Host & Domain

[mikehihn]

Meg, forget about the bandwidth. The costs of the next level are minimal, if any And going over 4GB for the site you describe is a TRIUMPH for your design! Don't dread, CELEBRATE. I don't know where you are, but I'm surprised that anyone is selling bandwidth as low as 4GB. Are you SURE that's not your storage space?

I'm a host. I won't give my URL, so use these number to shop around. Mine is $3.99 for 10 GB storage, unlimited bandwidth,24/7 phone support and I resell for one of the very biggest.

I would advise you doing a Google search for "unlimited bandwidth" and you'll get hundreds of them. But, no offense, I suspect you may not know how to tell a quality host from a rotten host! In maybe 15 minutes you should be able to sift through and find several hosts in your price range (they won't all be) Post them here and ask for recommendations, which is the politically correct way to do it.

Finally, if you have that concern, I suggest picking a host that will get you EVENTUALLY to unlimited bandwidth to an acceptable price. Unless you are REALLY tight for money, trust me on this, moving your website would be your biggest dread.

Good luck.

[ckh]

One thing to look for are places that advertise unlimited bandwidth and/or unlimited drive space. Both are lies and impossible as they are limited. Also if you read the fine print, you'll see they have limitations on their 'unlimited'.

[mikehihn]

[Flame removed]

[mikehihn]

How to get web space (and more) at GoDaddy's wholesale price (same price I pay)
First, my hosting URL, if anyone wishes to confirm that I am not lying. PeopleWebs.net

[Advertising removed]

[ckh]

[removed]

[Megg81]

Thanks for your replies, all the info I get here is much appreciated & yep Im right at the very start. I know my question is basically "how long is a piece of e-string?" since I don't know my potential number of visits yet... but I can now see the advantage of going with an unlimited package (for bandwidth). Thanks for those breakdowns Mike & ckh.

Yes Mike the 4GB is bandwidth with that particular provider; disk space is 400MB but i found a M-A-J-O-R concealed flaw in their package (since you can purchase a domain with them as well) which is let the domain lapse and you'll be getting a bill for £300 to get it back. Im not sure how that's even allowed but Im not sure I even want to go there with hosting anymore - seems like a bit of a scam to me. Surely that can't be normal proceedure...? The support is clearly outsourced too.

After much late night shopping around I've pretty much decided to buy the domain with 123reg.co.uk and now just need to shop around for the host. 123 reg offers hosting too; unlimited bandwidth with 1GB of webspace so Im giving them consideration, there is a free domain with them too. £2.49/mo but phone support is only in office hours, though I believe there is a ticket system 24/7.

GoDaddy I've considered; 10GB webspace and unlimited bandwidth £2.69 /mo. The 10GB is way more than I need & I've not looked into their tech support yet.

The prices of neither break the bank, its just about making the right decision. I think I've decided overnight not to go with the one offering the 4GB bandwidth, I spent over an hour on hold to them (without eventually getting an answer, I gave up) and that £300 business over a lapsed domain rings serious alarm bells for me.

I've tried out the customer services of maybe 6 or 7 different hosts this last week, some it's like pulling teeth! they're unable to answer even the simplist question: "what's the minimum duration of your contract?" >"you can have 25% discount if you sign up now" -"what are the contract terms?" >"do you want me to open an account this offer might not be available tomorrow" -"it will be, it was available last week and the week before" >"you can get 25% discount" -"actually just forget it". I started to wish I'd built a tiny little wall on the desk next to me that I could bash my tired head against and a lot have been this kind of level of service with or without broken English.

I won't list the names of the ones I've crossed off... nor the comments I wrote in my notes! But choosing a good host really seems like a bit of a minefield and invariably people only go on internet review sites when they have something to complain about so reading up on them doesn't really give an entirely balanced argument, though it does highlight trends - which is why I've been trying out their customer services to at least form my own first impressions. To be honest all hosts have equally bad reviews if you read the review sites! So Im wanting to start out with a 12 month plan - if it doesnt work out after that then I can move somewhere else once I've got a bit more experience in what Im needing.

So I guess the two that I've listed above are pretty much the last two in the runnings for me. 123reg Id have the domain with too... GoDaddy is a bigger company - both about same on customer ratings, both about same on price, both similar packages for what I'll be using... maybe I'll try out their customer services later on today

Thanks again guys for your time, any other input still welcome

[andremartin]

[spam removed]

[Megg81]

Unless there's anything someone can spot in the two comparisons that I should know about!
(and I hope Im ok to post these links here for these purposes, Im not sure...)

123reg starter package

Vs.

GoDaddy Economy

-and I may have to break my site built in Xara into sections as another member recommended, I think from that you have to upload the seperate sections as seperate files (?) I dont know if that affects anything with regards to if that kind of thing is possible with most hosts or if you can only upload one file on some (apologies if my questions seem a little simple...)

[mikehihn]

[Flame removed]

[mikehihn]

I must have missed part of this. You should have no problem uploading to GoDaddy, within Xara. I do it every day.

I don't know anything about 123, but GoDaddy has 24/7 phone support, and they don't hide like Google does. They have one of those small graphics showing the current waiting time for phone support (as opposed to email)

Good luck. Your better clients will appreciate your dedication.