Too many free web hosting companies...

[niyogi]

Golly, too many free web hosting companies out there! Especially when they are being run off of reseller accounts or tiny VPSes. My question is:

How do you make sure that the free web hosting company you use won't stab you in the back and close shop one day and take your content with you?

All that being said, there are ways for free hosting companies to operate correctly, be profitable, and provide good customer service all at the same time. However, with many players entering the "industry" with inadequate resources, it just paints a bad overall picture!

Roj

[ephekt]

It is true. Further, I have seen hosts use free hosting as traps to just generate customer information, which is unfortunate.

[sql4umitch]

I would say that you look over their site, find out how long they have been operating, and talk to some existing users about their experiences with the company.

[ephekt]

Yeah, I rely alot on the presentation and support. Those are the two most important features to me. Presentation being the availability of the service. Example: I would never host, even for free, on cogent bandwidth. It's just terrible bandwidth and has some peering issues. I would also expect to have phone support if i am spending money!

[Forumer]

i also think there are too many free hosting companies how are not as good as they say they are.

[icontact]

There are thousands of free hosting account available out there but I think as a serious free hosting provider you need to make sure you deliver exactly as your promise so that worthy clients can distinguish between dodgy providers and those that are serious about their services.

I for one set a very strict criteria when advertising our hosting services. No exceptions. I also dont offer to every tom dick and harry. In the end the benefits are reaped by everyone.

[gryffin]

Example: I would never host, even for free, on cogent bandwidth. It's just terrible bandwidth and has some peering issues.

common misconception, cogent bandwidth is decent for anything but gaming servers or high demand streaming etc.

[SoniqHost.com]

As long as money is going towards internet advertising you'll see a lot more free web hosting.

[talkhost]

Golly, too many free web hosting companies out there! Especially when they are being run off of reseller accounts or tiny VPSes. My question is:

How do you make sure that the free web hosting company you use won't stab you in the back and close shop one day and take your content with you?

All that being said, there are ways for free hosting companies to operate correctly, be profitable, and provide good customer service all at the same time. However, with many players entering the "industry" with inadequate resources, it just paints a bad overall picture!

Roj

Is this a fun post Roj?

You can't even run a paid hosting company properly!!!

varhosting.net springs to mind. A simple search on WHT for varhosting brings up some real interesting results....

[ThaFusion]

You can't even run a paid hosting company properly!!!


Tell me, why do you think running a paid hosting company is easier then running a free hosting company?

Imo it`s the other way around...

[ephekt]

Just to throw in a few thoughts about paid vs free hosting:

I believe that paid hosting is more complicated than free hosting in the ways that you have to provide dedicated technical support that passes what most free hosts provide. A user is paying for a product and thus more legal issues come in to play as well. In my honest opinion the second money comes in to play with hosting I believe the host no longer has an excuse to close up shop (unlike a free host, there is no legal obligation to continue to provide hosting.).

Now, the one major let down to free hosting is spam. A host could find themselves in a heap of trouble and migranes because who is the biggest audience for free hosting? Simple! People who don't want to pay. Spammers, bogus sites, and other scams often find their way onto my servers and that is one major factor that leads me to consider going to paid hosting.

But to summarize the overall experience from paid hosting (which i have done) and free hosting (what i do now) i would have to say they are equally large headaches and neither is a get rich quick scheme. With that said, i believe that is why there are so many free hosts (and paid if you look around) because someone told these guys that hosting was an easy business.

Cheers everyone. I hope i did not offend anyone.

[ThaFusion]

To add: It is a lot easier to get customers when you`re a free host.
And of course the support and uptime customers want, when a paid-hosting server is down, i go to the datacentre either it is 2:00 AM or 2:00 PM. Something most free hosts wouldn`t do (if they got their own servers)