How Are These Hosting Companys

[bj]

I think littlegiant and hostBrain got it right. You probably don't want to be looking at "starter plans", no matter how generous the bandwidth allowance may seem. These kinds of traffic spikes can shut a server DOWN if you're one of 80-100 sites on a server. I'd venture to say it's time to start shopping for VPN hosting or dedicated. An $8.95 per month plan (or similar) just isn't gonna cut it for you, and you're going to end up in the same boat, no matter who you use.

You should consider posting whatever stats you have on Web Hosting Talk and let the pros there advise you. Otherwise you'll just have to migrate again when the same thing happens.

[Wildman93]

I switched to Lunar Pages in late 2004 based on a recommendation from one of our IT gurus at work and I can say I have been quite pleased. My old host (Ultimatehost.com) was $25/month and the service was painful. I switched to Lunar and they handled the whole transfer and set-up. I had to laugh when I received an email from Ultimate Host saying that the majority of people that leave them eventually return. What a joke! Lunar @$8/month pre-pay for a year with a free domain for life and MySQL DBs, several web analytics programs and quick support...what more could you want?

Thanks!
-Wildman
Search Engine Optimization Specialists

[DrTandem1]

Wildman,

I don't think a forum is the place to place your referral link to Lunarpages.

[SportsFan]

You may also want to check out appliedi.net. Plans start at about $8/month for 50GB. If you grow and need more bandwidth, they can handle anything you want to throw at them. If needed, they can set up multiple servers with load balancing and even connect you directly to the backbone if you need it. This is probably way more than you will ever need, but it is nice to know you can start for $8 have have plenty of room to grow.

[itispals]

I have been using Bluehost and i haven't faced any issues.
But if you are looking for similar solutions with a much lesser price, you may even take a look at
http://1and1.com and http://www.routhost.com. Recently i have started a blog at routhost and i am finding them comfortable. I am not yet affiliate of 1and1 and routhost, so feel free to check them and i am sure it may suit your needs, for they dont cost you more than 5$ a month...
Thanks,
itispals
http://www.buckleupnow.com

[johngroup]

Good results with BlueHost.

[MarkGatESS]

The front runners seem to be LunarPages and BlueHost.

Does anyone have an opinion on which may be better than the other, or not?

Just to throw this out there, anyone have a recommendation on a dedicated hosting provider that's less than $75/month for hosting??

[bj]

The WebhostingTalk link I already provided is the best place to find reviews and pricing for dedicated hosting, as well as other sorts of hosting. It really is the best web hosting forum around, and does save a bunch of heartache in searching for a host. They have strict rules about the hosting folks not being allowed to solicit business directly, but they do all post there and will give you good information about their own offerings and whether you're being sold a bundle of bulldoody by someone else. Hosting problems seem to surface here first.

I'd check out lunarpages and bluehost on WebhostingTalk as well.

Also, just googling a host name and drilling down through 8 or 9 pages of google returns will give you a lot of insight into how people have fared with them. Do that with the phrase "Godaddy Hosting" or "MediaTemple Hosting" and you'll see what I mean. ;)

Though I can't swear to it, I'm pretty sure I've seen dedicated hosting cheaper than $75/month.

[littlegiant]

My favorite way to scope out a host is to simply go to their forum (if they have one) and check out what users are saying and how they're treated by the web host's reps. That's how I finally settled on Lunarpages (been with them for 18 months now).

[arcon5]

Its not in the list but I strongly recommend HostNine (H9).

Im a customer of thiers and they are amazing!

See some reviews at:
http://www.webhostingstuff.com/review/HostNineCom.html
http://www.hostninereviews.com/