I have a dedicated server at Rackspace for all my web sites. Rackspace are brilliant but they are expensive, and they only deal in the dedicated server market (at least at the time of writing this was so). With Rackspace I can get superior technical support 24 hours per day, on the phone or via ticketing system. I adore Rackspace. So I’m all right – what about you?

You Want Cheap, Reliable Shared Hosting . . . Don’t You?

Maybe you are just starting out, or if you just want a reliable, fully featured hosting service for your web site. What if you don’t know where to go?  You’ll need somewhere inexpensive, professionally run and well supported by people who will happily answer your questions all day long. I reearched such a host so that I can recommend them to others who want to get started online. The hosting service I recommend is Hostgator. If you are new to the web and want your own domain name and web site, then Hostgator is an excellent choice. Obviously, over time costs vary, but these people are based in the US where hosting costs tend to be cheaper than in the UK. Typically, the Baby package costs around $9.95 per month for hosting. You can buy a domain name at the same time you buy your hosting and that will be around $19.95 per year. There are cheaper places to buy a domain name, but unless you are buying hundreds of them, the ease of setup is worth doing it here in one step.

Already Have a Domain Name?

If you have already bought a domain name you can move it to Hostgator easily.  All you need to do is buy the hosting at Hostgator, and when the site asks you about a domain name you select the option ” I will use My Existing Domain and update My Nameservers only”. Next, when Hostgator send you the email containing your account details, you login into the place where you originally bought your domain name and change the names servers there to be the ones that Hostgator include in your new account email.

Don’t Yet Have a Domain Name of Your Own?

If you want to buy hosting AND a domain name, this is even simpler. Just decide on your domain name and buy Hostgator hosting. It will ask you to fill in the domain name you have chosen. IF the domain name you want is available, Hostgator will indicate this and allow you to proceed with the purchase of both the domain and hosting. If not, you’ll have to go back and try a different domain name. One thing though, it does restrict you to .com, .org, .net, .info and .biz domains.  I could not see how to buy a .co.uk domain name.   If you want a .co.uk domain name, then buy it elsewhere and then come back and buy hosting from Hostgator.

Some Reasons I Like Hostgator

• I bought a domain name and hosting for a friend on Hostgator yesterday and it was setup and running within 30 minutes.
• They have great technical support and you can access them 24/7 via the chat window or via a ticketing system. I use the chat window most often.
• Their cPanel is easy to use. So you can set up new email addresses and other technical features for yourself. If you get stuck – they will help you.
• They make website management as easy as it can be for beginners.
• Hostgator is ranked 21st out of 5000 of the fastest growing companies in the US.
• Hostgator is a transparent company – they tell you what is going on, you can read real customer reviews on their web site – nothing is hidden.
• Hostgator is brilliant for hosting WordPress blogs – get a special offer by clicking the Hostgator ad – but don’t forget to use the coupon code stated in the ad when you purchase.
• Fantastico is included so you can install scripts (like WordPress) with a couple of button clicks.

An Example of Hostgator Support

Here is a transcript of a chat session I had with Hostgator support at 6:45am (their local time) this morning. info: Please wait for a HostGator operator to respond. info: Welcome to HostGator Live Chat! You are now chatting with ‘Michael K.’ Michael K.: Welcome to HostGator Live Chat, how may I assist you? Liz: Hi Michael. I need a minute to type my question . . . hang on Liz: I have been having trouble with the contact form on my web site. The emails generated by my contact form are only getting through to my email account IF the person completing the email does not use gmail or hotmail as their return email address. Michael K.: That is strange, what are you using for the contact form? Liz: It seems like Hostgator are preventing me sending emails if they are saying they are from gmail, To see this happen, fill in the form but fill in your email address as a gmail or hotmail email address. If you do I don’t get the contact email in my inbox. If you say your email address is any other domain name (in existence or not), it reaches my inbox. Michael K.: Which mailing script are you using? Liz: I am using codeigniter – a php framework. Michael K.: And is it sending directly to the gmail address? Liz: It is using sendmail Michael K.: But it is set to send to the gmail address right? Liz: Yes – if you complete the contact form using a normal email domain address everything works. Surely it must be the server that is preventing gmail /hotmail addresses from being ‘spoofed’ Michael K.: It is probably on the gmail end, atleast that is my theory. Try creating a forwarder with us, and having that send to gmail. And set the script to send to the forwarder. Liz: I have already set up a forwarder so I could do that easily. Will you wait – or do I have to come back to you? Michael K.: Sure, I can wait. Liz: OK – I have changed the code – I’m sending a contact form now from a person with a gmail account to see if it arrives in the my gmail account. Liz: Oh my God! That worked. Please tellme how you knew that and why it made the difference? Michael K.: Because it was sending out the emails using the hotmail and gmail addresses in the “from” field, but werent coming from the hotmail and gmail ip addresses. Michael K.: Alot of email providers are setup to block that type of mail. Liz: Michael K – thanks very much. Michael K.: No problem. Thank you. Michael K.: Is there anything else I can do to help you? Liz: No – I am happy now. Thanks Bye Michael K.: Excellent, take care and have a great day! Michael K.: Thank you for using HostGator Live Chat! If you could take a minute to rate your experience with HostGator as well as my overall performance, that would help us to improve our customer service. To do that, just click the button that says “close” in the upper right hand corner. The survey takes less than a minute to fill out. Like this post? Publish It On Your Own Blog

Compare your broadband speed with that of your friends, and so help decide your choice of ISP. 

Speedtest is a site that allows you to use various servers located around the world to test your download and upload data transfer speeds.

Remember there are many factors that can affect your apparent broadband speed.

Speedtest determines your location based on your IP address using GeoIP databases from MaxMind to position you on the map and determine your closest server.

Your IP address of course may not be anywhere near your actual location so don’t be alarmed by the location calculated on your behalf. 

This speed check site also allows you to compare your broadband speeds with other people in your area. You can see which are the best ISPs and which ISP delivers the worst performance.