Best Hosting Services

Best web-hosting options

As stated above, because consumer, business and computer magazines haven't recently reviewed hosting services, and many so-called 'review' websites aren't credible, we researched user commentary to validate or invalidate selections made by professional reviewers. We learned from user reviews that tech support -- and customer service in general -- is the overriding make-or-break factor that causes people to stick with a service provider or switch to another. Tech support staffers need to have expertise in their host's infrastructure and the variety of software programs used by customers. Many customers express frustration with hosts that outsource tech support to India and elsewhere. We read countless user reviews about services that used to be good until they switched to third-party tech support. That's a main reason why reviews need to be up-to-date to have validity.

Webstrike Solutions.com (*est. $30 setup fee with no monthly fees in first year; $7 per month and up thereafter) is ranked as the best web hosting service by HostSearch.com, a user-review website. The quantity of user reviews and the overwhelmingly favorable balance of reviews raises some eyebrows, but we also found a low percentage of unsatisfied customers at other user review sites. Webstrike Solutions has a respectable average customer rating at WebHostingRatings.com, where contributors say that questions are answered promptly and accurately.

Web Host Magazine & Buyer's Guide rates Webstrike Solutions as one of the better hosting services. The magazine gives the company high -- but less than perfect -- scores in the support, reliability, features, value, network and industry categories. Editors summarize, "Webstrike Solutions has a lot of finer qualities and are only held back by their lack of support options and some form of 24/7 customer service." Tech support is provided from the company's headquarters in Australia, but servers are in the U.S. Users submit a support ticket or e-mail rather than calling a phone number. The company has been in business since 1999 -- a remarkably long time when it comes to Internet services -- and it's been profitable since 2000.

On its website, Webstrike Solutions provides an obviously biased, but otherwise remarkably useful article, "Choosing the Right Hosting Company." Webstrike points out that 100% uptime is an impossibility, because (if nothing else) periodic operating system updates require rebooting. Webstrike also explains that unlimited bandwidth is actually a disadvantage. Other sites on a shared host will hog bandwidth, which will slow your site. Managed bandwidth is more desirable, since all websites on the server get a fair share of bandwidth.

Webstrike Solutions' base plan includes 1 GB of disk space and a monthly bandwidth of up to 20 GB. Webstrike offers fewer plans than most hosts, but instead offers a choice of Windows or Linux platforms, as well as many a la carte service plan upgrades. Uptime is 99.993% according to VistaInter.com and 100% according to Web Host Magazine. If you need to register a domain name, it will cost you $12 per year.

PolurNET.com (starting at *est. $4 per month) isn't reviewed by any trustworthy source, but the budget Canadian host service has a very high level of user satisfaction. PolurNET is ranked as the best web hosting service by Web Hosting Jury.com, a user-review site. The company earns unbelievably favorable ratings from nearly 100 users in all sub-categories: reliability, support and pricing. VistaInter.com claims equally strong user enthusiasm with 98 percent positive votes from hundreds of users. While no company in this industry could have such a high percentage of happy customers, we did find satisfied customers everywhere we looked. One customer who complained in a forum was revealed to have been booted for not paying his bills.

Other users say, "This is to say a public thanks to PolurNET, who worked hard for my server upgrade," and "PolurNET is my fourth host and the best one yet." We found criticisms of support, but this comment is more typical: "I don't know much about computer technical stuff, so I probably asked a lot of 'stupid' questions in the process but they answered all questions quickly and with patience." PolurNET.com is a division of CIAN Technologies, a web-design company. The company hasn't been around that long (founded in June 2004), but the company is operating debt-free (profitability is a good sign of future stability). The parent company may operate affiliate marketing businesses (more on that below in the Important Features section).

PolurNET's main attraction is extraordinarily low prices. If the base plan, Basic Paw LITE, works for your needs, a domain and a year of service costs less than $60. Basic Paw LITE includes 150 MB of disk space and a monthly bandwidth of up to 6 GB, and it has all the features of the more expensive plans. Steps in price get you more of everything (space, bandwidth, sub-domains, databases, mailboxes, etc.). The most expensive of six shared hosting plans is $7.15 per month. That fee gets you 500 MB of space and 17 GB of bandwidth. PolurNET's uptime is 99.99% according to VistaInter.com. A domain name costs $9.88 per year. Servers are in several countries.

HostGator.com (starting at *est. $7 per month) is another service worth considering. The five-year-old company is based in Dallas, TX. HostGator is an aggressive user of affiliate marketing and reseller hosting (discussed further below).

Only Webstrike Solutions and PolurNET earn higher average ratings than HostGator on user review sites. However, HostGator reviews are more balanced and believable than those for the other services. In particular, customers express great satisfaction with all aspects of service except for tech support. Tech support draws much ire from customers who say it's deteriorated. Other users disagree. The fact that HostGator is currently recruiting experienced web hosting tech support employees for its Houston location is very encouraging.

HostGator's base plan, Hatchling, has a lower uptime guarantee than the higher-end plans, and you must pay for a year to get the $6.95 monthly price. The plan includes 50 GB of space and 200 GB of monthly bandwidth. E-Commerce features are also included in the base plan.

Like HostGator, Lunarpages.com (starting at *est. $7 per month) aggressively employs affiliate marketing and reseller hosting campaigns (which gives some users pause). Reviews of Lunarpages are very favorable and the company earns great average ratings from the user review sites. The California company says it has more than 100 employees worldwide. Lunarpages offers free lifetime domains with all annual web hosting plans, though competitors claim that practice isn't a big selling feature. Lunarpages may be a very good service, but we didn't find un-sponsored support for that viewpoint. On the contrary, a number of former customers have established websites for the sole purpose of ranting about their miserable experiences with Lunarpages.

BlueHost.com (starting at *est. $7 per month) is comparable to Lunarpages, but with a somewhat lower percentage of satisfied customers in user reviews. StartLogic.com (starting at *est. $6 per month) and IX Web Hosting.com (starting at *est. $4 per month) also have higher percentages of unsatisfied customers in user reviews.

Microsoft Office Live (starting at *est. $20 per month, http://office.microsoft.com) is a new web hosting provider that includes business-collaboration services. A basic version is free. PC Magazine says it is complex, proprietary and confusing to learn. The reviews of Office Live are generally favorable, but all address it as a unique service and don't cover the web hosting aspect of the service.