Reliable and yet cheap host service?

YanKleber

YanKleber

Retired
Hey all,

I am in need of expand my online stuff so I cannot count on free services for too much more time.

After some Google research I found a lot of offers that seem to be all "great" but you know how it is.

So I am looking for suggestions of a reliable host service (and for reliable I mean one that STAY UP) and that yet be cheap enough to not break the bank. I would be happy to pay up to $10 per month for a serious quality service. I don't care if it is Linux or Windows and also it not have to be fancy -- I just would like that it can run Joomla.

I appreciate any input! Thanks!

:)
 
Bluehost is what I've used for the past several years. The only time I can remember being down is when they upgrade the servers every couple years. They give you plenty of warning when that is going to happen.
 
Farview said:
Bluehost is what I've used for the past several years. The only time I can remember being down is when they upgrade the servers every couple years. They give you plenty of warning when that is going to happen.
Click to expand...

I was a BlueHost (Canada) user for about 4 years but I gave up of them because frequently my sites were down.

:(

Hopefully they improved they service then?
 
YanKleber said:
Hey all,

I am in need of expand my online stuff so I cannot count on free services for too much more time.

After some Google research I found a lot of offers that seem to be all "great" but you know how it is.

So I am looking for suggestions of a reliable host service (and for reliable I mean one that STAY UP) and that yet be cheap enough to not break the bank. I would be happy to pay up to $10 per month for a serious quality service. I don't care if it is Linux or Windows and also it not have to be fancy -- I just would like that it can run Joomla.

I appreciate any input! Thanks!

:)
Click to expand...

I just set up hosting with TSOhost this week.
I went with their cloud based hosting so downtime is way less likely.

There were two main reasons I went with them.
Their website wasn't littered with cheap gimmicky 'look at me, idiot' advertising tactics and introductory schemes, and their name came up over and over on private web/computer forums.
I went looking for private forum opinions because all other 'independent' reviews were obviously ridiculously in one way or the other.

I'm paying £50/yr for 10gb space across 6 or fewer sites. They support Joomla, too.
They have two lighter, cheaper packages.
They'll also handle your migrations for free if you're moving from a previous host, although I didn't avail of that.

Rainman that I am, I wasn't looking forward to moving away from C-Panel, but in two minutes I had their equivalent set up. It's actually quite nice. :)
 
YanKleber said:
I was a BlueHost (Canada) user for about 4 years but I gave up of them because frequently my sites were down.

:(

Hopefully they improved they service then?
Click to expand...

Not sure if they use different servers/infrastructure up in Canada...but I've been using BlueHost for the last couple of years for my own stuff...plus we use them at my day gig to host our theater website, which is a regular business and needs solid web hosting...and so far, not a single day with any downtime.

Prior to that the theater used GoDaddy...what a PITA, constant issues.

So far I really like BlueHost...and I got 3 years for $150 as a new customer price. :)
 
miroslav said:
Prior to that the theater used GoDaddy...what a PITA, constant issues.

So far I really like BlueHost...and I got 3 years for $150 as a new customer price. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, Godaddy seemed to keep coming up on the 'avoid' list.
Watch the introductory offers - Make sure you know what you'll be paying once it ends otherwise you'll be migrating again in a short time.

Aiming that more an Yan than you, Miro.
 
Another avoid is BlueVoda...never used them, but from the reviews I read, they apparently lure people in with deals, but the support sucks real bad, and you can't get out of the deal.

I used HostBaby for awhile for my audio stuff...and they were OK initially, but after a few years, the prices from other hosting services were dropping, but they kept theirs the same no matter what.
The thing that really started to annoy me was their crappy email service. They would pass a lot of spam and phishing stuff through, and then they would send me a notice saying they detected a suspicious email, and then completely blocked my email until I changed the password. This happened too many times with them.
I've yet to have that happen on BlueHost.

I did a bunch of research and reading of reviews before I settled on BlueHost. There are other good providers...just gotta find what works for you.
 
Yeah. It's the same deal with TV/Phone/Internet providers here. You have to keep your eye on them! :eek:

Helped my Dad out a while back - He was paying around £50 a month for the above and getting 'up to 8mb' ADSL for several years.
It was a decent deal when he joined but he was about to upgrade to fibre broadband for an extra £20 a month until I checked out the competitors.

Moved over to exactly the same setup with a different provider, except with 80/20 fibre and a better calls package for £35 a month all in. :facepalm:
Free installation, free equipment, and a £100 voucher for the place they shop.....?!

Here...Have a hundred quid, save £15 a month, and have this lovely fibre optic broadband too! lol.
 
Hey...check the site, you've got a spammer..."bigfootangel".
He's spamming with some sort of "Guest" account...???
 
After to have some reading I just removed GoDaddy from my list. I am lurking BH and TSO Host but should await a little before to decide.
 
Good call. :)
Look around a few private owner forums like this ones. You'll see trends and consistent information from guys hosting hundreds of sites.
 
EZ used Hostgator for AudioAnarchy and spoke highly of how cheap and easy it was...Based on his experience I opted to use them for my business web site and I've had nothing but a great experience to date...albeit a pretty simple website but it always seems to be up and running and I've got no complaints about it being hard to access...
 
TAE said:
EZ used Hostgator for AudioAnarchy and spoke highly of how cheap and easy it was...Based on his experience I opted to use them for my business web site and I've had nothing but a great experience to date...albeit a pretty simple website but it always seems to be up and running and I've got no complaints about it being hard to access...
Click to expand...

Yep. Although they got bought out a year or two ago and response time and ease of support took a hit. Still good though.
 
Long time Dreamhost customer. I host a couple small sites, including my project and production site. After using them for something like a decade I've accumulated more storage than I could ever think of using. I can't think of the last time the service was 'down'.

I will say that their drop-in site packages, especially the PHP ones, are really weak security-wise. I had a online retail cart site (free with my $10/month plan) for selling photos and it was getting repeatedly hacked, despite keeping the software package updated. I guess you get what you pay for. Can't say if Dreamhost or the software developer for that product were to blame. Dreamhost certainly wanted nothing to do with helping me, other than to point me to the backup so I could recover. But hosting my own webpages has been rock solid, which is why I'm still with them.
 
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