Web Hosting Columns

Webintellects.com offers both Linux and Windows web hosting and they have several hosting plans to choose from. They offer the Silver Plan for 5.95 a month, the Gold Plan for 9.00 a month, the Platinum Plan for $17.00 a month, the Webmaster Plan for $22.00 a month, and the Diamond Plan for $45.00 a month. All of these plans come with free activation if you prepay for a full year’s hosting, otherwise there is a $10 activation fee for a monthly or quarterly billing cycle. All of the plans mentioned before are offered with either Linux or Windows webhosting, you choose.

They also offer the option of virtual private servers and this starts at $35 a month. There is a $25 activation fee charged for all VPS plans. If you are someone that receives a lot of traffic and need a dedicated server you also have this option which starts at $175 a month.

One of the huge advantages of Webintellects.com is their 30 day money back guarantee. Granted this only applies to hosting fees, not activation fees. This means you can try them risk free for 30 days and if you are not satisfied with the service after one month you are entitled to a portion of the money you have paid. They guarantee 99.99% network uptime and they have dedicated phone numbers for US/Canada and International customers. They also guarantee a 24-hour or less personal resolution to all support requests that have been opened via their support ticket system. If you don’t get a response within 24 hours they will add a $10 credit to your account.

The one thing that can be a little deceitful form Webintellects.com is that all of their prices quoted for their hosting plans are for a full year. You have to pay slightly more if you choose the monthly or quarterly billing plan and you find this out once you are ready to put in the order. Some customers have complained about support and downtime, but overall most customers are extremely satisfied with their service.

With so many different types of hosting plans and options for your website(s) Webintellects.com is a solid web hosting company. They aim to provide the best service and the most flexible plan that you need. With a 30 day money back guarantee you can’t go wrong with trying them for a month. Overall, a customer oriented web host.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Netpivotal.com web hosting features both Linux and Windows web hosting. Their Linux hosting plans are the following: Home Hosting Plan for $7.49 a month, a Business Hosting Plan for $11.95 a month, and a Developer Hosting Plan for $14.95 a month.

They offer the same plans for Windows hosting, but these cost a little more. The prices are $8.49, $13.95, and $17.95 a month, respectively. Netpivotal.com also offers dedicated servers from $139 a month. They also offer E-commerce solutions starting from $14.99 a month. They only offer two billing plans which are quarterly or annually.

Netpivotal.com has several advantages in choosing them as a host. One is the cost of their plans. They are reasonable for the features they provide. However, one of their biggest advantages of Netpivotal.com is what they include with all of their packages. This includes a free domain name, free blog and gallery software, free forum builder, and free web stats. They also feature free tutorials, articles, guides, anti-spam, and anti-virus protection with their plans. All of this is included free of charge.

Netpovital.com also supports Microsoft Office Frontpage with all of their plans. They also have the 30 day money back guarantee, if you are not satisfied with their service. They have received multiple awards for being one of the top hosts in 2005, along with receiving the Webhost Magazine and Buyers Guide Editor’s choice award. Their support is considered award winning by both awarding organizations and customers. Their support features a 24/7 support ticket system for any problems customers need addressed. They also have live chat to get support for any problems on the fly.

One of the things that can be a turn off regarding Netpivotal.com is their lack of plans. They don’t really offer as many plans as other hosts and don’t have any sort of virtual private server plans. This will fit the need of smaller website owners but anyone looking for more sophisticated web hosting will probably look elsewhere in choosing a web host. Other than this Netpivotal.com is a competent host.

Overall I find this is a great host for any small to medium sized websites that needs hosting. Their award winning customer support is something many customers rage about. When they have had problems they get it resolved in a timely manner. Things like this will keep Netpivotal.com on top when it comes to hosting. Overall, Netpivotal.com is a good host.

Overall rating: 4/5

Whether you are new to hosting with minimal needs or a veteran with larger needs, Ixwebhosting.com prides itself on being able to provide you with the ideal web hosting service. They offer hosting on both Linux and Windows platforms. The plans that they feature are as follows: Expert Hosting Plan starting at $4.95 a month, Business Plus Hosting Plan at $7.95 a month, and Unlimited Pro Hosting Plan at $12.95 a month.

They offer the same plans for Windows hosting with the exception of Unlimited Pro, which is offered only on a Linux platform. Out of all these plans they highlight Business Plus as being much better than what their competitors offer. Billing cycles available are 3 month, 6 month, 12 month, and 24 month. Ixwebhosting.com also offers marketing services, Web design services, and offers you the option to take credit cards on your site.

Clear advantages of Ixwebhosting.com are all of the different services they can offer for your site. Their Business Plus plan also brings great features such as unlimited domains, web space, and 8 dedicated Ips and $50 ad credits for Yahoo and Google. They are part of the Better Business Reliability Online Program and are certified when it comes to privacy, and are hacker safe. They offer live chat support on their site and have a 24/7 dedicated phone line for any questions regarding sales and support. Ixwebhosting.com can be real good hosting for a site that needs ecommerce services and marketing.

Two things that Ixwebhosting.com does not offer are virtual private servers and dedicated servers. You can only host with shared plans. This can be a huge turn off for many people that want the services they offer but want a dedicated server. They don’t have many options when it comes to hosting plans; they kind of just provide the basic and slightly more with the higher priced plans. Overall customers have had mixed feelings regarding this host. Some report extremely good service and support while others report the complete opposite.

Ixwebhosting.com has a professional look and feel. Their plans are decent enough to get by and to attract customers. What I found really great from them is the web services that they can provide to online sites. These seem really good and are reasonably priced when compared to others. Overall they can provide the service you need for your small to medium sized website.

Overall rating: 3.5/5

Serverintellect.com is a Microsoft Gold Partner that offers Windows web hosting. They offer four webhosting plans which are: The Base Hosting Plan starting at $9.95 a month, the Tier 1 Hosting Plan that starts at $14.95 a month, The Tier 2 Hosting Plan starting at $39.95 a month, and the Tier 3 Hosting Plan starting at $69.95 a month. They offer virtual private servers starting at $99 and they also offer virtual dedicated servers starting at $149. You can also go with a dedicated server and this starts at $199 and goes up to $499.

They also offer managed services which can be tailored to your need depending on your website(s). All billing can be handled monthly, quarterly, semi annually (6 months), or annually. On the last two, semi- annually and annually, you can save 5% and 10% respectively.

An advantage of this host is the fact that they are a Microsoft Gold Partner. They can provide you with premium Microsoft tools and services that you need to keep your site up and running effectively. They offer a wide variety of dedicated servers, and I mean a lot of options. It is no surprise of why they won the 2007 top 10 Web Host awards for their dedicated server service. This way if you are in need of a dedicated server you can choose the one that fits best for you. They also offer live chat on their site so you can receive help with any questions you might have.

Their managed services is also interesting because you can choose a combination of services that monitor what is going on with the status of your server. When choosing a hosting plan you also have the option of choosing which SQL server suits you best, 2000 or 2005. Excellent services and choices provided by this web host.

One of the potential turn offs of this host is its prices for their different plans and services. It’s true that you are getting a lot, but not all users need a lot. There is really no plan designed for someone that just needs a basic hosting plan. Their basic hosting plan is $9.95 a month and for most users that want to host a blog or small site will not pay this much for it. This host is tailored for professional sites, for advanced users that need this type of service.

If you are someone that is looking for dedicated Windows hosting, then this is the host for you.

Overall rating: 4/5

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It is said if it sounds too good to be true…but one web hosting company has managed to prove it can be true. IPowerWeb, a US based company with a unique one price, one package policy, has stood by its offer for over 5 years.

One Price Plus Google…and Yahoo!

IPowerWeb boasts its $7.95 price for a large amount of space and bandwidth. Just what hosting-hungry webmasters would want. But IPowerWeb sweetens the deal with a sugary $30 worth of Google. You also get free $50 Yahoo! Search Marketing Credit advertising.

One customer posted that he was “even Googled in” by the IPowerWeb. Yet this service seems to be a copycat push from pioneer Godaddy and other companies.

Solid Service, Secured Environment

iPowerWeb is backed by AT&T Global whose data centers are protected from intrusion and failure by multi-layered security, full redundancy, diversity, and rapid response recovery measures. They ensure no single point of failure throughout the backup power system. iPowerWeb rates best when it comes to connectivity and speed. They recently formalized a partnership with AT&T to be their new upstream provider.

Customer Service

But no company can become great without effective communication and support, and In terms of customer service iPowerWeb is not bad, but not too great either. Their team can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But when you need immediate assistance, they tend to be a bit slow on the speed. Some clients have complained of emails taking up to 24 hours to get a reply.

But iPowerWeb also provides a telephone service. This is usually helpful for questions that are not too technical. Their customer service is well trained and is friendly. More technical questions will place you in a queue or you may be asked to call back.

Yet, many clients have pointed out that they are nonetheless happy with the overall support that they have come to appreciate with iPowerWeb. One prominent webmaster pointed out that “when they fixed a problem it stays fixed”.

99.9% up Time

Like most webmasters, we want to sleep with a sound mind and let our website work while we snore. Here is where iPowerWeb scores high again and I was unable to find a complaint regarding down time. So clients seemed very satisfied with this.

The main reason could be the strong communication maintained by this service provider. Clients are made aware of any possible outage well in advance. But coupled with new AT&T backup servers, who can go down.

Finally, We give them four Stars and we do recommend that you get powered up with iPowerWeb.

Overall rating: 4/5