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Should I Change Vendors ... Guess Not Yet!
Monday, March 4, 2024
I've been using my current web provider, Network Solutions, for over 20 years. They provide hosting for my two domains, plus privacy protection, email and SSL. But prices seemed to be rising, so I began looking at other sites to see if I was missing savings.
I had a consulting website. But once I retired, what remained was more of a repository for family pictures and a way to keep my hand in coding. I was spending far too much money each year for that family use.
So, I created a wish list of needs and started looking around. Figuring out what you need is probably the first step.
My wish list:
--Support for Classic ASP (Yes, it is an older technology.)
--SSL for each domain
--Email Support (for minimum 5 emails per domain)
--Hosting for at least two websites.
--FTP Support
--Adequate bandwidth for visitors
--Adequate space for content
--Daily backups, if possible
--Reliable, timely Customer support (optimally with a live person)
--A strong computer network with very minimal downtime
Understanding how I work may help. I code HTML, ASP and JavaScript in Textpad, which is just an ordinary editor like Notepad, except for a few bells and whistles. I have an IIS local website where I build and test. Then I FTP the page(s), images, folders, individual files up to the server. And I'm done.
The first item on my list, Support for Classic Asp, cuts out a lot vendors. Most support Linux-based servers with cPanel interfaces for site handling. They also offer editors like WordPress, Wix, 10Web, Shopify, Website Builder and others that contain pre-designed templates and drag-and-drop features. You can get a site up quickly by choosing a template and editing text and images.
Perfect if you're just beginning. However, most of these drop-and-drag editors make it difficult ... if not impossible ... to add your own HTML, JavaScripts or customization.
Hosting platforms tend to be either Linux or Windows. Linux is open-source, while Windows still has licensing which the vendor pays. As a result, sites built on Linux platforms are usually less expensive.
When I checked, these hosting vendors did not offer classic ASP support: Hostinger, BlueHost, DreamHost, AccuWebHosting, Shopify, ScalaHosting. Note: there are many more vendors I did not check.
I did find classic ASP support at GoDaddy and HostGator, but pricing was high at both, comparable to Network Solutions.
The top 3 hosting packages for my criteria:
There are three smaller vendors that I'd recommend. I purchased minimal time on each and built out my website to the point of previewing it online. These are:
Accuweb Hosting
The chat salesperson continues to say they support classic ASP, but my website refused to load and support told me that they do not support classic ASP. I had ordered hosting for 3-months, which they did refund when I canceled.
What impressed me the most was how upfront they were about pricing. The pricing page lists the entry discounts and the actual renewal prices, so you know exactly what you are paying.
Too many sites do the bate-and-switch practice of posting low prices for the first year. Then prices can increase drastically to the going rate.
Interserver: I was more cautious and started a 1-month subscription. Support was via email and I had unresolved issues previewing the site. Canceled and refunded.
SmarterASP.com: This is a small company specializing in classic ASP and ASP.net. And they have a 60-day FREE trial! So, you can build your site and preview the results before locking into a quarterly, 6-month, yearly or longer plan. This is a smaller company buying shared computer resources from other companies, which may be more common than we know. Kind of like telephone companies sharing the same lines. I was impressed by them. They don't offer automatic renewal billing, but send multiple renewal notices prior to expiration.
What did I finally do?
I stayed with Network Solutions for another 2 years, moving from a premium plan to a less expensive plan that suited my needs.