Trying to find a decent server to host my site

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I launched a website for my business last fall and worked on building the site over the winter months when I was slow. I had a web host who was recommended to me by a member of another site and it worked out great for awhile, I had unlimited bandwith and space (even though I had no need for that much), and I had a ton of extra features. Plus when I ran into a few issues setting it up, I called the host and he helped me out.

Then he changed his servers around and not everyone got the notice - including me. I tried calling several times, tried emailing, and tried working through the person who referred me to him on another site and got nowhere. The guy wouldn't return my messages and wouldn't answer my calls.

Of course, it had to happen right around the time I got busy, so I didn't have a whole lot of time to try to find a solution, so I just set up my domain to point to a free server that I put up a few basic pages. Because my bandwith is really limited on the free server, I haven't loaded my entire site. Now I'm wondering just how much business has been lost because of the lack of a complete site. I know I need to do something.

So I'm trying to find a new host. I have a local business, so I'm not expecting extremely heavy traffic. I would *like* to have a forum on the site so people can ask questions and get answers to problems as well as sharing information and I'd prefer it be PHPBB3, but my main concern is getting my site back up and not having to shell out big $$$ (I've noticed a lot of hosts will only give you a decent rate if you purchase their services for a year or two at a time and whack you if you don't - because of it being a tough year I just don't have a couple hundred to shell out right now).

So I'm looking for a reasonable, reliable host. With all the members on here, maybe someone runs their own hosting service and would be willing to take on another customer?

Oh, yea, btw, I did set up a coppermine photo gallery on my old site, I would like to use that same thing on my new one. As far as my website goes, I've built all of the pages in Dreamweaver 8 and have them stored on my comp so at least I don't have to fully rebuild the site, just need to FTP upload it all.

 

[97RangerXLT]

give 1 & 1 internet a try. they seem fairly good. I use them for a personal site, (havent updated it in over a year tho...) they do have a forum software, but I forget what it is. about 30 bucks for 6 months. I don't know my bandwidth off the top of my head tho.

AJ

 

[cdawall]

Hostgator based out of houston is pretty nice I have met the owner ang guys who code the linux boxes they use as host machines pretty damn secure and fast too

 

[Jspafford]

I used godaddy for 6 or so years and have no complaints. Call in, you get someone who knows their shat. The control panel they offer is top notch and you have a whole slew of forum, photo gallery, blogging, etc software they provide and with the click of a button setup for you on your website.

Definatly try them out, you won't be sorry!

The only reason I don't use them anymore, is I bought a HP homeserver and am hosting my site from home. I still use them for my domain name though.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Hostgator based out of houston is pretty nice I have met the owner ang guys who code the linux boxes they use as host machines pretty damn secure and fast too

I looked into Hostgator, I'm liking what I see.

I used godaddy for 6 or so years and have no complaints. Call in, you get someone who knows their shat. The control panel they offer is top notch and you have a whole slew of forum, photo gallery, blogging, etc software they provide and with the click of a button setup for you on your website.

Definatly try them out, you won't be sorry!

The only reason I don't use them anymore, is I bought a HP homeserver and am hosting my site from home. I still use them for my domain name though.

My complaint with Godaddy is that they wrap things up in packages and IMHO, don't explain it well enough. No demos of their Cpanel and it sounds like if you use more than just one or two MySQLs then you have to pay (or buy a bigger plan). Then when you look at the billing, you pay through the nose for short term, you have to sign up for 2-3 years to get a decent price.



What I was really hoping for (and am somewhat disappointed that such a person has not ventured forward) was that some TRS member ran their own little web host server somewhere and I could support the community here instead of some company somewhere. I would have thought that with the thousands of members we have on here that there would be someone like that on here.

 

[Jspafford]

I did the economy plan and it suited my needs. My server is personal, else I would have offered, sorry.

 

[fyre82]

Network Solutions is our business host.
Very reliable, secure and has very easy to use web builder tools.
I believe that you can use whatever you want to build your site and
upload from there.

My partner built all of it with no experience at all and came out with very very nice results. If I remember right it won't break the bank either.

 

[Legend]

I set up a website years ago when I could only get the domain registered with GoDaddy and had to host with Sleekhost. Was with them for years, lived with their no-service, switching things without notice, and cryptic messages. Finally had enough and switched to GoDaddy for hosting a couple years ago and it has been great.

 

[anchorshot]

I use 1and1 as well. I use the basic package and host 3 different sites on it. 2 with medium traffic. In my opinion they are they best I've used recently.

 

[Black2000Ranger]

Why don't you just host the website yourself?

 

[Michigan_Redneck]

siteflip.com - SUPER CHEAP, Very NICE as low as 11.88/YR