Looking at HM

[chiefbutz]

I am looking to switch from my current host to hm. Can you guys please tell me about the experiences you have had, good and bad. And basically tell me about what you like and don't like. It would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT:

I have now bought hosting here

[Aaron]

I did not have a bad experience at all. I was apprehensive initially because I'm here in Singapore and the servers of Hostmonster is all the way in Orem, Utah. However, all things considered, I would say that I'm extremely satisfied. You can read my initial review (http://aaron-ng.info/blog/many-apologies.html) about my experience in switching over to Hostmonster.

I'll be following up with a second review in a couple of months, but as far as I can see, I don't have anything much to complain about, considering that it's shared hosting.

If you need to ask me questions on anything specific, just PM me. I'll be glad to share my experience with moving my 2 websites over.

[browie]

So far with my 6 weeks i've had good things to say. I had one issue where one of my friends that i gave a folder too put in some proxy thing for himself and they told me that and shut me down but put me right back up when i said i'd get rid of it. I got rid of it, i'm back and running, REAL SMOOTH.

Good fast Tech support.

[chiefbutz]

Thanks you guys. I think the reason you had that thing taken was because it violates ToS. So anyone else?

[foxiecyndi]

i've had it since october 6th and switching all my files over onto my server was very easy i have i know atleast 70 pages full of graphic's and content and i had everything moved within two days and they are very friendly

[chiefbutz]

Yeah, I have a ton that would have to be moved, close to 500MB...

[Phil]

Yeah, I have a ton that would have to be moved, close to 500MB...
Just use your ftp client and let it go. 500 MB shouldn't take more than a couple of hours, if that (assuming broadband 360KB upload).

[chiefbutz]

Yeah, I know. But it is still a pain to move. So I guess everyone seems to like them. If I don't get a reply from my current host, I am most defiantly switching!

[Aaron]

Well, there were some unhappiness if you sift through the threads but the way I see it, there's really nothing much to complain about because it's shared hosting. Loading time is bound to be a little slow during peak hours. Overall, HM's been a good choice for shared hosting. They're ahead of the game in terms of price/features, and the support is excellent. Plus, you have a nice community here.

Like I mentioned on my blog review, I have no fear of HM closing down, because the people at HM adopt the correct policy towards customers, starting right from the CEO (I believe you must have read Matt Heaton's blog if you visited my review).

In anycase, if you're moving, how about doing a good deed along with it by using someone's affiliate link? Not necessarily mine, but it would be nice if it were! :D

Looking forward to having you on board!

[Rub3X]

It really depends what you are doing. If you're going to be hosting large files, or anything on FTP HM is not for you. Their FTP speed is capped for non-dedicated IPs I think. Their HTTP speed is uncapped however it's not the fastest. Currently getting 350 kb/s off my backup. Downtime is pretty minimal, sometimes they are DDoSed because it's shared hosting...but that's like 15 mins downtime max since they filter ther IPs quite fast. Good tech support 24/7 with a lot of ways to contact them. HM survives Digg and Slashdot pretty well, I've only been taken out two times out of many. All and all it's good for small-medium websites. Good price to.

[serversn]

So far, my experiences have been pretty good.. except for the seriously disturbing response times to ticket support since they took like 6 days to answer my last ticket post.

The good things to note :

1. Servers are pretty darn fast (even though its shared hosting... I've noticed a significant increase compared to my old hosting company)

2. Server load is managed well. I guess whatever software they are using on the server does a good job. Something to note though is that you are allowed a certain amount of CPU and if whatever you are doing or your visitors are doing makes the CPU usage go over this limit, your SITES are suspended until the cpu goes back down to a tolerable level.

3. The Cpanel loads fast again, I am assuming that this is because cpu load is managed well and that they don't put too much people on one shared server.

4. Cpanel Account info shows real-time stats

Things that aren't so good

1. Some of my site visitors have complained that it takes very long for them to upload files to the server via HTTP Post. They said an mp3 file of approx 4MB in size took around 6 minutes on DSL to upload which is relatively poor.

2. Since there's some sort of software managing the cpu load, it doesn't always do a good job. For example, a site may be suspended based on its cpu quota but shouldn't this really happen only if the server cpus are becoming near overloaded? In other words, it seems like each account is given a certain percentage and once it goes over the site is suspended until it goes down... say this limit you have is 1 out of 4 CPUs and your site get suspended.. why suspend the account if the overall cpu usage is less than 2 CPU (since this is no way a cpu overload of the server). I hope you guys understand what I'm trying to say...

3. Absolutely poor support from the ticket system and I think this is the major factor that you should consider before taking an account with HM.

[Aaron]

My ticket experience has been in the range of 30minutes to an hour. I'm not sure what happened to your ticket. Might have got stuck somewhere. Anyway, I prefer LiveChat. I typically get a response in 5 minutes or less.

[chiefbutz]

You said they cap FTP, do they limit the number of simultaneous connections?

[morgar]

The unique ticked I opened with a simple question took about a week too.

[spiritshome.com]

ity bity problems here and there but that's normal with any kind of host. I like it a lot and I've been to three other hosts before this one, they all stunk in comparison. This one has a pretty decent website builder and lots of great tools to help you, plus support is so helpful. This is the end of my second month with host monster. I think it's great that they also decided to put up this forum so we could help each other out as well.

[spiritshome.com]

PS> I'm poor and I can oford this, it's great!

[Rub3X]

"You said they cap FTP, do they limit the number of simultaneous connections?"

No they cap the rate you can download off their FTP server at. It's a real slow amount like < 200 kb/s I think. My site's full backup is like 512 MBs and it's not posible to dl it from FTP it would take too long..I always have to move it into a web dir to dl it.

[chiefbutz]

The only reason I ask is that with CuteFTP you can have multiple connections to the same server getting stuff, and I didn't know if it would impose the cap for each connection, or the whole thing.

[xtendedf]

So far, my experiences have been pretty good.. except for the seriously disturbing response times to ticket support since they took like 6 days to answer my last ticket post.

The good things to note :

1. Servers are pretty darn fast (even though its shared hosting... I've noticed a significant increase compared to my old hosting company)

2. Server load is managed well. I guess whatever software they are using on the server does a good job. Something to note though is that you are allowed a certain amount of CPU and if whatever you are doing or your visitors are doing makes the CPU usage go over this limit, your SITES are suspended until the cpu goes back down to a tolerable level.

3. The Cpanel loads fast again, I am assuming that this is because cpu load is managed well and that they don't put too much people on one shared server.

4. Cpanel Account info shows real-time stats

Things that aren't so good

1. Some of my site visitors have complained that it takes very long for them to upload files to the server via HTTP Post. They said an mp3 file of approx 4MB in size took around 6 minutes on DSL to upload which is relatively poor.

2. Since there's some sort of software managing the cpu load, it doesn't always do a good job. For example, a site may be suspended based on its cpu quota but shouldn't this really happen only if the server cpus are becoming near overloaded? In other words, it seems like each account is given a certain percentage and once it goes over the site is suspended until it goes down... say this limit you have is 1 out of 4 CPUs and your site get suspended.. why suspend the account if the overall cpu usage is less than 2 CPU (since this is no way a cpu overload of the server). I hope you guys understand what I'm trying to say...

3. Absolutely poor support from the ticket system and I think this is the major factor that you should consider before taking an account with HM.

Waah! You have a serious site and you're hosting on Hostmonster? On shared hosting? You expect instantaneous response to your ticket? At $4.95? Your slow upload time is always host's fault? No way, your upload
bandwidth is constrained? Any other gripes? I'm sure hostmonster is
greatly concerned about the possibility of losing you as a customer and
your $118.80 ($4.95 X 24 months). BIG WHOP!!!!!!

[sjlplat]

I have no complaints since I transferred my site from a home-based server. I am thoroughly satisfied with the service I have.


I have called customer support once to have my IP block whitelisted at the firewall.
I have not had any need to submit a support ticket.
I have not experienced any downtime.
Bandwidth is faster than my home server
I have more storage space than my home server did.
My users appear to have fewer problems with Hostmonster (ie. site timeout issues).
All the issues related to running a server (hardware replacement, software updates, backups, etc.) are now managed by Hostmonster, and I can use the extra time and money doing other things.
My electric bill should drop a lot more than $5 bucks a month (I'll find out soon). :D

[Rub3X]

I'm not sure if you it caps the total amount of b/w you can use at once or the total amount used by each connection, but I think it's the first one.

[chiefbutz]

Thank you everyone, I have just got my HM account, and am in the process of moving a ton of stuff over... fun, fun. Oh well, i can leave FTP going when I leave for class.

[Aaron]

Welcome to the club! :D

I talked to HM support last night and I understand that they do not cap uploads or downloads. I suppose then how much you can get depends on how much the other dudes on your box is using.

[stnvnet]

I've not been a Hostmonster customer long enough to give an opinion either way. But for the most part, I'm pleased with the service I'm getting. I only noticed one niggly ... but I'll get over it. As others have said, this is a shared hosting environment. There is no bigger bummer than wanting to upload a file, engaging your FTP utility, and seeing a red note saying, "Sorry, only 50 users are allowed access at the same time." But, this problem usually solves itself in a short period of time. Once you start an FTP upload/download, it continues unabated until complete (at least it has for me so far).

There is one other issue I'm dealing with regarding SSH access. I put in a customer service ticket, got a response in one day that it was being "elevated" to a higher tech support level, and the next day got a response from the tech. The response was reasonable but not helpful so I replied back today and am expecting another response shortly.

P.S. One other note. My site hosts some very large files. The upload speeds I encounter are no different than those encountered with other hosts ... and the download speeds I encounter are the same as with other hosts, too. However, you need to remember this is a shared hosting service. Upload and download speeds that you and your site visitors experience will be dependent in part on the activity of ALL domains hosted on the same server. So, sometimes speeds may be slower, sometimes they may be faster.

Hehehe, I suppose the worst possible thing that could happen is if a person got their domain put on a server that hosts a dozen or so online casinos or porn sites (grin). Separately, they may each be within normal usage limits. But together, they'd be a major strain on the sites of others unlucky enough to share the same server.

[chiefbutz]

Actually the TOS says no porn or online casinos... But I have been a customer for less than a day and I am happy. So thank you to everyone who commented.

[Aaron]

The CEO is extremely anti-porn too. Read about it here (http://mattheaton.com/?p=58).

[schalicto]

I am looking to switch from my current host to hm. Can you guys please tell me about the experiences you have had, good and bad. And basically tell me about what you like and don't like. It would be greatly appreciated.

I moved a half dozen sites over to host monster and all the tools that they give you make it really easy. I don't know anything about mysql or php or programing but I do know my way around ftp and I can stumble through phpmyadmin. The most complicated thing that I had to move was a coppermine (at http://www.floor42online.com *plug*) and the move was seamless.

Goodluck!

-Josh

[Rub3X]

"The CEO is extremely anti-porn too. Read about it here."

Man that's asinine. What is wrong with porn? Grow up, this is why I hate religion. It's not harmful in any way. It's two adults that agreed to it.

[Aaron]

He's entitled to his own opinion. What's wrong with him having his own opinion? Grow up.

[serversn]

Actually, I wouldn't doubt that they are against porn because they'd get too much traffic on the servers............................... which would probably affect the other users on the server... but as someone said before.. I shouldn't expect to host a serious website on shared hosting.... but I've done it before so that's a bit bogus from my experiences with hosting. I'd only go for dedicate hosting for extra cpu power to process things if I had scripts requiring that sort of computing power....