Web hosts - recommendations?

[randomling]

Hello!

I run a PHPBB message board with a reasonably stable number of active users. We have our own domain name: www.randomlingshouse.com. Usually we have great service and hardly any problems with speed or connection, but recently, things have got very bad. The site is slow-moving and the boards seem to be down for a few hours every couple of days. The customer care department are notoriously tight-lipped. This simply is not on.

Currently the hosts I'm with are ITMom (www.itmom.com) who have a very nice MySQL database with a MyAdmin panel accessible from their web site. They charge me $15 a year for the domain name, and $15 a month for 5 gigabytes of bandwidth, which is usually sufficient for our needs. Also, importantly, they let us pay our dues with Paypal, which is good because we are supported entirely by Paypal donations from our generous members.

So to cut a long story short, if things don't improve at ITMom very shortly, I'm going to be looking for a new web host. I need for the price to stay reasonably stable, and I need to have access to a MySQL database and the ability to pay through Paypal. Being UK-based myself, I'd also like to move to a UK-based host, but that's not essential. (I'm not too bothered about changing the URL slightly, as we're not really a .com in the first place, and I can email all my members.) They also need to have reliable and fast servers, and preferably a helpful and friendly customer services department, who I can actually get hold of when I have some kind of difficulty.

So can you recommend any particular hosts? Which do you use and why? How good are they?

Thankyou!

 

[Raloc]

I use www.hardhathosting.com . They have the single most awsome Customer Support you could ever want (to the extent that they've helped me with scripts I was writing, no way you'll get that from larger hosts). They offer a plan that's $10.49 for 150MB of space, 10GB of bandwidth, and 5 POP/FTP accounts. You can also create your own plan. I created a plan for 1050MB of storage, 5GB of bandwidth and 5 POP/FTP accounts and it was $27.63/month. Also, all their accounts come with simply awesome features. PostgreSQL, MySQL, PHP, CGI, etc etc etc. No limit on databases. They are probably the single best host I've ever worked with, and that's saying a lot. (Sorry to talk them up so much, but you asked )

Just saw this too on the site!

Happy New Year! We are offering double bandwidth on all new web hosting accounts thru February 28th. Use Promo Code "NEWYEAR2005" when you order. View the promotional details

 

[Dimwhit]

I use ADTHosting.com. I've good experiences with them. For $140/year, you get 250MB space and 15GB transfer. They have cheaper plans, too. And you can pay with paypal.

 

[Mercule]

I use Arvixe.com for mine. Very nice control panel, Fantastico to auto-install many toys (including PHPBB), unlimited email and FTP users, etc. I only pay $40/year for my service, but the two packages you'd want would be $80/year (10,000 MB bandwidth) or $160/year (30,000 MB).

When I went looking for hosts, I did a fair amount of research, and Arvixe is rated at a 99.7% uptime, IIRC -- better than any other host I found even close to the price. And I've never had a problem with my service. I have absolutely no reservations about recommending them.

If you do go with them, I would ask that you mark "Mercule" as a referer. It's only worth a buck or two, but it's something.

 

[IronWolf]

I just switched to dreamhost.com. I've only been there for about a week, so I cannot say much about them other than the initial setup has been one of the quicker and easier ones I have seen. They have a nice control panel and even have a one click install for phpBB. Only been there for a week so I can't say for certain what their uptime/speed will prove to be. Might be worth looking at though.

 

[Bacrof]

I've used westhost.com for years and have been very happy with their service. They're very affordable with a lot of bandwidth and storage space even with the low cost options. I tend to have very little downtime. phpBB and MySQL are only two of a large number of added features they provide with their packages. I'm not sure if they accept payment through PayPal though. You'd have to check with them.

 

[Ayrk]

I am a big fan of Jatol at www.jatol.com.

I pay $30 a year and the service I've received from them is fabulous. I host both my personal site (www.erikdewey.com) and my company's site (www.secondrat.com).

They also accept payment via Paypal.