Who to go to for web hosting

[daed17]

If you need reliable hosting from a major company, I recommend hostway.com

But compare their $8.95/month package (which you have to pay for the full 12 months) to our $3.00/month package... you will see the savings and benefits.

[Bryan G]

Originally Posted by daed17

If you need reliable hosting from a major company, I recommend hostway.com

But compare their $8.95/month package (which you have to pay for the full 12 months) to our $3.00/month package... you will see the savings and benefits.

First and formost, I found this in your terms of service:

Audio, video and MPEG's are not tolerated.Any site caught on our servers that has such materials, will have thier account deleted immediately without warning.

You keep bragging about "streaming", but if you can't have audio or video on your site, what can you stream? Then what good is streaming?
Here is the full paragraph:

Undesirable Content
Certain types of content are not allowed on our network. We do not host adult content of any description. Content relating to Gambling, Sportsbook sites, Usenet, Hacking, Cracking, Warez and IRC is not allowed. Software downloads may only be hosted if you are the writer and copyright owner of the software, all other software including freeware, shareware and trial software is forbidden. Audio, video and MPEG's are not tolerated.Any site caught on our servers that has such materials, will have thier account deleted immediately without warning.

So you can't mention on your homepage that people can contact you on the IRC or that you like usenet. These restriction are unreasonable.

Plus,
Your $3 package is only 300 megs, that's too small.
BeTheHOst gives you 600 megs for $3.95, for $1 more you get 1.2 gigs and for another $1 you get 1.5 gigs and so on.
And don't mention your streaming again, with only 300 megs you don't have enough space to have anything to stream. Also, because you don't allow audio and video on users sites, what are you going to stream?
Also, your unlimited isn't really unlimited. From what I read, if too much bandwidth is being used you'll get cut off.

Although OWLTECHNOLOGY.net advertises "Unlimited Bandwidth" in regards to some of its services there are several limitations applied. The sole purpose of these limitations are intended of unncessary use of OWLTECHNOLOGY.net services by any such User, which restricts system availability for other such Users.

Although we advertise unlimited bandwidth, we reserve the right to inform you that you must transfer your website if an excessive amount of bandwidth is being used. If the request is not met within 5 days, we do reserve the right to remove the website from our system.

And here's some more stuff that looks bad

OWLTECHNOLOGY.net reserves the right to cancel Service for any reason without prior notice. Pre-paid service is non-refundable.

OWLTECHNOLOGY.net does not and will not perform system backups on any web sites. OWLTECHNOLOGY.net shall not be held responsible for any lost web data, web files, or any website contents, regardless of the reasoning for data loss or system causes.

And you can change your rules anytime you want
OWLTECHNOLOGY.net may modify this Agreement from time to time by placing a notice of such modification on our website, and User's continued use of the Service following notice of such modification shall be deemed to be User's acceptance of any such modification.

[daed17]

If you noticed, you have to send a request when wanting the streaming... it is there on the front end... all we want is to know which customers are wanting to stream so that we can ensure the server isn't being abused.

Also, the clause to cancel service is there for people that abuse the service. If you are just wanting a free or cheap host so that you can spam or deny others the use of the server then I see no reason to refund your money or help you in any way.

We do a weekly backup of all sites, and we will gladly do a daily backup if requested for an additional fee. But ultimately no matter who you choose, you should always have a backup of your site.

I agree most people just need a place to put some images and text, but for those that want streaming we are here. Most companies charge extra where we do include it... all we ask is you send a request in, that is all. This also helps us in working with the customer for some customers do not realize how much bandwidth audio and video files will consume.

If sending a request in for these services is too much to keep it cheap, then go to someone else. We do all we can to ensure everyone has the best experience on our servers.

[daed17]

Also, since you took snippets of the TOS might we also notice that others do the same...

"You are responsible for backing up Your Data on your own computer. 1&1 does not warrant or otherwise guarantee that it will back up your data or that data which has been backed up can be retrieved, and will not be responsible for any archiving or backup of Your Data. If any of Your Data is damaged, deleted, lost or corrupted in any way, or becomes otherwise unavailable due to termination or suspension of your account pursuant to this Agreement, 1&1 will have no obligation or liability to you."

"You agree not to use your IMAP account for the storage of files other than in the course of normal e-mail usage"


This is from 1and1, that is advertising 3,000 GB for under $15/month...
"Bandwidth use, including but not limited to data retrieval from your Web Site, e-mail traffic, and downloads, shall not exceed six gigabytes per month."

"1&1 may suspend performance under or terminate this Agreement, cease transmission of data associated with your domain name, permanently remove Your Data from the 1&1 Equipment, and take any other actions it deems necessary..."

So at least you know how much bandwidth you are really getting with us. And unlimited is unlimited... we don't monitor your usage. We also communicate with our customers before we take any action.

Enough said.

[David Harrison]

I should probably have done this sooner.

I didn't.

Sue me.