Looking for a decent host

[John Connor]

So I have a wordpress blog and I built a forum for the hell of it because I was bored. The host I used at x10hosting sucks as the phpmail doesn't even work and all my support forum requests never were answered. I read an old post years ago through a Google search that this is most likely to control SPAM which is horse shit because people can't register on my blog to post a comment or send E-mails through the forum, etc. So I moved my forum to another host, but load times are god awful and at one time my forum was being redirected to some other site. I changed the config.php settings to localhost and the redirects went away, but then I was getting SQL errors every time I changed something in the forum which attributed to the config.php file. So I had to revert back to not using loclahost. So far no redirects.

I'm just looking for a good host that has PHPMyadmin, cPanel, etc so that I can transfer for the third damn time my database and directory and my Wordpress blog.

I was looking at Bluehost when I read this crap in their TOS:

Profanity.

Profanity or profane subject matter in the site content and in the domain name are prohibited.

https://www.bluehost.com/acceptable-use-policy


I really don't want to be restricted on not using profanity in my forum like a damn mother or something and my registration requirements stimulate you have to be over the age 13 to join to protect my ass. I read about coppa and I wasn't going to fill out the forms and crap so I just said no one under 13 can join.


I would like a host that is secure and uses CloudFlare. Anyone know of a not too expensive host that is reliable and secure? LOL!

This is what the site looks like thus far. Still working on it and I believe it's navigable via smartphone. http://thetavern.a78.org

If it loads that is.

 

[RossMAN]

Searching WHT's "shared hosting offers" forum for CloudFlare I found the following hosts that have a reasonable reputation. I have no personal experience with these hosts and these are only suggestions not recommendations.

As always I would suggest doing your own homework and searching for reviews on WHT and elsewhere before taking the plunge.

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1432484

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1432699

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1432686

 

[dank69]

I was board

 

[brandonb]

I used bbvps.com in the past, and thought they were really good. With bbvps.com, you get full remote desktop login to the server (if you select the Windows option) and you can install whatever you want on it. The other thing is there is absolutely no limits on the traffic. The price is dependent on how much RAM/HD space you want on your machine, and nothing about speed of the connection/or monthly bandwidth quotas.

I believe they have Linux options with Cpanels, etc but I was looking for Windows so I didn't look at all the options. I'd visit their site and see what they have. I just briefly looked and it costs $6.95 for the Cpanel/webhosting site. I assume that's per month.

-Edit: As a side note. Hackers are constantly trying to break into their range of IPS, so make sure you LOCK DOWN the box. My remote desktop machine was getting roughly 30k failed attempts to login per day. One day they did guess my password, and installed malware on my box, so make sure you setup the autoban windows settings on x number of failed logins (which is off by default in windows at least with the verison I had back then) to attempt to keep it under control. Use a long password, like 32 characters and save it in a notepad file, etc.

They also get back to you within hours to any questions/support problems and IMHO have great support.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

it's possible someone loaded an injection script in your cms or one of your plugins or the forum software. that happened to one of my wordpress sites that i didn't update in a timely manner after the timthumb plugin was compromised.

http://blog.sucuri.net/2011/08/atta...list-of-themes-and-plugins-being-scanned.html

this is probably a good time to shop for webhosting. there will be some decent black friday deals.

 

[pete6032]

Have you tried looking outside of ATOT?

 

[zinfamous]

I was board.

I was once rock, but I got better

my registration requirements stimulate you have to be over the age 13

I don't know whether to mock this one, or report you to the police.

:hmm:

 

[John Connor]

Have you tried looking outside of ATOT?

Yes, I was looking at hosts advertised on the phpbb forums. But like I said, Bluehost doesn't want to host profanity and I don't want to be censored on my own site that I created.

 

[John Connor]

Searching WHT's "shared hosting offers" forum for CloudFlare I found the following hosts that have a reasonable reputation. I have no personal experience with these hosts and these are only suggestions not recommendations.

As always I would suggest doing your own homework and searching for reviews on WHT and elsewhere before taking the plunge.

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1432484

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1432699

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1432686

Nice. I do my research on these. Thanks!

 

[Lifted]

Have to agree with RossMAN. I see so many posts on WHT that end with "if I had only searched for posts on xyz host on here first "

I don't know what you're budget is, but it might be worth looking into a VPS (from a host with a good rep of course) if you're are at all concerned about the performance of your site(s).

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=103

 

[RossMAN]

Yes, I was looking at hosts advertised on the phpbb forums. But like I said, Bluehost doesn't want to host profanity and I don't want to be censored on my own site that I created.

First of all avoid anything related to GoDaddy, BlueHost (EIG), 1&1, etc. I don't think most hosts would have a problem with profanity, just in case I would carefully read their TOS and e-mail their sales department before signing up. When you e-mail sales, it would be helpful to include examples of the profanity so they have context.

Nice. I do my research on these. Thanks!

You're welcome, happy to help. Research, ask questions, trust your gut.

Have to agree with RossMAN. I see so many posts on WHT that end with "if I had only searched for posts on xyz host on here first "

I don't know what you're budget is, but it might be worth looking into a VPS (from a host with a good rep of course) if you're are at all concerned about the performance of your site(s).

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=103

Great advice and you're right, depending on the OP's budget and technical abilities a VPS might fit the bill. If the OP is an experienced server admin I would refer them to lowendbox.com where you can get a fairly loaded VPS for $5/mo or less. Since these are unmanaged you're fully responsible for securing and managing your VPS. No thanks, I'd rather stick with a shared host or upgrade to a fully managed VPS (starting at $35/mo).

After you find a web host and start your forum, remember to stay current on the updates, security patches and most importantly backup your data!!!

 

[John Connor]

Yeah, I back up the database and the directory before any change I do. And when I find a host if they don't offer daily automatic back ups I'll just do it myself. I had the latest phpbb and now there's an update. So I'll have to try that out. I'm new to this. I already acquired 66 post's in the phpbb forum. LOL

 

[RossMAN]

Yeah, I back up the database and the directory before any change I do. And when I find a host if they don't offer daily automatic back ups I'll just do it myself. I had the latest phpbb and now there's an update. So I'll have to try that out. I'm new to this. I already acquired 66 post's in the phpbb forum. LOL

Rule #2 - Always backup your own data even if your web host offers backup! Unless of course your data isn't that important.

Or if you're lazy (like me) you can use a backup service which automates the process, note the coupon at the top right

 

[John Connor]

Yeah, I have been using filezilla to download the directory to my computer and using the built in database downloader in phpbb.

 

[RossMAN]

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1433369

Their DC (data center) appears to be in Canada but otherwise looks like a decent offer.

Black Friday Special 60% OFF First Invoice! Offer expires on Sunday, 30th November 2014!
Promotional Code: BLACKFRIDAY2014

» Pure SSD Storage: 10 GB
» Premium Bandwidth: 200 GB

Starting at $2.95/Month including Free & Instant Setup!

 

[John Connor]

What is the difference between CloudLinux and Cloudflare? https://www.geekstorage.com/cloudlinux-hosting

I'm interested in security. It says that Clodflare is included in shard hosting I guess, but if I buy CloudLinux does that have Softaculous, Cpanel and PHPMyadmin, etc? Or is CloudLinux something completely different? http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1432699

They give a test IP and when I pinged it I got a ping of about 35 ms, but a TTL of 245. What is a TTL and that doesn't sound too good as OpenDNS doesn't have a TTL that high as a comparison. This is the test ip. 162.249.125.1

Thanks again!

 

[John Connor]

Okay, I see Cloudlinux is, or can be integrated into Cpanl and it looks pretty damn nerdy so this may not be for me. http://cpanel.net/cpanel-whm/cloudlinux/

This is why I want to utilize Cloudflare. https://www.cloudflare.com/features-security

 

[RossMAN]

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1327051

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1433266

 

[John Connor]

Well, I just made a huge mistake with my domain. It is registered in my name! My home address, phone number and E-mail is all in the whois record. So I was reading this bit of info and decided on some things IF I can change the domain information.

I was looking at a whois record of a forum I was a member of located here: http://whois.domaintools.com/techimo.com

and the smart ass used a mail box service for registration as I seen it on Google street view. LOL So I was thinking of going this route buying a mail box to use for the domain record. Now the name in this whois record is All Enthusiast Adminstrator. How can he get away with that name? I would like to somehow do the same thing within law, but I'm betting because the domain's organization says All Enthusiast Inc that's how he can use the name All Enthusiast Adminstrator. I don't know.

Now I was curious to see how Anandtech did it and they use a service through web.com called Perfect privacy LLC to protect the domain record's information. It would cost me just shy of $40/year. http://whois.domaintools.com/anandtech.com

Now according to that site I listed they mention a free service at http://www.myprivacy.ca/ to forward your registered E-mail with the domain so that you don't get SPAMed. But it looks like it's only for Canada. Is there such a service for the U.S?


Now that I bought a host I just had to fill out my first support ticket. The password I used doesn't work and my E-mail isn't correct in the account settings. I made sure to use a plain vanilla Firefox to enter all my info. knowing that my current main browser which is Pale Moon causes problems with websites with all the privacy/security addons I have installed. So I made sure to use my plain vanilla Firefox. Yet shit got messed up already. So now I'm waiting for a response from tech support on resetting the password and E-mail addy. I can't even log into Cpanel and upload my site or do anything and now I don't want to until I can change the domain information in whois.


So how in the world do I protect my domain's information? I would like to do this on the cheap. If I can't change the domain info. then I'll just scrap the name I had and chose something else and start over. No way am I publishing a site where anyone and their mom can look me up. Can you tell I'm new to this?

 

[RossMAN]

1) Why didn't you ask us first?

2) Which domain registrar did you use?

3) I would suggest using an ICANN-Accredited Registrar such as NameCheap.com which offers cheap/affordable WHOIS protection that works.
Here's an example of what it will look like.

4) If you haven't already register for an account on WHT, read the strict rules, use the search feature and start posting questions.

 

[John Connor]

I read about the protection offered by domain services in that link I posted and it said you don't own the domain if you do that. Funny you mention name cheap because that was a register I looked into after seeing a website use it and seeing the whois record was private.

So my main question is now that it's registered can I change the info.? I would think you could since people move, etc.

My host and domain is by geekstorage.com. Figured I'd give them a shot since they seem to have all that I'm looking for, 6 or 7 years in the biz and offering Cloudflare. The only thing I don't like is that cPanel is accessed via your domain. It should be on their site.

 

[John Connor]

I just signed up for WHT and asked about my domain question.

 

[John Connor]

Well, I just got one response on the WHT forum, someone with only eight posts. It was a response I already had info. on. But I'm a happy camper. At my new host with Geekstorge.com I had opened a ticket for my login issues and that got resolved , I can enter my account settings, cPanel, etc now. While I had the ticket open I asked about the ability to make my WHOIS record a privacy record. He responded by saying I could with there built in option under domain management in my account. Then I remembered what I read on that website about host's making your domain a private listing and how you don't own the rights to your domain if they add the privacy info. So I asked if I could still sell my domain if I wanted to and he said absolutely but if I do I should switch back to my info. before I sell it. So I'm a happy camper thus far. Here I thought I would have to cancel the domain, create a new domain address that reflects that nature of my site and use web.com (what anandtech uses) and have them registrar my domain with their privacy info. allowing me to keep the rights to my domain.

The pings to my site are pretty good thus far. That's all the testing I have done as I did not upload the directory or database until I got the domain figured out.

The responses to my ticket are in a timely manner within hours if not quicker. I can't say that for the two free hosts I was using. I guess you really do get what you pay for.

Currently waiting for my info. to propagate through DNS.