Hosting: Price and longevity.

[Spinflight]

Well its time to renew my .com registration. Done a search (back to a couple of years back when I asked a similar question!) though it seems as though a lot of the companies recomended have gone bust in the last couple of years.

I was with freeparking.co.uk who were cheap enough. Trouble is they insisted on a maximum of 2megs of email on their server at a time which resulted in lots of missed emails. Anyway not only were they crap (took weeks to propagate) but they are now bust too as of a few months ago (though the few months previous to their bellyupping resulted in lots of hair loss as strange errors crept up).

Therefore looking for a hosting company with a bit of history behind it and a realistic pricing structure. I only really have Claranet in mind so any other suggestions would be most welcome. If anyone knows of a cheapie with MySQL support then that would be doubly welcome.

[Evo]

A colleague thinks highly of gradwell.com (i've never used them). Skimming the details they do do MySQL - I don't know if it's cheap or not.

[Conan the Librarian]

Gradwell are also a highly rated Voice Over Internet (VoIP) provider, and if my own Internet phone with sipgate gets any worse, then that is where I shall be headed.

Think they are based in Bath

Conan

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

www.1and1.co.uk

I've had a flawless experience with 1&1 for nearly a year now; they are one of the biggest players and have been around for some time. ...I'm only running a ".net" domain @ £8.89 per yr. (".com" likewise) and basic e-mail package @ 69p per month (both figures exc. vat). ...There are far more involved options available and I notice the second of the four Hosting packages mentions your requirement for MySQL. ...Whether you consider it reasonable or not I don't know, not being very familiar with the going rate on this.

Hope this helps.

[woderick]

B.S.T. Slight creep, following the suggestions found on here I have signed up with 1 & 1, the domain has been registered and I wait for the software. I am blundering through designing my web site in frontpage, but don't know what to do next, complete novice to web sites you see.
How long does the software/instructions take to appear ?

[zoink]

qbic.co.uk are a very reliable and efficient hosting provider I use for 5 of my sites.. Varying different rates starting from the basic which is about £15 per year with loads of bandwidth and server space..

Very efficient helpdesk. They use a web based domain management application called "HELM" which is the the dog's gonads..

Couldn't recommend them high enough!!!

z...

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

woderick.....

Re. software, not long I wouldn't think, they seem quite efficient on the admin. ...As mentioned, I'm only running a mail account and domain registration for the moment, rather than full Hosting Package, so haven't had to wait for software. ...I recall the domain name took a couple of days to get up running and promulgated, after which you can initiate some e-mail addreses on it via the 1&1 Control Panel. ...I think there was a further brief wait after that until the whole account was active.

I'm likewise with you on "blundering through" with a web page, but prior to going down the full 1&1 Hosting package on this have been experimenting with the basic 10Mb 'freebee' webspace that comes courtesy of my ISP. ...Which I only mention because I have been quite impressed with THIS on 30 day trial. ...All "drag and drop" with no need to get too involved if you don't want to. ...Just one of many alternatives.

Good luck.

[Spinflight]

Thanks lads, Gradwell and Qbic (Basic hosting looks like a bargain) look like likely candidates to me.

I know peeps have had problems with 1&1 before. Probably good value if you need the software but I've got Dreamweaver MX to play with.

[woderick]

Thanks for your comments directed at me during the last few days, I've since discovered that a bit of RTFM on the 1&1 web site would have answered my queries.
Still can't make it work, but trying to do it from the workplace is less than ideal.
Repeat 10 times "I must get more free time at home" I must .......

[Spinflight]

Well it turns out that freeparking arn't bust after all. Seemed like a reasonable guess seeing as though I couldn't access their site, my site which they host or my email through them...

I guess they simply havn't answered the emails I've sent to them.

Only found this out tonight accessing their site through another computer. Definately not a firewall problem etc.

[under_exposed]

I here these are quite good (but this is not something I have ever needed).

[IO540]

Avoid CLARA. They will cut off your account without warning or any communication whatsoever, and force you to continue paying for it until the end of the current contract period, if there is any allegation (no matter how unfounded) of copyright infringement e.g. P2P activity. They are also incredibly badly organised internally.

I can say that ZEN are very good.