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  1. #1

    My first post & impressions on Site5

    Well, after lurking around, I decided to give site5 a try and here are my first week impressions so far:

    WHAT I LIKE:
    Their support system is great! Theres a couple of guys that really know what they are doing there and will fix pretty much anything on demand.

    PACKAGES:
    their reseller packages come LOADED wth scripts, and stuff from fantastico, to SSH Access, to email management, et..

    RVSKIN is great, I really like how it takes away from the typical cpanel look

    CLIENTEXEC - you get this client mgmt program for free

    SERVER SPEED - So far so good. I have created 7 resold accounts so far with several SQL databases and it doesn't seem to be overloading or anything... So far so good. no dowtimes whatsoever

    WHM - interface is excellent. It lets me create packages and customize each package for each account I want to resell... GREAT

    SUPPORT INTERFACE: Well, They have this pretty neat email tracking system that shows on their website how many requests are in queve in real time so you can sortof figure out where you are in line...

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    WHAT I DONT LIKE:
    well, this is a working list, but so far that Ive noticed:

    ORDER PROCESS: Not immediate, so for those of you like me who are eager to get their sites of another host, its a waiting game for the "welcome email" My turn around was 12 hrs though, so it wasnt that bad, but if you span over a weekend, thats exactly what will happen...

    WEBMAIL INTERFACE - it kinda sucks... you have your basic variety of flavors like Horde, Squirrel, Neomail... but you cant access it via: mail.yourdomain.com... Instead you have to go through: yourdomain.com/webmail, and then you have to login twice... Once to get into the webmail interface, and again if you want to use Horder or Squirrel mail.. IM not sure why its so difficult..

    SSL MANAGER/INTERFACE: This whole process was a mess (at least for me). Instructions are very unclear and the cpanel where you request CSRs (for SSL certificates) is all screwed up. I spent close to 12hrs with a tech guy (who was great BTW) trying to figure it out and finally, he had to manually create a private key and CSR for me to resubmitt. That whole thing kind of sucked because I basically wasted money on the first certificate that was invalid. Im currently trying to get credit for that...
    I think its kind of misleading offering that feature because its currently pretty useless... (again, at least for me). Once you get the SSL, you CANNOT install it yourself via cPanel (although the link to the feature is there...)

    SUPPORT INTERFACE: They have this cool email tracking system that shows how many requests are in queve you can sortof figure out where you are in line... However, in the case of my SSL situation, I was basically glued to the computer ALL day waiting for the replies, and my msgs going back and forth.

    LACK OF INSTRUCTIONS - again, this is in regards to the features in their packages. I suppose that if you know what youre doing, this is not an issue, but be prepared to spend some time on the forums to get some answers...

    800 Number - That is a joke, when you call, it goes right into voicemail. They probably know that they need to address people who might want to call in instead of going back and forth via email, however, I dont think that they are equipped to handle call volumes... so its sortof a bittersweet situation for them.. They want to, they just cant so to speak.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In my situation, I have been in constant contact with their techs because I keep finding things missing from the server they put me on ie: openssl, cURL, netpbm, jhead, but so far, they have installed netpbm & Jhead (within minutes of my inquiry) and they have been very accomodating.

    for what its worth, I would still recommend them so far, because they seem to genuinely care about what they are doing and of their service, and to me, that matters alot.

    I will try to keep all you posted when I get everything ironed out.

    Anyhow, feel free to ask any questions, and thanks in advance for such a valuable board!


    Cheers!
    -Ant

  2. #2
    Hi Ant:

    Thank you for taking the time to address some of your concerns on WebHostingTalk in regards to our company. I would like to take the time to address each of your points:
    WHAT I LIKE:
    Their support system is great! Theres a couple of guys that really know what they are doing there and will fix pretty much anything on demand.
    Many believe that pricing will separate you from the pack. However, we believe that customer support makes the difference. We do use an extremely good network & name brand servers / networking gear--but I know that our exceptional customer service & technical support is without a doubt second to none in the web hosting industry.
    SERVER SPEED - So far so good. I have created 7 resold accounts so far with several SQL databases and it doesn't seem to be overloading or anything... So far so good. no dowtimes whatsoever
    We take pride in knowing that our machines are not over-subscribed. We ensure that all customers on any given machine receive their fair share of system resources. If we think that this will be compromised in any way, we provision another server for use. If you ever find that a machine isn't living up to what you think it should be doing, let us know and we'll correct the situation as quickly as possible.
    SUPPORT INTERFACE: Well, They have this pretty neat email tracking system that shows on their website how many requests are in queve in real time so you can sortof figure out where you are in line...
    Fortunately that line is never too long. The majority of our technical support requests are handled in a timely manner (read: within 30 minutes). Billing & sales requests are resolved within a hour. Often times billing & sales requests require approval for quotes, complex billing requests, etc.
    WHAT I DONT LIKE:
    well, this is a working list, but so far that Ive noticed:

    ORDER PROCESS: Not immediate, so for those of you like me who are eager to get their sites of another host, its a waiting game for the "welcome email" My turn around was 12 hrs though, so it wasnt that bad, but if you span over a weekend, thats exactly what will happen...
    Unfortunately immediate provisioning is not possible. Due to the absurd amount of fraudulant transactions on the internet, we manually verify all incoming orders. If something doesn't check out, then your order may be delayed until we receive a response back from the contact on the order.

    I suspect that once our new custom coded billing system comes online, provisioning times will decrease. Although, in comparison, 12 hours and often times less, isn't all that bad.
    WEBMAIL INTERFACE - it kinda sucks... you have your basic variety of flavors like Horde, Squirrel, Neomail... but you cant access it via: mail.yourdomain.com... Instead you have to go through: yourdomain.com/webmail, and then you have to login twice... Once to get into the webmail interface, and again if you want to use Horder or Squirrel mail.. IM not sure why its so difficult..
    Unfortunately this is one of the limitations or perhaps pitfalls of cPanel/WHM--the underlying control panel to our reseller system. An alternative to using the cPanel web mails systems would be to install/configure your own web mail app within your hosting account. I know a few of our resellers do this to avoid the situation you have described above.
    SSL MANAGER/INTERFACE: This whole process was a mess (at least for me). Instructions are very unclear and the cpanel where you request CSRs (for SSL certificates) is all screwed up. I spent close to 12hrs with a tech guy (who was great BTW) trying to figure it out and finally, he had to manually create a private key and CSR for me to resubmitt. That whole thing kind of sucked because I basically wasted money on the first certificate that was invalid. Im currently trying to get credit for that...
    I think its kind of misleading offering that feature because its currently pretty useless... (again, at least for me). Once you get the SSL, you CANNOT install it yourself via cPanel (although the link to the feature is there...)
    I'm sorry that you had so many issues generating an SSL CSR on our systems. This, identical to the web mail system, is part of the cPanel/WHM control panel system. Often times, due to odd characters, missing fields, lengthy fields, etc. the CSR generator randomly fails without a specific error message.

    I have also just read threw the entire support ticket--one of our system administrators pointed me to it. It seems that there was some confusion regarding the CRT & the KEY file; which ultimately delayed & confused the install a bit. I apologize for the confusion, hopefully this will not repeat itself in the future.
    SUPPORT INTERFACE: They have this cool email tracking system that shows how many requests are in queve you can sortof figure out where you are in line... However, in the case of my SSL situation, I was basically glued to the computer ALL day waiting for the replies, and my msgs going back and forth.
    As I mentioned above, our support tickets are always handled in a timely manner. Some ticket, however, do require consultation with other admins or research, this of course will slow down a support response. We also operate a true 24 x 7 support; so a lot of our customers 'fire & forget', so that when they return to their computer their issue is resolved or we have an email waiting requesting additional information.

    I would also like to mention that your SSL case was not normal, which accounted for the extended resolution time. Further to this, one of our system admins did stick with this issue until it was permanently resolved.
    LACK OF INSTRUCTIONS - again, this is in regards to the features in their packages. I suppose that if you know what youre doing, this is not an issue, but be prepared to spend some time on the forums to get some answers...
    I assume that this is in regards to the use of cPanel/WHM. We have a reseller cookbook of sorts in the works so that resellers can reference a feature in the documentation and follow instructions on how to use it. In the meantime, our support is always available to assist any client & as mention, our support forums do contain a lot of answers to common questions.
    800 Number - That is a joke, when you call, it goes right into voicemail. They probably know that they need to address people who might want to call in instead of going back and forth via email, however, I dont think that they are equipped to handle call volumes... so its sortof a bittersweet situation for them.. They want to, they just cant so to speak.
    Our toll free number is for sales inquires, only. If you call for support, the system will direct you to visit our web site and submit a support ticket. At times we are on the phone or returning emails and the phones cannot be answered. If you leave a message we will return the call within 1 business day. Alternatively, you can always send an email to our sales group.
    In my situation, I have been in constant contact with their techs because I keep finding things missing from the server they put me on ie: openssl, cURL, netpbm, jhead, but so far, they have installed netpbm & Jhead (within minutes of my inquiry) and they have been very accomodating.
    NetPBM, Jhead, ImageMagick, etc. are all installed by request. You were provisioned on a new server with only 20 other resellers and you happened to be the first client who required the 3rd party utilities. We were, of course, more than willing to compile & install the 3rd party utilities for you. We also recompiled PHP last evening to allow for cURL, OpenSSL, etc. into our PHP build.
    for what its worth, I would still recommend them so far, because they seem to genuinely care about what they are doing and of their service, and to me, that matters alot.
    All of us at Site5, without a doubt, enjoy our jobs & the interaction with our customers. We treat each server & our networks as if we had our sites hosted on each one of our reseller & shared hosting servers. I believe that you will continue to enjoy your hosting experience with Site5 well into the future. We are commited to customer satisfaction & strive each day to ensure that your hosting experience is second to none. I look forward to a long & fruitful business relationship with you.
    Todd Mitchell
    General Manager
    ThePlanet.com Internet Services, Inc. / theplanet.com

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Posts
    116
    WEBMAIL INTERFACE - it kinda sucks...
    yeah i hate that about cpanel. now i mostly manage my mail through pop3

    but like site5 mentioned there are programs and services that let you utilize your mail better than that cpanel crap. i just havent used any so dont know of em
    although what i am using is kayako. it pipes all your e-mail so its near the same thing as using webmail.
    if you want one free one there's cereberus but the free version only works for one address. hope that helps

    I was basically glued to the computer ALL day waiting for the replies, and my msgs going back and forth.
    i think that might be because from what it looks like they're getting quite a big customer base but im not sure if they're expanding their staff in terms of support and etc.

    also i think due to their "cost-effective" pricing, their support is probably hindered a little bit at the least so you just have to take that as part of the deal.

    and btw, client exec is not free. it prolly costs them roughly $5/mo or close and that cost is passed down to you and other users on a wide scale.
    Last edited by RaTz; 09-01-2004 at 07:21 PM.

  4. #4
    Originally posted by RaTz i think that might be because from what it looks like they're getting quite a big customer base but im not sure if they're expanding their staff in terms of support and etc.

    also i think due to their "cost-effective" pricing, their support is probably hindered a little bit at the least so you just have to take that as part of the deal.
    The above statement is completely inaccurate & erroneous. As I mentioned in my reply to the original thread starter, the issues surrounding their SSL certificate & SSL certificate install was an anomaly.

    There are various aspects to the SSL support ticket that are *not* mentioned in this thread. So a statement that our support is somehow lacking due to our exceptional growth is an outright fallacy.

    I respectfully ask that you keep your opinion to yourself regarding our support, as you do not appear to be a direct client of ours and thus impossible for you to produce an accurate portrayal of our support.
    Todd Mitchell
    General Manager
    ThePlanet.com Internet Services, Inc. / theplanet.com

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    EU - east side
    Posts
    21,920
    A very nice and detailed review from antics22 and a very nice response from Todd!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    metropolis
    Posts
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    kudos on communication...
    [[[[ ---CNM--- ]]]]

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Australia
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    24,027
    Originally posted by RaTz
    . . . i think that might be because from what it looks like they're getting quite a big customer base but im not sure if they're expanding their staff in terms of support and etc.
    How would you know? Generally not a good idea to speculate about something where you don't have solid facts.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    24,027
    Originally posted by ldcdc
    A very nice and detailed review from antics22 and a very nice response from Todd!
    Yeah, I wondered who this n00b "site5" was.

    Hey Todd!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Posts
    116
    How would you know? Generally not a good idea to speculate about something where you don't have solid facts.
    there's nothing wrong with making an assumption. EVERYONE makes assumptions and speculates about things.
    the only reason you DO speculate is because you don't have solid facts, and obviously to get solid facts for every reseller host out there, i'd have to signup and try them out for myself. but i dont have the money or the time to do that and neither do 90% of the rest so they speculate.
    besides, you must make an assumption first in order to confirm it or deny it. if you don't make an assumption to begin with, you really don't have a purpose to your research do you?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Posts
    116
    Originally posted by site5
    The above statement is completely inaccurate & erroneous. As I mentioned in my reply to the original thread starter, the issues surrounding their SSL certificate & SSL certificate install was an anomaly.

    There are various aspects to the SSL support ticket that are *not* mentioned in this thread. So a statement that our support is somehow lacking due to our exceptional growth is an outright fallacy.

    I respectfully ask that you keep your opinion to yourself regarding our support, as you do not appear to be a direct client of ours and thus impossible for you to produce an accurate portrayal of our support.

    if you will read my "quote" it has it all over words like "im not sure", "probably", "from what it looks like" and along those lines.
    that clearly shows you my statement is based on doubts and assumptions i made. they are not facts, just pure opinion.
    and it shows that the statement i made was due to my lack of knowledge about your company.

    and i stand by it. to you the statement "might be" wrong, offensive etc. but it is what my reasoning and thought led to and i have presented that to you and others to read.

    and

    I respectfully ask that you keep your opinion to yourself
    actually, i'll respectfully ask that you keep your request about my opinions to yourself as this is a free world and so is this forum. im allowed to and will express my opinions. if i can better them and put more correct knowledge into them, i'd ask you guide me in that direction.

    There are various aspects to the SSL support ticket that are *not* mentioned in this thread. So a statement that our support is somehow lacking due to our exceptional growth is an outright fallacy.
    ironically my post and assumptions were made on the post made by the thread starter. so if he and you(in your reply) failed to mention the remaining aspects of the problem(s) its obviously not my fault that i made an assumption on something that, you say, is not true.



    and the posts aside,
    i really don't have anyting against your company. i actually like the pricing and your plans if you'll know and i even liked the reply time on your forum.

    but i guessed that since it was pre-sale your probably faster than in support > which is what this person is saying (he had to wait all day in front of the computer)

    and which is perciesly what led me to my doubts and assumptions. i apologize if they are/were wrong beyond my scope of knowledge, cause that wasn't under my control at the time.

    -hope i cleared up some things

  11. #11

    Re: My first post & impressions on Site5

    Hi All,

    I very much appreciate all the comments here. Reading over this thread, it would seem that one paragraph in particular is causing a bit of confusion:
    Originally posted by antics22
    SUPPORT INTERFACE: They have this cool email tracking system that shows how many requests are in queve you can sortof figure out where you are in line... However, in the case of my SSL situation, I was basically glued to the computer ALL day waiting for the replies, and my msgs going back and forth.
    I'm not sure how, exactly, we are meant to interpret this. It could be read to mean that our support staff didn't provide timely responses, and that you were waiting in front of your computer all day long to simply hear back from us, or it could mean that because of our aforementioned "email-only" trouble ticket tracking system, it somehow required more time in front of your computer than a web-based interface would have.

    Considering that you said that "responses were going back and forth," I am led to believe that the problem you're addressing here is not, in fact, inadequacy on the part of our support team, but rather a poor interface to our support system itself. In fact, the title of this issue ("SUPPORT INTERFACE") confirms this suspicion. However because of the way you worded this paragraph, it has caused us (and others) to believe that our staff was not providing timely responses to inquiries. Which, as far as I can tell from what has been written, is not the case.

    Incidentally, I am inclined to agree with your concern regarding our current support interface. We're currently using a system called "Request Tracker" which has worked well for over three years, but is now falling way behind the times. We're currently considering Cerberus, Kayako eSupport, and a lesser-known open-source system called OTRS (www.otrs.org). Because switching support systems is no small task, we want to be sure that we make the right decision before moving forward.

    You can rest assured that we are actively testing replacements and hope to implement a new system (with customer web-based issue tracking) within the next month. Further information about this and other company news will be provided in the next issue of The 5Zine.

    I very much appreciate the candid review of our services. As with any reasonably-mindful company, we're well aware that we have areas that we can improve upon. Hearing them articulated in an objective review like this gives us a good look into what our customers think of our services, and helps to provide us with a more clear set of marks to shoot for as we continually strive to improve. That's what separates a fly-by-night company from one that's in it for the long haul. We're never to a point where we feel that our services can't be improved upon.

    Thanks again for your time, and I appreciate your faith in our company's ability to meet your business' needs. Don't hesitate to let me know if there's anything I can do to make your experience with Site5 more enjoyable.

    Matt
    Matt Lightner - http://www.mattlightner.com/
    - First initial to the last name at the mail service provided by the world's largest search engine
    - Founder and CEO (Former) Site5.com, sold in 2008
    - Really honestly wants to be a good WHT citizen but can never remember all the correct etiquette. Mods, sorry in advance

  12. #12

    site5 down??

    Site5 has been down for at least an hour that I know of today. Does anyone know what is going on? I have three sites with them that are all down as well.
    I know that there has been some bad weather in that part of the country.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Kirkland, WA
    Posts
    4,448
    We have 2 or 3 old servers at site5..all of which are humming along like normal...so it's not their whole network.

    You should post this in the outages forum.
    Nick Nelson
    Sr. Director & GM, VAS
    Demand Media
    425.298.2282 nn@demandmedia.com

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    EU - east side
    Posts
    21,920
    Site5 is up now (was down earlier for me).

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