Decent value - Reliable .ASP host in UK...

next big question...

[Harley_m]

Ok, settled on asp now, but am worried about finding a decent host that doesnt cost the earth..its for a commercial site - so it must be good - but of course money matters...

Anyone had any first hadn experience with uk host?

Thanks

Harley

[shady]

Personally, I would recommend using a US company for two reasons:

1) Bandwidth costs a fortune in the UK
2) In my experience, UK support is usually more limited. Many UK companies offer telephone support, which is restricted to 9-6 Monday-Friday and don't seem to respond at weekends. I've had two hosts where if a site goes down Friday night, its down for the whole weekend! With my US hosts, I get an acceptable response time anytime and anyday!

(I am UK based)

[Harley_m]

i am unable able to see how US hosting can ever be as quick as UK hosting (assuming mainly UK visitors of course) - light can only trvel so fast - and ive forgotten the figure, but there is a lag across the atlantic...

i have never hosted in the US - so i dont know from experience - what is the speed really like...?

[shady]

I've found no problems at all with speed. Bear in mind that we look at loads of US sites and also plenty of UK sites which host in the States. Have you even noticed any difference?

[Harley_m]

I was looking at 'HostingUK' - who do a range od aspx/.net hosting options - they look ok, and fairly good value...has anyone dealt with the before - ot are there any good resources like ISPreview for Hosts?

I will look into US hosting for sure if im able to find qa perfect host here...

Thanks for this

Harley

[DaveN]

Harley_m

from a SEO point of view if you host in the UK you will get better coverage in google.co.uk, but pretty much the same in the .com

DaveN

[topr8]

i think the story is that "cheap" hosting can be pretty bad wherever you get it, but once you pay a bit more then you get faster connections and better reliability.

as the US has better infrastructure, bandwidth is very much cheaper, i've found US companies offering 4-5 times as much a month for the same price.

despite the contradiction of logic i find that i serve my pages faster from a shared hosting account in the US than from the UK, remember that distance is not the only factor in the equation.

re Google - i have found that any .com sites hosted in the US even if they are "english" do not rank on the google.co.uk uk search whereas example.co.uk will rank very nicely if hosted in the US, so if you have a dot com and you are targeting the brits on google.co.uk then maybe don't host in the us, but with a .co.uk its not a problem (in my experience)

my us host (who will remain un-named is excellent) the price is good and service reliable

tech support is helpful and 24 hr a day (not a nightwatchman who just logs your problem - they actually deal with it) - if you can match that in the UK go for it! but be prepared to look accross the pond.

[shady]

I also have plenty of .co.uk domains hosted in the states which appear to rank fine on google.co.uk

Depending upon your budget, I guess you can probably get the same package/service in the UK but pound for pound (or dollar for dollar) I think you'll be hard pushed to beat a US deal.