Trying to find a good registrar

[Trav]

I'm trying to find a new Registrar for my domain profile. Wondering if there are any suggestions from the WW community. I realize you probably can't link directly, but the query "Registrar Reviews" is useless. Thoughts?

[HuskyPup]

I'm trying to find a new Registrar for my domain profile.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by domain profile?

What facilities do you require?

[Trav]

Thanks Husky, in response to your first question, I just mean my portfolio of domains. I'm not a reseller, I just maintain a collection of domains for my employer. I'm looking for a registrar with a fairly good control panel for administering domains/zones/nameservers, and decent support (i.e. not having to wait a day for response to email/phone). I'm really not satisfied with my current registrar, but I have no idea which ones are good. For some reason I'm just not able to find any reviews that don't seem fake.

[Webwork]

Trav, why don't you "take 10" and do a WhoIs search for 20 or 30 domains of the "top brands" - maybe even brands that have/host multiple websites - and report back on that bit of objective analysis?

I'm not a big fan of "vote for" threads. Everyone has their favorites. Everyone has their reasons, biases, needs, peculiarities, priorities, etc.

And, then there's the matter of Spam-O-Rama threads, where friends of registrars can post "how great" Brand-X-Registrar is.

So, ultimately, the value of "voting threads" can be diminished by a variety of factors.

My $.02? Transfer a few domains to a few registrars and see how the process goes. Use their interface. Call their customer support. See what works for YOU.

[Trav]

Thanks Webwork, actually have already done as you advise. Was hoping for additional insights I hadn't thought of before. There's a great value in doing what you say, but there's also a great value in posting about one's experiences thereafter, so that others can benefit from that knowledge as well. Was simply hoping for a bit of the latter : ) Thanks again

[Webwork]

great value in posting about one's experiences

Great value, eh? I'm all for that. ;)

We address the issue of "who do you use as your registrar" every so often, . . so it now being so often time . . let's see where the conversation goes.

[edited by: Webwork at 10:49 pm (utc) on Jun 15, 2010]

[HuskyPup]

and decent support (i.e. not having to wait a day for response to email/phone).

I actually use half a dozen registrars for different reasons and in 16 years I've only ever had to contact two of them for assistance therefore my experience with that is somewhat limited!

The majority of my names I keep at Joker using a reseller account but have never needed to contact them. The one US registrar I had very quick service from a few months ago was DomainDiscover. I told them I was transferring the few domains I had there since they were more expensive than Joker however they matched their prices immediately.

123-reg in the UK never even responded to a query however fortunately I eventually worked out how to use their diabolical control panel.

Sorry I can't be more helpful.

[Trav]

Thanks Husky, that is helpful actually. Neither of the registrars you mention have been visible in the searches I've done thus far, so that's exactly what I'm looking for. Cheers!

[trader]

After years of experience and using most every registrar under the sun we most often use Moniker and have been doing that for several years. They have an excellent control panel which is also easy to use and comprehensive. Deep discount pricing vs the high regular prices shown on the site is readily available if you ask. However, If you need good 24x7 phone support GoDaddy (who I also use a little) may be best for that.

[dans]

1&1 seems to have nice offers.
They just had an offer for Free .com domains,
now I see the .info domains are very cheap, $0.99.

[edited by: Webwork at 2:33 am (utc) on Jul 13, 2010]
[edit reason] Links to help register domains with a specific registrar is a bit too promotional [/edit]

[bwnbwn]

Trav like webwork posted each have there favorie. I have used many registers and really find the one I use the easiest to use in terms of finding things like. Getting the transfer code some of the ones I have used really like to make it hard to find, changing nameservers, and changing information.

expertsrs has been my main register for 11 years now. I have always had great customer support (I bais this on because I use there company as my hosting as well) and I think maybe 1 time I needed to contact for an issue (regiser wise) really maybe not even 1 time but being with them 11 years I am sure something has come up one time or another.

[weeks]

GoDaddy recently updated their control panel for new accounts. (I open new accounts often.) I did not like it, of course, because it was different. But, they do seem to realize they had the worst UI in the biz. But, once you get it, it's fine.

The problem with DG, however, is if you are using it for your company, you managers or executives might sniff at it as being "consumer." And their TV ads are the worst; which reflects on you. But, service-wise, I've been very impressed.

If you are registering many domains, you might look into becoming an affiliate with GD. It can save you a few buck and this can also be nifty if your firm sells or manages online marketing services to vendors or clients.

I would stay away from Netwo-- Solu-----. I tried them recently and was disappointed; closed the account after two days. And, it was very, very difficult to close the account.

[piatkow]

123-reg in the UK never even responded to a query however fortunately I eventually worked out how to use their diabolical control panel.

I am glad its not just me!

Like many others I have never had a query on domain registration so I can't really comment on how good any of the companies that I have used are in that area.

If you plan to consolidate to double check what TLDs the company supports. If you have ccTLDs you will probably need to use registrars in the countries concerned.

[Trav]

Thanks for the additional replies that keep rolling in, I'm still checking in form time to time on this topic.

I ended up not switching to a new registrar (yet), but I did move all of my DNS hosting to a machine that I have full control over. This was actually exactly what I needed, and I can't believe I haven't done it before. There is still the issue of running my DNS server on the same physical box as the Apache server etc.

So, to redirect the thread a little, dose anyone have experience with DNS Hosting (not registrar), and can you share?

Trav

[Webwork]

Trav, DNS hosting is a very different issue/subject than domain registration, so you would likely get a better response, and a craft a more helpful/visitor friendly thread, if you a) start a new thread with "the issue in the thread heading"; and, b) post the thread it in another forum - such as Webmaster General - again, since DNS isn't really = domain names . . although I can "see the angle/approach". ;)

Please do a) and b).

Thanks.

Webwork

[Trav]

will do ; ) tnx

Trav

[murmy]

Give namecheap a look in.... it has an execellent control panel, you get free privacy and some good coupon code discounts out there on a regular basis.

[eatcarrots]

I'm pretty happy with hostway right now. Their registration prices are competitive - and their control panel is clean, without too many spammy advertisements.

I definitely would never use 1&1. They have some very questionable business practices with their hosting.

I had some trouble with Enom, and so I don't really trust them. On top of that, the registrar business is just a speck on the butt of the other businesses of Demand Media.

[Mike_Feury]

Give namecheap a look in

Agreed, very satisfied having 100+ names with them for past 5-6 years. Moved from GoDaddy due to some 'bad taste' practices back then--which they later fixed.

It may save some hassle to use separate companies for registrar and other ISP functions like hosting--eg make it easier to move services.