I'm leaving Interland after a year. HostPro was excellent, but I can't stand the service from Interland any longer. Since I'm new to the process and the pitfalls...any words of wisdom on finding a new hosting company and what challenges to expect in the changeover. I have 4 weeks before my Interland deal expires. I'd like to allow myself plenty of time to make the transition as smooth as possible. Thanks!

Most importantly anything that looks too good usually is too good to be true.

Remember that anything like 10gb for $4 /month is not going to get you anywhere.

Look for the following:
*Reliable, consistant technical support.
*Good uptime and range of services.

Thats all I can think off my head.

I ran into the same problem with Interland. I actualy started out with VSERVERS who then became HOSTPRO who were then baught out by INTERLAND. Everything was great until the Interland meger/purchase. I then started to search out for a new hosting provider. I went with MICROLINQ (http://www.microlinq.com) . They have some good hosting packages and I have been very happy with the support. They also offer multiple domain hosting if that is something you were doing with Hostpro/Interland. You may also want to look at Verio. I heard they were pretty good, although a bit more pricy. It's really to bad about Interland. Best of luck to ya.

Originally posted by The Laughing Cow
Most importantly anything that looks too good usually is too good to be true.


Quote of the decade! :D

Ahh, if we had a dollar for every customer we got from Interland and their service....

.. oh wait, we do! several a month *grin*

Seriously, your best bet it to spend a week or so scanning through these boards, and asking friends who they've used or are using. You've got 4 weeks so it's worth using that time to it's fullest. Make a decision about a week out to make sure you don't run short on time making the move.

Changing hosts is never a fun experience, but some research beforehand will make all the difference. Speak to a couple of potentials you have lined up, and discuss details of the move itself with them (domain transfer, uploading your site etc.)

Greg Moore

Your best bet is to go through, and utilize the search function on the board as much as possible. You may also want to post this in the Web Hosting Requests forum, as you will probably get many offers there.


Most importantly anything that looks too good usually is too good to be true.

amen.

Look for good tech support. Without skilled and quick people looking over your site, all the features in the world wouldn't matter. Before signing up, ask questions and make sure that they're knowledgable and their response time is quick.

You need to mention what you want and how much you are expecting to pay, so that the companies here can suggest you their plans.

You also can check the offers in the offer area..

Originally posted by Belvadere
I'm leaving Interland after a year. HostPro was excellent, but I can't stand the service from Interland any longer. Since I'm new to the process and the pitfalls...any words of wisdom on finding a new hosting company and what challenges to expect in the changeover. I have 4 weeks before my Interland deal expires. I'd like to allow myself plenty of time to make the transition as smooth as possible. Thanks!

Hi Belvadere :)

- make a list of the features you must have

- make a secondary list of features you would like , but don't need

- visit a few of the better hosting directories like http://www.webhostdir.com/, http://www.findahost.com/ and http://www.resellerconnections/ (which have a regular shared hosting search now as well as reseller search).

- Using your criteria to search for hosts and short list those that seem to meet your needs

- Post your needs here at WHT in the advertising forum and add those you find suitable to your short list

- Do some research into your short listed hosts and read reviews ... this is really important because to pull out an old cliche 'you can't judge a book by it's cover' ... check things like how long they have been in business, what do people here at WHT say about them, do they get lots of bad review ...etc

- Email the ones you are seriously considering to gadge their response time and their professionalism (obviously pre-sale response isn't an completely accurate indicator of post-sale support, but if they take more than 24 hours to reply to a sales question or you get an unprofessional response you know to move on)

This may seem extensive, but you want to choose the right host the first time. Not have to move again in 2 months - or worse be ripped off!

Anyway, I hope this is helpful :)

I am a designer. I redesigned a site for one of my clients, a bank. They formerly hosted with Interland until a year ago when they switched to a new host the same time I did their site, keeping the same domain name.

Everything was fine until about 3 months after the hosting switch. Imagine our shock when their OLD web site suddenly appeared online!!! The old design that had been at their old host, Interland!! We had to contact Network Solutions who told us that it was Interland's fault -- even though the site was no longer hosted with them and the account had supposedly been closed. Apparently Interland regularly uploads data to Network Solutions and through some kind of technical glitch Interland was able to screw up the domain. Even though WHOIS info was correct, and they had no rights to access the domain! Network Solutions said they would fix the glitch.

Then, just this week, another problem with the same domain. Suddenly the site would not come up at all and email wouldn't work. Turns out Network Solutions had cancelled the domain name for nonpayment of 2 past invoices (from dates when the site was with Interland). Interland had charged my client but had never paid the domain name fees to Network Solutions!

I don't know what is going on at Interland, but they have cost me and my client a lot of time and frustration getting all this straightened out.

I recommend you always send an email to any hosting company's support team that you are interested in, and see how long it takes for them to respond.

If you have to wait more than a few hours for a reply, it is a good indication that you'll be waiting when you really need help after your site is already hosted there.

Another thing to do is call them during business hours. If you get an answering machine even though it is the middle of the day during the week, that's another warning sign.

In response to send an email and see how long it takes to get one back from the possible host. They could be quit willing to send back quick emails to you before you they get their money. But it is when you have joined that counts, so beware of the prompt emails before you pay them. Accurate emails, ones that deliver the goods, emails that are thorough. But that is my question as well, how do you know before it's too late?