanks a lot ! ;)

I dont think you will really have a problem with any of those hosts above, and if you do you could have had the same problem happen with any of them in the list. Id go with the cheapest.

how important would you all say is having an account with ClientExec or whmautopilot ?

will it help me manage sign-ups and stuff ? is it something whm won't do alone ?

I see it includes a sort of "support center" for tickets but these scripts can always be installed later (a lot of open source support scripts out there)

thanks...


once a again a though choice...


all I can say is that I'm used to the services of Lunarpages for a community I run and I find them excellent so I'll be a demanding consumer if something happens (because I've got something to compare it to)....

Both clientexec and modernbill can be installed later if you chose to do so. You would have to pay an extra fee to your host or modernbill/clientexec. They are both helpful with managing billing, sign-ups, etc. You don't have to have either one of them but it does make life a lot easier. You don't have to have a paid option either. There are opensource billing systems out there such as phpcoin.

I am pretty sure hostgator offers RVskins. I am not positive, maybe someone who has an account with them can verify.

WHM will help you manage your accounts but it isn't going to bill anyone or create an orderform.

Neither MB or clientexec "helpdesk/support center" is exactly the greatest but there are other helpdesk choices that can be intergrated into the billing system.

thanks ivialisjso!
that already gives me an idea about the different scripts...

now the company itself ....


furthermore I'm thinking about paying monthly for a reseller account. that gives me more flexibility.
though anually is a lot easier :p

Originally posted by psykik

furthermore I'm thinking about paying monthly for a reseller account. that gives me more flexibility.
though anually is a lot easier :p

You should at least start out paying monthly. You never know if your host will be suitable for you. Most host will give you the option to change your billing cycles after you sign up with them.

it all comes down to network usage and capacity, and server resources for me when i go looking for something

All of our reseller servers come with Rvskin. Good luck on your search you have some great hosts on your list!

If it's for friends and family, are you going to be charging them? If not, would you really need billing software? Just needed clarification, that's all. :-)

Roj

yeah I'll just ask them to pay a little to run the service break even

but I'll help them out...
furthermore... that's only in the beginning...
I also do some webdesigning so I can host designed sites for clients on there as well...

Originally posted by psykik

if you have knowledge about another Host which would provide me what I like... please do tell


Great to see your approach on shortlisting host for yourself.

I would reccomend you to have a look at www.sonataweb.net. I have been with them for more then 3 months now and am very please with their support and services. As far as you requirements goes, they offer:

Modernbill
cPanel/WHM
RVSkins, XController, XSkin, SimSkins and the Trix Themes!
ClamAV, anti-virus software(for Spam & Virus protection)

Checkout their offer at:
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=366765

Hope this helps and wish you all the best in your host hunt!!

thanks for the feedback Neogen.

though for that price I get a bit more space on the offers I posted.
I like their features + antivirus but since I always encourage my friend/users to have an AV of their own I'd rather go with a little bit more space ;)

pics can take up space fast

OK before I make my move... (to most probably Gator since they seem to be reliable, even posted here so it shows they have a professional attitude)




anyone offering about the same
min. 5 GB (more always nice)
min. 50 GB (would like to see more here)
Cpanel-WHM-billing soft-RVSKIN
spamassasin along with antivirus protection
templates

for about $20 or less ???

Turnkeyresellers !! =))

Please Search before use

Joshua

Originally posted by psykik
anyone offering about the same
min. 5 GB (more always nice)
min. 50 GB (would like to see more here)
Cpanel-WHM-billing soft-RVSKIN
spamassasin along with antivirus protection
templates

for about $20 or less ???

Hey psykik,

Please never base your selection on price.... remember what you pay that you get..

Also, have you checked with all the companies, which Host-reseller would allow you to oversell or not...

I hope, you have spoken(sent presales questions) to all your shortlisted companies... to see their readiness and resolution solving mode...

ok I think I'll go for a trial month with Gazzin

I found out about them just after starting this thread...
you might find it odd I try gazzin because it's on a complete other price scale as the above...

I realise they had some problems in the beginning but who hasn't ?

furthermore my replies on their forum were always very helpfull and quite fast...

I also posted some questions on the presale section of hostgator but not yet one official staff member has replied to my topic. though some users gave me some answers but I deem it important to get recognition from staff too.


and it's a bit cheaper for a student without real capital... (I'll only really host friends so...)


thanks for all the feedbacks though ;)

again WHT has been quite helpfull to get information on different hosts. (there're really too many around these days lol ;) )


all I have to do now is come up with a new domain name (always hard to find something catchy )


if you've got cool idea's using my nickname, or psyked
do tell :p



or if you want to warn me of my decision... :D



Greets

Great to see members have helped you find a new host, always good when WHT referrs clients to a new host and the user is happy! Good luck, let us know how it goes!

Okay time to re-open this thread...

here I am again....

It's been nearly a month I've been with Gazzin now...

here's a little testimonial I wrote on their own forum... I'm going to repost this here so people can read it while looking for Gazzin Feedback:


Hello,


I'll try to be honest in this post since that will in fact benefit to everyone.


I've been on a shared hosting plans for years (3 years actually) with a great host a lot of people will know because they have good name: Lunarpages.
Since then my website has grown and I went to develop other stuff and build out a community of people interested in getting their share in hosting experiences. Thus me choice, that along with my shared plan, to get myself a reseller account.

I scanned the web looking for good resellers. I found really nice offers, nice sites, and helpfull people along the way. WHT (webhosting talk) is still one of the best resources. It's where I learned about Gazzin.

Gazzin attracted my directly for several obvious reasons and a few other reasons:

Their prices are unbeatable. (a very important factor for me as a newbie in reselling and still doing my studies in IT management.)

the support and respons is great too (I was contacting Gator at the same time even though their prices are much more expensive..)

and a less obvious reason: lol I just liked the design of your site too. (I like seeing nice done pages on the net)



Eventually it was Gazzin that became my first choice because your support on my presale questions was nearly instant. (I had to wait 3 days on a reply from a moderator/staff on gator)


It speaks for itself I wanted to try out the free month before buying further months with you.



Now this trial month is nearly over.
I don't like saying this but I'm thinking of leaving... :



I guess your prizes are cheap but in return we have to do with a few more minor technical glitches now and then.

I've been monitoring the forums closely the last week and I notice a lot of failures, outages. Not only on my server but as a whole over the whole gazzin network.
As I write this down, mysql has been down for nearly an hour. I cannot get into my sites, I cannot manage my clients and further change my settings and so on...


Don't get my wrong, I like the replies of William and Brain who seem to be great guys and always reply in a professional way. Servers failing is not in your best intrest and wishes as well but the fact remains it's been happening a lot lately and it's getting too much for me. (especially after this sql crash just when I wanted to get some work done).


So just like I said, I wanted to be honest and tell you this just a few days before my trial ends.
I'm looking for alternatives possibly a bit more expensive (to a lot more ) but this doesn't mean I'm leaving for sure... now that I've got everything configured...



anyway we'll see what the next few days will be like...




Regards,




Ok no need to go over that again... I think that's clear now...

I've send a host request and I'm waiting to hear from it...


since I'm a starter, I would like to keep it not too expensive (though I'm really starting to think that under $20, one cannot find a reliable service)

still I'm continuing my hunt...
I'm currenlty looking at varhosting...



greets

You can find reliable service for under $20, it just depends on what exactly you purchase. If you aim to pay at least $0.50 per GB bandwidth then you shouldn't have much of a problem finding a reliable host.
I should also congradulate you for the knowledge you've picked up already. Lots of people will go from $5 hosting packages (with 2Gb space, 50GB bandwidth) to other hosting packages around the same price with same features and then wonder why every host they go with ends up A) having Horrible support or B) good support and then one day they wake up and their website is completely gone without any notice (as well as the hosting company). Whereas with you, you have identified that you get what you pay for on your first shot. Good job :)

LOL thanks

well it's not that I'm new to hosting. I've had a shared hosting plan with Lunarpages for about 3 years now. And I compare my current Reseller hosting to the connectivity and support I got with them for the last 3 years.

Support isn't that bad with Gazzin.
But their Hardware services are starting to get to me...
As we speak my server has yet again been down for about 2 hours...

I've already found a few hosts under $20 but I do not know if they all allow Overselling...
(I'm not that big.. and I'll never get that big either... I'm just doing Webhosting and Email hosting for friends... but I still like to display a reasonable offer on my own website... )

I nearly know from experience that I'll never reach the monthy bandwidth
but but do like my friends to be able to buy a 1 GB plan (that will in return take some time before it's filled up... )

You already mentioned Hostgator. For $24.99 and up, you cannot go wrong. It`s a reasonable price for what you get, and at least they are a known name around here. Certainly not likely to dissapear in a hurry;)

I`ve been with them for about five months now, there`s been some problems in the last month, but being realistic, no host is perfect.

If you`re going to be serious about this, the extra five bucks shouldn`t mean too much. Think in the long term. HG don`t allow overselling, which for me is peace of mind!!

I know I mentioned hostgator but I can only afford the 5 GB plan

and they do not allow overselling


I'm currently looking at:

varhosting (another cheap host but a little bit more expensive... and uptime reports here do seem to be higher then gazzin)
Site5
and hostingzoom


I don't have that many clients yet and I prefer to keep costs down in order to invest in other scripts like helpdesk and so on...

The recent talks about Site5 and VARHosting seem to be pointing more towards the negative side, however.

If you don`t have many clients yet, surely 5GB is enough (at least for now)? I assumed you was after a host that doesn`t oversell, my apolgies, I wasn`t reading!!

I know it`s tempting to find the host that offers the most goodies for the least amount of dollars, I was the same at first. After reading the disaster stories on here, it made sense to me to spend a few extra dollars for better quality, with a reputable name.

Good luck, Hostingzoom also seems to have a good name on here lately. Their plans are comparable to Hostgators.

site5 does seem to have reliable servers
they post their uptime and status of every server on their homepage....

unless they are not honest about the display it does seem to be quite impressive.

Originally posted by maritimesbob
If you don`t have many clients yet, surely 5GB is enough (at least for now)? I assumed you was after a host that doesn`t oversell, my apolgies, I wasn`t reading!!

I know it`s tempting to find the host that offers the most goodies for the least amount of dollars, I was the same at first. After reading the disaster stories on here, it made sense to me to spend a few extra dollars for better quality, with a reputable name.

Good luck, Hostingzoom also seems to have a good name on here lately. Their plans are comparable to Hostgators.


yes hostgator and hostingzoom really do seem to be good.

Only I really don't need a billing client anymore since I've got it already.
as for features... All I want is CPanel/WHM with RVSKIN
with possibly own nameservers


all the other stuff, I'm not interested or good to have but I don't care...


I want overselling because I nearly all know my clients personally and they like some hosting but they'll never fill it up fully. (I know that... as for bandwidth I doubt any will pass a 5 GB barrier per person)


but with hostgator, if I take the 5 GB plan and I sell a 1 GB plan I can only sell it 5 times...

Ok I know what you could answer: why would they buy 1 GB if they know they won't use it....

Its simple. People just want the security that they can use up to 1GB even though they won't be. I have clients having a 30GB bandwidth plan but they are using only 20+GB every month. Its just something for the client to have in reserves in case traffic increase suddenly. :D

agreed this is why I'd rather have overselling allowed...
it shows better on the plans as well...

and If I get a client that needs higher needs I'm honest with him and tell him to move to a bigger "boy"

as I said... I do this mostly for friends to host their pics, E-mail hosting services, hosting for people I do designs for and for my personnal storage ;)


I think I'm going to give varhosting a chance...

I am not sure where you seen their online stats but either way when looking online uptime reports make sure it is a third party providers report :)

Let us know how varhosting goes and good luck. :)

Originally posted by ORiN
The recent talks about Site5 and VARHosting seem to be pointing more towards the negative side, however. Hi ORiN,

What negative talks are you referring to? I'd like to be sure that I'm aware of any criticism so that it can be properly addressed! :)

Thanks!

You have already attended to those threads already. The negative comments tend to sway towards slow setup time and pre-sales enquiries.

Ah, ok. Thanks for letting me know what you were referencing.

Matt