[edited by: tedster at 2:26 am (utc) on July 28, 2004]
[edit reason] no specifc hosts, please [/edit]
Sorry about the edit, but a while back we made a policy decision here that we would no longer allow talk about any particular hosts or specific registrars. I realize you didn't know about that.
I can make some general comments. First, there's the obvious - you can certainly use any of the search engines and find all kinds of remarks about most businesses. And any business of any significant size will include both clients who are happy with them and those who feel they've had troubles.
Really, you are left with weighing the word of strangers who you don't know. Perhaps everything you find online is just one person posting comments under many different names. Maybe a competitor is trying to spread ill will, or a single disgruntled former employee is working a personal sabotage campaign. Maybe the business itself is doing a "whisper campaign" by trying some positive buzz through professional forum spamming [webmasterworld.com].
All of these examples and more contribute to our current policy - that we no longer allow discussion of specific hosts or registrars. This is a limit we've had to accept, given the realities of the web today. These discussions are just not useful any more and they can be very deceptive and lead people astray.
Good luck in your choice of host - and if you do run into trouble, it's usually not THAT big a deal to switch, although I know it can be a PITA sometimes.
My one piece of advice is not to use the same business as both host and registrar. Some may disagree, but I've seen too many nasty tangles to ever do that again.
You can also do a google search for additional sites which evaluate & discuss hosts and hosting issues - there are several. Try not to rely too heavily on any one single source. I'm assuming you're talking about shared hosting?
Naturally, if you're researching a particular host you can do a whois - which should reveal quite a bit about who they are. Once you have their IP #s (and the IPs they would use for their accounts), you should also check the major spam blacklists to make sure their IP's haven't been blacklisted (being on up to 2-3 blacklists isn't usually a big deal unless that includes any of the major lists such as spews, etc.). This is an important step because if the IPs assigned to you are blacklisted you'll encounter problems with folks receiving your email.
Send the host a list of questions that are important to you about service and features - and find out how long they've been hosting. Their responses will tell you a good deal about them.
And don't pre-pay for hosting - go with monthly billing. Keep in mind that if you are going with a "cheap" host - you shouldn't expect much in the way of services or support. It pays to do your homework and find out as much as you can - there are many sites out there where you can learn a lot (both good and bad) about specific hosts. Good luck in your search.
