Looking for a reliable hosting/domain company

[SampleScience]

I've recently been screwed by my domain provider and I'm now looking for another company to buy my domains. Any suggestions? The company I was using is Arvixe, they were the best but they aren't anymore.

[dnekm]

I've been through several hosting companies with various domains and these days my sites are all hosted by Hostgator. For domain registrations, SSL certificates and things I use namecheap.com. Never had any problems with these two companies.....

[Vintage73]

First, I would NEVER use the same company to purchase domains AND host those domains with. Most especially if you're paying for hosting and getting a domain for "free". Never, EVER do that.

Companies I've used:

Domains: Namecheap.com
For no reason other than they seem to be extremely reliable and I've been with them for 10+ years.

Hosting: Dreamhost.com
They have decent prices, I can host as many domains as I want for the same price, and I get unlimited space and bandwidth. The downside is that they use their own proprietary control panel, not cPanel.

Hosting: JaguarPC.com
I was with them for many years, though they're more expensive. Anything I wanted more control over, I hosted with them with their VPS service, and for a while even had a dedicated server. I just couldn't afford to keep that up, so I'm no longer with them. If I could afford it, I'd have kept them. Very reliable service and extremely helpful technical support (if you go with them, get Managed Services, or else you're on your own for technical issues).

Many eons ago I hosted with Yahoo hosting. I paid something like $10/mo for simple hosting and got a "free" domain name. Well, I dropped them. Even though I'd dropped them in 2003, they held on to that domain for another ten years and wouldn't let me touch it. I finally got it back a couple of years ago once they realized I wasn't coming back and they let the domain go.

[Skorpius]

I can honestly recommend Hover. They're cheap, reliable, and have a friendly support. Besides, they're also located in your country.

[foosnark]

First, I would NEVER use the same company to purchase domains AND host those domains with. Most especially if you're paying for hosting and getting a domain for "free". Never, EVER do that.

Domains: Namecheap.com
Hosting: Dreamhost.com

Exactly what I'm using and would recommend. I switched my domains from APlus to Dreamhost a couple of months ago and it went mostly smoothly, and their tech support is really friendly and helpful.

[SampleScience]

Thanks guys for the suggestions! Namecheap is very interesting as well as Hover. I'll check them out!

[Frantz]

First, I would NEVER use the same company to purchase domains AND host those domains with.

+1

[BertKoor]

-1. Got my domain for free from my provider, I pay the equivalent of one beer a month for all. And I'm pretty sure they'll let me go & transfer if I wanted to, instructions spelled out on their pages.

[thecontrolcentre]

First, I would NEVER use the same company to purchase domains AND host those domains with. Most especially if you're paying for hosting and getting a domain for "free". Never, EVER do that.

Could you explain why?

[dnekm]

Because when you attempt to change hosts, your old host technically own your domain name. They will offer to sell it to you for some exorbitant price.

The only way you own your own domain name is to register it yourself through a third party registrar.....

[masterhiggins]

I've recently been screwed by my domain provider and I'm now looking for another company to buy my domains. Any suggestions? The company I was using is Arvixe, they were the best but they aren't anymore.

I was thinking about using them as e-mail only hosting. Would arvixe be okay for that, you think? I've owned my own domain for a while now so they shouldn't be able to pull domain stuff with me, I don't think.

[fluffy_little_something]

namecheap.com sounds so, um, cheap Hard to believe it is good

[SampleScience]

I've recently been screwed by my domain provider and I'm now looking for another company to buy my domains. Any suggestions? The company I was using is Arvixe, they were the best but they aren't anymore.

I was thinking about using them as e-mail only hosting. Would arvixe be okay for that, you think? I've owned my own domain for a while now so they shouldn't be able to pull domain stuff with me, I don't think.

I wouldn't recommend them anymore. They changed their site and since then nothing works as it should. I've been waiting more than two weeks for support, I haven't received any answer yet. I don't know what happened to them, last year everything was fine, support was fast. Now, even basic information/field are missing from my account and the support is nonexistent.

[SampleScience]

Just got a reply from Arvixe. They ask me to buy a hosting solution with them to fix the problem. I have no idea why they can't just give me access to the DNS field in my account I had access to last year. I've asked for a refund, hopefully I'll get win it with Paypal.

[Vintage73]

First, I would NEVER use the same company to purchase domains AND host those domains with. Most especially if you're paying for hosting and getting a domain for "free". Never, EVER do that.

Could you explain why?

This is why:

Because when you attempt to change hosts, your old host technically own your domain name. They will offer to sell it to you for some exorbitant price.

The only way you own your own domain name is to register it yourself through a third party registrar.....

That's if they let you have it, at all, which Yahoo didn't when I had them.

It's just best to separate your domain from your hosting for your own safety and peace of mind. I've heard plenty of horror stories of hosts taking off with people's domains, so it's not just me. I used to be a member of a forum administrators' forum, and that was often the warning that was given.