I just want to say, that one.com also is a very good host. Their 24-7 live chat support is superb and I've not had any problems with them yet.

I would recommend Aruba. They charge me only €27 per annum.

There are several good hosting companies, the ones I am most familiar with is Blue Host, Host Gator, Cirtex, and 1and1(have worked with others, but not enough to be familiar). Blue Host and Host Gator is some of the best I have ever used, Cirtex(they also produce gotomeeting) has had a couple of issues, but their CS has been outstanding, 1and1 is a stable company.

We still have plans to start a hosting company, but have to take care of current business, and build a structure that can be worthy of what I feel should be in a good hosting company.

I appreciate to suggest anyone who wants to start web biz online, please visit http://www.lovelyapple.com!
I use their hosting to host my websites. $3.99 monthly hosting (Linux or Window), and also, $1.99 domain .info on sales now! The site works 24/7.


Fungs
fungs.biz owner

Hey guys!

I know I haven't commented in this thread since August of last year, but I just wanted to give everyone an update on my hosting escapades. I HAVE switched web hosts, but not to hostgator as I thought I would, I switched to dreamhost. This is an AMAZING company. The have something called "VPS" which lets you change the amount of resources their servers allocate to your site on an as-needed basis. As your site become more popular and/or you add more sites to your hosting account, you simply log in to your control panel and slide a bar to turn up your resources.... what an AMAZING idea! You NEVER have to worry about switching web hosts again, or about transferring your files to another web host:

http://www.dreamhost.com/hosting-vps.html

The cost for this VPS starts at around $24 per month, but remember this isn't "shared hosting", this is a "Virtual Private Server". You are getting significantly more resources than you get with regular shared hosting accounts.

Though if regular shared hosting is what you want, dreamhost offers that for $8.95/month. And of course, you can upgrade from regular shared hosting to VPS at any time, and Dreamhost will even transfer your files for you from the shared servers to the VPS servers free of charge.

If anyone wants to host with these guys you can use the promo code: savebigmoney23 and you will get $50 off your first year of hosting PLUS one free domain registration! This code works for shared hosting and for VPS, so it's up to you what you want.

Personally I think the best way to host with these guys is to START out with regular shared hosting and then, once your sites starts loading slow or get an email from Dreamhost stating that your using too many resources on their servers, just enter their control panel and upgrade to VPS.

By the way, Dreamhost also has a VERY easy to use control panel. It's their OWN invention, but it's easy to import data from cpanel if that's what you were using in the past.

Again, I promise I don't work for these guys. I just did a LOT of research to find the best web host for my needs and wanted to share my findings with you all. If you prefer to host with someone else, like godaddy.com, I have a promo for them too. You get special pricing on Unlimited Hosting plans, if you pay up front for 1-year it's $9.99/mo, a 2 years is $6.29/mo and 3 years is $4.79/mo. Keep in mind the regular price for the "unlimited plan" is $14.99/mo, and you're getting it for UNDER $5.00/mo if you pay up front for three years! I do NOT get a kick back from this or anything like that, I am just trying to help others get a good deal on web hosting! Here is the code for this GoDaddy special: cjcophst20

Feel free to chime in if you have any questions/comments about this thread. I'll check in later tonight to see if anyone has posted :-)

That's quite a marketing pitch for no commission.
While I have a feeling most couldn't justify spending that kind of dough or needing higher resources, that's not bad for what they're offering. I'll have to bookmark or keep a mental note in hopes our business picked up enough to require it. Thanks for looking out for the rest of us Chad.

EW.... Mad at 1and1 right now. I am a newbee. When I call to ask questions, they are most amenable, but I can't understand them (very thick accents) . I got frustrated, and transferred my service to Bluehost. I am VERY happy with them. That is what got me hooked up with CoffeeCup. I can call them 24-7 and get a fast, courteous reply, they are VERY inexpensive, and offer detailed tutorials for every feature they offer.

I'm sorry to say that even after I canceled my 1and1, (6 months ago) I still get billing emails, and never got my pro-rated refund after I had used them for website hosting for over four years. The control panel is very "foreign" as well. I don't know where you live, but it really matters to me when I can only think like a westerner (English and Spanish).

Since you are an Ambassador, the technical difficulties may not matter to you very much, but if you have other users that will need to access assistance, I would not recommend them.

Chad,

I'm surprised to see you recommending Dreamhost. I had checked them out because someone had recommended them to me, but when I came across the following negative review, I quickly lost interest.

http://www.upstartblogger.com/why-dreamhost-sucks

While no web host should be judged by one negative review, this particular review is not your typical review, as you will see when you read it.

Now, my main reason for posting this is not to bash Dreamhost because I've never used them nor do I intend to (at least not currently). In fact, I've never used any web host because I still haven't finished my web site that I've been working on since July of 2008. (I'm waiting for a fix to a bug in 6.06 that is supposed to be in the next upgrade.) In other words, I'm looking for a web host myself in anticipation of my soon-to-be-launched web site.

So, I was pleasantly surprised to read what you had to say in earlier posts about buying a domain from one provider but hosting the web site for that domain with another provider --- just in case unforseen problems occur down the road that could result in the loss of your domain. I currently own a couple of domains from 1&1, but I am leery about hosting with them because of some really bad negative reviews I've read about them (not on this thread, btw). Some of the web hosts I've read really good things about are AN Hosting (the above review mentions them), IX Web Hosting, and BlueHost. Currently, I'm leaning towards BlueHost because they appear to offer more for less money than any other web host I know of and have a history of being the first to offer new or improved features to their customers. I was wondering if you had considered BlueHost in your search. If not, you can read about Blue Host in the review below:

http://www.10-cheapwebhosting.com/hosts/BlueHost.php

However, your latest post in this thread made me take another look at BlueHost because I was not aware of the problem you described. When I did, the following article reinforced my previous leanings towards BlueHost even more:

http://www.bluehost.com/cgi/info/resource_protection

The gist of the article is that BlueHost has their own proprietary solution to the resources problem you describe, which they make available to all of their customers for free instead of forcing them to upgrade their plan and pay more money (like you had to do with Dreamhost). So, would you mind rethinking this issue and let me know your thoughts on BlueHost vs. Dreamhost? Thanks!

Tom

Thanks Chad, and I guess you're spot on when you mention of shared hosting as a first choice, and upgrading when the servers/providers starts to 'make some noise' and, in this case, it helps to have a hosting provider that isn't susceptible into closing an account merely on the basis of 'bandwidth overload', if at least they have the courtesy to tell you that it's because of that.

For Reseller Hosting Accounts or VPS, people say Hostgator customer service is unmatched, and is worth the extra couple of bucks a month.