This thread is for posting your hosting experiences. We are looking for rational, supported testimonials here. Don't engage in idle chat and discussion in this thread, it will make the thread less effective. If you want to discuss a particular host than make a new thread, that's what this forum is here for.
If you would like to discuss hosts or comments in this thread, please do so here: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showt...threadid=48475 instead.
Let's try to consolodate our host experiences guys. Let's make this thread the one-stop-shop for all people researching new hosts. We are getting way to many repeat threads and host specific threads that just end up being lost in the forum history. Plus I'm always answering e-mails asking me what my opinion is about the various hosts that I have been with. This is an easy way to cover everyone at once.
The way it works:
*1. Format: List the hosts you are writing about at the top of your post in bold. This way people know what hosts you are talking about without having to read your whole post. This makes for easy navigation. Below that write about each individual host... Host name -> url -> what plan you use(d) -> link to your site if applicable to this host -> pros -> cons -> and end with your educated overall opinion of the host -> repeat for next host. If you need to make changes to somthing you posted or if you need to add something just go back and edit your post. Spreading your experiences accross multiple threads will make this thread less effective.
2. Let's stick with your experiences and testimonials only. If we start using this thread for discussions it will make the thread less functional for people researching hosts. Leave the discussions for other threads in this forum, that's what this forum is here for.
3. Please no flaming. If you have bad things to say that's ok, but back up your claims with something. Random flames like "this host sucks" don't help people who are researching hosts.
I'll start....
f5hosting
hostrocket
hostpro
netmegs
***********************************
f5hosting - http://www.f5hosting.com/ - platinum plan
my site on their servers - http://128.241.204.3/ (note: currently testing vBPortal, not everything is in working order)
Pros:
1. Very fast. Great vB performance.
2. Friendly staff. Charlie (waxxman) is a little bit strange sometimes, hehe. Allen and the others really know their stuff though. They all have an overly-enthusiastic attitude about everything.
3. 100% uptime from what I can tell so far. Granted I haven't been with them for more than a couple weeks.
4. Unbeatable price for the features you get. They have specials going on until July 1 where you can get the platinum plan for $18.50 a month.
5. Support for GZIP. Good GZIP performance.
6. Excellent and very functional online control panel.
Cons:
1. Slow vBPortal performance sometimes. Not really slow, but it takes a while to actually get the query through for a vBPortal page. It used to be really slow but it has gotten quite a bit faster recently. Note: vBPortal is also said to be a very intensive script that can still benefit a lot from some code optimization and stuff. That might be why it's slow.
See this thread also: http://www.f5hosting.com/forums/show...s=&threadid=59
I'm using f5 as a "secondary" host that I might switch to soon. I'm also using it as a separate host to test vBPortal. I think f5 is great for smaller sites. Lots of f5 customers are running vB. And some are running vBPortal too. As with anything, I think the "you get what you pay for" saying still applies to f5. Don't expect to host a vB with like 30 simultaneous users and not have problems. Any shared server has its limits. Other than that I would say f5 looks to be a great host.
*********************************
hostrocket - http://www.hostrocket.com/ - corporate plan
my site on their servers - N/A
Pros:
1. Very fast. Great vB performance.
2. Support for GZIP. Good GZIP performance.
3. Excellent and very functional online control panel.
4. Great price for the features you get.
Cons:
1. Uptime isn't all that. Sometimes uptime and performance are awesome. Then sometimes you hit a period where your site goes to crap. The last couple days have been bad. They tell me they are working to fix it. You will find that different people have different things to say about hostrocket's uptime (whether good or bad). You would be wise to do some extra research.
2. Support tickets sometimes take a while to get a response.
Hostrocket is a great host but their uptime needs work (from my experience. other people might disagree). Great performance though. Very fast vB performance with GZIP enabled.
*********************************
hostpro - http://www.hostpro.com/ - freedom 200 plan
my site on their servers - http://www.mac-gamer.com/ (currently have an htaccess in place that redirects to my hostrocket acct)
Pros:
1. Excellent uptime.
2. Prompt responses to support tickets.
3. Excellent online users guide.
4. vBulletin "capacity" is excellent. The number of users I had on my forums never seemed to effect performance. In fact, when I signed up with them they said that it isn't mySQL capacity or server capacity that I should worry about. They said my monthly bandwidth allotment would be the limiting factor before their server capacity would.
Cons:
1. On rare occassions I used to get "network latency" (as stated by their support techs). This caused generally slow performance sometimes. This was a temporary issue.
2. Online control panel is pretty bare, but functional for what it does do.
3. No support for GZIP.
4. Pricey. $$$
5. Their whole site layout, online users guide, support ticket system, etc... takes a little getting used to. But it works.
6. vB performance isn't as fast at times as some other hosts that are half as much.
As a server they are very stable with great uptime. Very consistant in general.
********************************
netmegs - http://www.netmegs.com/ - fully virtual standard
my site on their servers: N/A
Pros:
1. Excellent uptime.
2. Excellent support. Bini is awesome.
3. Awesome UBB 5.45c performance.
Cons:
1. When I went from UBB to vB 1.1.5 back in the day it totally jacked their server. I got MySQL max connection errors, performance issues, etc, etc. They ended up moving me to an isolated server to better guage my usage. I ended up moving to a different host because I didn't want to deal with it. Though, Bini was very accomodating.
Awesome host in general, but not good for vB forums. (in my experience. I have heard otherwise from other people)
If you would like to discuss hosts or comments in this thread, please do so here: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showt...threadid=48475 instead.
Let's try to consolodate our host experiences guys. Let's make this thread the one-stop-shop for all people researching new hosts. We are getting way to many repeat threads and host specific threads that just end up being lost in the forum history. Plus I'm always answering e-mails asking me what my opinion is about the various hosts that I have been with. This is an easy way to cover everyone at once.
The way it works:
*1. Format: List the hosts you are writing about at the top of your post in bold. This way people know what hosts you are talking about without having to read your whole post. This makes for easy navigation. Below that write about each individual host... Host name -> url -> what plan you use(d) -> link to your site if applicable to this host -> pros -> cons -> and end with your educated overall opinion of the host -> repeat for next host. If you need to make changes to somthing you posted or if you need to add something just go back and edit your post. Spreading your experiences accross multiple threads will make this thread less effective.
2. Let's stick with your experiences and testimonials only. If we start using this thread for discussions it will make the thread less functional for people researching hosts. Leave the discussions for other threads in this forum, that's what this forum is here for.
3. Please no flaming. If you have bad things to say that's ok, but back up your claims with something. Random flames like "this host sucks" don't help people who are researching hosts.
I'll start....
f5hosting
hostrocket
hostpro
netmegs
***********************************
f5hosting - http://www.f5hosting.com/ - platinum plan
my site on their servers - http://128.241.204.3/ (note: currently testing vBPortal, not everything is in working order)
Pros:
1. Very fast. Great vB performance.
2. Friendly staff. Charlie (waxxman) is a little bit strange sometimes, hehe. Allen and the others really know their stuff though. They all have an overly-enthusiastic attitude about everything.
3. 100% uptime from what I can tell so far. Granted I haven't been with them for more than a couple weeks.
4. Unbeatable price for the features you get. They have specials going on until July 1 where you can get the platinum plan for $18.50 a month.
5. Support for GZIP. Good GZIP performance.
6. Excellent and very functional online control panel.
Cons:
1. Slow vBPortal performance sometimes. Not really slow, but it takes a while to actually get the query through for a vBPortal page. It used to be really slow but it has gotten quite a bit faster recently. Note: vBPortal is also said to be a very intensive script that can still benefit a lot from some code optimization and stuff. That might be why it's slow.
See this thread also: http://www.f5hosting.com/forums/show...s=&threadid=59
I'm using f5 as a "secondary" host that I might switch to soon. I'm also using it as a separate host to test vBPortal. I think f5 is great for smaller sites. Lots of f5 customers are running vB. And some are running vBPortal too. As with anything, I think the "you get what you pay for" saying still applies to f5. Don't expect to host a vB with like 30 simultaneous users and not have problems. Any shared server has its limits. Other than that I would say f5 looks to be a great host.
*********************************
hostrocket - http://www.hostrocket.com/ - corporate plan
my site on their servers - N/A
Pros:
1. Very fast. Great vB performance.
2. Support for GZIP. Good GZIP performance.
3. Excellent and very functional online control panel.
4. Great price for the features you get.
Cons:
1. Uptime isn't all that. Sometimes uptime and performance are awesome. Then sometimes you hit a period where your site goes to crap. The last couple days have been bad. They tell me they are working to fix it. You will find that different people have different things to say about hostrocket's uptime (whether good or bad). You would be wise to do some extra research.
2. Support tickets sometimes take a while to get a response.
Hostrocket is a great host but their uptime needs work (from my experience. other people might disagree). Great performance though. Very fast vB performance with GZIP enabled.
*********************************
hostpro - http://www.hostpro.com/ - freedom 200 plan
my site on their servers - http://www.mac-gamer.com/ (currently have an htaccess in place that redirects to my hostrocket acct)
Pros:
1. Excellent uptime.
2. Prompt responses to support tickets.
3. Excellent online users guide.
4. vBulletin "capacity" is excellent. The number of users I had on my forums never seemed to effect performance. In fact, when I signed up with them they said that it isn't mySQL capacity or server capacity that I should worry about. They said my monthly bandwidth allotment would be the limiting factor before their server capacity would.
Cons:
1. On rare occassions I used to get "network latency" (as stated by their support techs). This caused generally slow performance sometimes. This was a temporary issue.
2. Online control panel is pretty bare, but functional for what it does do.
3. No support for GZIP.
4. Pricey. $$$
5. Their whole site layout, online users guide, support ticket system, etc... takes a little getting used to. But it works.
6. vB performance isn't as fast at times as some other hosts that are half as much.
As a server they are very stable with great uptime. Very consistant in general.
********************************
netmegs - http://www.netmegs.com/ - fully virtual standard
my site on their servers: N/A
Pros:
1. Excellent uptime.
2. Excellent support. Bini is awesome.
3. Awesome UBB 5.45c performance.
Cons:
1. When I went from UBB to vB 1.1.5 back in the day it totally jacked their server. I got MySQL max connection errors, performance issues, etc, etc. They ended up moving me to an isolated server to better guage my usage. I ended up moving to a different host because I didn't want to deal with it. Though, Bini was very accomodating.
Awesome host in general, but not good for vB forums. (in my experience. I have heard otherwise from other people)
Comment