Hello everyone at WHT.

In the last couple of weeks, I have been looking through a large number of Reseller Hosting related threads. From these I gathered a list of Hosting Resellers which I felt represented good value. I measured value based on advertised Prices, Services and WHT feedback.

To make it onto my consideration list, a Reseller Host had to have very little negative feedback in WHT. This can be a very stringent qualification, as many disgruntled customers seem to think they can exact vengeance on a Host by spewing all over them on WHT.

I also wanted to find who are the high achievers in the mid price market. This market being, as I see it, about US $15 - $45 per month. Preferably the only difference in service between lower and upper end price should be Disk Space & Bandwidth. i.e. the low end deal has the same features as the pricey one, but lesser server resources.

I didn't bother with uptime guarantees, because I felt anyone who consistently ran a dud server would very soon be found out on WHT.

I should mention that I intend to host mostly static, low intensity websites.

My Space and Bandwidth requirements are quite low. As low as 1GB space, 5GB Bandwidth. My main requirement is to have a Site Builder. I would like for some of my clients to create and maintain their Web Content. Any respectable online Site Builder will do, such as: Site Studio, RVSiteBuilder, or Soholaunch, SiteBuilderCX, Site Galore, SiteZen.

There are some Reseller Hosts who have a decent reputation here but do not have a site builder. Examples are: Site5.com, Httpme.com, hostnexus.com, dathorn.com

There are others who provide a Site Builder, but at a charge per account that will be using it. Examples are: ResellerZoom.com, HostGator.com

There are others who are good, but limit your domain hosting capability. The Catch-22 here being that this is probably a primary reason for them being good. They do not offer unlimited domains, but this also means your reseller account isn't being shared with someone who seeks to redefine what "unlimited" means. Examples of quality hosts who throttle the number of possible accounts: Jodohost.com, DiyHosting.com, AffordableHost.com

There are some Reseller Hosts who have a good reputation, but their Website gives very little information about themselves. In an Industry where Prices and Specifications hit you on most Home Pages, I am reluctant to sign on with a Webhost that hides their light under a bushel. Examples of Information Shy Resellers: ASmallOrange.com

And then there are the "Reseller Hosts" who just get on my nerves. You are told something like - 'Imagine if you signed up just 2 people per month. If you charged them $20 per month (paying us $10 per month for each such person), you would make quadzillion dollars of monopoly money'. Examples of Pyramid schemers masquerading as Reseller Hosts are: surf4cashrefugee, and getawayfrommefast Ltd.


There are also the Web Hosts just offering too much bandwidth to be taken seriously: dreamhost.com - 1000 GB bandwidth at $9.99/month


There are Reseller Hosts who have an affiliate program. Because of this their reputation can be skewed in a non-WHT-type environment. For instance, I have read a mind-blowingly fantastic review on HostGator, been knocked out, and clicked on the link to the HostGator website, only to be presented with the URL https://secure.hostgator.com/cgi-bin/affiliates/clickthru.cgi?id=WhenYouClickHereIGetACommission
Now, I am aware that HostGator is a reputable company, but it's hard to take a glowing review seriously, when the reviewer is paid what amounts to as a bribe for placing one company above all others. When a company's demand is increased by Trumpet blowers all around the world, I feel a consideration of it's value being provided should consider: A) The cost of the Trumpets and B) The artificially increased reputation. So even if HostGator really were the best Reseller Host, I would think twice before picking them, due this lingering doubt.

I must add, I was 2 minutes from signing with BlueWho.com, but then noticed some up and down status as far as Site Builders go.
So having sorted through most of these very good hosts, I saw the Specs for one particular Reseller Host which made me freeze. An Ice cold chill passed over me when I looked through IceStorm.com

For $25 / month, I was being offered not just one, but two Site Builders. These are Soholaunch & RVSiteBuilder. At the risk of appearing like an Informercial, included in the deal are: $7.95/year Free Domain Reseller Account, the plethora of Scripts that are common with Fantastico sightings, the SohoLaunch Shopping Cart which happily is integrated with SohoLaunch Site Builder. Unlimited domains, subdomains, ftp accounts, mysql databases. 5GB Space, 60 GB Bandwidth / Month.

The only wierd thing, which I can't account for, is Icestorm are hardly ever mentioned on the whole of WHT. Their catchphrase: Why IceStorm? Proven Reliability. But if that is the case, surely someone would mention them here in WHT. They started in 1997. How can they be this good, but still remain virtually anonymous.

According to a forum reply, IceStorm have 1000 clients, host 5000 domains and have 15 Servers. These are numbers that I'm comfortable with.

IceStorm's Adrian, close to 300 posts, is a very regular poster in the "Offers" Section of WHT. As a big positive, there are no negative comments which
follow the offers. In fact, to date, I haven't found any negative comments about IceStorm Hosting.
About the only negative is Icestorm had a public spat with another Internet company on WHT. Never a happy event.

I am on the verge of signing with IceStorm. If there is anyone who can state just reason why IceStorm and I shouldn't join in a mutually beneficial partnership, please speak now, or forever hold your peace.

Most specifically, if there is anything negative, or if someone knows of a Reseller offering good features, along the lines of Site Builders, Other Classy free Scripts, A bandwidth challenged but feature rich plan, and any other plan which can happily compete with IceStorm's $25 PRO-1 Reseller Plan.

I have a realistic budget of about $35, but if a brilliant offer came up, I would go upto $55.

If you have ever been with IceStorm, please talk about it. If IceStorm's advantages that I've outlined are visible on the Reseller Host you are with please talk about it.

I will walk into an IceStorm.com before the end of the weekend unless someone suggests to me otherwise. Thanks in Advance.

The only wierd thing, which I can't account for, is Icestorm are hardly ever mentioned on the whole of WHT.
They sure have been now and very colourfully :eek:

They sure have been now and very colourfully :eek:

Colorful indeed. Best of luck with IceStorm!

If you do sign up with them make sure to come back in about 6 months and let us know how things are going.

If you do sign up with them make sure to come back in about 6 months and let us know how things are going.
I will certainly keep WHT updated about the IceStorm service. I'll try for once a month updates at the least.

If my gut-feel is right, WHT could have another Reseller in the upper mix of the quality of JodoHost, HostGator, Httpme, ResellerZoom, etc.



P.S. - One of the members who replied to this thread seems to have all of the requirements I was after: Primehost.com - Standard Features, better than Decent Space/Bandwidth, Standard Unlimited features and a free Site Builder. All at $13.95. That's $11.00 less than the IceStorm package I'm looking at.

But IceStorm's seemingly redundant extra sitebuilder has me leaning heavily in their favour. As does their Soholaunch Shop Builder. And the other X-Factor things like no negative posts, 9 years in business etc.

I signed up with icestorm as a customer many many years ago, and since have passed it on to the friend I was helping with their site. I don't know how long ago exactly as it is showing 2002 on the domain(but I remember it expiring and needing renewed in a bit of a fiasco). I know icestorm has a person here on the forums as well, they might not be really active but I tihnk a lurker and sometimes posts.

All this to say, while I have not used their service directly in 7+ years it was very good for the time I had used it. Icestorm user, if you see this hit me with a PM and maybe you can tell me just how long ago it was, but its been AGES in internet time.

I say all this to say, Icestorm has been around a very long time and I think their offering and business plan are solid.

Thanks for the information Stephen. It's good to know that IceStorm was good many years ago. It shows there may be something to the claim of "Proven Reliability".

From what I've gathered, the WHT user:IceStorm is Adrian Gonzales, who it looks like is at least a part owner of Icestorm.com Hosting.

But IceStorm's seemingly redundant extra sitebuilder has me leaning heavily in their favour. As does their Soholaunch Shop Builder. And the other X-Factor things like no negative posts, 9 years in business etc.

First of all, thanks for considering us! :)

Interesting you pointed out that offering multiple site builders may seem redundant, but like with other types software (shopping carts, CPs, OS), there's no consensus on which one is best. I personally think Soholaunch has the most to offer and has a fantastic built-in shopping cart that no other site builder can compare with. RVSiteBuilder is not quite there, but it's still a very potent piece of software. We'll offer any site builder that we think is beneficial to our resellers.

I say all this to say, Icestorm has been around a very long time and I think their offering and business plan are solid.

Thanks, Stephen. I'm glad there's still few members here at WHT that can vouch for us. We rarely get mentioned here, but I know we've signed up many accounts directly from WHT over the years.

:lovewht:

--Adrian

Just put in my order for a 1 month PRO-1 Reseller Account. Cost: $24.95.

Just a matter of time till the confirmation email arrives.

One Reseller Hosting criteria that I forgot to mention earlier, is my desire to pay by Paypal, which is a payment option with IceStorm.

I will keep WHT posted.

Just out of curiosity, did you find all of these hosts in your list from the offers forum? or a combination of the offers forum and browsing WHT on a whole?

**Edit - good luck with icestorm - any host that has been around that long without a complaint history - is probably a good selection :)

Just out of curiosity, did you find all of these hosts in your list from the offers forum? or a combination of the offers forum and browsing WHT on a whole?

I started off with Google. And then I hit WHT. The Googling by itself was a little bit frustrating, because I'd end up with a lot of Affiliate Program Resellers, and also the "Business Opportunity" style of Reseller. I also remembered having stumbled across WHT few months earlier and thinking what a great forum it was.

I then pounced on just about every Reseller name I could find in the non Offers section of WHT. Initially, I didn't place much hope on the Offers section.

However, in the regular section of the forum I ran into many questions along the lines of "Who can you recommend as being the best Reseller?" Now, this is the kind of question that I myself was seeking answers to. I'd often see the stock-standard answer of "there is no best host" or "webhostingtalk's search feature is your best resource". Now, while that is no doubt a brilliant thing to suggest, it doesn't really help anyone to sort out the reseller they are after.

Eventually, I came across some interesting threads where some names would be thrown up. And also some threads where various members would also throw up over some names. I then decided on about 16 resellers. I decided to give IceStorm a lookin, initially because I found them in the Offers section (which isn't too hard to do). But when I did the side by side comparisons, I soon ran out of resellers at an alarmingly fast rate. Reasons such as, only accepting Credit Card payments, No Site Builder, Domains Limiting etc. decided the fate of most.

I would probably have gone with HostGator, due to good feedback on WHT. Unfortunately, HostGator charges a fee per account using the Site Builder. That's not a good idea for me, because I intend to host a large number of very small accounts.

I think it was last week, when IceStorm was the favorite, I had a look at the their Home Page, and ... the Host website was down. ULP!!! I beat a hasty retreat at that time, but later decided to give them a chance. I've got a good gut feel about this.

If any Reseller Host is reading this, the reasons I chose IceStorm:
Primary Reasons
1. Site Builder - in the case of IceStorm, 2 of them.
2. Accept Paypal
3. Many years in Business
4. No negative feedback on WHT
5. Gut Feel - They have a lot of things in common with the more talked about "good hosts".

Secondary Reasons - Not deciding factors, but nice to have
1. Free Domain Reseller Account
2. Soholaunch Shop Builder
3. $1 for the first month - this made me think: If they are giving the first month with zero profit, they must be confident their service is good, to feel they can keep the customer after the first month.

To answer your question, yes, initially I chose IceStorm straight out of the offers section. But in this particular case I chose them finally more because of what was not said about them in WHT rather than what was said.



P.S. - Now that's what I call targeted advertising. As soon as I received a couple of emails from Icestorm Hosting, My Gmail account is now advertising Web Hosting for some company. Caution: Google's taking over the planet. In ten years time, our world will be known as "Google Earth".

Working with Icestorm has been a pure pleasure for us (Soholaunch). We have sent many clients to them that were unhappy with their current hosting and have heard nothing but good feedback about their hosting and support. Plus they include Soholaunch with their packages... what are you waiting for!;)

I woke up this morning and found that overnight, my Icestorm account had been created.

Working with Icestorm has been a pure pleasure for us Thank you for the feedback Joe. It's nice to know Icestorm can take on other people's disgruntled clients and make them gruntled ... or at least bring them to a respectable state of jollihood.

Now I'm off to go and start setting up my Reseller Account.

:clap:

3. Many years in Business
4. No negative feedback on WHT
That's a touch criteria there, as even the best hosts can have one or two negative comments on WHT.

There are some Reseller Hosts who have a decent reputation here but do not have a site builder. Examples are: Site5.com, Httpme.com, hostnexus.com, dathorn.com

I'm not sure what kind of search you did on WHT but you've listed Site5 as having "a decent reputation here" Hmmm...? Note that early 2005, Site5 was among the favorites here at WHT, but today they've taken a full turnaround. The owners used to actively post here and have completely disappeared.

I haven't heard of IceStorm but most of the others you mentioned do have very good reps on WHT (for good reason). You didn't seem to mention Dotable though. Although I haven't tried them yet, they have a stellar reputation here (before Dotable, Aussie Bob used to own HttpMe).

I started early 2003 and ultimately learned how to "navigate" WHT. If you know how to read between the lines here, you really need not look elsewhere.

And by the way, I've used over 10 different resellers and so far my personal choice is HostGator (among those that I've used*). Yes, they do a lot of advertising and recently when I did a search for "reseller hosting" in Google, they came out on top. Maybe they spend a lot on marketing, but I can say first hand that they know what they're doing.

It does seem you did a lot of research. And your criteria was very clear and it did limit your choices.

Goodluck and do give us feedback about your experiences with IceStorm.

*Off my head, I've used: Site5, Bliksemhosting, midPhase, HostDime, SharkSpace. I still use HostGator, ResellerZoom, JaguarPC

Generally I only looked deeper into a Reseller if they clearly advertised a Site Builder in their Website.

For this reason, I didn't investigate Site5 very deep. I must say, as far as I can recall, only really noticing positive comments about Site5. Perhaps seeing them so often being grouped together with other big names, I automatically thought they were in the elite class. Sad to hear about their (WHT) demise. Even though I noticed their name, I didn't notice anything negative. That's probably a good lesson for anyone looking for a host. If you see many positive comments about a particular host, that is not necessarily an accurate reflection of their present status. You must specifically investigate a host to find their current status.

As far as Dotable goes, I dropped them early in the piece because their not having a Site Builder advertised did not measure up well against the price advertised for the minimum package.

If Dotable started Australian based hosting, I would probably sign up with them down the track. If my information is still current, searches on Google restricted to pages from Australia would show up a website if it either had an au domain or if it was hosted in Australia (or both). In which case it would be advantageous for my clients to have an Australian server, especially if they had an international domain.