Gee, I bet you've never heard this question before! :rolleyes:

I apologize, but I'm tired and frustrated, and have searched and searched. I was doing searches here on individual companies, but wasn't getting enough info. I need a reseller solution from a company that:

Employs geeks - real ones.
Has 24/7/365 live chat server support; for me, not for my customers (seriously, if I wanted to talk to people for hours on the telephone, I wouldn't have a computer)
Offers a decent-sized plan, at a starter cost ($50-100/mo, with ability to expand as my business does)
High speed (an IV to the Backbone is just fine)
Hardware that the above employees would buy.
Ecommerce software compatible with PayPal, or ability to load a free one.


I don't need support for my customers - that's what they pay me for. When I get to the level that I need help with handling support issues, I'll have the money to pay for it. The first point is essential. Only one hosting solution today knew what Adobe CS3 Design Premium was. Homepageuniverse.com had to ask around, still didn't know, so asked me if it was server software! <sigh> Seriously, Dude, do your servers support Dreamweaver and Flash files (etc), or not? I can't have people thinking they are on dial-up, when they load one of the sites, either. Well, unless they really are on dial-up, poor things. I went to Inno, but their live chat support was offline - not a good sign.

Anyway, I may be looking for the impossible, but if not, please toss me some suggestions, based on experience please. Thanx.

Your requirements are reasonable and so is your budget, but having live chat available 24/7 essentially means you have to have 3 or 4 people who's only job is to man that chat. For most business's thats extremely expensive and only the big companys achieve that.(Even then they are often see offline)

24x7 support as in tickets etc is much more realistic.
Just my opinion on that.

Otherwise best of luck with the search and I'm sure you will get some reccomendations here.

I agree. 24/7 chat support is extremely expensive and I host with inno and didn't know they offered live chat at all. I can attest that their tech support is 24/7 and that their sales and billing are limited on weekends and respond within 24/hrs usually.

I've had no problems with them at all and would highly recommend them.

I agree. 24/7 chat support is extremely expensive and I host with inno and didn't know they offered live chat at all. I can attest that their tech support is 24/7 and that their sales and billing are limited on weekends and respond within 24/hrs usually.

I've had no problems with them at all and would highly recommend them.

Thanks for the recommendation!

@frieden, I would suggest compiling a short list of hosts and shooting some pre-sales questions to each. Pick their brains to make sure they have the level of skills and competence you are looking for. Eventually narrow down to one that meets your requirements the closest and go with them.

You mentioned a decent budget, however that is also determined by the resource requirements. Do you know how much webspace/bandwidth you require?

Your requirements are reasonable and so is your budget, but having live chat available 24/7 essentially means you have to have 3 or 4 people who's only job is to man that chat. For most business's thats extremely expensive and only the big companys achieve that.(Even then they are often see offline)

24x7 support as in tickets etc is much more realistic.
Just my opinion on that.

Otherwise best of luck with the search and I'm sure you will get some reccomendations here.

I agree regarding the 24/7 live chat - its costly for hosts to provide this 24 hours a day.

But I'm sure most of us out here in the Hosting industry would be classed as geeks. I know I am :)

Regarding searching - I remember way back when I was a customer looking for hosting. Just go around and chat to some of them, and best place to look is in their forums to see what their current clients are saying.

Quick comments on "geeks". I hate it when I see that word associated with the hosting industry and the tech's that work within it. It's used nowadays toward anyone who knows how to program a VCR. The fact that it means the person is odd and obsessive just adds to the woe.


Whatever happened to "qualified I.T professional". That's what they called it when I was in school. The word geek was a derogatory comment (still is, really).


</rant>


Simon

Quick comments on "geeks". I hate it when I see that word associated with the hosting industry and the tech's that work within it. It's used nowadays toward anyone who knows how to program a VCR. The fact that it means the person is odd and obsessive just adds to the woe.


Whatever happened to "qualified I.T professional". That's what they called it when I was in school. The word geek was a derogatory comment (still is, really).


</rant>


Simon

I really can't stand that word. Most people in this industry actually have a life away from their computer. Just because you are qualified to do something doesn't make you a "geek." :fork:

It's used nowadays toward anyone who knows how to program a VCR.

100% Agree :agree:

Do you know how much webspace/bandwidth you require?

Haven't got a clue, which is why I need a solution that allows me to upgrade. My new clients are very new, and do not understand what they want yet. I know 2 sites will need an ecommerce area, one is simply data intensive, and one of my personal sites will have to be hosted elsewhere (photography). The others, I think will be general.

The live chat option is on the "start a ticket" page, on the right/lower side. I submitted a ticket to inno yesterday, with "low" priority, and had an answer in my inbox this morning! Not as fast as homepageuniverse.com, but at least the inno person knew what they were talking about! Simple question, but still..... I will probably go with them, if my research today doesn't yield anything better (for my needs).

Really? "Geek" is derogatory? Hmmmm, I didn't mean to offend anyone. I'm sorry. I sorta like it. I'm not as recluce as I was. I've always been active in my life with a lot of things, but have always gravitated to the technical side of things. However, I've spent my entire life in the corporate world, which I have recently escaped, and "IT Professional" gives me flash backs. :eek:

Most people in this industry actually have a life away from their computer.

They do? :confused: :confused:

They do? :confused: :confused:

Some people... :stickout:

I really can't stand that word. Most people in this industry actually have a life away from their computer. Just because you are qualified to do something doesn't make you a "geek." :fork:

I prefer the term "Nerd." I think it's more applicable for any specialist in any industry.

Nerds rule the world!

Im with Innohosting and VidaHost, out of the two VidaHost gets my biggest thumbs up over support. Inno isnt bad but they could do a lot better sometimes ;)