What host do you use?

I've been going mad searching for hosts: 99% are resellers, but it's often tricky to tell from their sites. Searching for hosting reviews is just as bad - they are all affiliate pages.

Which hosts do you guys use? Would you recommend them? I'm after reliable PHP hosting in the UK or USA for 6 of my sites.

I'm currently using both BlueFind and Network11....both have been quite good by my standards...no problems or anything like that.

BlueFind is the cheaper of the two. I'm not sure if either are affiliates.

And yes I am an affiliate. But I will say that I switched to them after having horrible service elsewhere. My site was down all the time. They had horrible customer service. I have had nothing but a good experience with my hosting company. I would recommend them to anyone. I am sure there are other good hosting companies out there but since you asked I thought I would share. My site has not been down since I switched over, my load time is faster, and the biggest reason I like them is because they are so helpful to me. I am not that good with technical stuff so I have messed up my site several times by screwing up code on my message boards. They are always quick to fix things for me. Even though I am the one that screwed it up. With my other hosting company it would take them two days to email me back and the phone response was a joke. So I can't complain. I love them.

I'm so glad someone asked this... lol

I found the BEST way to get exactly what you need in hosting!

Go here
http://www.webhostingtalk.com

At the top of the page click on "HOST QUOTE" (orange letters)

Fill any details you may like, you can ask for exactly what you need: how much disk space, bandwith, special scripts, windows or unix, etc.

Once you are finished, wait 30 seconds and hosting quotes will start comming in... you then just need to go and check each one and make your pick.

It is amazing how many good deals you can get there. I just got a shared server with 1gb disk space, 50gb transfer, 24x7 support, for just $8.95 a month.

Yes they are good, and you get to read a lot of gossip (and truths) about hosts.

I am using Ev1servers .net , they are great I think. Its dedicated servers but if you have a lot of traffic and sites it pays. I have also used webhost4life .com (shared) and they work fine.

If you want dedicated and you need a lot of bandwidth, then I recommend ValueWeb dedicated servers. 1,000 gig monthly transfer, cheap additional non-sequential IP blocks, fantastic 24x7 support and 100% uptime of their network ... have been using them with no issues.

If you want the info from the people selling hosting, sure thats great. I know the guy, won't say his name, that works for my old hosting company is over there and some other webmaster sites. I think its more important what people's experience with a hosting company is. I can tell you who not to use anyway. LOL.

One thing that is very important when choosing a hosting company is to have some way to contact support if their dns is down. For example, let's say the company is xyz.com (just made that up). If the only way to contact support is via email at xyz.com or via a help control panel at xyz.com, you will be unable to get in touch with support if they are having dns problems. If xyz.com is down, then so is email and help control panel. Just something to keep in mind...

Hi! I am hosted with citadelhost.com . They are now run by AMS Computers Inc. I am with a reseller plan but do not resell as I use it to host around 10 sites (1 main and 9 other smaller ones ). I must say that their support is superb ( yesterday i asked them to do a change in my php settings and i got a response that it has been done in 2 minutes , straight ).

I will recommend them Fully.

Another host I have good experience with is smarterlinux.com . The reason why I left them was - I could not afford 10 sites with them.

Does anybody have experience whith dotyou.com and freeservers.com on a paid hosting?

I've been using ActiveISP and Magentasites for ages. Both are very good and reliable (and pricey).

Wow, thanks for all of your replies. I'm busy investigating the hosts you recommended.

I must admit to having been scared of reseller accounts having been hosted on one a few years ago. I'm guessing they can be OK if they are managed sensibly.

It's good to get feedback from people who have had good experiences with their hosting. Your comments have also added a few more criteria to my list. Hopefully this will be a good server change.

:smile:

Just don't use mysitespace.com, they suck, worst hosting company you could find.

I've taken the plunge. It's not one of the hosts you suggested, but selected based on your advice. Support is very important, so I plumped for a host based in the uk with humans that I can talk to on the phone.