Website hosting and domains

[AndyStobbs]

I have had my website online for nearly 4 years now, the domain comes up for renewal again in 2 weeks.
I don't really care about the website any more, would rather it didn't exist, or was a static page advising people to phone up etc.
But I do still want to keep my email address, of the same domain.

I'm a little peeved with the guy who is currently running it for me, but don't really know the ins and outs of whether I can side track him and just keep my domian and email?

Please help

 

[shed or dead]

I'm after recommendations for where best to register domains cheaply (I'm setting up a new business) without getting stung a few years down the line.
There is lot's of confusing info online.

Andy, I've been researching for days, and this may be of no help at all, but, I believe what you are looking for is called 'Domain Parking'. Not sure if you'd still be able to use the email though. I'm still researching so I'll let you know if I come across your scenario.

Not wishing to hijack Andy's post, but hopefully whoever knows this stuff can help us both!

Thanks.

 

[lazybones51]

@shed or dead for a cheap no thrills service, I use one.com for my clients, includes email hosting as part of the service as well. They are cheap as chips!

@AndyStobbs It depends one the hosting is with, it would be worth finding. You can always move to a cheaper service and do as you say with regards to a web site / holding page

 

[MoreWellie]

if he doesn't charge too much then easiest to stay with him

It would be very straight forward to generate a static page and upload it in place of what you have so it shouldn't cost very much alternatively you could just get him to take the website down whilst still keeping the email side running as the actual website and email functions are completely independent. Both rely on domain DNS settings but different ones which is why I say they are independent

If the domain name is registered in your name then you should be able to retain control although there may be some pain in transferring it away to another registrar. If it is registered in "the guys" name then you are dependent on his goodwill in transferring it to you and another hosting company so don't upset him more than necessary

You will find lots of bad reviews for most of the cheap hosters but you need to take in to account that people are more likely to moan rather than praise. I have used 123-reg.co.uk for a number of years for both email and web hosting and consider them ok. I have had issues but they have always responded to questions raised online and resolved my issues with minimal fuss or delay

If you consider them you may find their startup web hosting is the most economic way to purchase emails unless you are only using one email address at the domain

Another service (which I resell) is Microsoft exchange online which is more technical but cracking value at £2.50 per user mailbox per month. If you are interested in this then I can send you a link to purchase which would get me a (very) small kick back from Microsoft . If you have more than one mailbox this works out more expensive than someone like 123-reg whose web hosting charge allows for up to 100 mailboxes although each one has a max size of 1Gb (plenty for most personal mailboxes as you can always archive offline) compared to the Microsoft 50Gb storage

Compare the cost of transfer and web hosting (don't forget vat as this goes on top as does the "setup charge") and if you will not save much just stay where you are, stop being peeved and get on with more important things

 

[eSCHEn]

If your name's on the domain Andy then yes you can do exactly that. Porting existing emails over can be a pain but it's certainly do-able.

If you want a static page with your contact details on then just give me a shout, happy to do it for you.

 

[oddbob]

If you're not sure who actually owns your domain name you can do a 'Whois' search here.

For what it's worth, I've been with Vidahost for four or five years without problem (UK company, with UK customer support!), that's after pulling my hair out with various other suppliers for longer than was healthy.

Most will do email only packages for less than a site would cost.

 

[Rocketman]

I'm with one.com and it is as already said cheap as chips, less than £20 a year. Even if I didn't use the website facility and only email it would still be worth having at that price. Looks rubbish a business with bt, talktalk or whatever in the email address.

 

[oddbob]

Didn't think to put the cost . I can't remember exactly off hand, but it's around £20 a year for the hosting, from which I run three different sites ...the domains themselves work out to between £8 and £15 each a year (depends whether they're .co.uk or .net etc) from Domain Express.

 

[MattF]

For my domain names, I use Namecheap. They have hosting options too. A parked page with basic contact details is simple enough to set up.

 

[mike os]

Vidahost for hosting... really great company and happy dealing with total amateurs and 100%

fasthosts for domain registration

Vida do really cheap packages. ... mine was about £10 for 3 years switching is easy enough but needs some tech knowledge

if you need a hand I may be able to assist

 

[ajlelectronics]

Fasthosts, unless they have changed in the last few years were known for providing "bulletproof hosting" to spammers. I use 1and1 for cheap domain registration and for email hosting. My website is hosted by Eclipse.

 

[mike os]

that's why I only use for domain registration AJ....

 

[ajlelectronics]

I sent so many SPAM complaints about their customers that they blocked me. Not blocked the SPAM, but blocked complaints. Amazing.

 

[bump]

I use Easyspace for my own and the missus is on 1&1. I prefer Easyspace as the DNS control is superior.

For work I use Amazon route53.

 

[AndyStobbs]

Ok, thanks for the input guys. I checked on the domain registration and I (well my firm) is the registered name against my domain.
The quote has come through at £7/month for 24 months hosting. We (the usual guy and me) agreed on a single static page, advising visitors of my location and phone number plus services offered etc.
Think I will have a shop round.

 

[julianf]

I used a free hosting package for a while, before it started sticking banner ads on the page.

However, if all you want is the email side of things, then that would not be an issue for you.
I can look up the name of the service if you like (i dont have it to hand) but it was 100% free (outside of the domain charges, which go to somone else anyhow)

You could bring in pre-registered domains by getting the records changed at your registrar.

So, in that, to maintain the email address would cost you a fraction of the numbers you are looking at. And you could have a webpage also, just with a banner (they may have quit that though - my friend has a site with them and i dont recall seeing banners on his page, but i have a load of anti-banner software so im not sure either way!)

 

[mike os]

£3 a month.....

 

[julianf]

here you go - i looked it up -

http://www.000webhost.com/

 

[ukracer]

Ok, thanks for the input guys. I checked on the domain registration and I (well my firm) is the registered name against my domain.
The quote has come through at £7/month for 24 months hosting. We (the usual guy and me) agreed on a single static page, advising visitors of my location and phone number plus services offered etc.
Think I will have a shop round.

Best way of solving this is to renew your domain with 123-reg.. A single page cost nothing in terms of overheads to host and I could do that very easily on my host gator servers. for a one of payment of £20 for two years.

 

[graffian]

here you go - i looked it up -

http://www.000webhost.com/

I have a site with them, it has a paid for domain on it, doesn't have any banners as far as I know. I had three free[.cc] domains with them for a few years but they stopped them after the ftp hadn't been used for a year, the option is there to renew them but I haven't. Just had a look and no banners or adverts. Only problem I have had in the[must be around ten] years I have used 000.webhosts is email, it was down for a few days a couple of times, and my main email is using there servers.
I needed another domain and I bought a 99p hosting package from ebay, the bloke chucked in a .co.uk domain! I wasn't sure if he forgot to bill me for the domain or he intended on it being free? I have renewed it twice since and it's been cheap. Thats forthhosting, I wondered if it was run by a kid in his bedroom I mailed him in the middle of the night a few times, questions about mysql[site specific] and he answered within minutes.