Looking for hosting help and recs.

I have been looking around for a host, however there are so many outthere its overwhelming.
I also find that many hosts get as many good as bad reviews depending on which sites you check. I have looked at a few and a couple that seem to do well are hostgator.com and i have been told to check out Lehost.com. Both seem to offer what i need in the basic packages they offer.

My basic requirement is for Mysql database to be included. The above seem to have plenty in the way of stats programs, control panels, mail solutions that would also be good.

Anyone use these guys good or bad points about them?

Or does anyone have any other recommendations for hosting? say $4-7 or £3-6 per month.

I am getting a .co.uk domain name, is there any difference in speed/accessibility if i get a usa hosting solution rather than uk?

Also any other tips/pitfalls welcome as this is the first time i am hosting a site.

Thanks in advance

Hi Eddie,

You might also want to check out unflux from this board. They have an outstanding reputation around here !

Please respond to Eddie in PM with your offers.

Cool but even if you guys dont have any specific offers/packages in mind, the names of a few hosts you recommend/use would be good. I dont know if you can post them here or not. If its against any rules you can pm them to me.


Thanks

You should get the site hosted in the country where most of your traffic is going to be... however, sites hosted in Canada, US, UK and Australia are always fast. I never experience lags when surfing.

Just stick with a respectable and well recognised host and you'll be ok.

Respected and well recognized are not always enough. You need to do diligent research. Eg: On sitepointforums Hostgator has been blasted by numerous people for their resource usage limitations with regard to databases, crowding and/or overloading their servers. Yet they would be a respectable and well recognized host. Another good place for feedback is webhostingtalk.com

For the most part you get what you pay for. For most budget hosts you can find as many glowing reviews as you would find negative reviews so I dont know how helpful that will be. Instead I would say spend a little more. If you are serious about your hosting and you really dont want downtime, lag, slow servers, etc, pay a little more for it and look for a hosting company whose base plans dont start at $3 or $5 or $7. Just my $.02.

I use
http://www.siteground.com/atrack.php?referrerid=24661
which is only 5.00 and they give you...
* FREE Domain
* 40,000 MB Space new!
* 900 GB Traffic new!
* 99.9% Server Uptime
* 15 min Response Time
* 24/7 Top Customer Care
* CPanel and Fantastico
* Immediate Activation

* FREE SiteBuilder
* Unlimited MySQL DB
* Unlimited Emails
* Unlimited Subdomains
* Unlimited FTP Accounts
* FREE Blog Installation
* E-commerce Pack
im happy with them!

Hostgator is the best. Also prepare a checklist before you rush for any webhosting account. Sometimes you miss your requirements which are necessary for your application.

Here is a checklist prepared for all the basic requirements:
http://www.web-hosting-world.com/web-ho ... cklist.php

I just changed over to http://www.webhost4life.com they offer a lot of things for there hosting plus are cheep and they have great customer service. There ticket time responce is amazing.

In someways your right but if you don't want to get ripped off there should be no need to pay more than $10 a month unless your a business.

I mean how many ppl really need more than

2GB Disk Space
100GB Transfer/Month
10 MySQL Databases
unlimited emails
unlimited domains
unlimited subdomains

I agree that you should get a UK host. However, if you decide to go with a U.S. host, I have had good results with hostexcellence which is in the US and they have plans in your price range. You can also go here for some help on how to choose a host:
http://www.webhostingusers.com/contents ... a-Web-Host

also if the host has forums, take a look in the forums and see what the users have to say.

Check directories and most importantantly look at their reviews, and maybe even ask any webmaster friends you know of and ask for their opinions.