Finding a new host headaches

aka Rohan's picture

He has: 200 posts

Joined: Feb 2006

I've decided that my current webhost is a bit pricy now (costing me around £9.50) a month for the starter package. I'm a bit loath to leave as i've had absolutely no problem with them apart from the cost (oh and they don't allow multiple domains which is frustrating)

I never realised how much of a pain in the arse choosing a host is though. My current (and first) one Namesco, was reccomended by Jeeves and as I said has been fine (got anymore suggestions dude Laughing out loud ). Everytime I think i've found one, I find something else to put me off. Sad

UK2.net apparently has hidden costs and is difficult to move away from
Streamline.net is allegedly slow and has poor support
123-reg has some shocking reviews
e.t.c.

Can anyone here recommend a decent (cheap) host? Ideally I need to be able to host multiple domains as I don't like forwarding. A reseller package would be too expensive. I only really need 0.5-1Gb space Confused

JeevesBond's picture

He has: 3,956 posts

Joined: Jun 2002

You could look at Dreamhost, while Thinkhost are environmentally friendly.

Those are the only two I know of as being ok. Not sure how the prices match up though. Have you tried asking whether you could host multiple domains?

The only other thing to remember is that often, you get what you pay for. Be wary of plans that are 'too good to be true'. Smiling

a Padded Cell our articles site!

Greg K's picture

He has: 2,145 posts

Joined: Nov 2003

I have been using pair Networks for 10 years now, they have a basic FTP account for $5.95 a month (including a dedicated IP address for your domain). They allow multiple domains, and recently started allowing domains to share IP addresses. Used to be you paid $1/month fo each domain you had (unless it was just parked) becaseu each domain got its own IP address.

The only downtime I have experienced with them was when they moved back when they were expanding years ago. This was made quite away to customers in advance, and was only down for a few hours.

Here is my recommended setup for using mutiple domains with them:

When you sign up you have a path on the server such as /usr/www/users/username, accessed by http://servername.pair.com/username. By default this is where your domain name points to. However for managing domains later, I recommend you set it up this way:

domain1.com -> /usr/www/users/username/domain1
domain2.com -> /usr/www/users/username/domain2
domain3.com -> /usr/www/users/username/domain3

Not saying the directory name has to match the domain name, but use a separate subdirectory for each domain, then no information can be cross accessed.

ie. if you let the default go through for the first domain then use subdirectories for other domains, you end up with:

domain1.com -> /usr/www/users/username
domain2.com -> /usr/www/users/username/domain2
domain3.com -> /usr/www/users/username/domain3

Where technically content of domain2.com is now part of domain1.com, as you can access it by http://www.domain1.com/domain2

Just my 2 cents worth. Now I need to get a payday advance loan.... LOL

-Greg

aka Rohan's picture

He has: 200 posts

Joined: Feb 2006

Cheers for the replies guys. Looking at those other 'good' hosts it does certainly seem like you do get what you pay for.

I think what i'll do is stick with my current host rather than risk a new one for my main site. I'm about to start a small site for a counterstrike clan, myself and a few friends are thinking of starting so might try a cheap new host for that so that if they're rubbish, I won't have lost anything.

I few months on, if I get anywhere with my website sengoku.co.uk I might then look for multiple domain hosting package like you guys have recommended. Smiling

knorr's picture

They have: 171 posts

Joined: Sep 2006

Yeah? It's better to stick to the hosting you are with especially if it's all right.

They have: 27 posts

Joined: Jan 2007

Hello. Just remember that cheap hosting company isn't quality one.

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