Don't Back Down

I tend to work with any number of web hosts on a daily basis through my work as a computer and network consultant, and for the most part, they are all the same. Day in and day out, there is really very little difference between hosts - when everything is running smoothly. What really makes the difference is when things aren't running smoothly, and that's why I've chosen to keep my own sites at pair Networks. Their tagline of World Class Web Hosting may seem to be just a bit of marketing fluff, but I have to say that I'm really sold on it.

Some years ago, when I first ventured online, it was through bulletin boards. As with a lot of people - at least a lot of people that I knew - I started off calling into boards, and later ran one of my own. Often it was an adventure in trying to be popular enough that people came by, but not so popular that people couldn't get in. This analogy actually corresponds quite well to web hosts these days.

I may be remembering inaccurately, but I think my first email address was with America Online - some fifteen (!) years ago. That didn't last too long, and then I signed up with a local provider who seemed like they knew what they were doing. Strangely enough, he was both a teacher at my school, and the web page hasn't changed a whole lot since I was with them.

A couple of local ISPs later and I was ready for my own domain - at which point I promptly went out and signed up for the cheapest plan I could find. That was a monstrous mistake. Within just a few months I realized how bad support could be, and it took several weeks to extract what information I had out of their systems, and still longer to be able to reclaim my domain from them. There was some good to come out of it though, as I learned a lesson in how the process worked.

After this, I moved on to Total Choice Hosting. Some of you may remember. Though TCH was well-regarded, and worked well for a bit, I have to say that it ultimately didn't work out. Some of you may remember that. The problem inherent in both of these was that the hosts were "overselling" - trying to get too many customers onto their limited hardware. It's not that I fault them for doing it, as I may do the same in their situation. It's just that they overextended themselves, and I would rather be with a provider who didn't.

The next step on the winding road led to Site5, who bills themselves a Affordable Web Hosting. At the time I went with Site5, they came highly regarded, but they were also making a move into the discount market. You guessed it - this means that they were headed squarely for the overselling segment, and it also meant that their service and support suffered tremendously. Before long, I was looking once again.

My final stop (at least final as of this writing) sent me to pair Networks. I can say with certainty that the main reason I had held off going to them for so long was the price. While Site5 and TCH offered huge amounts of bandwidth and storage for miniscule rates, what I found at pair was downright expensive! But what they offered was an actual person on the other end of a phone - that's right, a real person - and a reputation that was second to none. Unfortunately, it was actually priced higher than the other providers, for less storage and less bandwidth. Still, I decided to make the plunge.

I actually canceled my first account because the proprietary interface was so dang confusing. Being used to cPanel and other "easy to use" interfaces made it seem so difficult, but after chewing on it for a weekend, I went back and signed up for another one. Determined to see what I was missing, I dug in and eventually prevailed. What I found out is that the systems are designed around the proprietary interface for a reason - because all the extra fluff is not needed for most users! Sure, it's more difficult but it also adds to the system's speed, which gives me and my visitors a better experience. That's worth the extra money.

As to those other providers? The first one I used is actually out of business - the page is parked. TCH has recently reduced their bandwidth and storage allowances, bringing them inline with pair (though they do not offer phone support that I can tell) and Site5 is still taking the discount route - though as I understand it, their support is still below where it was, even if uptime has once again improved. I'm just glad I finally ended up where I am. After over a year on this server, I've seen response times better than some of my client's dedicated servers.

What about you? Where are you hosting your domains? How many times do you see your site go down? How quickly do you get a response, and do you have phone support, or email support only?