Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Dreamhost...reliability

[holliebaba]

I am planning to start a site with Dreamhost's Crazy Domain Insane plan. Even though I think that setup fee for monthly payment is ridiculous I have heard good reviews.

Is Dreamhost reliable? Are the features as good as they say they are? Should I go with another webhosting company? I chose it because it gives free domain and email, and I've been referred by many people.

Yay or Nay?

[minsight]

I've got 2 years with them and am very happy with their hosting and support.

[berlin]

I was interested in dreamhost, but they don't reply to sales inquiries or have a phone line. I guess when hosts get big enough, they could care less about potential customers.

[morehost]

Hi! holliebaba,
First of all... Welcome to WHT

I would suggest you do a serach on WHT and read reviews before you go for any hosting...

Also in my opinion, you should not register your domain with your host.. Paying few dollars extra to keep your domain seperate and safe is not a bad deal.. I am not at all referring to the host you are asked for, but in general it becomes risky in situations when you have a misunderstanding or an argument with your host.. You would surely not like him to keep your domain on ransom...

And Best of Luck for your Host Hunt

[Stan Marsh]

Well, I'm with Dreamhost for slightly more than 2 months already (then they had a special and I've got their 'Crazy Domain Insane' for less than USD 10/YEAR) and my impressions are 50/50. The stability and uptime so far was REALLY exceptional, no downtimes. But their support should be a little better. I think they're understaffed there. But when they get to work on your ticket, the work is done fast and well; the only thing that sometimes it's hard for them to get to your ticket fast enough. You see, on their CP (which is custom made and simply ROCKS in my opinion) they post how many unsanswered tickets they have. The numbers were in low 200s when I've signed up back in Oct. Now they are contstantly in high 300s or even more.

Anyway, if you're feeling you'll not need their urgent help anytime soon, but want a really rock solid package, go with them. It's a rare case of reliable and more or less budget-oriented hosting company.

My 2c.

[prtdca]

Okay, I'm in a search of a new hosting company too - the old one surfspeedy is no good.

The stability and uptime so far was REALLY exceptional, no downtimes. But their support should be a little better. I think they're understaffed there.

I don't understand why do you need support when there is no downtime?! At surfspeedy I had submitted a lot of tickets but only when my site was down and what was pretty frequently. So what I'm trying to say is that I don't need support if everything works fine and the best support is the one you never need IMHO... so if anyone can say "This is what I use, I monitor it frequently and there is NO downtime" i would like to use it too... but when I see 99.99% uptime guarantee (like at surfspeedy's front page) and my site is down for more than 12 hours on Monday - I think guys like this should get a different type of job...

[AFMichael]

Well, if you think that they look like a good host to go with and a couple members here are hosted with them without any problems, try them out. Make sure that they have a money back guarantee in case you change your mind about them.

[ldcdc]

So what I'm trying to say is that I don't need support if everything works fine and the best support is the one you never need IMHO...

True, but bad things happen from time to time even with good hosts. That's when you discover how important support really is.

but when I see 99.99% uptime guarantee (like at surfspeedy's front page) and my site is down for more than 12 hours on Monday - I think guys like this should get a different type of job...

Uptimes guarantees are not to be understood as a promise that the stated uptime level will be reached, but as a promise that you'll be compensated in some way if they don't achieve it.

[tepster]

Originally posted by prtdca
Okay, I'm in a search of a new hosting company too - the old one surfspeedy is no good.



I don't understand why do you need support when there is no downtime?! .....

You need support when it comes to billing. You wouldn't believe how many businesses still screw up on their billing (especially when they auto-charge your card). Just happened to me a few days ago.

[eLiTeGuRu]

I just signed up for the DreamHost special (Full year for $10). So far it has been pretty good. The control panel looks well designed. I am still waiting for the domain to propagate. For $10 a year with free domain registration, it is worth a try.

[Stan Marsh]

Originally posted by eLiTeGuRu
I just signed up for the DreamHost special (Full year for $10).

What do you mean by 'just'? The last special was as far as I remember back in October... It was 7th DreamHost's birthday and the sale was really quite insane then..

[eLiTeGuRu]

Signup for the 1 package for a year, and then enter "777"

[Stan Marsh]

A little cheater, aren't you???

[kindle]

is this offer still standing ($10/yr)

[Stan Marsh]

Originally posted by kindle
is this offer still standing ($10/yr)

Not oficially, but you can try cheating, like 2 posts above. Personally though I would discourage against this. It isn't very good idea to start your relationship with the hosting company with cheating.

My 2c.