Which is best web hosting after Hostgator?
- Thread starter mycar
- Start date
Welcome to UKBF , Hostgator is purchased by EIG group since then I have seen lots of customers migrating from them due to support and response time issue. One more thing they done offer UK Hosting, they have servers located in US.
Can you specify your require. I am sure we will be more than happy to help you
Can you specify your require. I am sure we will be more than happy to help you
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I'd recommend one of these three hosters which are all owned by the Host Europe Group:
http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/
https://www.123-reg.co.uk/
http://www.webfusion.co.uk/
However, hosting companies tend to change their prices, level of service, speed, general level of quality quite a lot in my opinion. So it's best to re-evaluate from time to time. Anyone else thinks so too?
Best,
Uwe
http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/
https://www.123-reg.co.uk/
http://www.webfusion.co.uk/
However, hosting companies tend to change their prices, level of service, speed, general level of quality quite a lot in my opinion. So it's best to re-evaluate from time to time. Anyone else thinks so too?
Best,
Uwe
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It really just depends on what you're looking for. Most of the big name providers have a slew of support/maintenance staff so you get someone different supporting/maintaining your server every time, which in it self can cause issues. Some people prefer going with a more personable approach, which allows them to be able to rely on specific/dedicated individuals. For this reason and many more, the larger providers don't always provide the same level of service as their smaller competitors. I find that the larger ones are hit and miss, and get mixed reviews on the whole.
We offer a more personable approach with an aim to provide 100% uptime. Feel free to get in touch and I can discuss your specific needs.
Of course my unbiased (someone apart from us) vote would go to heart internet if you specifically only felt comfortable with a large provider. Their prices are good and I have not heard anything bad about them. Of course some one will soon state otherwise
We offer a more personable approach with an aim to provide 100% uptime. Feel free to get in touch and I can discuss your specific needs.
Of course my unbiased (someone apart from us) vote would go to heart internet if you specifically only felt comfortable with a large provider. Their prices are good and I have not heard anything bad about them. Of course some one will soon state otherwise
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If you list your requirements you could get better suggestions. You could also visit the eUKhost.com website and see what kind of response you get on Live Chat
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HeartInternet use custom control panel called eXtendCP. I'ts best to use a provider who offer popular cPanel control cpanel so you can easily move to a new provider when needed etc. Plus cPanel is a lot easier to use.
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Hi Matt,
I saw your PM earlier BTW. Bit late replying to that now. ;-)
I think you know what I'm getting at which is that it isn't possible to transfer from eXtendCP to cPanel which is like HeartInternet locking you in to using their control panel making it difficult for you to easily transfer between other popular providers using cPanel.
Proiders using custom control panels know that having to do a lot of manual work transferring a site will put a lot of users off and so will just stay at the same provider having to put up with poor uptime/support etc. That's why I recommend choosing a provider who uses cPanel so one can can easily transfer to any provider at anytime.
Well I'm not saying you're wrong, but many have told me they don't like how you can't easily transfer away from providers using custom control panels (HeartInternet, BlueHost, HostMonster) etc.
I saw your PM earlier BTW. Bit late replying to that now. ;-)
I think you know what I'm getting at which is that it isn't possible to transfer from eXtendCP to cPanel which is like HeartInternet locking you in to using their control panel making it difficult for you to easily transfer between other popular providers using cPanel.
Proiders using custom control panels know that having to do a lot of manual work transferring a site will put a lot of users off and so will just stay at the same provider having to put up with poor uptime/support etc. That's why I recommend choosing a provider who uses cPanel so one can can easily transfer to any provider at anytime.
Well I'm not saying you're wrong, but many have told me they don't like how you can't easily transfer away from providers using custom control panels (HeartInternet, BlueHost, HostMonster) etc.
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M
Matthew : TekHive Hosting
I think any web hosting provider will be better then Hostgator, what requirements do you have such as disk space and bandwidth? also do you have a budget in mind?
I agree with HostXNow, once you get sucked into a custom control panel clients feel they are stuck.
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I have been so disheartened by the poor range and quality of UK hosting I found and tried over the years (usually with awful pricetags too), that I have decided to go all out and provide my customers with my own hosting on a self-managed server located in the UK. So far so good - the most reliable service I've ever used - which of course makes me feel good but it also saddens me that such a simple thing can be turned into such a shoddy operation by so many providers - and I'm sure any of the hosting providers on this forum who maintain a healthy operation will agree with me.
The problem is usually over-selling (and under-staffing where support is concerned). I personally will not be 'selling hosting' as such.. I will offer it as a customised, manually created service on a case-by-case basis to those who need it (primarily my website clients). No 'buy now' button basically.
As such, I really can't recommend any UK hosting providers that I've used (or I'd still be using them). But I have not tried those mentioned in this thread, so they could be a good way to go!
If you're still looking, feel free to PM me with your requirements (or if you don't know your requirements, let me know as much detail about your site as possible) and budget if you have one (if you'd rather not state a budget that's fine, I'll always be honest with my quotes).
Running cPanel of course so easy transfers!
The problem is usually over-selling (and under-staffing where support is concerned). I personally will not be 'selling hosting' as such.. I will offer it as a customised, manually created service on a case-by-case basis to those who need it (primarily my website clients). No 'buy now' button basically.
As such, I really can't recommend any UK hosting providers that I've used (or I'd still be using them). But I have not tried those mentioned in this thread, so they could be a good way to go!
If you're still looking, feel free to PM me with your requirements (or if you don't know your requirements, let me know as much detail about your site as possible) and budget if you have one (if you'd rather not state a budget that's fine, I'll always be honest with my quotes).
Running cPanel of course so easy transfers!
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I was just recommend Media Temple:
I've been with several hosts since 1999 and Media Temple has been the best so far. The have a reputation among designers for implementing the latest tools needed for best standards, and they are the host that all the big names use(Adobe, Sony, Starbucks, NBC Universal, Warner Bros, etc.) but they are surprisingly affordable.
I've been with several hosts since 1999 and Media Temple has been the best so far. The have a reputation among designers for implementing the latest tools needed for best standards, and they are the host that all the big names use(Adobe, Sony, Starbucks, NBC Universal, Warner Bros, etc.) but they are surprisingly affordable.
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As many have already said there are hundreds of hosting firms out there... most provide the exact same thing just for different prices. I would recommend making a wish list of features you need from your new hosting company and get together a short list together. Then post that list here and also check review sites such as Serchen/WebHostingStuff etc and see what people generally say.
Many people will say avoid cheap companies but not all cheap companies are bad and not all expensive companies are good. Base it on your needs and peoples recommendations. Try to also pick a company with a 30 day money back, just in case you are not happy with the service.
Hope this helps and the best of luck
Many people will say avoid cheap companies but not all cheap companies are bad and not all expensive companies are good. Base it on your needs and peoples recommendations. Try to also pick a company with a 30 day money back, just in case you are not happy with the service.
Hope this helps and the best of luck
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Thinking about it, I am probably not the best person to actually make such a comment as I've been using my own dedicated servers and a bunch of hobby/testing virtual servers for the last ten years. Can't remember when I actually got an out-of-the-box web hosting package. I just assumed that there are users like me (e.g. using SSH, maybe webmin, but not CPanel, etc.) or users who don't care about the admin interface as long as it is simple to create email addresses
Haha...yeah just thought about that one. I once had a virtual server for playing around and learning some stuff and it had Plesk...Wasn't too impressed with it either
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Haha...yeah just thought about that one. I once had a virtual server for playing around and learning some stuff and it had Plesk...Wasn't too impressed with it either
There is a reason cPanel has majority market share in the US and Western Europe
Matt
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I am just wondering, but where do all the smaller web hosting companies here on UKBF get their servers from? Are you just renting from the big guys and then putting your own systems + customer service + marketing on top? Or are you actually owning the hardware and renting space in the data centers?
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Define small?
We have a good number of larger web designers / smaller hosting companies as customers from UKBF and other forums.
Matt
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Let's say anything from 1-300 customers might be small. Obviously 300 customers as in website of a local plumber or electrician and not 300 x Facebook/Twitter/UKBF
I understand that it's not too hard (assuming you've got knowledge as a server admin) to rent a server from a web hosting company, such as yours Matt, and install the required admin tools, cpanel, whatever...But how do these smaller hosting companies and web designers offer domain names to their customers? This clearly is harder to do as you need to be working with all the different domain registrars? And if they just get the domain name from GoDaddy or Hostgator and re-sell them, then 1. you are more expensive then the competition and 2. you would easily see that when doing a WHOIS search....
I understand that it's not too hard (assuming you've got knowledge as a server admin) to rent a server from a web hosting company, such as yours Matt, and install the required admin tools, cpanel, whatever...But how do these smaller hosting companies and web designers offer domain names to their customers? This clearly is harder to do as you need to be working with all the different domain registrars? And if they just get the domain name from GoDaddy or Hostgator and re-sell them, then 1. you are more expensive then the competition and 2. you would easily see that when doing a WHOIS search....
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H
HostLoveUK
@Uwe (Invoiceberry) I think the first statement is correct. Usually it is easy to tell when a company is providing you with a section of a dedicated server rather than your own physical box. Few ways to identify this is usually pricing and licensing....
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Let's say anything from 1-300 customers might be small. Obviously 300 customers as in website of a local plumber or electrician and not 300 x Facebook/Twitter/UKBF
I understand that it's not too hard (assuming you've got knowledge as a server admin) to rent a server from a web hosting company, such as yours Matt, and install the required admin tools, cpanel, whatever...But how do these smaller hosting companies and web designers offer domain names to their customers? This clearly is harder to do as you need to be working with all the different domain registrars? And if they just get the domain name from GoDaddy or Hostgator and re-sell them, then 1. you are more expensive then the competition and 2. you would easily see that when doing a WHOIS search....
Not that hard at all. Use something like WHMCS which has a great plugin for Namecheap and you can automate the entire thing.
Connected with managed VPS hosting or a managed server, its fairly easy to do. That said, I don't advocate "becoming a host" without a solid business plan, without a solid target audience and without solid business and technical acumen. Many have tried and failed. It isn't an easy way to make money.
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Don't get me wrong Matt. I am definitely not trying to get into the web hosting market.
I've once kind of been there back in Germany around ten years ago when we helped gaming websites and portals to get hosted.
I was just being curious as I remembered one of my web design friend's telling me a few years ago that one of his clients paid his previous web designer in excess of 1,000 pounds a year for hosting a simple website...Obviously the first question of my friend was about starting his own hosting for his clients
I've once kind of been there back in Germany around ten years ago when we helped gaming websites and portals to get hosted.
I was just being curious as I remembered one of my web design friend's telling me a few years ago that one of his clients paid his previous web designer in excess of 1,000 pounds a year for hosting a simple website...Obviously the first question of my friend was about starting his own hosting for his clients
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Yes there are, and they tend to be the more discerning people who gravitate to hosts like Bytemark who can cater for them properly.
You don't need any kind of 'panel' to set up and administrate a server. Our experience is that the proprietary panels like cPanel and Plesk are a positive obstruction to effective system administration. Webmin/Virtualmin less so, as at least they aim to not conflict with the command line. But best of all is noPanel.
I say that as a sysadmin. End users who want pointy clicky stuff will want to use cPanel.
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Having managed computers at command level since commands were input by punched cards I found the whole c-panel pointly click stuff takes you so far away from the operating system that you don't know what is going on.
However, I do like WebMin/Virtualmin as it essentially sits on top of the operating system rather than trying to bend the operating system into something it is not.
However, I do like WebMin/Virtualmin as it essentially sits on top of the operating system rather than trying to bend the operating system into something it is not.
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I think cPanel/WHM have had it easy for so long. Plesk is a disaster. webmin/virtualmin is a little rubbish (but its great for free). I have tried various other panels too, which make webmin look cutting-edge!
There are relatively few independent hosting companies I would ever consider doing business with. I would prefer an indie but the majority of big brand hosting companies are owned by a handful of companies. There is little real competition. Then there is the majority of independents that are resellers or rent a server through a host. I happen to think the only decent host in the world is Google and for itself. lol
There are relatively few independent hosting companies I would ever consider doing business with. I would prefer an indie but the majority of big brand hosting companies are owned by a handful of companies. There is little real competition. Then there is the majority of independents that are resellers or rent a server through a host. I happen to think the only decent host in the world is Google and for itself. lol
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Oh no, I just imagined a world where Google monopolised to the point of 'Google Hosting'.. I wouldn't put it past them!
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I believe Google have a virtual cloud service in the making, more so a direct competitor to AWS. Google are already rolling out IS with 1gb connectivity in the US. Watch this space
Google has been selling services to rival AWS and rackspace for quite a while now, but I am not referring to the existing set up which is quite a joke but the actual infrastructure they are using to host google.com properties, youtube and gmail etc.
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its not just about the company...if you purchase shared hosting from 123reg and then dedicated server from Hostgator, of course you would say Hostgator has better response time and is a better hosting company
you are talking nonsense, are you targeting all the hosting related threads?
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Well it is not always easy to keep the same level of service / response times as a company grows. Hosting companies grow, daily tickets increase, support teams increase and more issues arise.
We're growing rapidly and are also non-stop hiring and training new techs because of it, deployed new monitoring systems, new spam filtering systems etc just to keep the quality of our services as high as possible.
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It's also not difficult.
Don't overload servers (and get greedy - we all know more accounts per server yields more short term profit)
Don't cheap out on underspecc'd servers
Plan ahead. Have a hiring plan. Have procedures in place to bring in new staff and ramp up shifts / ramp down shifts for particularly busy periods
Automate
It does require a lot more thinking than the traditional buy 1 dedicated server become a hosting company puts in. But that is a good thing.
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