Due to some weird hardware snafus (that, to be honest, I was warned of long ago and never gave two thoughts about), I’m in the market for a new hosting service for my domain name. I used Gandi, and I’m looking at Go Daddy, but I know there must be more out there. I generally have three qualifications for what I’m looking for:
Cheap. Now, this is flexible, but trying to keep the price low is important to me.
Usable by a technophobe as, well, I am one.
Perhaps most immediately important, email. The main reason I’m switching from Gandi is because they do not allow someone to (say) have everything from ‘mydomain dot com’ go directly to them. Up until my hardware problem, everything from my domain name was sent directly to me. I’m not sure what, if any, domain handlers do this now.
So, what experiences have people had, and what can they recommend / not recommend?
I and several of my freelancer colleagues love love love HostMySite. Plans start at $8.95/month, and they give
EXCELLENT
tech support – always polite and helpful, available via phone, e-mail, or live chat. They’ve been great with both solving problems and walking me through setups where I was a total n00b – very patient. You also get total control over your e-mail and spam filters, and a handy-dandy whitelist, which would solve your #3.
They have a deal right now where you can get a domain name for $2 when you set up hosting (though I paid the extra $8 or so for the private registration).
They let you do redirects and such with your email. I redirect all mail sent to me@mysite.com to come to me at myname@gmail.com.
I particularly like that they give you the option of Windows or Linux, and you can get SSH access to the server even in the Economy plan (not all hosting providers do).
I went for a Linux server account, and I manage my web site via SSH and SFTP. Much better than using unsecure FTP.
Do look at what the Economy plan provides; it’s pretty good compared to other hosting providers.
Mkay, just sent them an email… Still shopping… But one thing that was unclear on their home page- as a ‘standard’ user (who really just wants his email from his domain name), what sort-of package am I looking for there?
I use 1and1. I’ve been using them for years and they have been very reliable. Non-business hosting is less than $5 per month and they are extremely easy to use, even if you’re a technophobe. I’ve also used GoDaddy and find 1and1 to be far superior and a much better value.
I’m a little confused. Are you looking for a webhost (that is, space for a website and POP email accounts), or a domain registrar (manages the domain name only, usually offers forwarding service from me@domain.com to me@gmail.com or similar)?
I’ve known folks who had issues with GoDaddy’s politics and customer service (canceling pre-paid service immediately instead of at the end of the term, and not offering a pro-rated refund for the time not used, among other things) if such things matter to you.
I’m really not sure what you’re asking here. Are you looking for a forwarding service, to send mail to your gmail/yahoo/whatever account, or are you looking for actual POP/IMAP email boxes?
If you’re looking for a webhost and not just a registrar, I highly recommend Drak.net. I’ve been with them for somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 years, you get lots of space for not a lot of money (you get increasing discounts for paying quarterly/annually/every two years, but at an annual payment it works out to $8.50 a month). Their smallest package includes more stuff than most people will ever use. 4 gigs of space, 40 email boxes, mailing lists, FTP accounts, blah blah blah.
Their customer service is the best I’ve seen anywhere. Email support and you’ll have a response within an hour (even at 2am… seriously), and as often as not it’s the company owner responding to you.
If you’re just looking for a registrar and email forwarding service, all this is overkill. Just about any registrar offers some sort of forwarding service these days, and I think a lot of them include it in the $15 a year registration fee.
The company I worked for a few years ago had a business webhosting account with 1and1. I have heard of a couple people who’ve been happy with them, but my experience was horrible. Their customer service was incompetent. They would accidentally turn off account features that we were still paying for and trying to use. I’d be asking for support on something and they couldn’t even understand my questions – on something where my sum total of knowledge was what I’d spent half an hour googling. I should not be smarter than tech support after half an hour on google.