My brain is fried from finding and cross-checking hosts. I think this post may be the easiest way for me and other shoppers to find an affordable, reputable, reliable, fast host, with good customer support.

I'm sure the regulars here have a fairly good idea of the hosts that repeatedly get good feedback, so please share your research or feeling for the general consensus.

Posting more or fewer than 5 top hosts is great. Feel free to specify in which area of the hosting-market your picks excell.

Thanks from all us newbies,
Aloosenation

If you're talking about individual hosting accounts Hosting Matters is the best host I have ever used. I have gone through four of them and thank the stars I found Hosting Matters. Their support is wonderful and the sense of community among the customers is the best I have seen.

Hosting Matters (http://www.hostmatters.com)

If you are talking about reseller accounts, non-dedicated server, then there are two who I use that are outstanding. MCHost and Voxtreme. Both offer owners who are extremely knowledgable, participate in the business and a have a high customer service ethic.

MCHost (http://www.mchost.com)
Voxtreme (http://www.voxtreme.com)

Choosing from any of these hosting companies almost guarantees you'll be satisfied.

<edit>:eek:</edit> my company, i have never ripped myself off :)

WebSpaceSolutions my company, i have never ripped myself off


Oh i think thats a lie ntwaddel, you see by advertising for yourself in a non-advertising forum, you're gonna get in trouble, and as a result you ripped yourself off :eek2:.

Originally posted by ntwaddel
WebSpaceSolutions (http://www.webspacesolutions.com) my company, i have never ripped myself off :)

read the rules (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/misc.php?action=forum-rules) :angry:

Top 5:
1. www.c1host.com
2. www.c1host.com
3. www.c1host.com
4. www.c1host.com
5. www.c1host.com

;)

he forgot = replace the 1 with i :)

if i replace the 1 with a i, it looks like: ***** :)

1. Myacen
2. Itricks

im sorry!!! :bawling:

any your post is still against the rules...

aloosenation : stay away from C1host.com they are bad :)

you guys are so tricky :)

My burgeoning anal-retentiveness in trying to make a tidy reference-post is meeting with the reality of forums.

Pgrote started it off so well...

Ok to respond to the posts so far:
_____________________________

Dci -- What are 1. Myacen and 2. Itricks? I can't imagine a host would call themselves "itricks," so are these fakes also?


Pgrote --
• www.hostingmatters.com looked so promising -- clean layout, fast load... but then they charge $6/month for 10megs/1gig transfer up to $46 for 425 megs/17gigs transfer! Their package names are odd also (M250 for that first plan and P4000 for the latter).

• However, www.mchost.com really offers some amazing deals for resellers -- base plan: 1 gig space/18 gigs transfer for $35/month!!

• www.voxtreme.com also looks great both for reselling and virtual hosting (although they were down when I clicked them 5 minutes ago) --
base virtual hosting plan: 250megs/7.5gigs transfer for $9.99/month
base reselling plan: 1gig/12gig transfer for $25.00/month

Thanks for those two Pgrote.

Anyone else?

You're welcome.

The money spent at Hosting Matters is well worth it considering the stellar uptime and support.

MCHost and Voxtreme are good choices as well.

I've used MCHost for 6 months now, they have a major problem with communication when errors crop up. It's been over 2 months since they started talking about moving everyone from Burst.net Datacenter to DV2 Data Center, and the old clients are still at Burst, while new ones are set up at DV2. One server was down for the bulk of the past 24 hrs, and communication on the issue was minimal. The problem was resolved, but several periods of 3-5 hrs with no updates, despite the fact that on numerous occasions clients have indicated that we want updates every hour, even if it's just "Nothing's changed, the problem is being worked on". The help desk, according to Marc has 2 people who are ineffective, however, it seems these 2 people do quite abit of answering, which has irritated numerous resellers. Maybe they will get better, but I don't know. Communication is key, and they are lousy at it.

arg, that doesn't sound good.

Aren't there any cheap, time-proven hosts? I trust some of the small, young companies recommended by various people in this forum, but I'm not sure that even the companies can gaurantee that they will be in business for years to come.

Try schogini.com I hosted 8 domains there for 3 years and my sites were never even down once, not even for a minute. They respond to emails within 2 hours and have been in business since 1997.

The only reason I ever moved was because I needed spaces bigger than 100MB and they don't have anything beyond that. I wish the 2 hosts I have been with in the past 2 years were even half as reliable as schogini.

If Sree and Jimmy (schogini) began offering packages bigger than 100MB I'd go back in a heartbeat no matter what the price!

I should also add, that despite the communications issues, Most of the staff are good, they try, but where proactive communication is concerned there is a big problem

I cannot say for the other four but I like

jorge over at

hostculture.com -all linux no windows good reseller plan I have not had any downtime, great if you need just need shared space.

I actually found them on this forum, and I think threads like this are good.

• www.hostingmatters.com looked so promising -- clean layout, fast load... but then they charge $6/month for 10megs/1gig transfer up to $46 for 425 megs/17gigs transfer!

• www.voxtreme.com also looks great both for reselling and virtual hosting (although they were down when I clicked them 5 minutes ago)

Sorry to point our Voxtreme but just making a point.

You want high uptime, but don't want to pay for it? A suggestion would be to choose whether the cost of your hosting outweighs the availability of your website.

Greg Moore

Originally posted by Dci
1. Myacen
2. Itricks

Who-hoo! My name has trickled into the forum!

I'll say Alwayswebhosting :D

They seemed to have a little trouble back last month, but it's all be sorted out, so no worries.

Why I'm recommending them is that they are one company guaranteed to reply to your email. Up till today, after 5 months with them, I still receive email replies in under 8 hours, and Ron has been really helpful with my account.

I've had little server downtime so far. Actually it couldn't have been more than 10 minutes for the longest one - Ron was on it asap the moment there was trouble, so for me he really did live up to the 99.99% uptime guarantee :)

If you want service with a smile, I guess I'll point you to these guys ;)

http://www.site5.com - ever reliable but slightly expensive?

http://www.ecommercediscovery.com - my current host and still happy with them.

http://www.venturesonline.com - Seems to be recommended frequently here

Hmm, can only think of 3 at the moment. =P

There have been 3 hosts, that I have been with. This is what I think.

1) Dot5Hosting.com
2) Vpod.biz
3) HostRocket.com

mhalbrook, i thought you sorted this issue with kiwi? (Marc).

Also webjeff you are breaking the rules :stickout

Choosing a web host depends on how much you are willing to spend (dollars). In some cases you get what you pay for. Also the operating systems vary somewhat (Win, Unix/Linux/FreeBSD, others).

If you have one web site, want a tier 1 provider with FreeBSD (Unix) and you are willing to pay for it, don't screw around, go with: Verio or Pair

If you want FreeBSD (Unix) for a medium price with options for adding more than one domain per account, try others. I know Infinology (mixed reviews - check better business bureau record), FeaturePrice (watch the unlimited bandwidth stuff in their price list, because it isn't - better business bureau record is in revision). Service quality is not near as good as the tier 1 providers mentioned above.

If you have one web site, want a tier 1 provider with RedHat (Linux) and you are will to pay for it, try: Webmasters (they are better known for IRC hosting but have their new NOC in Florida).

If you want RedHat (Linux) for a medium price with options for adding more than one domain per account, try the resellers on this forum. Look out for those unlimited bandwidth and/or unlimited webspace. These resellers are only as good as their service providers (don't go below 3rd tier). Rackshack is a tier 1 that manages resellers' servers down in the Houston, TX area. I would guess that they support at least a third of the resellers on this forum. VenturesOnline is another tier 1 that has a decent reseller program and they are based in the Denver/Boulder, CO area. There are other good tier 1 providers. --- I have heard some remarks about good service from MCHost (i never used them), Voxtreme (i never used them), AlwaysWebHosting (i do use this one, so far it's been great), and I think at one or two of those are 2nd tier hosts with some managed servers provided by Rackshack. VenturesOnline (i used them and they were ok), and I am not really familiar with their mass customer resellers. There are other decent resellers (2nd tier) and resellers (3rd tier) of resellers. Don't go below that point because service quality tends to go down hill, if they have any service.

Bewares:
C I (based in the Dallas area) Host (poor Better Business Bureau rating and bad Dallas Business Journal Press)
Host2Own (had to call there techs several times to tell them their servers were down when they should have been watching them them)
OLM (seems ok but look out for the nickel and dime for additional features)
Superb (seemed ok, at the time they did not have a control panel and the directory structure was not great. They do have a control panel now but I dont think it id full featured)

Suggest you check bbb.org (don't use host if rated UNSATISFACTORY) and corporate secretary of state records (don't use host if corporate charters have been REVOKED) where they are based as an additional measure. Also go to arin.net or netcraft.com, chase down some IP blocks of these hosts, look at some of the websites they service (are they running and what type of content is present), and determine if you feel comfortable being with that host.

I hope this helps! :cool:

Thanks for the post intellec; very informative and helpful. What do you mean by "tier" hosts? Are you classifying original hosts vs resold hosting or degree of renown?

Tier 1 web host to me means a host that has their own:
- Network Operating Center in a secure building (not a house)
- Staff running the NOC (employed or equity partnered)
- Block(s) of IP Numbers (assigned by ARIN directly)
- Connectivity to a major carrier (at least OC-48)

What is a "Network Operating Center" in your view? You mean a data center? Or an office running a local network behind a locked door? :D

Theres two things i don't agree with intellec's response:

You don't need blocks of ip's assigned by ARIN, if you had like an oc12 of connectivity in a data center owned by sprint, and you had all sprint ip's, it wouldn't reduce anything about your data center.

And not that many places have 2.5gbps of connectivity, was RS not considered a data center before their recent upgrades? :eek2: Unless that is to imply the carrier has the oc48, but not yourself, then thats understandable :).

Who-hoo! My name has trickled into the forum!

Clicked on your site from the link in your post... I'll say this to you for the benefit of the originator of this thread, but take heart, it applies to 90% of the hosting providers I've checked out in this forum:

Didn't see any reference to private nameservers, dedicated IP addresses and SSL.

As a serious reseller with several clients who use SSL with their e-commerce sites, the above features are what I look for first in a host.

If I don't see them upfront at the site, I draw the conclusions that the hosting provider is:
1) a loner who either resells himself or has a leased server
2) not in touch with the real needs of serious resellers
3) has a "don't tell, maybe they won't ask" policy

Of course, I might be drawing the wrong conclusions altogether, but nevertheless, they are still the conclusions I get, so I thought I might as well share them with you.

To review your site:
1) customer quotes about great service on the homepage always strike me as unoriginal, an insult to the visitor's intelligence, amateurish, and are my first red flag to start looking somewhere else. Anybody can write their own customer reviews. When I do a search at netcraft on the domain name of your customer review (nemixan.com), it reports: "We could not get any results for your selected site."

A traceroute of nemixan.com shows: "ERROR: DNS reports that 'nemixan.com' is an unknown host. Please make sure the host name is correct, and try again. "

Why bother?

2) The "HOSTING ASSURED" reference might work, but only for the very new and dumb. I hope they don't charge you money for that scam.

3) Design is okay, but nothing that shouts "real company with real address, phone number, business license, design staff", and so on. From your "whois":
MUENYONG, RICK RICK@ONIMA.COM
PO BOX 5594
N/A
DIAMOND BAR, CA 91765
US
909-598-3026
A) PO Box: I know a lot of the resellers use them, but it tells me something about their desire to stay hidden, and makes me question whether they have a legal business license.
B) Yes, I called the phone number. I always try to find a phone number before I settle on a host. Call the number above. The answering machine message doesn't instill confidence in "itricks".

4) Support section is "generic"... looks like every other reseller of a reseller (even if it isn't, it looks like it).

5) Support forum is a ghost town. That always tells me something about company's size and time in service. Unless a support forum looks like venturesonline's, I wouldn't hurt my company by having that so-called "feature".

I am not trying to "pick on" this hosting provider. But this is a WebHosting Forum where serious people come for serious solutions.

Today, anybody with a computer, a domain name, Dreamweaver and $19.95 can become a webhost overnight. I find that fact startling. Because there are a lot of good people placing their faith and the future of their website (and sometimes their company image) on the promises of these overnight, here-today-gone-tomorrow-back-the-day-after-tomorrow-under-a-new-name hosting providers.

And that, forum friends, is no small matter. It would be nice, if not essential, to have some kind of governmental clearing house for hosting providers, where legal licenses can be obtained.

I definately don't expect to get much agreement on this subject from most, if not all of the hosts in this forum. To those who argue these points, I say to the wise: "See? I rest my case."

I'm currently with http://www.vibehost.com and I'm very pleased with what I get.

For OC-48 I mean the main carriers.
The ARIN blocks could be rented from Sprint to another party. In that case not a handful, but enough to cover client's needs. More like a divided block. ARIN has minimums (like 4,096 IP blocks) when they assign so I can see a couple of smaller host sharing one block.

Hmm, top 5 eh...

1) HiStyle Hosting : http://www.histyle.biz/ - Where my site (http://www.xcalibur.ws/) is hosted right now, great service and fast response, never had a problem with them yet. Owner of the host is one of nicest i've met.

2) PriorityColocation : http://www.prioritycolocation.com/ - Porcupine's company.. a tech site that I used to work for is hosted there.. he's a great guy and great service too.

3) Freestyle Hosting : http://www.freestylehosting.com/ -diederik's company.. again, great guy... i talk to him frequently... i have a friend who's hosted here... his site is fast and up everytime i visit, and their prices are quite good.

4) Dominet : http://www.dominet.net/ - Have some stuff hosted there as well on a subdomain that my friend gave me..he's hosted by dominet and he likes it too, great speed and uptime.. never talked to the host, but from the looks of it, seems great.

5) Don't have a 5th host yet ;)

-X :D

the-muse, that was quite excellent.

I can tell you who are the 5 worst but since I've been with Splashhost I have no complaints. Thanks Alan.

why doesnt anyone type ***** they type c1host :S

master_tee: did you type that and go "ohhhh"? :D

Originally posted by porcupine
master_tee: did you type that and go "ohhhh"? :D

:D :D :D

I think there's helpful stuff in here -- keep it going?

I admit that I havent read through all the other posts (I keep getting errors), but my top 5 would be:

1. VenturesOnline.com - Have been with for 9 or so months
2. AffordableHost.com - Have been with for 8 months
3. FutureQuest.com - I would be here if I had the money :)

Well there are my top three anyway. I suggest you look both use the SEARCH button on these forums to look up information ona potential host, and also check to see how long they have been around for (both with the SEARCH function) and by doing a WHOIS.

Good Luck on your Search!

Erg I just pasted someones long reply to this thread an inserted lots of comments and then something happened and it posted the original quote without my comments. I'll repost them tomorrow when I'm not so tired.

In reply to the below: er... ok... I'm sorry I made a mistake....

Originally posted by IT Hosting
There should be a rule about that.

Siimply rediculous. :rolleyes:

http://www.Myacen.com
http://www.F5Hosting.com
http://www.FutureQuest.com
http://www.VenturesOnline.com
http://www.HostingMatters.com

Some are more expensive than others but if they have a plan that fits your needs and budget, you can't go wrong with any of these hosts. I've been a client with 3 of them in the past or present.

Originally posted by aloosenation


Dci -- What are 1. Myacen and 2. Itricks? I can't imagine a host would call themselves "itricks," so are these fakes also?


I originally founded the company with a fellow named rick, and because it was catchy it was named IT Rick's. He ran out of time to help with the business, so now it is just IT Hosting, although the logo still reflects the domain name (just because).

My rebuttles to this attack are in red.

Originally posted by the-muse
To review your site:
1) customer quotes about great service on the homepage always strike me as unoriginal, an insult to the visitor's intelligence, amateurish, and are my first red flag to start looking somewhere else. Anybody can write their own customer reviews. When I do a search at netcraft on the domain name of your customer review (nemixan.com), it reports: "We could not get any results for your selected site."

A traceroute of nemixan.com shows: "ERROR: DNS reports that 'nemixan.com' is an unknown host. Please make sure the host name is correct, and try again. "

Why bother?

Maybe he took his business elsewhere since then, maybe there was a problem with your ISP... it isn't my business how he uses his domain with is account

2) The "HOSTING ASSURED" reference might work, but only for the very new and dumb. I hope they don't charge you money for that scam.

A scam? It allows users to submit an honest rating regulated by a third party...

3) Design is okay, but nothing that shouts "real company with real address, phone number, business license, design staff", and so on. From your "whois":
MUENYONG, RICK RICK@ONIMA.COM
PO BOX 5594
N/A
DIAMOND BAR, CA 91765
US
909-598-3026
A) PO Box: I know a lot of the resellers use them, but it tells me something about their desire to stay hidden, and makes me question whether they have a legal business license.
B) Yes, I called the phone number. I always try to find a phone number before I settle on a host. Call the number above. The answering machine message doesn't instill confidence in "itricks".

That is the WHOIS for itricks.com, my company is itricks.net


4) Support section is "generic"... looks like every other reseller of a reseller (even if it isn't, it looks like it).

Why is generic? It contains an email address and a helpdesk... what more could you want? An animated support character?

5) Support forum is a ghost town. That always tells me something about company's size and time in service. Unless a support forum looks like venturesonline's, I wouldn't hurt my company by having that so-called "feature".

We tested the forums for a week to gauge whether or not to add them

"Maybe he took his business elsewhere"? Then I erroneously thought this person who was bragging about your service was a client of yours? And I can only wonder why someone would place a statement of endorsement on his homepage from someone who isn't even hosted there. And if you tell me now he is hosted there, why isn't his present address on the "ad"?

There was nothing wrong with my ISP that day.
=================================
A scam? It allows users to submit an honest rating regulated by a third party... Oh, really? And who are these users? Don't bother answering. I have fifteen personal accounts on my own server, all with different user names and IP addresses. I could vote for myself from several different computers and give myself a perfect rating, couldn't I?

That is the WHOIS for itricks.com, my company is itricks.net My apologies... here is the whois for itricks.net:
Registrant:
ITN
24392 Hampton Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
US

Domain Name: ITRICKS.NET

Administrative Contact:
Hexen, Gem itn@myrealbox.com
24392 Hampton Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
US
491 722 9034
===================
1) REGISTRANT: No listing in Beverly Hills
2) 24392 Hampton Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210: "The Address you provided could not be found." - MapQuest
3) 491 722 9034 : Called that number... couldn't get through... called Operator for the location of area code 491, prefix 722. Operator said there is no location for that area code. Asked directory assistance for number for ITN, and Gem Hexen at the above address... not found. But she did find an ITN in Thousand Oaks, CA: 805-777-7055

Maybe that's you. Maybe tomorrow I'll check with the California Secretary of State's office to see how many ITN's are registered... Beverly Hills City Hall might help with the search as well.

ALERT! I am not saying you are perpetrating a fraud. You might be a wonderful human being, with all the best intentions. You also might be a fifteen year old kid not legally responsible for your actions should I need to sue you at some point. I don't know. Your site and your whois makes that rather questionable, in my humble opinion, and from my cautious "been-burned-because-I-trusted-blindly-too-often" perspective. As a host, you should be happy I am so security conscious.

I am simply following through what I observed in my first post.
Why is generic? It contains an email address and a helpdesk... what more could you want? An animated support character? "general, common." It's too easily assumed by too many that there is some real technical support behind the help desk. An Email address? And?

What more could I want? Phone support. That's what I give, and that's what I get. You can throw in the animated support character as a bonus for all this good advice I am giving you.

Originally posted by the-muse
Oh, really? And who are these users? Don't bother answering. I have fifteen personal accounts on my own server, all with different user names and IP addresses. I could vote for myself from several different computers and give myself a perfect rating, couldn't I?

That is a completely outrageous statement. The postings are anonymous to the public, however they are all logged in the host plan admin...

5/26/2002 6:17:00 PM ***@nemixan.com 92%
5/30/2002 1:20:00 PM *********@asexuality.org 96%
6/1/2002 3:11:00 AM *****@codetalkers.info 96%
6/6/2002 7:54:00 AM ****@rsart.co.uk 96%
6/29/2002 12:49:00 PM *@bawlsforall.com 94%
7/18/2002 11:22:00 PM ******@pokebotus.org 96%

You are free to visit any of those domains, and if the users choose to share a public email, you can contact them and ask them if the rating is valid. Thanks for your time :rolleyes:.

I definately don't expect to get much agreement on this subject from most, if not all of the hosts in this forum. To those who argue these points, I say to the wise: "See? I rest my case."

Well put my sweet and even though we got the .coms mixed up with the .nets the outcome appears the same.

Stange coincidence the same post included another host I wouldn't give the time of day:mad:

Originally posted by IT Hosting
[B]

That is a completely outrageous statement. The postings are anonymous to the public, however they are all logged in the host plan admin...

<others snipped>

7/18/2002 11:22:00 PM ******@pokebotus.org 96%

/B]

Since I am the above person who rated iTricks, I can attest to the fact that my rating of them is genuine and accurate. Maybe I'm ignorant. but can't a host can have great presence, a beautiful site, tons of fluff and still suck right? - I think so! I don't see anything about their website that says - "run away now" -

FWIW, iTricks is good...damn good if you ask me.

hornsmoker -

Originally posted by the-muse
Registrant:
ITN
24392 Hampton Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
US

Domain Name: ITRICKS.NET

Administrative Contact:
Hexen, Gem itn@myrealbox.com
24392 Hampton Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
US
491 722 9034
===================
1) REGISTRANT: No listing in Beverly Hills
2) 24392 Hampton Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210: "The Address you provided could not be found." - MapQuest
3) 491 722 9034 : Called that number... couldn't get through... called Operator for the location of area code 491, prefix 722. Operator said there is no location for that area code. Asked directory assistance for number for ITN, and Gem Hexen at the above address... not found. But she did find an ITN in Thousand Oaks, CA: 805-777-7055

Maybe that's you. Maybe tomorrow I'll check with the California Secretary of State's office to see how many ITN's are registered... Beverly Hills City Hall might help with the search as well.
the plans there look very good, but after reading this i would stay away...

I haven't read every post in this thread buy I live oh about 10-20 minutes from Beverly Hills and I can tell you that there is no 415 area code in Beverly hills as it is 310.

-Steven

I tricks currently has servers through us, and I went through the same thing when i initially attempted to contact them, until i talked to Lazz @ Chatcircuit and found out the whole story of why Gem is so protective of her personal information.

They host through us, so obviously they do exist, and obviously aren't buying the cheapest services either, what more can i say. If you've got questions about someones personal information, i'd just ask them in private, some people dont like to be seen as much as others, and there are valid reasons for this often.

Every time i've dealt with itricks i've never had any issues and Gem is a really nice person and a pleasure to do business through, so if you're gonna bash her, at least substantiate it with some customers complaints or something :).

Aside from that, all i can do is vouch they do exist, they're on our network, and we've never had a complaint or anything short of praise regarding them before.

Porcupine... how nice of you to defend someone who has servers through you...
No offense to you, or to Gem, who may be the most wonderful human being in the world... my observations are strictly objective in nature.

Businesses who service the public do not have the luxury of keeping their information private, regardless of personal reasons.

If you can't see the dangers of such business practices from the perspective of any potential customer, who is, in essence, handing over his or her entire life in the form of a credit card number, then I would question your business maturity.

According to the Federal Trade Commission's identity theft Website, there were more than 86,000 victims of identity theft in the United States last year. And thanks to a growing number of Websites that put a price tag on your personal information, the problem seems to be growing.

Business is no game. There are innocent, hard working, good people who depend on the businesses with which they deal to be completely upfront.

Do you think that because your name appears in this forum quite often, and you have the apparent respect of others here, that I am to casually dismiss my observations here? You may be a wonderful human being, but that doesn't mean you are the most careful business person.

If any business wants to be taken seriously, one of the first things they should do is establish a location and reliable means of contact.

Even a mother, father, aunt, uncle or grandparent who would offer to serve as a contact for you is better than "hiding".

To argue with this logic is to expose one's own business acumen.

[i]2) 24392 Hampton Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210: "The Address you provided could not be found." - MapQuest

You cannot find my home or office address on Mapquest. They are both new streets built in the last 16 months...

the-muse:

I know hundreds of people who do not put valid contact information on whois lookups. I've been thinking about invalidating my own.

For one, im getting sick and tired of retarded sales people attempting to sell me stuff as a result of that (yes, they look up my domain, find my number, and call me to sell me their merchandise).

If you don't like the fact that Gems whois lookup doesen't provide her full information, don't use her services, but by no means does that give anyone a right to wage a war just because the whois entries are incorrect.

As i said, personally, most of the webhosts around here you couldn't find a phone number for if you tried, i fail to see what is so different here, but if you're gonna pick on someone, have a slightly more valid reason, as i can pull up domains of my own that dont have whatsoever valid contact information on them to prevent this annoyance.

And yes, I am very carefull with such business, and Gem's account was originally put on hold for 3-4 days while i found out more information.

Coming back to topic,

I would like to add focalhosting.com to the list of top-of-top hosts.

I personally have enjoyed 170 days of 100% uptime from my ded server from them and I can tell you that Alex Llera is an outstanding support guy with an uncompromising attitude towards quality.

They do shared,reseller and ded servers.. whole heartedly recommended if you dont mind the extra price

I'm one of the newbs, as the-muse puts it, who's looking for a good deal on Hosting.

I just wanted to say that the comments made by the-muse, porcupine and itricks are all VERY USEFUL!

Thank you the-muse for being so diligent (even if it can seem calous to the folks on the hosting end), you put light on some things that might otherwise be passed over.

And also thank you to porcupine and itricks for your diligence as well in responding with the 'real world' issues of being a Host.

I'd like to give ITricks.net a try, but I am concerned about whether or not I'll have a dedicated IP (as my domain is hosted at another site). ITricks, can you elaborate on this?

thanks all.

Hi Namuna, we charge extra for dedicated IPs. Please contact sales@ itricks.net for more information (although I believe you already contacted us regarding this). ~ Gem

Alareach: You cannot find my home or office address on Mapquest. They are both new streets built in the last 16 months... If you're talking about the address I found listed in whois with a 90210 zip code, come on... there hasn't been new streets built in Beverly Hills in that area code in the last 16 months...

Even IF there had been, directory assistance would have had it in the records. Come on... I'm not saying you're a bad person. I'm offering suggestions to people who need to protect themselves from those who are bad persons. Didn't you see the information I posted in this thread about identity theft? One is only looking out for the well being of the client by establishing the business as "contactable".

From Porcupine I know hundreds of people who do not put valid contact information on whois lookups. I've been thinking about invalidating my own. I'm afraid you just don't seem to get it. You could know ten million people who do not put valid contact information on whois lookups - that doesn't mean it's right, and that doesn't mean it's smart.

I'll bet you know the address of the location your server is housed. Please don't say you don't, just to make a point. I really wouldn't want to believe you are that naive.

There will be those who read these posts, like Namuna, who will learn something from them. In the end, people will make up their own minds about the risks they want to take when handing over credit card information to total strangers who they couldn't find any other way but Email if they needed to in case of emergency.

And, unfortunately, even if someone thoroughly checks out a business, and the business has a valid address, phone number, license, etc., that still doesn't guarantee the customer won't get shafted. It just reduces the risk by a greater margin, and makes legal recourse more plausible for those able and willing to follow through with litigation.

I've said enough about this subject now... may you all prosper and treat your customers as you would like your service providers to treat you.

A newb here.

I can see a few hosting companies being mentioned here. Correct me if I'm wrong, but all of these host run on Linux base.

Any good recommendation for hosts able to run ASP codes ???

GilaMesh,

I can recommend handyhosting.com for Windows hosting

Also ADEhost who seems very knowledgible and committed [dont know if Mike does shared hosting]

I'll have a look, thanks MotleyFool...

This has proved a useful thread, I've picked a series of stinking hosts in the last year since leaving the excellent namehog.net (my number one choice but unfortunately my site outgrew their deals - the only reason for leaving as service and uptime is top notch, my other domain has been up for 18 months without interruption)

I'm now sick to death of crap hosts that seem OK for a while and then disappear to the extent that I'm seriously considering almost trebling my hosting costs to go with media temple as they are the only ones I know of that I've seen around for a long time and are well regarded.

I am no longer interested in the reseller kiddies and todays incident with totallyhosted.net seemingly disappearing has really pushed me over the edge with hosts! Thanks for this thread, it's been most useful!

yeah, good post. Your comment inspired me. Here is the list of peoples' top picks so far (alphabetical no less):

____________________
www.adehost.com

www.affordablehost.com

www.alwayswebhosting.com

www.dominet.net

www.dot5hosting.com

www.ecommercediscovery.com

www.f5hosting.com

www.focalhosting.com

www.freestylehosting.com

www.futurequest.com

www.handyhosting.com

www.histyle.biz (www.xcalibur.ws hosted there)

www.hostculture.com

www.hostrocket.com

www.hostmatters.com
$6: 10megs/1gig
$46: 425megs/17gigs

www.itricks.net (some contraversy, but explanations provided)

www.mchost.com
$35: 1 gig/18gig
(mhalbrook: possible proactive communication problems)

www.myacen.com

www.pair.com

www.prioritycolocation.com

www.schogini.com

www.site5.com

www.splashhost.com

www.venturesonline.com

www.verio.com

www.vibehost.com

www.voxtreme.com
$9.99: 250megs/7.5gigs
$25: 1gig/12gig

www.vpod.biz
________________________

I was not inspired enough to find out the costs of all the plans.

If you want to give more info on any of the ones here (plans, where they house their servers, good/bad experiences) I'll add brief notes to the listing.

I will add new hosts to this list as they are recommended here.

I don't have any personal experience with any of the hosts here. I recommend researching them thouroughly (a search on this forum usually turns up comments).

--aloosenation

Originally posted by TheMMIz
I admit that I havent read through all the other posts (I keep getting errors), but my top 5 would be:

1. VenturesOnline.com - Have been with for 9 or so months
2. AffordableHost.com - Have been with for 8 months
3. FutureQuest.com - I would be here if I had the money :)



I can vouch for affordablehost too... been there 10 months. Minimal downtime and good customer service.

STuart

http://www.pair.com
http://www.futurequest.net

I have used both in the past and I loved every second I was with them. If you want quality, get ready to pay, but believe me it's worth it in the long run...;)

www.purple-paw.com

I've been trying to access "http://www.mycaen.com/" page for quite a while. What happen to you guys, DOWN ???

whoops, that's my bad -- it's

www.myACEn.com

I'll fix that.

I would pick www.alphaomegahosting.com been with them for more than a month now and everythign is great, especially their support.

They've got the new site design too, cool

i got two mediam site hosting with them, one of which is phpBB forum

Originally posted by aloosenation
yeah, good post. Your comment inspired me. Here is the list of peoples' top picks so far (alphabetical no less):

I will add new hosts to this list as they are recommended here.

I don't have any personal experience with any of the hosts here. I recommend researching them thouroughly (a search on this forum usually turns up comments).

--aloosenation


You have a decent list. I see you have left all of the main poster childs of problem web hosting off your list and that is a good thing. :cool:

Originally posted by aloosenation
www.itricks.net (some contraversy, but explanations provided)

The 'controversy' does not reflect my company in any way. The poster has no experience with my company as a customer or prospective customer. It is hardly valid to say this means the quality of service is poor in any way...

Originally posted by MotleyFool
GilaMesh,

Also ADEhost who seems very knowledgible and committed [dont know if Mike does shared hosting]

Holy COW I got a mention, just found this out today from one of my clients. thank you, thank you, thank you

and yes I do do shared hosting :)

I am committed, but to be considered knowledgible I have to really work hard. I just think I'm a regular joe like everyone else.

Mike

Originally posted by intellec



You have a decent list. I see you have left all of the main poster childs of problem web hosting off your list and that is a good thing. :cool:

What are you trying to say ? :)

Futurequest comes highly recommended and you can reach Deb, one of their guru's, on this board for more info.

I understand that this might be a slightly contraversial list, as a fair number of hosts who post in this forum are not yet mentioned. I think, however, as positive and negative comments come in, this could prove to be a great help to prospective customers (as well as other hosts who can emmulate the business practices of the listed hosts).


___________________
One of the reasons I'm having such a hard time finding a web-hosting company is that it is hard to figure out what kind of company I am dealing with.

I urge hosts to be clear and up-front about the details of their business.

If a company does not tell me about itself in detail, I think they are hiding something. If they are hiding the basic information, I think, what else are they hiding? I will probably look for a different host.

There is nothing wrong with an individual renting bulk space on a company's server and then reselling parts of the space affordably. However, I want to know it!

There IS something wrong with not disclosing that this is what you are doing, clearly, in the "about us" portion of your website.


1. What kind of company are you? (number of employees, corporation/company/doing business as, registered with the state, etc.?)

2. Where are you? (physical address, contact information)

3. How long have you been in buisness?

4. Do you own your own servers? Rent servers? Rent space?

5. What kind of servers are they? (Please explain this in "layman's" terms)

6. Where are your servers? (address, specifics about the building that houses them)

7. What kind of connection do you have to the internet? (Again, please explain this in layman's terms)
________________



Regarding www.itricks.net: itricks.net seems to be a reseller of www.prioritycolocation.com. Prioritycolocation.com seems to be a reputable host with many good recommendations on this board.

Just a FYI,

Yes, itricks utilizes our services, and i'd like to think we're a very reputable host, as very few try harder to be, but itricks are by no means resellers, they run their own servers, etc. and they're one of our oldest customers as well.

Hope that helps :)

Originally posted by aloosenation
One of the reasons I'm having such a hard time finding a web-hosting company is that it is hard to figure out what kind of company I am dealing with.

I urge hosts to be clear and up-front about the details of their business.

If a company does not tell me about itself in detail, I think they are hiding something. If they are hiding the basic information, I think, what else are they hiding? I will probably look for a different host.

There is nothing wrong with an individual renting bulk space on a company's server and then reselling parts of the space affordably. However, I want to know it!

There IS something wrong with not disclosing that this is what you are doing, clearly, in the "about us" portion of your website.



Was this directed at me?

Originally posted by aloosenation
Regarding www.itricks.net: itricks.net seems to be a reseller of www.prioritycolocation.com. Prioritycolocation.com seems to be a reputable host with many good recommendations on this board.

We operate servers in the prioritycolocation datacenter : all is stated here : http://www.itricks.net/home/about.shtml

Sheesh, and why can't anyone call us "IT Hosting" instead of itricks.net this, itricks.net that.

Jag, it was directed to anyone who doesn't fully disclose their business details. You actually provide more information than most. When you say, "Our servers are located in a new world-class data center and has [change this to "have" by the way] multiple OC-3 connections," however, I would like to know what data center this is.

You list a PMB address, but I would really like a business address. I would also like a phone number. One confusing thing is, you say that you were founded in Anchorage, Alaska, but your PMB is in Texas. Did you move?


IT hosting -- Now I've got a better idea about your business.


I personally think that both of you, and most of the hosts on this board, are honest people/companies who want to make some money (or a living) selling hosting.

There are many unscrupulous people on the web, however. I am suspicious about any internet business that is not completely up-front about who, where, and what they are.

Originally posted by aloosenation
Jag, it was directed to anyone who doesn't fully disclose their business details. You actually provide more information than most. When you say, "Our servers are located in a new world-class data center and has [change this to "have" by the way] multiple OC-3 connections," however, I would like to know what data center this is.

You list a PMB address, but I would really like a business address. I would also like a phone number. One confusing thing is, you say that you were founded in Anchorage, Alaska, but your PMB is in Texas. Did you move?


IT hosting -- Now I've got a better idea about your business.


I personally think that both of you, and most of the hosts on this board, are honest people/companies who want to make some money (or a living) selling hosting.

There are many unscrupulous people on the web, however. I am suspicious about any internet business that is not completely up-front about who, where, and what they are.

Dialtone is where we have our servers, though not on that page it is plastered in our forums and here on WHT as well. Yes I came to Texas recently and very shortly our services and servers will all operate from here in Houston. We dont post a phone number but if asked for one we are more than happy to give you a call or have you call us. A number will also be posted following the Houston move as will many other great new annoucements.

Thanks for clearing up what you meant and hopefully I was able to return the same with this post.

Originally posted by IT Hosting


We operate servers in the prioritycolocation datacenter : all is stated here : http://www.itricks.net/home/about.shtml

Sheesh, and why can't anyone call us "IT Hosting" instead of itricks.net this, itricks.net that.

It probably stems from the fact that "IT Hosting" is rather generic and itricks.net is more recognizable. (And the logo on your web page is Itricks.net, and the web page you reference in the sig is itricks.net. :) )

I'm actually quite interested in Itricks. All I need is space for family pics, PHP (for gallery, etc) , email forwarding and webmail. The wife dislikes the idea of me spending much more on hosting after the CW debacle. I haven't heard any disappointments in their service (on here anyway) and their email response time is stellar imo. The lack of a support forum on Itricks.net is meaningless to me, as the support forum on CW was highly active, yet disappeared just as quick.

I'll keep my CW bashing for another thread though.

Vestus

Figured I'd bump this. Getting back to the matter at hand: Any other solid recomendations?

uhm... you guys can check out:

http://www.featureprice.com

however, they don't have telnet nor ssh access. They do have web interface, which isn't that bad.

Things I like:
1. They answer my email w/in 2 hrs on weekdays, a bit longer on the weekend.
2. cheap :)
3. enough of features that I need for a price that I can afford. :)

things that I don't like:
1. their webmail sucks. but if you use pop3, then you'll be fine.
2. their manual doesn't provide all the info. It could be that I'm a newbie.