How Much Does Really Good Service Cost?

[highpr]

I've read time and again within these forums about poor service and limited web hosting uptimes.

Concurrent with these comments, the price of web hosting and domain names continues to drop like rock.

My question is this:

What is the TRUE minimum price that I should expect to pay for shared web hosting that comes with GOOD SERVICE. That means: knowledgable tech support staff, who answer the 24x7 phones, and actually help me with any issues.

Can any web hosting account that costs less than $7 per month actually deliver on this? Is so, who is the provider?

Thanks in advance for your opinions on this!

[Khun]

$5 for unix host
$10 for windows host
I think this is a market price

[WebEdit]

Netcraft just rated DataPipe as the most reliable host. They don't give price on their site- just a request a quote link.

I've talked with Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons and from that and reading his web blog I think he is a really cool guy and he told me it's something they are strong on. My gut says to believe him though I haven't used Go Daddy before.

If you sign a year contract with them you can get $7.96 a month.

[techniner]

Well to a degree there should be NO price on qaulity... Just because they are cheapest does not mean they are best.

Now I am not saying go spend the most to get the most..

But I am saying to make sure you weigh out the options.

Contact customer service BEFORE you purchase .. See how you are treated etc etc.

[Paradoxic]

Quality depends on two things in my opinion: The size of the company (if they host 2000 websites how long will it really take them to get to your support ticket/email? When they do will they care if they loose 1 website?) and the owners greed (we all know how bad greed can take over some people).

[npsis]

We have about 3000 customers and we charge between $4.99 - $30.99

Obviously we don't have alot of money like some hosting companies for advertising and since we are small every customer counts. So yes, our biggest thing we have going for ourselves is our service. Most of our business is word of mouth because of this, and that is primarily how we have stayed in business even though hosting prices seems to be dropping constantly.

Nathaniel P. Wilkerson
NPSIS

[Khun]

We have about 3000 customers and we charge between $4.99 - $30.99

Obviously we don't have alot of money like some hosting companies for advertising and since we are small every customer counts. So yes, our biggest thing we have going for ourselves is our service. Most of our business is word of mouth because of this, and that is primarily how we have stayed in business even though hosting prices seems to be dropping constantly.

Nathaniel P. Wilkerson
NPSIS

Welcome to the DTH NPSIS, What is the name of your hosting company? Can i see it?

[1PlanHost]

$5 for unix host
$10 for windows host
I think this is a market price

Khun's assessment of the current market price is most likely correct. There are many new host that pop up each year offering dirt cheap pricing and offering the world but many of those don't last longer than a year. Many of them are web developers who rent a cheap dedicated server for their devlopment customers and then offer hosting on the side in order to help defray the cost of the server. A large majority of web hosting companies have fewer than 1,000 customers.

Don't assume that larger host dont care about the individual customer. Most realize that it is indeed the individual customer that got them to where they are today and have systems in place to provide reliable servers and excellent customer care.

On the flipside, price alone should not be the determining factor. There are many high priced web hosting companies that have poor service and customer support. Check your local ISP hosting rates and you may be surprised to find that they still have 1997 hosting prices such as $49/month for 25Mb space and 5 email accounts! They retain the local business hosting market simply because many businesses assume there is no other choice.

You can check and see how many domains a company hosts and their growth or decline rate weekly at http://webhosting.info/webhosts This is a very helpful tool for anyone investigating a web hosting company.

Best Wishes for a .Net Success!

[John540i]

Service is worth its weight in Gold

[lostworldx]

A web hosting provider is only as good as it's equipment and customer service. Our rates start at $3.95/month and we offer the same customer service and reliability of a plan that may run you over $7/month.

[1PlanHost]

Another factor to consider is do they own their servers, routers, switches, firewall, etc. or are they resellers of another hosting company? I am not knocking resellers at all (sometimes great personal service comes from resellers) but do they have direct root access to the servers on which your web site is hosted? If not, the reseller would have to depend on the wholesale company to fix server issues which may add more time. Our support system has worked well for our resellers thus far but I can imagine situations in which they would need even faster support.

Best Wishes for a .Net Success!

[Martie]

Interesting thread.
We've been in business since 1999 and do not distinguish on what type of account you have, all clients are treated equally.
We have one very small account that averages about 6.25 a month but its only available on a 6 or 12 mo option. Our basic plans start at 9.95 and go up.
HONESTLY, factoring in server, billing, support expenses we just dont offer accounts less that 10.00 month.
It doesnt pay us and we do WORK.
Even though various pricing has DROPPED, people still want service WITH support.
Its one thing to see pricing drop but yet another to see the industry really DEGRADE over the last few years. It just gets worse.

[ASP-Hosting.ca]

I don't think you can get a quality service with 24/7 phone support for less than $15-$20 monthly.

[highlighter]

24/7 phone support generates very high staff costs for web hosting companies unless they outsource phone support. Therefore, 24/7 phone support providing hosts generally charge their customers higher than others. Usually they start prices from $9 per month. If the company is more reputable they charge $15-20 monthly as asp-hosting.ca said...

[ASP-Hosting.ca]

I think that email support is much more efficient and less time consuming than phone support.