I'm looking for a host ... again. I'm getting so tired of this, it seems as though if you stay with someone for a couple of years, they're good at first but when they start to grow things get worse and worse.

And trying to find reviews online is useless. All it seems to be are hosts that have paid to be in 'the top 10'. Even on forums, I'm never sure what shills people have milling around. I'm hoping on this forum I can find some honest reviews by people who have no personal interest in the host they're recommending. I would also like to request, if you are the owner of a hosting company, please do not respond to this post. I only want unbiased opinions from hosting customers.

That said, I am looking for the following:
-- 24/7 live support, be it phone or chat
-- Phone support with an 800 number for at least during business hours, preferably also on the weekends.
-- Techs who actually answer the phone and actually *know* what they're doing
-- Techs who are not completely flummoxed by Mac users
-- A Linux or Mac OS server (Not Windows)
-- cPanel or something as user-friendly
-- Capable of at least 8 add-on domains
-- Free migration, if possible. I know that's a tall order, but I have some databases that need to be transferred
-- SMF capable
-- Quicktime streaming

I'm looking right now at Green Geeks, Mac Highway (no streaming there) and Speedy Sparrow. But they seem to be relatively new with not a lot of reviews that I've found.

Right now I have 926mb of disk space used and am using 2200 mg of bandwidth.

Any reviews on these or others you would recommend (or stay away from) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Caat

That is one serious list of specifications, Caat. Not sure how many regular hosting customers would even be able to understand certain elements of your request. Even personally, while familiar with most of what you are asking (and very impressed by your level of preparedness), I am still not sure whether something like QuickTime streaming, for example, requires a special server setup or a particular software a vendor needs to run...

Also, I assume you are looking for a VPS solution or a dedicated server environment?

I am happy to say we do not have shills here at HostingDiscussion.com. And if any of them manage to get through, we are quick at identifying and squishing them.

I would advice you to reconsider, if you really want to find some nice recommendations. Since hosting companies cannot recommend themselves on this forum (it is against the rules that usually results in an infractions and/or a potential ban), a lot of the company owners and representatives here have a vast experience with other companies, so their recommendations of other outlets that they had good experience with themselves are not biased by default.

I know you asked for company representatives not to reply, but I think it might be helpful to specify what type of hosting you are requiring and what your budget is.

Can you manage your own server and is USA a good location?

If so, I would go for ecvps.

I have used them for a USA Based SHOUTcast node, 1GBPS.
I have had no downtime, only once or twice at the start, which was over 8 months ago.

The speeds are pretty good and the support are ok, however unsure if they can help in that respect, since there language is not the best for the English type.

But otherwise, they are perfect for a reliable and stable service, and the price is great!

Understood. It's my 'would like' list, the quicktime streaming is something I might be able to be flexible on, but the phone support and competency I am not. However, I have had quicktime streaming on several shared hosts. That said, I don't need it as much as I used to.

No, actually, I'm pretty small. I'm looking for shared at the moment solely because I can't afford dedicated. I do want phone support though. My current host swore upside down and sideways they had it, but when it came down to a real problem, they were nowhere to be found.

Good to know.

Understood and reconsidered. Thanks.

Caat

Like I say, I've been looking at these three companies:
Green Geeks
Mac Highway
Speedy Sparrow

The shared plans with my space needs all run about $100 - $120/year.

Do you mean a colocated server? My husband (a systems admin) is asking that question. We have talked about running our own server but just can't afford the initial cost right now. And, yes, we are in the US.

Looking into it now. I will show it to my husband. Thanks for the lead.

Caat

In regards to the list of hosts you are already looking at. One thing I always do is contact the support department, first thing. Use all available methods of contact and note the response time. I can't speak for other ordering systems but I know any host running WHMCS has the ability to monitor uptime. You could ask for a report on their uptime if you don't see that information on their website. Also ask how long they have been in business and do a WHOIS on their domain.

And it's a shame but I have to agree with you that there are occasions of hosts who pay for the "top ten" or affiliated in some way to the reviewer. It's inevitable, however, in the industry today to have that kind of thing going on with all of the hosts offering unlimited packages. People have to come up with other ways of bringing in business, even its using dirty tactics.

Good advice. I did that with Green Geeks and was impressed with the response time and service. I will do it with the others as well.

I will also check on those additional items, as well. Thanks.

I mean such as a unmanaged VPS or Dedicated system.

No problem.

I would also agree with others, send tickets and so on and test them out before you decide to make the plunge.

Hi Caat,

Its difficult to catch you doing anything wrong with your research. As I said earlier, I am very impressed with your approach.

Perhaps something else for you to consider. I am not an owner of a hosting company, neither am I working for one. I am an Internet entrepreneur such as yourself and I've been running many sites for many years, including HostingDiscussion.com. You'd think that if anyone, I should be able to tell a bad apple from a good one. Wrong. I've made my share of errors with some of the hosting companies I've dealt with before.

However, after everything I've learned and all the mistakes I've learned from in years, my last pick for a hosting company was an extensive research between roughly 25 providers. It was rather important for me to pick the right host for this particular site you are on, because it had to serve as example for what an excellent hosting environment should be like. After all, how can I ever recommend a provider if my own site would go down all the time, or if I receive crappy service.

So anyway, cutting the long story short: I suggest you to take a look at HandsOnWebHosting.com shared plans:
http://www.handsonwebhosting.com/hos...ared-standard/
I think their Budget plan would work quite well: they do offer up to 10 free additional domains on the same account.

I've been hosting with them for a year, although I am using a dedicated server that they sponsor HostingDiscussion.com with. I am disclosing this because it might appear like a biased suggestion, even though it is not. They are not the first company to host the site, but for the past 1.5 years they have done the job better than any of the previous companies combined. So that is very much representative of how they run all of their operations.

Unfortunately, they do not have a phone line for support. They only have a helpdesk as the only technical support option, which is staffed 24/7. Usually that wouldn't be enough for someone like me, but the fact is - they don't give me any space for complaining as they respond to tickets very fast (from as fast as 7 minutes later, and already with a resolution). To me - that's more than satisfactory, and members seem to be happy with the site, too.

Something else to consider, Caat. In today's world, some VPS solutions have become very affordable and if your sites are important to you and your husband, then I'd suggest paying a bit more to get better environment. A VPS would also give you less stress as you never know who your neighbor on a shared server would be and if he/she is going to cause your site any trouble by being too server demanding.

Cheers,
Artashes

Thanks Artashes.

That's the kind of recommendation I've been looking for. Mr. Caat and I are going to spend some time on this tomorrow, I've sent him this thread, and we'll certainly take a look at Handsonweb.

Thanks much,
Caat

Oh, and btw, thanks for the complement on my research. You stumble and fall enough, you try to learn a few things.

Whatever Mr and Mrs Caat decide, I suggest visiting HostingDiscussion.com back and try searching for any coupons the company of your choice might have posted in our marketplace. This is a season when hosts post especially good discounts and deals.

And of course, keep us in the loop of what your choice ended up being, along with a review of service down the line. It would be very helpful to others who might be in the same ship as you.

Thanks for that, I will.

Without question. I absolutely will. Thanks.

It sounds like you know exactly what you are looking for and I will attempt to be as unbiased as possible since I know you preferred to have hosting customers only reply and even though I do own a web host, I am also a web hosting customer. But I thought maybe if I act objectively I may be able to offer something of value. You strike me as someone who is ready to move to a VPS if you haven't already. If you don't think VPS is for you I would recommend a reseller account since many of them offer you the ability to have 8 addon domains. If you are only looking to park domains then a reseller may be over kill for you.

If I may make a recommendation, it sounds like you need a host that is running CentOS and offers cpanel. With those combinations you should experience minimal frustration. I've ran SMF on CentOS and have no problems with it. Wordpress works equally as well. I would say to find a host that has either been in the industry for a good period of time, or one that uses a good upstream provider.

I will be glad to offer any other information that may be helpful to your work. If there is more that I can do just say the word.