Hello all. I've been recommended by a friend to check out the WHT forums, as I'm in the market for a hosting service! I've narrowed my choices down to three: Hostway, Dot5, and some other I haven't discovered. Now, I turn to you experienced members! Can anyone recommend one above the other? A different hosting service than Hostway or Dot5? For an idea of what I'm out for, I'm eyeing up Dot5's dot3 package or Hostway's Gold Linux plan.

I've so far seen some good words on Hostway (yes, already searched for topics) but I've seen some.. varying statements on Dot5. Some say yes, others say no.

Help me out, please :)

-Azrien

I used to use Hostway... had them for several sites for several years.

They are EXPENSIVE for what you get (disk, bandwith, and other options), but I don't think I EVER had downtime. Certianly no noticable downtime.

That said, I have moved away from them as I can get much more for less.

Currently I am with Dixiesys and have been pleased with their support, value, and overall package setup. I am actually upgrading my current package to one of their reseller packages, even though I won't be reselling. Just want the added controll options available to me if I have a reseller account.

Hope that helps.

Look around here and you'll be able to narrow your list from three to forty in no time.

To get more recommendations you'll have to state exactly what it is you like about the dot 3 package or the gold linux plan...

WOW hostway is VERY expensive!

http://www.hostway.com/webhosting/diamond.htm

$99 per month for 500MB space and 30GB transfer!? You can get a dedicated server for that much which will give you WAY more space than that...

~3 million hits/month

So that's like saying even if you have just one 1kb page on your whole account, once it has been viewed 3 million times, that's it?!

I used hostway for 9 months but I could not publish a 450 plus page web site without resetting Frontpage extensions EVERY time.

Uptime and speed were great but when you can't change your website, its time to move on.

I moved on to www.prioritycolocation.com, www.dellhost.com and www.fluidhosting.com. All offer more for less than Hostway.

What I like:

*300-1000 mb disk space
*Unix server
*10 or so POP accts, wildcard acct for unlimited
*1-5 subdomains (not really necessary, but nice)
*SSI
*SQL (like 1 or 2, optional)
*24/7 customer support (either phone, IM, or email)
*less that $20/mo
*Ease of use/config
*As high a bandwidth limit as I can possibly get while staying under $20/mo
*Ability to host MUCKs/MUDs, etc
*Anonymous FTP helpful, but strictly optional
*Good deals for getting a 1 year contract
*Uptime

There I think that does it! Does that help narrow things down? Really, I rather like Dot5's Dot3 package, they offer a lot for the money it seems, but people have been talking about how they've been less-than-stellar as of late. Maybe it's a quirk, but I'm not sure. I'm continuing my search, meanwhile if anyone can recommend based on my above desires, I'm all ears :)

Thanks to all who have given their recommendations!

Go with them! I have been a customer for four months now and they have been great. Guaranteed 24/7 support via the helpdesk and nearly 24/7 support via IRC but that is not guaranteed.

Some other hosts to consider, because of their excellent reputation
http://www.theprimehost.net
http://www.myacen.com
http://www.unitedhosting.co.uk

All of the above were possible choices, but I went with Dixiesys, because they are only three hours away from my house. :D They will also be moving their servers in Atlanta where I live

I have 7 plans with dot5 and have been with them for over 5 months. I have had reliable service,good support and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone if they meet your needs.

When starting out years back, I used hostway. Sure they cost $$. But I never had any down time and for someone learning, I found the support to be first class.
So, if you might need alittle hand holding, maybe the extra $$$ might be worth it.
I used them for almost a year till I felt I did not need that extra support.
Tried the other guy for a week. Support was awful and to much down time for me. Felt maybe because they are based in Europe, while I was up they where asleep might have been the poblem.
Growing pain problems,"top host exuse," does not help me make money.

Nah, I dont need a whole lot of handholding; I am semi-competent :D I'll look into Dixiesys, but I'm also now strongly leaning towards Hostpc.com. I can get two domains hosted for $14/month, excellent transfer rates and.. sheesh 700 mb? I think.. So far, that seems to be pretty darn good. Either that, or I could host one site there for 1400 MB and double the trans rate... AND it's apache with all the goodies. Like I said, I must still check out dixiesys, but HostPC is in the #1 slot now!

Azrien... PM me if you want some additional info that might help you decide.

phantasyworkshosting.com also looks juicy...

Toolz, you werent kidding about the "narrowing from 3 to 40!!" :stickout:

Gotcha covered d00d... recieved and replied.

When I hit WHT I was overwhelmed with the plethora of hosting services available. Some good, some bad. But the VOLUME is overwhelming.

Just to add to your list, you might want to give spenix.com a look :)

good luck finding a host! As you'll see, there's plenty of quality hosting companies here who offer great deals & awesome support.

To maximize bang for your buck, it is usually a good idea to look at a hosting provider that specializes in the type of hosting you are looking for. Some specialize in dedicated solutions, some in virtual dedicated solutions, and others in the low-end accounts.

Since you are looking for a low-end account, somewhere around 300MB?, and a limited number of email accounts, you can limit your hosting provider searches to places like hostpc.com, that specialize in low-end accounts.

After that, the only thing you have to worry about is quality of support. To make any sort of revenue, you'd have to sell a TON of accounts at $3.99/month, and that turns into a lot of support issues. You may want to send them a test support issue before you sign up, just to see what the response times are like ;)

Well, I've already emailed questions to Hostway, and their response times were just about instant. Wasn't a support request, but they were questions, and very quick response times!

Choices, choices..

I don't think I'm really looking into low-end; the plans I'm looking at now offer 600-1200 mb in space at the cost I'm shooting for. I'm really trying to stay around $10-$15/mo.

Well, by low-end, I mean in diskspace but also in what you plan to do with it. If all you're looking for is a place to upload content to and have it served to the 'Net, maybe with a few email accounts, then I would consider this low-end (no offense meant, just a comparative term). The middle of the pack would be virtual dedicated hosting, and the top of the pack would be full dedicated and custom hardware solution.

If you can find 600-1200MB hosting for $10-$15/month, let me know who it is, as I'd be interested in seeing who that is and how they are doing it.

After looking over Hostway's plans, they are one of the most expensive I have seen, probably second only to Interland's overpricing.

One site I'm looking to host will just be stuff posted there. I'd like the option to add storefront stuff. The other site I want hosted will have a message board (I like ikonboard a lot), a muck, most likely some business stuff. I'd also like to have a type of online archive where people could register and post theme-related art. I'm sick of the average "stick-em-up-and-stare" type of website. Too boring, too blah, puts me into a state of no updates. I need to do some fun things with my website! Not to mention, having sql/php enabled stuff on the website would force me to actually go out and learn the damn things.

Overall, I'm looking to use the basics to begin with, but to have the ability and capacity to stretch my wings in as many directions as I can!

DixieSys looks nice.. too bad about the ensim.

jhopper, DixieSys may be one to look into (dixiesys.com). They are.. spiffy! As is hostpc.com (so far, they look good). I'm also getting recommendations for WiredHub.net.

Hope that helps!

I've decided to go with DixieSys! They seem to have excellent reviews, keep well abreast of issues with their systems, offer great packages, and had their (possibly last) 2 for 1 sale. Now, I just sit back and wait for silly ol propogation.

Thanks for your recommendations, everyone :)