help wanted on selecting a web host please.

[gedtee]

Hello Temi,
I called strato-hosting to ask where their servers were, they are in Germany, however they do offer phone support via a freephone number and have offices in the UK.
The chap I spoke to seemed quite knowledgeable and was very helpful.
They seem able to offer most of what I want at reasonable cost,currently all hosting plans are on offer for £1 for the 1st year, subject to taking a 2 year contract with the 2nd year being the normal price, so perhaps the compromise for me to make is to have my host in Germany.
Would hosting in Germany make a considerable difference in the download speed for UK based viewers?
Thanks.

[temi]

Hosting in Germany will not make noticable difference to your site as long as its just a regular website that does not require streaming media and other demanding application.
I have a site hosted by strato as well and another one hosted by Servage (another German hosting company) there is no noticable difference in the load time of the site when compared with sites hosted in UK.

[gedtee]

Thanks Temi,
I will think it over tonight and probably call strato tomorrow to sign up.

[ultimate handyman]

Originally Posted by temi

You may want to consider 1 and 1, this site was previously hosted with Heart Internet, the server kept crashing all the time so I move to 1 and 1, it has been relatively stable since the move to 1 and 1.
The are originally a German company but if you access their site via the .co.uk version your site will be hosted in their UK data centre with on UK IP address.

I am with 1 and 1 and have had a few problems.

I have two servers with them, one is managed dedicated, this crashes from time to time and you have to call them to fix it. Once it took them 4 hours

My .org domain from my site is also with 1 and 1 and is a dedicated ( not managed) server, today it was running slow and so I rebooted it and it is now offline and has been for two hours. They are working on it apparently.

I leased the servers through 1and1 .co.uk but my servers and ip addresses are German.

Guess what, I am looking for a new host! at least for the .org domain for now.

[temi]

Hosting companies are amazing I wonder whether being on virtual server help make my hosting with them more stable. Also, my own 1 and 1 IP address is UK based.

I think their older UK based customers were hosting on German IP address before the started hosting UK customers on UK IP address.

[gedtee]

Temi,
Just been on the phone to strato-hosting to order my hosting, but the only payment method is credit card.
They will not accept debit cards or cheque payments, so I will have to look elsewhere.
Is credit card the only payment method for most hosting companies?

[temi]

The reason strato is insisting on credit card is because they are giving you the first year for one pound, with credit card they can be sure to still recoup their money by binding you to the two year contract.
Most UK hosting companies accept debit card, some even accept payment by cheque.

[gedtee]

Hi Temi,
I have signed up with servage today, they accept debit card payment.
Thank you all for your input.

[deluxdon]

Originally Posted by gedtee

Hi Temi,
I have signed up with servage today, they accept debit card payment.
Thank you all for your input.

Glad that at last you have got what you want.

DON.

[temi]

Originally Posted by gedtee

Hi Temi,
I have signed up with servage today, they accept debit card payment.
Thank you all for your input.

f

Pleased you finally found a host that suits you. Servage are very flexible with payment methords, they even accept Moneybooker and PayPal.

Good luck, don't forget to announce your site when it goes live.