[Review] DreamHost - 6 Month Review

RNMProductions · #1 07-31-2009, 08:37 AM

(I'm very new here, so if this isn't where this is supposed to be please accept my apologies and move it to its appropriate spot.)

Have been a lurker here for a while and never really felt the need to post, but alas I wanted to share my experience with Dreamhost.

Dreamhost had a promotion going on quite a few months ago that was something along the lines of $10 or $15 for a year. I jumped at the opportunity hoping that I would have another host that I could test scripts/designs/programs that would require very little bandwidth and server resources. In other words, I was not planning on having an active website on their servers, just a place to test things on an independent server.

It has been an absolute disaster. My uptime is absolutely atrocious (my site probably goes down 2 or 3 times per day for as little as 15 minutes to as long as 4 hours). Their support was slightly okay in regards to response time (usually within a few hours) but they never really did anything to alleiviate the situtation. I repeatedly asked them if the problems with my server would be resolved and they said, fairly bluntly "I don't know". They finally offered to switch me to another server, which I agreed to and it has been nearly 48 hours and I still not have been transfered and my site is still experiencing problems.

I know for the price it seems tempting, but honestly it isn't worth it. If they can't even host my testing site, I can't even imagine if I were to try and run an active site through them. If you are looking for a reliable host STAY AWAY FROM DREAMHOST.

AeonCube · #2 07-31-2009, 08:56 AM

Sorry to hear your bad time with DreamHost, and thank you for sharing... Can you let us know what domain name you were hosting with them?

What are your plans? are you going to stay and carry out the rest of the 6 month plan or move on?

RNMProductions · #3 07-31-2009, 09:14 AM

I have packages with other hosting providers, but I'm currently looking to possibly purchase an offshore VPS server for this project.

The domain I was working on was...

Streaming-Database.com

Which is just a simple Wordpress blog that I've been customizing for a friend, due to its content I'm advising him to go the off-shore route. (Not sure if American servers are okay with a site indexing copyrighted material.) Maybe one of you how are more knowledge with hosts could advise me in which host to go with, and particularly if going off-shore is necessary.

Sparrow-Sean · #4 07-31-2009, 09:37 AM

If you are hosting copryrighted materials then off-shore would be your way to go.

Personally we can only recommend our experiences with hosts, We cannot choose a host for you that choice is one you are going to have to take

Can I ask a budget you would have and how much bandwidth and space you would require?

I am sorry to hear about the unfortunate events over at DreamHost

Sean

RNMProductions · #5 07-31-2009, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ATH-Sean

If you are hosting copryrighted materials then off-shore would be your way to go.

Personally we can only recommend our experiences with hosts, We cannot choose a host for you that choice is one you are going to have to take

Can I ask a budget you would have and how much bandwidth and space you would require?

I am sorry to hear about the unfortunate events over at DreamHost

Sean

He doesn't plan on hosting copyrighted materials, just links to servers that do. (Megavideo, depositfiles, etc.).

The budget is around $40-60 per month with bandwidth likely to be around 300-500GB per month.

DJwrite · #6 07-31-2009, 09:58 AM

Well this is a classic example of the "price-quality" rule.
You just can't expect something being so cheap to be reliable. That's why I prefer paying more for a stable service. Or... if you have enough budget and admin knowledge, just go for a dedicated server so everything is in your control. Dedicated servers are the heaven of web hosting.

The-Pixel · #7 07-31-2009, 10:10 AM

I'm very sorry to hear about your bad experience with DreamHost. By posting your experience on WHT you are helping other who are thinking about DreamHost.

I hope the experience has made you wiser and that the old saying is true, "You do get what you pay for".

RNMProductions · #8 07-31-2009, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJwrite

Well this is a classic example of the "price-quality" rule.
You just can't expect something being so cheap to be reliable. That's why I prefer paying more for a stable service. Or... if you have enough budget and admin knowledge, just go for a dedicated server so everything is in your control. Dedicated servers are the heaven of web hosting.

If I had the expendable income I would surely get a dedicated server

, I'm sure I would love it. In the interim I was hoping that I could catch lightening in a bottle and find a host that could support my test sites. Unfortunately I got what i paid for, trash.

ItsJustHosting · #9 07-31-2009, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJwrite

Well this is a classic example of the "price-quality" rule.
You just can't expect something being so cheap to be reliable. That's why I prefer paying more for a stable service. Or... if you have enough budget and admin knowledge, just go for a dedicated server so everything is in your control. Dedicated servers are the heaven of web hosting.

This is not always true, even with DreamHost. There are both positive reviews about them and negative, and the same goes with more expensive hosts as well.

Thanks to the OP for sharing the review, and sorry you've had a poor experience with your host.

iHubNet-Matt · #10 07-31-2009, 02:06 PM

Sorry to hear your troubles mate. Thanks for sharing it with the community.

riderrider · #11 07-31-2009, 02:41 PM

I used to have a test site on dreamhost too. Had the same problem as yours.

It is right "You do get what you pay for". So I think what you can do is to find a new place and move on.

Good luck

ldcdc · #12 07-31-2009, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Well this is a classic example of the "price-quality" rule.

Is it? I have a similar account with DH, paid $9 for the first year. Yes, it might be a bit slow when it comes to applications, unfortunately, but I'm seeing 99.97% uptime in the 40 days I've been monitoring it. Nothing like what the OP has noticed. It's a jinxed/sub-par cluster/server perhaps, which might explain why they offered to move the OP's account.