Looking for a reliable UK web host.

[jexx]

Hi

I've been with TSOHosts for several years but have found there support over the last few months has become really bad so I'm thinking of moving away.

My requirements are quite simple.

Hosting 3 personal domains.
10/20GB Storage ( i keep some firmware files on here to make access easier for clients)
SSL Lets Encrypt Support
Standard Plain text FTP support ( needed for one specific application)
Email / Spam Filtering etc.

Any suggestions ?
Cost is important, but so is reliability.
Thanks

 

[jacobc]

Hi,

Your requirements are quite standard apart from the plain text FTP as many hosts won't have that enabled now by default as it is not secure. I would suggest you would need a managed VPS for this and then it can be configured to allow plain text FTP. This is something we could help with if it was of interest. Feel free to let me know if you have any more questions.

Regards

Jacob

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Hi,

Welcome to the forums.

We've seen many similar complaints about TSOHost, for several years now, but it's only got worse since Host Europe Group who acquired TSOHost, was acquired by GoDaddy.

Thankfully moving to a new provider is easy, and any decent host will do this free of charge for you, with no downtime or interruption to service.

TSOHost do make this harder because unless you're on a legacy cPanel account from one of their acquisitions, you'll be using their proprietary Gridhost control panel.

So many larger hosts likely wouldn't do the manual migration free of charge for you. However other providers such as us would be happy to.

If you do a search on the forums then you should find plenty of recommendations for a good UK web host, that provides proper UK support.

Regarding your requirements, you don't need a VPS, which will cost significantly more because of the licensing costs.

We for example support both plain and secure FTP, although we would strongly recommend using secure FTP, and finding a solution in the long run that allows you to use that for all applications.

I hope that helps.

If you have any questions feel free to get in touch, we'd be happy to help.

All the best,

Dan

 

[WESH.UK]

Hosting 3 personal domains.
10/20GB Storage ( i keep some firmware files on here to make access easier for clients)
SSL Lets Encrypt Support
Standard Plain text FTP support ( needed for one specific application)
Email / Spam Filtering etc.

Hi Jexx

The file storage you might find breaks a lot of T&C's as most will require all files used to be part of the website, unless your firmware files are part of your website.

Free SSL is fairly normal these day however, plain text FTP is going to be your biggest issue.

Our servers for example wont even allow you to initiate an unsecured connection to anything at all, they weill terminate the connection before even being asked for a username.

We have however got to know who set's things up fairly poorly, and Heart Internet might well suit your requirements.

They use obsolete software, dont have any security on the FTP either and really dont seem to care what you upload. We've had loads migrate over from them for these and many other reasons, but it sounds like they might be right up your street, but "Cheap / Reliable" are not going to go hand in hand... You may need to pick one.

Keep in mind backups too, I dont believe (From all of the accounts we have logged into and seen) Heart take backups of your stuff, hence cheap, but if it goes wrong, its all on your to restore/fix.

Worth looking at maybe..

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Heart Internet is part of Host Europe Group (HEG), along with Paragon Internet Group (PIG), which owned the TSOHost and now defunct Vidahost brands.

https://www.heg.com/#mass

PIG was acquired by HEG in 2015

And GoDaddy acquired HEG in 2017

So Heart Internet and TSOHost have both been owned by GoDaddy for some time.

And Heart Internet always had worse service than TSOHost - who used to have decent service and slowly declined (especially after they were acquired).

Heart Internet was bought by HEG in 2011, so has been bad for at least around a decade.

Anyway, if you're looking for better service than you're getting from TSOHost, then you last thing you want to do is move to a lesser brand owned by the same business, which has been owned by the same business for much longer.

So it's not worth looking at.

Backend support is likely all integrated by now, so you'll likely be talking to the same support agents at Heart Internet as you have been at TSOHost - GoDaddy support.

That's what they do - acquire hosting companies, often backed by venture capital funding, and aggressively consolidate the back end - infrastructure, servers, service, support - cutting costs - to make a quick return for their investors. All that's left is a brand that's a husk of its former self. It's just GoDaddy behind the branding veneer.

HEG was the British equivalent of Endurance International Group, who own a staggering number of primarily US hosting brands. Often users would switch from one hosting "company" to another in the hope of getting better service, not realising that they were just brands both owned by EID, and they'd be getting the same support - speaking to the very same support agents.

Now GoDaddy own HEG it really is two large US corporate behemoths dominating the market, selling poor, mass market hosting, trading on the reputation of brands they acquired and heavy marketing spend.

/rant

A decent UK host will serve you well. Just do a search and look around.

Best of luck,

Dan

 

[WESH.UK]

Not sure why the need to share all that Dan, but oh well...

Only recommended them because all of those companies have such shite hosting that they actually allow unsecured FTP. Have never seen or heard of anybody asking for unsecured FTP before..

Essentially, what he is after will be difficult to find and a compromise will need to be made.

Unsecured, cheap = Garbage
Reliable and secure = Not going to be cheap.

Transferring any site is done for free, but whats more important, reliability and good quality or unsecure and cheap?

Totally agree, a DECENT host will indeed last a lifetime..

 

[webhostuk]

Hi

I've been with TSOHosts for several years but have found there support over the last few months has become really bad so I'm thinking of moving away.

My requirements are quite simple.

Hosting 3 personal domains.
10/20GB Storage ( i keep some firmware files on here to make access easier for clients)
SSL Lets Encrypt Support
Standard Plain text FTP support ( needed for one specific application)
Email / Spam Filtering etc.

Any suggestions ?
Cost is important, but so is reliability.
Thanks

A basic level SSD shared Hosting plan can satisfy your requirement.
Incase you are looking for reliable provider make sure you check reviews and how old is the company without getting sold out in those years .

 

[jexx]

Thanks for the replies.
The requirement for FTP is to allow a few remote devices to upgrade. Unfortunately in some circumstances this can only be done via FTP.

My sites are very basic nothing to them really, I put a couple of gigabytes of firmware files on there, to make it easier for the remote upgrades.

Doing this has never been an issue with my original host or TSO since the take over several years ago.

Thanks

 

[gpietersz]

Have you considered using a VPS? Much less restricted terms of service, usually good performance, you can set things up as you like, and you can get everything you want for about $5/month.

The only thing is that you need to either learn a bit more about managing it, or you will have to pay someone to maintain it.

 

[jexx]

Hi
I have thought about a VPS but I don't think it need that much control and I don't fancy having to sort and secure the email side.

I'm open to suggestions.
Thanks

 

[gpietersz]

Agreed, email hosting is a pain. Its something I avoid doing myself although I am quite happy running lots of web and other servers

You can host your email with an email host who will probably do a better job of it than a web host who throws in email (TSO host in particular has had email problems: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/08/20/tsohosts_still_struggling_to_fix_email_issues/ ) and use a VPS for the web side of things.

I think given your non-standard requirements (unencrypted FTP and storage that will break some web hosts T & Cs) which need to be combined with reliability and low cost a VPS is probably the best solution.

 

[gpietersz]

Regarding your requirements, you don't need a VPS, which will cost significantly more because of the licensing costs.

I can see nothing in the OP's requirements that requires licensing anything.

 

[kkfcXHzmCc]

Krystal.co.uk - great company - UK based and reliable.

 

[HostXNow]

Don't go with VPS unless you really need to as VPS can have a lot of overheads and more management is needed. Just find a new provider who support insecure FTP (not as bad as many make out; it mainly affects you, not others), so if you aren't too bothered about that then it's fine.

25GB is quite a lot of storage for Shared hosting, you may need to pay more for that extra storage since SSD NVMe storage is not cheap. We include 25GB SSD NVMe storage with our X1 - Enterprise Hosting plan at £10/month. We include a dedicated IP which helps with email deliverability too. But have a look around to compare things properly.

Good luck.

 

[jexx]

Hi.
Not sure where 25GB came from, I need 10-20GB max.
I currently pay about £50 for the year,cost is a factor as I pay this myself and don't claim it back from my employer.

Thanks

 

[HostXNow]

Yes, I read 10-20 GB but the extra 5 GB allows for growth if needed without having to upgrade again so soon. Besides, 25 GB is the quota for the example I was giving. Use it or don't. Same price either way.

All the best.

 

[techguy4557]

Well, obviously you should move on. Can’t just waste money and time.

I suggest you go with Accuweb Hosting as they are the best hosting provider for Shared Hosting. You will be glad to know that they are giving free migration for your website. They provide pure SSD storage in their plans and also free SSL for your site. And yes, they offer Standard Plain text FTP support and Email / Spam Filtering that you are asking. They are giving maximum features at a very affordable price. They have excellent technical experts who are available 24/7/365.

 

[HostXNow]

Well, obviously you should move on. Can’t just waste money and time.

I suggest you go with Accuweb Hosting as they are the best hosting provider for Shared Hosting. You will be glad to know that they are giving free migration for your website. They provide pure SSD storage in their plans and also free SSL for your site. And yes, they offer Standard Plain text FTP support and Email / Spam Filtering that you are asking. They are giving maximum features at a very affordable price. They have excellent technical experts who are available 24/7/365.

The provider you suggest doesn't have a UK location.The thread title does say "Looking for a reliable UK web host.". That might be important for some. Just sayin'.

 

[techguy4557]

The provider you suggest doesn't have a UK location.The thread title does say "Looking for a reliable UK web host.". That might be important for some. Just sayin'.

Good Catch! Actually, they do provide servers in London, Uk. If you check their product pages i.e. Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Server, you will see lots of plans for UK location. As far as my experience is concerned, their servers are the best and support is just outstanding.

 

[HostXNow]

Good Catch! Actually, they do provide servers in London, Uk. If you check their product pages i.e. Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Server, you will see lots of plans for UK location. As far as my experience is concerned, their servers are the best and support is just outstanding.

They may be good, but it would be better if they didn't have people trying to spam the company on various forums in non-advertising forums. If they are as good as you make out, then they shouldn't need to spam everywhere. I've deleted several posts of theirs on a forum I run. Some from affiliate websites. That will put many off using them if they spam everywhere or have people spamming for them.

 

[Michael Beaumont]

Hi Jexx, is this for your sellerdeck hosting by any chance?
I am using Pipeten in Sheffield as they are local to me and I know they are all ex Sheffield Uni students.
I have been hosting actinic /selleredeck sites on their servers for over sixteen years now.

 

[SYN]

Your requirements are quite low, even 25GB SSD is low. Hardware and SSD prices have dropped a lot in the last 1-2 years. Did you end up picking a provider?

 

[Kidz Gifts]

I have been using Heart Internet VPS hosting for couple of years. Was not happy with them, very slow support response time. I would not suggest it.

 

[Xxguide]

My recommendation is TSOHost.

 

[DontAsk]

My recommendation is TSOHost.

Did you read the original post, or are you just being funny?

I have had no issues with Easyspace. Support has always been very good.