This will be the first time I'm going to be looking for a host. So I hope you will be patient with me. :) I am considering 2 hosting services...

what do you think about these packages?

1. First Host

Pricing Special Plan
Yearly Billing $99
Setup Fee $0.00
Your account is active within 10 minutes Yes
Disk Space & Traffic
Disk Space 250MB
Monthly Traffic Unlimited
Hits/month Unlimited
Domain Name
Your domain name (e.g. yourname.com) Yes
Free domain name registration Yes
Free domain transfer to us Yes
Subdomains 5
Domain aliases 3
International domains okay Yes
Site Management Tools
24x7 FTP access Yes
Web-based control panel (SiteControl) Yes
Detailed traffic stats Yes
Email
POP3/SMTP Account(s) 5
Web-based email Yes
Catch-all default account Yes
Email forwarding Unlimited
Email aliases Unlimited
Email autoresponders Unlimited
Mailing list one
Free Software/Scripts
Your own CGI-BIN Yes
Perl v5.x, C++, gcc, TCL, Python Yes
PHP3 Yes
SSI Yes
FormMail Yes
Security Features
128-bit SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption Yes
Free secure server URL Yes
Intrusion detection system Yes
Firewall Yes
Data Backup
Daily data backup Yes
Server Specifications
Dual Pentium III Yes
RAID SCSI drive system Yes
Linux (RedHat 6.0 based) Yes
Apache v. 1.3.x Yes
Multimedia
Flash Yes
Other
99.5% + Server Uptime Yes
Multi T3 and OC3 connection (45mbit/s + 155mbit/s) Yes

2. second host

SPECIAL DEAL -TODAY ONLY!! EXPIRES Monday, January 15 2001 at 12:00am Midnight EST.

500 MB Web Space

Unlimited POP3 Email's
Unlimited FTP Accounts
5 Free Gigs Transfer
Free counter
Free guest book
DOMAIN POINTERS Host MULTIPLE
domains attached to your directories
Free message board
PHP Support
Free site search engine
Free Frontpage® support
FREE shopping carts for e-commerce
Free CGI scripts
Free mySQL Databases
Free Real Audio/Video
Free Secure Server
Daily Site backups • Telnet account
Detailed site reporting
Unlimited auto responders
Unlimited email aliases

and in addition
-3 FREE ADDITIONAL STACKED DOMAINS! That's right, free! Order your main domain and pay annually, and you can 'stack' three additional domains totally free - a $237.00 value!
-ONE ADDITIONAL MONTH OF OUR GREAT HOSTING - FREE!!
-UNLIMITED EXTRA FTP ACCOUNTS FREE!! Our standard account has one FREE FTP account - for additional ones, we normally charge extra - $50/year each - SIGN UP BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT AND GET UNLIMITED EXTRA ONES FOR FREE!!
and MANY MORE FREEBIE!!!

-------

I think the second host has way too many nice features but I'm wondering if that's really for real and I have like midnight of Monday to decide.

thank you for reading :)

lauryn

[Edited by lauryn on 01-15-2001 at 06:45 PM]

Avoid host 1 -

Monthly Traffic Unlimited
Hits/month Unlimited

Not possible.

Hehe!

Check tomorrow and I bet that "special" will be there that expires at midnight on January 16th as well. ANd the next day on the 17th, etc. etc.

you are right, the offer is extended until the next day (maybe even a javascript function). not very... promising.

I can also recommend phpwebhosting.com, the offer a good service/price as well.

why is unlimited not possible?

right now my personal site is hosted at my friend's domain for the past 2 years (hosting services by communitech) and it's fast and all but I can't afford even his reseller price and 350 MB is just too much space for me. I am looking for hosting that give me almost the same features as communitech but lower like $10/month and below.

Someone also told me about phpwebhosting , hostyard, but I know 2 friends who aren't happy with it and some who are happy so I have apprehensions.

Actually I am budget conscious but I want reliability too . lol. So I have been considering aplushosting, softicom, standard and telaweb. Do you know if they are reliable?



[Edited by lauryn on 01-14-2001 at 07:07 PM]

why is unlimited not possible?

It's logic.

Welcome Lauryn! How about reverse host looking?

I noticed you have your email option turned on (which is a form by the way, no one will see your actual email address unless you reply). Why don't you post what you are *really* wanting and needing along with that price and let some of the hosts on the board (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?threadid=3053) (who are some very fine people by the way) offer you something? You can always come back and ask for options if you see something you like!

Just an idea to help take the leg work out of your searching :)

Search for the word unlimited. top right hand side corner. You'll know why it's not possible :)

Like chicken said, post your requirements. And you may get contacted by a few hosts on the board. :)

Thanks for the welcome :) and the idea of reverse host looking.

Okay ,I am looking for a reliable host for my personal website that has been around for 4 years now and which will hold my writings, photos , upcoming webcam and at least 3 cgi scripts. (an ikonboard, journal script and guestbook)

These are just my minimum requirements.

1. 200- 250 MB
2. can afford to pay annually with something like $8 to $9.00 a month and no setup fee please :)
3. Hoping the speed is almost the same as the host I am using right now at http://girl.static.nu ( I want to see a sample site using your services)
3. at least 5 subdomains with at least 5 ftp accounts
4. at least 5 pop3 servers
5. a full, free CGI dir. Can I run CGI scripts outside of the CGI directory? latest perl version .
6. web-based control panel. Do you have a password protection script for directories?
7. 30 day money back guarantee
8. tech support for international clients ( I live outside the USA)

I can't think of anything more but I'll also take a look at that link " hosts on the board " thread...And I hope I find one soon . thanks :)

[Edited by lauryn on 01-14-2001 at 11:07 PM]

I think that will help. Ohhh, and BTW, your signature URL is a bit messed. Some misplaced brackets:

http://girl.static.nu]the%20protagonist%20|[url=http://protagonist.static.nu[/url]

[Edited by Chicken on 01-14-2001 at 11:26 PM]

As far as the limited-time offer, here's a list of about 30 hosts all offering the identical thing. They've all got a bit of JavaScript code so that the "today only" date keeps changing (isn't that false advertising--representing something as being on sale when it actually isn't?).

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22additional+stacked+domains%22&hl=en&lr=&safe=off

Originally posted by IntelligentHosting.com
As far as the limited-time offer, here's a list of about 30 hosts all offering the identical thing. They've all got a bit of JavaScript code so that the "today only" date keeps changing (isn't that false advertising--representing something as being on sale when it actually isn't?).

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22additional+stacked+domains%22&hl=en&lr=&safe=off


ummm... I dunt think so. A company can extend the time for running a sale whenever they wont for however long they wont.

Originally posted by kunal
ummm... I dunt think so. A company can extend the time for running a sale whenever they wont for however long they wont.
Yes, but I it seems to me that a JavaScript program that automatically changes the date to "extend the sale" is a deliberately deceptive business practice (especially considering this offer is advertised as "Today Only"--the company clearly has no intention of the sale being one-day-only).

You're probably right, technically they're probably not breaking the law; I still consider it deceptive though, and it would make me think twice before giving them my credit card number.

Thats true. Its bad business practice, but they arnt braking any laws as such. I would email them and ask them the reason of why they are decieving people like this.

Actually Chris may be right. When I worked in retail, we had a special going that basically was 1/2 off a set up fee for a service we offered. I remember that we *had* to return the price to the regular price a certain amount of days per year. I can't remember the %, but I think it was either 50% of the time or just over 50% of the time to be able to call it a 'sale'.

Not sure how the law works, but this company I worked for was very aware of it and kept strict records to be sure they were in compliance. It may differ and/or not apply in this case, *but* Chris may be correct...

(I believe this falls under the deceptive advertsing portion of the law- advertsing something as a sale price when in fact it is nothing more than your regular price).

hmmmmm.... Im gonna do some research on this now :)

.... and here's me fretting about what next months special will be when I still have two weeks to go!

Seriously though, I always ignore anything that says "expires today", because it never does.
Even if it disappears you can usually do a deal.

Gordon

<<ADMIN EDIT>>
Post deleted due to breach of the forum rules (http://www.webhostlink.com/index.php?action=forum-rules)
<</ADMIN EDIT>>

[Edited by Chicken on 01-15-2001 at 01:31 PM]

Originally posted by Ingress
<<ADMIN EDIT>>
Post deleted due to breach of the forum rules (http://www.webhostlink.com/index.php?action=forum-rules)
<</ADMIN EDIT>>

Apart from the fact this posting breaks the rules of this forum, its not 2.95 per month, its 70.35 per year = $5.86 per month

Gordon


[Edited by Chicken on 01-15-2001 at 01:31 PM]

wow you guys are right...the special offer didn't expire.

anyway, someone highly recommended hostrocket.com? Have you heard of them? good or bad?

HostRocket has been highly recommended by many around this forum and at SitePoint. You should have little trouble with them.

There good - i have a site there now - just use it for email but servers are fast and support is good.

The today only special is propagated by a bunch of sites that are notorious for poor service - the head of them all is super.nu aka superhostess.com afaik. Correct me if I am wrong. And don't know about the QoS of all these hosts.

A list of sites that are in this pyramid:

super.nu
superhostess.com
intellihosting.com
besthost1.com : They even got an award in one of the host list directories: How????
super-hosting.com.au
e-webhosts.net
syonic.com
standardhost.com
ultranethost.com
randomorigin.net
fantasysquare.net

They mostly have the DNS of ns.skyport.net and ns1.skyport.net and they have their SSL (billing server) in super.nu domain.

If you search the web thoroughly, you might come up with atleast 50 of them. Beware. You never know who is operating a particular company and his level of technical expertise.

Take your own risk. If somebody knows about the NOC of these chain of companies and the reliability, please post it here.

I have read many complaints about these companies in many forums about 6 months back. I don't know the present status.

Wing.

Originally posted by TheWingThing
Take your own risk. If somebody knows about the NOC of these chain of companies and the reliability, please post it here.It appears that super.nu and skyport.net (both of which are registered under the same name, Essential Services in New Port Richey, Florida) are housed by exodus.net.

I don't know anything about any of these companies, just passing on the result of a traceroute/IP block check.

Many of the hosts that try to get you in a contract end up being crappy in a few months. They offer services that they can't afford and end up in the dipper. I actually did a small test of 2 hosting companies who offered rates at like $12.95 / mo. for unlimited bandwidth. I think currently I can reach my websites on their servers 75-80% of the time, it's really pathetic =(.

eliteservers.net
icom.com

Those are the two companies I signed up with. Please nobody ever touch them :)


James R. Clark II
Nethosters Inc.
http://www.nethosters.com

That special on host #2 has been around for two years so don't be in a rush. Before I started my own thing, I used to host with him and to be on the positive side he offered pretty good E-mail support