Good cheap reliable hosting provider?

[bigsofty]

Can anyone refer one? I need one in Europe or U.S.

The current one(PowWeb) had a great price but after your first year is up, they triple your renewal charge without warning. Which has been a bit of a shock!   

I need a relatively low ping with a good amount of bandwidth if possible. Also, I need PHP+MySQL too.

Many thanks,


Ian

Edit: Oops, not "ISP", a "provider" is what I'm looking for. Doh! 

[Kuron]

Personal preferences:

For normal sites:  http://hypermart.net  No gimmicks, and it has been extremely reliable for me.
For low volume sites: http://coastlandtech.com
For high volume sites: http://www.serverbeach.com


*edit* updated to fix hyperlink

[bigsofty]

Thanks for the reply Kuron.

Ah, some good links their.

How long have you been with Hypermart?

Cheers,


Ian

[Kuron]

How long have you been with Hypermart?

I used them for four years, but I decided not to renew.  However, I have no complaints with them at all.  The only reason I left was my web design skills are very lacking, and it is easier for me to use Weebly which has an editor that is easy for me to use.

If you want a hypermart site to judge speeds on, Chris Boss maintains his site on hypermart:  http://www.cwsof.com
Like me, he lacks web design skills.  Forum loading example:  http://cwsof.com/forums/index.php 

I only listed services I have personally used, and ones I refer friends to.

[Topzombie]

http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/hypermart.net
...

[Kuron]

http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/hypermart.net
...

At least they are more honest than most rating sites, they admit up front "WOT does not... have any detailed knowledge of the Content and other information presented and received through the use of the Services. Therefore, you may be exposed to information that is erroneous, "  They are like most "review" sites, the only way to get a positive review is to pay for it. They are up front about their pricing, at least $40.00 USD per month for a positive rating on mywot.  Like PT Barnum said, there is a sucker born every minute.  It is a shame that sites like this are allowed to conduct such blatant extortion.

Perhaps instead of dealing with hyperbole, you could share your personal experience with hypermart?

[bigsofty]

Hypermart looks good.

I am a little wary of low cost hosting now, which is a bit silly really but I am also now aware of the "hook em and real them in" renewal tactic which is used after your first year but if your cost are the same each year Kuron, then Hypermart should be fine.

Many thanks! 


Ian

[Kuron]

bigsofty:  At least with hypermart, you can try it for free for 30 days, no money up front, and you only pay if you decide to keep it after 30 days.  Unless things have changed, then and only then do you enter payment information.

I used to use hostforweb.com in years past, but I quit using them when they changed to using the "unlimited" gimmick.  In the late 90s, I was using http://www.aplus.net and I was happy with them.  They went through the "gimmick" period, but settled back down into reasonable terms.  I am not overly fond of California based companies/servers though.

If you have a serious commercial venture, http://www.invisionpower.com/hosting/website.php is very good.  But it is probably not what you are looking for.

[Kuron]

You posted while I was typing the other post   Their pricing has been the same for a long time.  They went though their "gimmick" period in the late 90s, when they were an advertising based free host for small companies*.  IIRC, they were sold in the early 00's and they have been very respectable for a long time.  It would be the only host I would consider if I was putting up a normal site.

30 days should be enough time for you to get the "feel" of their services.  I posted the URL for Chris' site earlier, and I have visited his forums daily for the past couple of years.  I can't ever remember his site being down.

In fairness, even many paid hosts like aplus.net had ads in the late 90s.

*edit*  I will say that regardless of your host, it is always good to get your domain name through somebody else.  Personally, I have used http://namesecure.com for domains since the late 90s.

[Topzombie]

@Kuron
On mywot.com the USERS rate the site.
Not the mywot admins

[bigsofty]

I' try the 30day free trial first, I would be mad to miss out a free lunch!

Long term reliability is key, my previous hosting has a few of my friends forums as sub-forums within mine, I feel bad about letting them down more than losing the host to be honest.

Thanks again,


Ian

[Kuron]

@Kuron
On mywot.com the USERS rate the site.
Not the mywot admins

If, you think that, then you should read their TOS and their pricing structures.  The only way a company can have the special "trusted" badge is to pay.  They are no different than any hosting "review" site.  Pay us, if you want a positive review.  mywot does seem to be one of the most expensive though, starting at $40 USD per month for commercial sites.  This is just a "cyber" take on the old "protection" racket the mafia used to run.  The only difference is mywot is applying to scam to all sites.

I should make a gaming version of the scam.  I could have a site and I would flag any game that doesn't pay my yearly fee.  Those who pay would get a special "trusted" logo they can proudly display in their game's splash screen.

In all seriousness, the only site about hosting I pay attention to is:  http://www.webhostingtalk.com and even then, I avoid the advertising forums.  The only review site I pay attention to is:  http://whreviews.com

There are all sorts of hosting reviews websites that talk about or collect web hosting reviews, sites posting all kinds of ratings, or top 10 web hosting companies lists. If you spend a bit of time comparing those lists, you'll see that most recommend a part of the same group of companies.

You might think: "That's normal. It means those are really the best!". Unfortunately, no. The reason that the same companies always make it to the "top" is that those companies, one way or another, pay to be listed there.

Most of the time you run across a so-called "top web hosting companies" list, all of the companies listed as run an affiliate program through Commission Junction (www.cj.com).

No, there's nothing wrong with Commission Junction or with getting paid for referrals. It's a known fact though, that the web hosting companies running their affiliate programs through Commission Junction offer among the highest affiliate commissions in the hosting industry. So, some "clever" guys thought about it: why not create websites with "top web hosting companies" lists and list these companies as "top"?

The really wrong part comes just now though: they don't rank them based on the quality of service (although they claim to), but more on the *size* of the commission or how easy it is to sell the hosting package, and with little to no regard for the service quality or actual reputation of the host. The companies offering the highest commissions and the lowest prices will often get the top spots.

For me, choosing a host comes down to word of mouth (from existing customers) more than anything else, and then what my budget can afford.

[Kuron]

Long term reliability is key, my previous hosting has a few of my friends forums as sub-forums within mine, I feel bad about letting them down more than losing the host to be honest.

If they are your friends, they will understand.

I used to use a host named Jatol that was really good for several years, and I referred several friends from my Christian writers group there.  Unfortunately, right after I had suggested them to my friends and they had signed up, Jatol went under with no warning.

Finding a good host is very hard to do, and with the nature of the business it is not exactly stable to begin with.  The economy makes it even more fragile.