After 18 months of using three web hosts I have decided to write short reviews about each one. This is not meant to be a long drawn out review and does not include every detail of the web hosting service, such as a list of features or exact connection speeds.
These are the three web hosts I use extensively..
MMhosting.com
Hostgator.com
Hostmonster.com
*A special note about Virtual Web hosting – Your Primary domain name that you use when setting up your account is the only domain that can have a Private SSL Certificate. The addon domains will need to use a Shared SSL Certificate.
So if you plan on hosting an e-commerce website, make it the primary domain. Mmhosting and Hostgator can move domains from addon to primary if needed, but once moved, your websites with an Absolute path will break until you update them with the new Absolute path.
Review Time
I would like to start this article with the 2 best web host in my opinion. Hostgator and MMhosting, they have been awesome web host. From customer support to server reliability and speed. Both companies have been great to work with, and I have no problems with websites going down as a result of the web host. (The one time my websites went down, was my own doing. I crashed my own databases.)
MMhosting Review
The connection speed is very fast, they are reliable and solid. The only down time I ever had was the result of something I did to a Database that caused all my other databases to lock up. As soon as I deleted the corrupted database and restored everything went back to normal. (In case you are wondering, it was a ZenCart mod for Searching Attributes that caused my Databases to Gel up)
Their cpanel is great, it is easy to maneuver around, fast, and has a lot of added features for any type of website you may want to create. They offer a Free Shared SSL certificate for websites. The only webhost on this list that offers it.
The main reason I am putting mmhosting.com first is that whatever request or need I have emailed them about they have always replied in a very positive manner and always take care of any problems and professionally handle each of my unique requests.
The biggest request I have made to date was the ability to host my client domain names. I offer a service where I replicate a wholesale e-commerce website on to a new wholesalers domain name, so they can have their shop that doesn’t look like a replicated website with a subdomain. Mmhosting said that was fine, as long as I am not acting like a reseller by charging for hosting.
Some smaller request I have made was InnoDQ for Magento E-commerce. Hostgator was not offering innodb and nor did they want to install it for me. I contacted mmhosting and they did not offer innodb, but they said they would install innoDB on my account so I could use Magento E-commerce.
The negatives with MMhosting
They only offer virtual hosting accounts. If you are planning to go past the limits of the hosting account, then you will not have the ability to switch over to a dedicated box, like you can on hostgator. I host a website that specializes in High definition video productions and I have not come close to the limits of the virtual hosting account. But I am curious what mmhosting would do if they decided you needed to move off of the virtual hosting account.
Their support is excellent during the day. But late nights and weekends they are a bit slow. I haven’t had a need to contact them about my server going down or any serious issues, because it is a stable host. But I have some minor problems such as SSL certificate not installing, and it took a few hours for a response. But during the day, they are prompt at getting back to you.
*Update – MMhosting is planning on offering Dedicated hosting Soon.
Hostgator Review
Next in line is Hostgator, they are a very good web host. The connection reliability has been solid, fast, and stable. I have not had a single down time with Hostgator. They offer solid 24 hour support.
I have used the live chat function a few times at 2am – 5am and have always been connected in a few minutes to tech support. Much like mmhosting, I have not had to contact them for server outages, just for minor problems I was having. They have also given me the ability to host my clients websites, but that is if I don’t act as a reseller, much like mmhosting said.
Hostgator offer some great virtual web hosting account options, and if you happen to go past the bandwidth or capacity you can move to bigger virtual accounts or dedicated hosting.
The cpanel is intuitive, friendly, responsive, freature loaded, and easy to navigate (much like mmhosting).
Some people believe that the cpanel is universal from one host to another, but I have a website with lunarpages.com, and their cpanel is horrendous in comparison to the three hosting companies I work with. If I was working for lunarpages and in charge of the cpanel, I would make an account with mmhosting or hostgator and take notes on how not to make a confusing and slow interface.
The negatives for Hostgator
In the same breathe about cPanel, I will mention that Hostgator is slow at updating it. A new revision or update can be available for months before they will update. They were also slow at implementing innoDB for Magento E-commerce websites.
No Shared SSL Certificate. You have to buy a business virtual webhost or a dedicated box to get a dedicated IP address and a Private SSL certificate. You can addon a dedicated ip address to your box for an additional free with hostgator, but if you wish to a different private ssl then you will be charged for the installation of it.
(Mmhosting doesn’t charge for installing a private SSL certs, they give you direct access to SSL security in cpanel to do it yourself, if you want to. They do charge 2 dollars a month for a dedicated IP.)
The last web host on my list is Hostmonster.com
My experience with them has been horrible, from sending in emails and support tickets and never getting a response back from anyone.
I have had reliability issues with this web host. One minute the web host is working fine, then a few minutes later it goes down and then I wait 10 minutes and it comes back up again.
During the time I have been using this web host the hard drive on the server box went corrupt, and it took 2 in half days to get it back up and running. I was not notified of the harddrive going bad. When the hard drive did crash, I was not sent an email, and I ended up having to call tech support, and eventually was told what was going on.
As far as hostmonster goes, since they have fixed the hard drive I have had very little problems, but the customer support really makes me leery of recommending them to someone to use for their website and hosting needs.
In Conclusion..
If you are looking for a good virtual web host then I recommend going with MMhosting or Hostgator. If you are looking into making a website that will offer a lot of files for download / streaming, and you need a dedicated box, then I would look into hostgator because it can grow with your website(s).
Side Note – Each webhost offers Private SSL installation and dedicated IP, for a price. But if you are looking to start up an E-commerce website for cheap and don’t want to go all out on an SSL & dedicated IP expense, then i recommend going with mmhosting because they give you a free shared SSL that you can use on all your websites.
