Ugh . . . need a new webhost. Suggestions?

[shmokes]

I have been with Powweb.com for years, and have really like them a lot, but they have implemented a policy of forcing password changes (for accessing account settings, FTP, etc.) like every three months.  I told them I wanted to opt out and they said it was not possible because they control all that with a global script and they couldn't change mine without changing everyone's.  So I told them to change everyone's -- that not even my bank or credit cards force me to change my password and that we should have the option of turning off password expiration.  There's no reason not to have it default to forcing password expiration, but to have an option in the account settings control panel to change how often it expires or to turn off expiration altogether.  For everyone.

Anyway, he wouldn't budge so I told him to cancel my account.  Now I need a new provider.  Is anybody extraordinarily happy with their (very inexpensive) web host?  I don't need much.  Web hosting with email addresses, FTP, picture gallery software (especially Simple Viewer).

[SG Jaycurl]

I've been happy with godaddy.com. I've been with them for at least two (maybe three) years, and haven't had any problems. I'm not sure how they compare cost-wise with other hosting providers, but it was comparable to my prior provider, and the service and features are tons better.

I don't know if they have a picture gallery built in, but my site uses WordPress blogging software (which GoDaddy can install for you very easily). Through that, I've gotten a nice, easy-to-use picture gallery plugin.

They have e-mail addresses and FTP as well.

[ahofle]

I use http://www.accuwebhosting.com.  Their tech support is in India I think, but if you know what you are doing and don't need them much it's fine.  Not sure about the image gallery thing though -- that sounds like a nice feature.

[Namco]

I'm with 1 & 1 .com and I couldn't be happier with it. I signed up with the $4.99 per month plan years ago and it came with 2 free domains. They give you 120GB of disk space and 1.2TB of monthly bandwidth. You can install full websites and has php and mysql running on the server.

There's a lower plan for $3.99 per month, but it only gives you 10GB of disk space with 30GB of transfer.

[saint]

BYOAC is hosted on 1&1.com servers.

[massive88]

I have used Lunarpages for the past two years which I have been very happy with, they have all sorts of software you can install through their control panel with ease.

http://www.lunarpages.com/

[Dartful Dodger]

I went to their website to see why they weren't flexible with their server.

I was going to see if it was their OS or database that was causing it, but it turns out to be even simpler that that...

$3.88 a month!

I was(will soon be) paying that for a gallon a gas.


You had them for years and you liked their service a lot.  For that kind of deal I'd say 3 minutes of you time every three months to help protect your site isn't a bad trade off.

[shmokes]

It's not 3 minutes of my time that bothers me.  It's not knowing what my bloody password is.  It's having to remember that I had to change it from using a hyphen to an underscore to a tilde and remembering which character is being used now.  It's the constantly rotating passwords, for something I rarely log into, that is the problem.  I try to get in and am like, "---fudgesicle--- . . . what's my password?  Let's see . . . I'll try this . . . no, that's not it . . . how about this . . . ah ha, yes, that's it," or, "---goshdarn--- it, I've tried everything, what the ---fudgesicle--- is my password?  Now I've got to go to the company's website and deal with tech support," only to find that no, my password simply expired again, just like it did a few months ago, and a few months before that.

Also, while $3.88/mo. is a good price, it's not the price I'm paying.  I'm paying $7/month plus whatever I pay for the domain.  Like $10 a year or something.  I don't remember.  And the host that I'm leaning toward right now, Justhost.com, is $3.95/mo. so even if I had Powweb's current promotional pricing, I would only be saving 84 cents per year with them.

[shmokes]

 to help protect your site isn't a bad trade off.

And for crying out loud, they're not helping me protect my site any more than some moron rushing up to me and insisting he hold my hand while I cross the street would be helping me cross the street.  I didn't ask for their help.  I don't want their help.  I asked them to stop.  It isn't help.  It's hindrance.

[Namco]

You're actually less secure when you have to constantly change your password. You end up writing it down somewhere, or end up using a simple password with a continually rotating number at the end like password1 ... password2... password3.

Eventually with all the extra password administration these companies find themselves having do do (unlock accounts, reset users' passwords every few months), they will abandon it. Sooner rather than later hopefully.

[Dartful Dodger]

At that price for good service they have to make cuts somewhere.


Speaking of affordable hosts cutting corners that are required...

I looked at 1&1's page and on the Microsoft sections it says it supports ASP pages, on the Linux section it doesn't mention PHP pages.

I know this is a dumb question, but if I don't see it I won't assume it.

Does 1&1 support PHP pages?



I’m out growing my current host, and I don’t want to pay for a business package for a personal website.
Powpow actually looked good and the password update every three months would have been motivation for me to actually update my site every 3 months.
But not having to update the password for good service would be better.

[saint]

I have a dedicated server with 1&1 so it has whatever I want on it That said, I can't fathom a Linux box *not* having PHP. Still you're better off asking them first...

[Namco]

At that price for good service they have to make cuts somewhere.


Speaking of affordable hosts cutting corners that are required...

I looked at 1&1's page and on the Microsoft sections it says it supports ASP pages, on the Linux section it doesn't mention PHP pages.

I know this is a dumb question, but if I don't see it I won't assume it.

Does 1&1 support PHP pages?



I’m out growing my current host, and I don’t want to pay for a business package for a personal website.
Powpow actually looked good and the password update every three months would have been motivation for me to actually update my site every 3 months.
But not having to update the password for good service would be better.

Yes PHP and mySQL works great. I have no problem running Joomla, phpBB, or anything else on my $4.99 1&1 site.

[nazerine]

My personal sites are hosted on www.hostforweb.com .. great company I've dealt with for coming on 5 years now. $9.99 package is great, can host several domains, fast support system, etc.

[shmokes]

Good lord, if your looking for something inexpensive, check out JustHost.com.  They were really highly rated by a few websites that like name the best ten hosts (never know whether those are for real or paid-for, but shrug).  Anyway, they seemed to offer a ton for a very low price so I clicked the "continue" button on the homepage under the Website Transfer.  Looked around a little, but I'm not in a huge hurry so I tried to navigate away from the page and they offered me 50% off, which took another dollar/month off the current promotional price.  So it's only $2.95/month.

And I asked them if I could use the SimpleViewer photo gallery software and they said that while they only support three gallery software packages, they would certainly help me install SimpleViewer myself -- I just couldn't get tech support for it. 


edit: BTW, remember that I've been paying $7/month (which I considered a good deal) for PowWeb hosting, so this forced password changing cloud may turn out to have a rather nice silver lining.

[massive88]

Good lord, if your looking for something inexpensive, check out JustHost.com.  They were really highly rated by a few websites that like name the best ten hosts (never know whether those are for real or paid-for

99% of those are paid for.

Find a site that allows for user submitted reviews, like http://www.webhostingreviews.com/index.htm

[Namco]

Wow, that website puts 1&1 in the toilet. I guess I never had a bad experience because I don't run a business on it.... or could those reviews be fake? hmmmm....

But if most of them are true, then stay away from 1&1, geez. 

[saint]

I've never had a single complaint about 1&1, their connectivity is fast, everything just plain works. Unless something changes I'll never leave them. However, I run (technically, Sirwoogie runs) my own server, so they're just supplying me hardware and a pipeline. I don't have any experience with their webhosting solutions.

[massive88]

Wow, that website puts 1&1 in the toilet. I guess I never had a bad experience because I don't run a business on it.... or could those reviews be fake? hmmmm....

But if most of them are true, then stay away from 1&1, geez. 

Im not saying that site is gospel either, but hunting for webhosts is a pain in the ass.  I went through it a few years ago before settling on Lunarpages.  The other ones I was considering were Host Gator and Downtown Host.  All three appeared to be reputable and good, and much better than my previous host ix webhosting, which I would not recommend to anyone.

Also, and this should go without saying, I would read the reviews and see if people tanked them, the reason why.  For instance, if someone is pissed that they wouldnt sell to them in Russia, and you are US based, who cares?

[jfunk]

dreamhost.com is great!  Especially if you like to have a lot of control.  And they're running a special right now for the first year...

[SavannahLion]

dreamhost.com is great!  Especially if you like to have a lot of control.  And they're running a special right now for the first year...

Hey, I'm looking for hosting solutions as well. That looks promising, but it's such short notice that I haven't even figured out my all of my requirements yet. 

[boykster]

I've had good experience with both dreamhost and 1&1

[SNAAKE]

www.monsterhost.com

$60 year unlimited disk+bandwidth. I use that now. very easy to deal with and you can setup and FTP account for all uploading.

[thatitalian]

What about one.com? I am thinking of joining them as they offer quite a lot for free!