Host experiences and testimonials thread

[saharial]

www.globalgold.co.uk

Can't recommend them highly enough.
Worked out a custom VDS with them to host our forums.

OK, theyre not the cheapest out there, but IME you get what you pay for and we've certainly received excellent service from them.

I'm quite new to some areas of server management etc, but I've had nothing but help and guidance, and theyve answered every query I've had with a smile. Can't get better than that.

Would definitely recommend them to other people.

Not only do they host us, but they also host the AVForums, which got my ears pricked up when I first heard of them. Big forums, and if they know how to host forums of that size, then thats experience enough for me

No question or request has been too small.

Thumbs up from us so far!

I heartily agree with this recommendation. They helped me move my forum, do the upgrade and have checked regularly that all is ok. They really took the headache out of moving servers.

my forum is 1700 members maybe 40 maximum on at one time and about 283 vistors / day. borderline vps according to otehr hosts that i talked to, but then they were hosts offering unlimited bandwidth etc and on a shared server i don't see how that would work >_<

golbalgold's 3 v bulletin packages are actually realistic and, though more expensive, definitely still reasonable and ideal for the smaller but busy forums that can't afford/need a vps

Thank you TalkPhotography for recommending them!

My former host was Canaca.com - fine if your forum is not very active, but they would suspend my account because they couldn't tell spam email from normal ones and because there was a php script causing errors. Their help queue was not always so helpful. I think they oversell their server space.

[RagingPenguin]

I'm in support of NEXCESS.NET for hosting needs.

Pros:

Just take a look! http://www.nexcess.net/hosting/shared.php

Cons:

Some things require Support Tickets or Support Forum posts to set up: SSH access requests require you supply an IP to allow from.

I've been running sites since 2000 and have used many. This is by far the best service I have ever used. Want some high volumne references?

doctorwhoforum.com - over 2 million posts!
galacticsenate.com - over 1 million posts!

Neither of the above is mine. My site there is wizardingrealm.com, a modestly little HP thing.

[Keev]

Just set up 4th vbulletin based community and had nothing but praise for www.reliableservers.com can't beat the 24/7 access to techs that will even install it for ya for free and help ya with errors when your community gets too big. I also bridged it with a video script

[Fivetide]

I heartily agree with this recommendation. They helped me move my forum, do the upgrade and have checked regularly that all is ok. They really took the headache out of moving servers.

my forum is 1700 members maybe 40 maximum on at one time and about 283 vistors / day. borderline vps according to otehr hosts that i talked to, but then they were hosts offering unlimited bandwidth etc and on a shared server i don't see how that would work >_<

golbalgold's 3 v bulletin packages are actually realistic and, though more expensive, definitely still reasonable and ideal for the smaller but busy forums that can't afford/need a vps

Thank you TalkPhotography for recommending them!

My former host was Canaca.com - fine if your forum is not very active, but they would suspend my account because they couldn't tell spam email from normal ones and because there was a php script causing errors. Their help queue was not always so helpful. I think they oversell their server space.

Totally agree with all above.. just talked to them very helpful explained everything can have me up and running in hours and they will take care of the domain transfer.. what I like is the instant scaleability.. great idea ! plus no set up fee and you pay per month..

[Mary303]

HG support has improved ALOT during the 2 years I've been with them. They needed the improvement, attitude, response time, effort.

I am trying to solve the bandwidth "too many connections" issue. I am currently on a semi-dedicated server at Host Gator. My forum is small compared with many here, several hundred users, but they are VERY active. I have abundant available disk space - I'd like to have another forum or two going. But don't have enough connections from the little forum I already have. It used 32706.3 Megabytes bandwidth last month. Repeated downtimes from 'too many connections.' The downtimes are now shorter since I ping HG support about it often. HG says they will not increase the connections. (Yes the config file is set properly.)

I don't have the technical skills for an unmanaged server. I am struggling to understand why with so much available disk space (17883.75 Megabytes available, 7k meg used) I need to spend another $1200/year to upgrade to a dedicated server, as HG thinks I should do. I am looking at their reseller option, with unlimited bandwidth ... and at other hosts.

What's the story on bandwidth management? Is it easy to get unlimited bandwidth with lots of space, and with support? I wonder if my forum has just outgrown or doesn't fit HG's service packages.

[rolypoly]

There is no 'unlimited bandwidth'. There will sure be a limit somewhere before you get warn ..

If your forum is growing really fast, you should look at getting a dedicated server.
One big problem is does your forum generate any income?

[G3MM4]

I was with AirborneFive for a short while. They were good then I suddenly got an email from them saying that they were moving me to *******ed because they were closing their business. They robbed me of about $25 or so. *******ed tried to help me with recovering my money from AirborneFive but with no sucess. They said they had been trying to get in touch with AirborneFive but with no sucess. I stayed with *******ed for a little while but decided to get a reseller account with Hostgator. Hostgator seems to be okay but now having problems with a corrupt DNS and I'm not sure if HG is to blame or if it's GoDaddy's fault. Currently being bounced between them because both of them blame each other.

Stay away from AirborneFive. *******ed is okay. HG - I'm still making my mind up.

[rolypoly]

I am with mxhub.com . Still very happy with them after 3 years.
In fact, there are alot of hosts on the net.. i think choosing a host is like choosing a home. Better get all the facts & research right before put your money into them.

[Mary303]

There is no 'unlimited bandwidth'. There will sure be a limit somewhere before you get warn ..

If your forum is growing really fast, you should look at getting a dedicated server.
One big problem is does your forum generate any income?

YES IT DOES generate income. Not a living, just some extra $, but it matters. I would say it's growing more gradually than fast. However I would like to add another forum on a somewhat related topic that could rapidly become as large or larger, if it took hold.

The current forum can't afford a dedicated server. Even if it could I don't have the technical skills to manage it myself.

I am seeing server promotions and plans with "unlimited" bandwidth. As a former telecom employee (not on the technical end though) I find it hard to understand what that means - as you say somewhere there is a limit. Perhaps it is for the smaller footprint accounts that can only generate so much traffic.

Although my forum is small, past shopping expeditions among server hosts seems to have them a bit taken aback at the amount of traffic it generates. But that must be true of many forums. I've wondered how other forums handle that - maybe all on dedicated servers? (My forum is mostly chatty women who post like fiends, if it isn't politically incorrect to say so. On this small forum any dozen members can get a thread to over a hundred posts in no time. )

I am now looking at a reseller account. The bandwidth is 250g, my forum did 32k-meg last month. If I understand the math correctly that sounds more than adequate. Room for another forum, which is the next step in the plan.

Thanks for any thoughts and suggestions.

[wda2015]

pcforce.biz - excellent!.

[rolypoly]

I am now looking at a reseller account. The bandwidth is 250g, my forum did 32k-meg last month. If I understand the math correctly that sounds more than adequate. Room for another forum, which is the next step in the plan.

Thanks for any thoughts and suggestions.

ya...as long as it don't cause any problem to your webhost's server... everything is fine.
Because there is a limit to the amount of CPU/ram you can use .. afterall it is a 'shared' reseller server.

[Mary303]

ya...as long as it don't cause any problem to your webhost's server... everything is fine.
Because there is a limit to the amount of CPU/ram you can use .. afterall it is a 'shared' reseller server.

Thanks much for all the comments. The host doesn't see any objections, so will be giving the reseller account a try. It has the flexibility to add some more projects as well.

[Mary303]

ya...as long as it don't cause any problem to your webhost's server... everything is fine.
Because there is a limit to the amount of CPU/ram you can use .. afterall it is a 'shared' reseller server.

Thanks much for all the comments. The host doesn't see any objections, so will be giving the reseller account a try. It has the flexibility to add some more projects as well.

[Jah-Hools]

Another vote for Globalgold

3,000+ online

No problems!

High level of VB understanding and experience.

[TheKdd]

InMotion Hosting

http://inmotionhosting.com/

The Plan

The "Launch" Business Class hosting (shared hosting) for small/starting websites.

The Experience

I spent just under two years with InMotion, and during that time I never had issues with downtime (that were the server's fault - I did have some phpbb issues before I switched to vBulletin).

The customer support is available 24/7, and they were always both competent and helpful. It was my first website, so I did require a lot of help sometimes, and a lot of help is what I received. In addition to that, I had the opportunity to become adapted to cPanel, which was nice.

My departure had nothing to do with the service, so the fact that I am no longer with them should not deter anyone from signing with InMotion. It was always very good hosting at an excellent price.

Cons

If there were any, I didn't run into them. Then again, my needs were pretty simple for most of that time.

I am with inmotion, have been for about a month now with their business class shared. I am brand new to hosting a forum, have not advertised yet (not quite ready) but have about 40 members or so, and am already having problems.

I get many DB errors every couple of days, talking about mysql and line 311. After doing some research on it, finding out it is a server issue, I looked and saw mysql has a wait timeout of 30, and according to many others, this is a problem. I asked inmotion to up this, and they said they could not, that's the most you get on a shared server, and apologized for the inconvenience. I e-mailed them back after that, and it has now been sent to "tier II" saying this may be a coding issue... we will see how this goes.

I can't imagine that if I am having this problem now, how it will be when I do advertise and get more members. So as of now, I am looking for a new host.... unless of course they can solve this quickly.

I will say that on the Pro side, they have answered me quite quickly. Con, I have had to send many e-mails to get it to this point.