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Web Weather => Weather Web Site Help => Topic started by: Intheswamp on October 30, 2017, 09:05:14 AM

Title: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on October 30, 2017, 09:05:14 AM

Ok, Greg/Slowmodem mentioned in another post about the cost of hosting at Godaddy and he is ready to make a change.  I've hosted at Godaddy since I first setup www.BeeWeather.com 4-5 years ago...and I'm tired of Godaddy's pricing, they load my inbox up with "specials" regarding *new* purchases but it's a rare bird to see *any* deals on renewals.  Though it has worked "well" for the last year or so the biggest problems that I've had with the website were on *their* side, not mine, but yet there was never a "sorry, my bad..." from them...just a reminder that I needed to send them money.  So, do some of you have recommendations on hosting providers and domain registrars that you are using or have used and that have good pricing *and* good service?  I'm not smart enough to know the questions that I need to ask but I do know that I need an interface/control panel with the provider that I can navigate without too much anguish. :)  So, got milk recommendations....???

Thanks!!!
Ed

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: PaulMy on October 30, 2017, 09:39:08 AM

Hi Ed,
I am also concerned about their (GoDaddy) continued high cost but overall get pretty good service.  All the work to change my sites, MySQL, fixing the things that now work but may not with a new provider, etc. scares me from seriously looking elsewhere.

But I DID get a "sorry", once!

Quote

A scheduled upgrade may have delayed your emails.             

Your messages were delivered. We're sorry for the disruption.    [/q][/t][/t]               We know reliable email is important to your success, and we take our commitment to you seriously. Following the completion of a scheduled upgrade to our systems on Monday, some customers began experiencing a delay in receiving emails. Please accept our apology for the disruption. We're making improvements to prevent these kinds of issues in the future.    We appreciate your business and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.    Thank you for being a GoDaddy customer.    Sincerely,    Irana Wasti  SVP General Manager  GoDaddy

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on October 30, 2017, 10:22:15 AM

Interesting.  I just did a surname search and Wasti originated from Wasit, Iraq.  At least they did same "sorry". ;)

My site isn't nearly as complex as yours, Paul and I know that I'd have trouble getting it back up and running...I can't imagine what you'd be dealing with.   But, maybe my site needs a bit of a change anyhow, and some things do need updating. 

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Maumelle Weather on October 30, 2017, 10:41:13 AM

Hi Ed,

May I suggest ICDSoft (https://www.icdsoft.com/en/hosting/usa). I have used them for the last 7 years and have had no issues, outside of my own screwups. The only time they were down was when Superstorm Sandy came through and cut a fiber connection in the Northeast. They were down about 6 hours. Their customer service is awesome. ALL of my issues were resolved in less than 15 minutes.

If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

John

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: weather34 on October 30, 2017, 11:33:57 AM

Quote from: sacreyweather on October 30, 2017, 10:41:13 AM

Hi Ed,

May I suggest ICDSoft (https://www.icdsoft.com/en/hosting/usa). I have used them for the last 7 years and have had no issues, outside of my own screwups. The only time they were down was when Superstorm Sandy came through and cut a fiber connection in the Northeast. They were down about 6 hours. Their customer service is awesome. ALL of my issues were resolved in less than 15 minutes.

If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

John

100% agreement in almost 20 years I’ve never found a better company all round and I’ve paid more at times . Support response is impressive and fast. Rarely you get to talk to support that actually understands but the guys at icdsoft are impressive. Worth every dime or penny ..brian

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on October 30, 2017, 01:24:23 PM

Thanks for the recommendations for ICDSOFT.  I've visited their website and it looks good...big difference from Godaddy's where each page is trying to sell you something!  I've sent an email off to them to see what kind of response I get.  I've still got some hosting and domain registration time left (paid for) with Godaddy so I've gotta figure that angle out.  Seems that I read at one time that some hosts will take on your remaining time.  I think May of 2018 is my renewal date for the website hosting...but registration on beeweather.com and a few other domains are stretched on out there.  We'll see... :)

Thanks again for the recommendations!

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on October 30, 2017, 01:36:01 PM

Nice...I've just received a response from ICDSOFT.  That was quick (relative to Godaddy's response times that I've experienced).

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Bunty on October 30, 2017, 10:02:53 PM

KVC Hosting isn't too bad. I started with a three year deal 3 years ago at $107.64 and just renewed it at the very same price.

I noticed my site went down Sat. night and notified them via trouble ticket.  It was back up in a few minutes.  That kind of outage has been quite rare.  Only other memorable outages had to do with their SSD going corrupt and a cut fiber optic cable, due to a nearby construction project.  Both outages lasted not quite a day.

In setting up, several php files wouldn't work, and Ken was quite helpful in telling me what to tell support about what needed done from their side.

I use Namecheap to register my domains.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: ValentineWeather on October 30, 2017, 10:11:33 PM

How does ICDSOFT handle FTP. Some sites limit usage I have 5-6 cameras sending images every 1-2 minutes along with ajax sending realtime data every 4 seconds, pulling forecast etc.  so my site uses a lot of bandwidth.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Maumelle Weather on October 30, 2017, 10:18:17 PM

Hi Randy,

I have the business account with 100GB of space and 1TB of bandwidth per month. I believe they allow a max of 10? concurrent FTP connections. Don't quote me on that.

I upload Cumulus every 20 seconds, plus the every 5minute big upload of graphs, etc. I also upload GR3 images, too. I use something like 10GB of bandwidth a month, give or take. Main reason I don't upload more is because of my bandwidth at home (512KBs upload).

John

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: ValentineWeather on October 30, 2017, 10:22:29 PM

Thanks John , I think I would need the business $10 month also but about the same cost as Godaddy.
My monthly bandwidth usage is around 60 gigs.

 [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Maumelle Weather on October 30, 2017, 10:25:54 PM

After the first year, you get a 20% discount. They also have my domain name as well. I just re-upped for 2 years and the cost was $212 and change, I believe. That cost includes my domain name.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: stanleyjenkins on November 01, 2017, 07:13:27 AM

For Windows hosting, I highly recommend WinHost. I have a few websites hosted by them and have never had any issues.  For registrations, I'm a DreamHost guy. A little more expensive than other places, but another company I have all but great things to say.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on February 07, 2018, 09:23:18 AM

<sigh>  I think I'm brain dead.

I exchanged several messages with ICDSoft yesterday afternoon/evening trying to understand what I can and can't do with them.  And I got more and more confused.  It appears that before I can do anything with them I need to purchase a hosting account.  The problem is that I've got 3-4 more months paid for at Godaddy for hosting of beeweather.com but I've 3-4 domains needing to be renewed within the next week or so.  :???:

I've got a couple of domain names that I figure I might can sale one day and recover some of my registration money that I've paid through the years so I want them to be secure wherever they are parked at.  I'm tending to align with Paul in not wanting to move from Godaddy for concerns of problems that might pop up.

So, with ICDSoft do you register domains elsewhere and use ICDSoft for the actual website hosting?  It does sound like you can have a hosting account with them and park other domains in that account.  They still charge per domain name, though, but at a good bit cheaper price than Godaddy.  Maybe I should go ahead and buy a hosting plan from them and park the expiring domains there and begin working on transferring BeeWeather there...???

I used to have a lot of hair....
Ed

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Maumelle Weather on February 07, 2018, 09:30:41 AM

Hi Ed,

When I first went to ICDSoft, my domains were still with GoDaddy. I have since moved them to ICDSoft. Check with their support, they are awesome to work with!!!

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: WeatherHost on February 07, 2018, 09:48:43 AM

Yes, ICD registers domains.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on February 07, 2018, 10:55:56 AM

Oh, let me tell you something...  Those folks have an extra heaping of patience in their DNA!!!!  :lol:  I've never claimed to be the sharpest knife in the drawer and they have waded through a bunch of probably what seemed to be "cryptic" emails from me.  :)  Just from their patience with me and quick responses I'm really wanting to move there!!!

From what I understand you need a hosting account before you can park a domain there.  Being as I've got the 3-4 domain names I need to do something with *before* I move beeweather.com it's kind of a problem...I think. 

I've about decided to go ahead and buy a hosting account, move the domains that are coming up for renewal there, and start the preparations for moving BeeWeather (kind of scary).  They (ICDSoft) did tell me that they use eNom.com for registering domains (a reseller setup, I guess).  Looking at enom.com it appears that ICDSoft gets a bulk discount as enom.com is a bit higher priced from what I see.

I looked at namecheap.com and it looks to have a good price.  But, to keep things simple and under one roof I think I'll just go with one provider/host.

This is making my head hurt....and I haven't even started moving anything yet.<sigh>

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: UpstateWeather.com on February 07, 2018, 11:23:45 AM

I've had bluehost for about a year or two. Honestly, it works but nothing great. I used MDD Hosting previously which is far superior. Honestly, I wish I was still with them. My wife started a blog and our needs changed so we moved to Bluehost. BUT, I think that was a mistake. MDD

Check out MDD Hosting. I LOVED them and they get really great reviews.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: WeatherHost on February 07, 2018, 12:22:42 PM

Quote from: Intheswamp on February 07, 2018, 10:55:56 AM

I've about decided to go ahead and buy a hosting account,

Do that.  Play around with it a while to get familiar.  Their control panel may be different than others since they tend to write their own stuff.  Try out the FTP, email, etc.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: jgillett on February 07, 2018, 01:54:26 PM

Quote from: Intheswamp on February 07, 2018, 10:55:56 AM

From what I understand you need a hosting account before you can park a domain there.  Being as I've got the 3-4 domain names I need to do something with *before* I move beeweather.com it's kind of a problem...I think.

OK, so apparently I'm in the same dull knife drawer as you are (a frequent happening here!). Are you saying ICD requires one to register all domains with them before they'll give you a hosting account? If true, and if I were looking to have them host my stuff, I'd be out the door in a hurry.

I register all my domains with GoDaddy and park those I'm not using with them as well. My web host is in Utah (obviously ain't Scottsdale where GD is). No problems with that at all.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Maumelle Weather on February 07, 2018, 02:11:47 PM

Hi John,

One doesn't have to move your domains over to them to open an account. I had my account with ICDSoft a year before I moved my domains over with them.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: WeatherHost on February 07, 2018, 02:14:53 PM

Quote from: jgillett on February 07, 2018, 01:54:26 PM

Are you saying ICD requires one to register all domains with them before they'll give you a hosting account?

No, not at all.  The opposite I think.  You have to have a hosting account to register a domain.  Once you have that, you can add more.  Or you can just do the hosting and keep the domain(s) elsewhere.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on February 07, 2018, 02:16:30 PM

^^^

Rather than requiring you to move all the domains to them before opening a hosting account they instead require a hosting account before parking domains...which makes sense 'cause ya gotta have a place for the domains to "park".  The issue I'm running into with Godaddy is that they're getting downright greedy...$20 to renew a domain and park it.  ICDSoft is something like $13...a fair difference.  Hosting is less expensive, also.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: WeatherHost on February 07, 2018, 02:38:21 PM

^^  And renewals are even less after the first year.

Come to think of it, your first year might be at the discounted rate if I did it under my reseller account.  Not sure.  I haven't done it in so ling I forget the details.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: WeatherHost on February 07, 2018, 02:57:54 PM

Not looking like I can do it so you can pay for it direct.  They changed some things and have a way to set up a store for it, but I'm not sure what's involved there.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: jgillett on February 07, 2018, 05:36:16 PM

Quote from: Intheswamp on February 07, 2018, 02:16:30 PM

^^^

Rather than requiring you to move all the domains to them before opening a hosting account they instead require a hosting account before parking domains...which makes sense 'cause ya gotta have a place for the domains to "park".  The issue I'm running into with Godaddy is that they're getting downright greedy...$20 to renew a domain and park it.  ICDSoft is something like $13...a fair difference.  Hosting is less expensive, also.

Interesting. The last renewal I had with GD was 28 Jan '18, a .com that remains parked with them. 16 bucks.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: jgillett on February 07, 2018, 05:37:53 PM

Quote from: sacreyweather on February 07, 2018, 02:11:47 PM

One doesn't have to move your domains over to them to open an account. I had my account with ICDSoft a year before I moved my domains over with them.

OK, got it. Thanks to both.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on February 07, 2018, 07:52:25 PM

I've got a reseller account setup.  I was told to do it that way for the best rates.  I'll be making the move in a few days...don't have many more days left at Godaddy with three of the domains...only a week or so.  It might be a weekend project for me. 

I've been wondering how the move/transfer will work.  Like I mentioned elsewhere a while back, if BeeWeather was to crash and I had to start over from scratch I'd be at a loss...but I would know exactly where to start at....HERE!!!!! :)  This group is the greatest!!!!!!!!!!   =D&gt;

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Maumelle Weather on February 07, 2018, 08:14:06 PM

Quote from: Intheswamp on February 07, 2018, 07:52:25 PM

I've got a reseller account setup.  I was told to do it that way for the best rates.  I'll be making the move in a few days...don't have many more days left at Godaddy with three of the domains...only a week or so.  It might be a weekend project for me. 

I've been wondering how the move/transfer will work.  Like I mentioned elsewhere a while back, if BeeWeather was to crash and I had to start over from scratch I'd be at a loss...but I would know exactly where to start at....HERE!!!!! :)  This group is the greatest!!!!!!!!!!   =D&gt;

Hi Ed,

When you login to your ICDSoft control panel, there is an icon called Migration (lower left hand corner, or it is on mine). You can use that, OR make a complete backup of your current site to your home computer, then upload it to your new ICDSoft site.  I use Filezilla for my FTP uploads here at home when working on my site.

John

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on February 07, 2018, 08:27:31 PM

jgillett, the $19.99 price got my attention enough that I instigated a chat with a GD representative.  I told him my hesitation to renew the domains at that price and he asked me to hold on so he could see what he could do for me.  It was close to a 10 minute wait (I checked a couple of times to make sure he was still there).  I was talking to him about three domains which would have been $60.  He came back to me with a price just a little under $55 for three domains.  I thanked him and told that I needed to do my due diligence on this.  His response was "I understand".  Nice guy, but it seems GD didn't give him much to work with.  Now, here I am not thinking about leaving Godaddy but rather am convinced to leave them.  They must like you better than they do me to give you that price!  ;)

John, thanks for the "migration" button tip.  I had read where some hosts have such features but I hadn't checked with ICDSoft.  I'll probably make a backup via Filezilla (nice program, eh? :) ) when I get to the shop.  I've got cable internet there and only 3Mbps DSL here.  My only concern is all the photos and videos that I have on the website.  Maybe I'll wait and see how the migration goes and forego backing up the photos and videos locally.  Shoot, it's probably time for a little housekeeping anyhoo.<grin>  I've got a couple of months to make the transition in regards to the website...I think this is gonna be a whole new chapter in my life!!! \:D/  Hopefully not the final one!!!!!  :shock:   :lol: :lol:

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: GregJ on February 08, 2018, 11:24:04 AM

I thought I’d share my story… and a recommendation about web hosts and domain registrations…  As I said, I was with GoDanica for years.  When their performance tumbled to dialup speeds I looked around and found a good deal at Ipage.  Good reviews and they would handle my domain for free.  So I moved everything to them with like 3 years of domain registration for free.  In the 6 months that I stayed with them, it seemed like they were down more than up….  Horrible…  :evil:  So, I moved on to Lunarpages.  They were good…  Until they went down for 3 weeks and lost hundreds of our emails….  :evil: :evil: I couldn’t even get a temporary site up…  So, needless to say, when they got their servers running again I moved to InMotion where I have been since.  They have been very good.  \:D/
 
But…  In the midst of all this, I had a serious hack of my email address.  I was getting 400+ spam emails a day.  I finally had to change email addresses.  Something I have only done one other time in my life.  It is a real pain….  :evil:  So, life is going along and suddenly my site goes down.  I call InMotion tech support and after searching, they found that my domain name had been locked and abandoned…..  Ipage had my old email address and no way to get ahold of me.   :oops:  Registering a domain is kind of a set it and forget it process….  So, they couldn’t send me a bill and consequently shut down my domain.  It was a HUGE PITA to get my domain back and if memory serves it cost me around $100 in special fees….  Since then, I will always keep my domain registration with my webhost… no matter how much it costs….

Greg

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: yamiacaveman on February 08, 2018, 11:26:39 AM

There are plenty of good hosting companies.

What I look for: cPanel  --- Unlimited webites,unlimited storage and bandwidth, unlimited ftp and unlimited Email accounts.

About four years ago I switched to http://www.webhostinghub.com/

I took their 6.99 a month plan for 3 years and never had any problems.

I did a full backup of my old site, uploaded it to them - they unpacked everything - had to adjust a few things, no big deal.

After my 3 years were up, for some reason, I could not get the price I started with so I left them and went back to my old hosting provider.

And once again I did a full backup upload to my new-old provider and they unpacked and made some adjustments.

If my rates go up with my current provider my next stop might be here: https://www.kvchosting.net/unlimited-hosting.html

If you look at all the features for there C hosting -- Unlimited:
FTP accounts
Add-on Domains and so on

I did not see anything about backups -- my current provider backs up daily and I can do a full site bckup anytime - my last host I had to pay an extra dollar a month to back p my site.

So that's my 2 cents - and remember I'm a caveman and still manage to get things to work, mostly by bothering people - which reminds ----

Good luck!!!!!
 

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on February 08, 2018, 12:34:48 PM

Thanks Greg.  What a nightmare story!!!  I haven't had any experiences like that, but I think I'd rather have everything under one roof, too.  ICDSoft is not a registrar, they use a third party but still my access to the domains and payments will all be to ICDSoft.  It's hard enough for me to keep up with things as they are, the fewer accounts the better for me.

ed

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on February 08, 2018, 12:43:23 PM

Thanks Yamiacaveman.  Yeah, I need to look into c-panel.  I don't think I want to be changing hosts very often so where I choose I'll probably be at for a while...hopefully.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on February 08, 2018, 12:55:10 PM

Interesting thing...

I just logged into my Godaddy account and the first thing I see are the items I had put in my cart at $19.99 a piece.  I had put them in the cart  *before* talking to the GD rep and *before* I unlocked/relocked and got my authorization codes for these four domains.  Interestingly now the price is showing $14.99...only a 25% discount.  Interesting.  Call me conspiracy-minded, but they've gotta be monitoring customer accounts and certain actions, like me getting my authorization code triggered a flag for them to give a better price.  Remember, I had hung on the phone for ten minutes with their rep that only came back with a hair over a dollar per domain discount.   It makes me wonder.... :-k :x

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Maumelle Weather on February 08, 2018, 01:17:52 PM

Quote from: Intheswamp on February 08, 2018, 12:55:10 PM

Interesting thing...

I just logged into my Godaddy account and the first thing I see are the items I had put in my cart at $19.99 a piece.  I had put them in the cart  *before* talking to the GD rep and *before* I unlocked/relocked and got my authorization codes for these four domains.  Interestingly now the price is showing $14.99...only a 25% discount.  Interesting.  Call me conspiracy-minded, but they've gotta be monitoring customer accounts and certain actions, like me getting my authorization code triggered a flag for them to give a better price.  Remember, I had hung on the phone for ten minutes with their rep that only came back with a hair over a dollar per domain discount.   It makes me wonder.... :-k :x

This doesn't surprise me at all with tactics like that. Plus, if they were serious about wanting you to stay, they can do better than a 25% discount. Same tactics that were tried with me from Dish, after I called them to disconnect service with them. Didn't work. Have enjoyed being satellite free.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: WeatherHost on February 08, 2018, 01:18:17 PM

cPanel has some advantages but it wouldn't be a make or break item.

In reality, many feel you do NOT want everything in one basket if your site is something you rely on.  If something goes bad with your hosting, you might find the domain locked out of your control where it can't be retrieved without fees, if at all.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: GregJ on February 08, 2018, 01:31:05 PM

Ed,
Slightly off topic....  My wife has been leaving things in carts for years...  After a few days she almost always gets a discounted price...  :lol:

On topic, InMotion has cPanel....

Greg

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: SlowModem on February 09, 2018, 09:09:22 PM

I haven't moved my site anywhere.  It's pretty basic and I've got it all saved locally.  I need to get my site going again, but haven't had time lately.  I'm curious as to how this ICDSoft works out. 

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: jgillett on February 10, 2018, 09:31:53 AM

Quote from: WeatherHost on February 08, 2018, 01:18:17 PM

In reality, many feel you do NOT want everything in one basket if your site is something you rely on.  If something goes bad with your hosting, you might find the domain locked out of your control where it can't be retrieved without fees, if at all.

That's the primary reason mine are split - WestHost in UT and GD in AZ.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on February 10, 2018, 12:45:41 PM

GregJ, yeah, I think they monitor things.  I've got an account with www.camelcamelcamel.com and it will notify me of price changes in stuff I have in my cart or "saved for later" on Amazon...you can set up trigger price changes, etc.,.  Another pretty good site is www.slickdeals.com...enter in some key words/phrases and they'll notify you when the "community" comes upon a deal...sometime price glitches, sometimes short-term blow-outs, etc.,.  But, again, I do think the robots watch those carts!!!

I agree, having all your eggs in one basket can be disastrous but splitting up places I have things would just make it more confusing/complicated for me...I'm all for simplifying if I can...the brain ain't getting any younger!!!   :lol:

Greg, well, your not going to see my results with ICDSoft anytime real soon.  I just renewed four of my domains with Godaddy for $13.67 each.  I'm still confused with ICDSoft (I guess I'm brain dead).  I read where I can register a domain...I read where they're not a registrar and I have to register the domains elsewhere.  Three of these domains' registrations were ending in four days and I felt I needed to do something.  Godaddy was $1.10 but I didn't have to do any transferring or incur "transfer fees to be be calculating when..." (that was kinda vague on ICD's website).  I'm still strongly considering moving BeeWeather...I just needed more time to figure out the domain registration and I waited to late for comfort. 

$13.67 is a far cry from $19.99, eh????

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: jgillett on February 10, 2018, 01:19:57 PM

Quote from: Intheswamp on February 10, 2018, 12:45:41 PM

I agree, having all your eggs in one basket can be disastrous but splitting up places I have things would just make it more confusing/complicated for me...I'm all for simplifying if I can...the brain ain't getting any younger!!!   :lol:

Actually doesn't matter how one does things - Murphy is alive and well :!:

My brain went over the top and has been slipping down the backside for some time now...

Oh - got another .com renewal from GD today. Still 15 bucks.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on February 10, 2018, 01:49:25 PM

Well, you could put it in your cart, go in a turn the lock off on your domain get your authorization code and then turn the lock back on...wait a day or two and see if the price doesn't drop in your cart.  THEN...try this code CJC99COM and see if it gives you 5% off.  Stranger things have happened! ;)

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on February 10, 2018, 01:50:44 PM

And yep...over the top.....  :lol:  But...we ain't *that* far over the top! ;)

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: jgillett on February 10, 2018, 02:34:28 PM

Remember I said Murph was still alive?? Well, no mo' renewals for this year, so outta luck.

Thanks anyway.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on February 10, 2018, 03:19:34 PM

Murphy...well, we all know him so we could possibly all be kin. :lol:

What really irks me about Godaddy is "Shop our entire catalog today and save 30%.*"   That little asterisk limits the special to NEW purchases...not for renewals.  Maybe twice a year they'll have something for renewals...I think I missed one a couple of months ago.<groan>

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: SlowModem on February 10, 2018, 04:31:34 PM

Ok, thanks.  I'll ponder this.  I don't know enough about it yet.  It shouldn't be this complicated.  But on the other hand, GoDaddy shouldn't have jacked up their prices.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: SlowModem on February 10, 2018, 04:36:26 PM

Quote from: Intheswamp on February 10, 2018, 03:19:34 PM

Murphy...well, we all know him so we could possibly all be kin. :lol:

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: SlowModem on February 10, 2018, 04:49:47 PM

I have no account left at GoDaddy because it expired.  My domain name should have expired now but it's showing unavailable, so I think GD is holding it hostage.  I was going to get a similar domain name somewhere else.

Has anyone ever dealt with Namecheap to get a domain name?

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: pfletch101 on February 10, 2018, 05:44:26 PM

On the original question: I had my websites (my own, and some sites that I managed for Charities) with 1and1.com for many years. I had few service problems, and , when I started with them, their support was good to excellent. Over the years, however, the quality of their support steadily deteriorated, to the point where even relatively simple queries frequently got stupid answers. About two years ago, I moved my hosting and domain registration to Midphase.com, and have been very happy with the change. Overall cost is about the same (though the fee structure is a bit different), there are more available free "bells and whistles" (e.g. automatic installation of web apps), and the quality of their support is night and day better. Their first level support people are not always quite as 'on the ball' as they might be, but they quickly escalate queries they can't deal with to someone who can.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Bunty on February 11, 2018, 12:18:04 AM

Quote from: SlowModem on February 10, 2018, 04:49:47 PM

Has anyone ever dealt with Namecheap to get a domain name?

Yes, I just renewed one of my domain names with them for $11.88.  If you want Whoisguard, it's $2.88 extra.  The company seems fine.  I haven't shopped in a long time to see if there is a cheaper company.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Bunty on February 11, 2018, 12:51:24 AM

In narrowing down a hosting company to go with, it's surely, for faster speed, good to pick one whose servers are close to your expected viewers. 

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: Intheswamp on February 11, 2018, 01:00:20 AM

Quote from: sacreyweather on February 08, 2018, 01:17:52 PM

This doesn't surprise me at all with tactics like that. Plus, if they were serious about wanting you to stay, they can do better than a 25% discount. Same tactics that were tried with me from Dish, after I called them to disconnect service with them. Didn't work. Have enjoyed being satellite free.

I hear you on ditching Dish...we cut the cable with them on January 12th and haven't missed it a bit. Of course I haven't gotten to the college football season, yet, either. ;)  But, we'll make it through that, too!!!  =D&gt;

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: SlowModem on February 11, 2018, 03:57:22 AM

I jumped in this afternoon and got  a domain and hosted site at namecheap.
It's going to cost about $20 for the first year.  Then things will only up to $44 and some change from then on. I've been trying to upload a page index.html and haven't got it straight yet.  I'm pretty sure there's a check box or something that needs checked.

I'm not real thrilled with this cPanel everybody wants to use nowadays.  I prefer just the run-of-the-mill FTP software.

But I'm tired tonight.  I may have a go at it in the morning.  we've had nearly 4 inches of rain today,  and I want to get it displayed.

Greg

Quote from: Bunty on February 11, 2018, 12:18:04 AM

Quote from: SlowModem on February 10, 2018, 04:49:47 PM

Has anyone ever dealt with Namecheap to get a domain name?

Yes, I just renewed one of my domain names with them for $11.88.  If you want Whoisguard, it's $2.88 extra.  The company seems fine.  I haven't shopped in a long time to see if there is a cheaper company.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: WeatherHost on February 11, 2018, 05:01:37 PM

Quote from: SlowModem on February 10, 2018, 04:49:47 PM

Has anyone ever dealt with Namecheap to get a domain name?

Yeah.  I don't remember any problems.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: WeatherHost on February 11, 2018, 05:03:41 PM

Quote from: SlowModem on February 11, 2018, 03:57:22 AM

I'm not real thrilled with this cPanel everybody wants to use nowadays.

Neither was I.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: pfletch101 on February 11, 2018, 05:39:04 PM

Quote from: Bunty on February 11, 2018, 12:51:24 AM

In narrowing down a hosting company to go with, it's surely, for faster speed, good to pick one whose servers are close to your expected viewers.

You might think so, but my experience is that there are so many things affecting the perceived responsiveness of a site that the geographical location of the server hosting it is rarely, if ever, the primary issue if there is a problem. A site hosted on well-maintained, reasonably loaded, servers with a fast 'pipe' to the internet on the other side of the world will usually 'work' better than a similar site hosted on servers in the same city if one or more of the other three specified conditions is not fulfilled.

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: W3DRM on February 17, 2018, 07:27:29 PM

I'm going to add my two-cents to this mix of comments. I am in the middle of moving a domain/hosting account from ICDSOFT to 1and1.com. I have had numerous accounts with ICDSOFT over the past 12 years and while I will agree that their support group is quite responsive, it's similar to just about all the others in that the first-level of support is good for routine things but as soon as you get into major issues it takes a while to get them to escalate the call to higher levels of support.

The real reason I am moving to 1and1 is that they have changed their hosting offerings to a point that I was forced to delete a whole bunch of files just to keep under the 1GB cap on the account. This account has been open for over 8 years and without any storage caps on it. It was always listed as "unlimited". In the past few months, they changed that to 1GB which put me over quota. I complained saying I have been a customer for many years and you suddenly change my account. Their response was for me to upgrade my account so I wouldn't have a quota. My response back was that that is what I had and you changed it! CRICKETS... So, my customer has agreed that we need to move to another hosting company. They are now getting UNLIMITED storage for a start-up monthly fee of $0.99/month for the first year and then $7.99/month afterwards. And BTW, the particular website has an average visitor rate of under 200 hits a month. Not a very active site at all. ICDSOFT didn't seem to care that they were losing a customer. Now, all of my accounts are with 1and1 and I am a happy camper!

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: W3DRM on February 17, 2018, 08:23:27 PM

GRRRRR.....

I've now received the following ICDSOFT email response to my request to transfer my domain from ICDSOFT to 1and1:

Quote

SureSupport.com received notification on Feb 17 2018 11:39PM that a request to transfer a domain name to another registrar has been initiated. If you want to proceed with this transfer, you do not need to respond to this message. If you wish to cancel the transfer, please respond to this message before Feb 22 2018 11:39PM by using the following URL:

Please note the dates and times are in UTC. I sent my original request earlier this morning to start the transfer process. The initial response was that they were working on it and that it could take up to six (6) days to complete. Well, notice the notice in the above message that states that they aren't going to do anything until the last minute of the fifth day after receiving my request to move my domain! That, to me as a customer, is simply unacceptable. It makes no sense for them to hold the request for a full five days before acting on it. And then, once the transfer is made, it can take 48 to 72 hours to propagate through the servers!

I can't wait to get out from under ICDSOFT!!!!

Title: Re: Hosting and Domain Registrar Recommendations
Post by: icdsoft on May 15, 2019, 06:12:10 PM

Hello to everyone,

We understand this reply comes a bit late, but for some reason, we have not stumbled upon this topic so far. We would like to add some comments regarding the last two posts of W3DRM.

Of course, we do regret to see an unhappy customer, but it is quite possible that there is some misunderstanding in the case. We have never offered "unlimited" accounts, and there have always been storage caps on the accounts on our servers. We would never offer something "unlimited", simply because "unlimited" is nothing more than a marketing trick. Also, we have never lowered the disk storage of a hosting account. Our Economy account comes with 1GB storage - this has been so for years now, and its previous quota was actually lower (500MB).

Also, we do not have "higher levels of support" - we have just one level of support, and our support team consists of experienced professionals that can solve any case. Any of our customers can contact a supervisor or our CEO, as soon as they request it.

Regarding the delayed transfer:
Indeed, outgoing transfers are delayed with five days, but this delay is imposed by the registrar we use, Enom.com, and not by us. The quoted message is also sent by Enom, after a transfer-away is initiated at the new registrar. We don't have any control over the process; it is between the new registrar and Enom. We would never try to keep a customer with some policy tricks, as this is not the correct way to conduct business. We are actually trying to force Enom to introduce an option to expedite domain transfers.

So we think that there could be some confusion regarding the storage issue, that created the whole situation. Naturally, the storage space of a hosting account can be depleted with the accumulation of files and emails. We send automatic notifications on storage depletion, with an upgrade path suggested. It is possible that W3DRM refers to these automatic messages, as we could not locate any support requests regarding a possible storage issue.

Best regards,
ICDSoft Team