4.0 stars

U GET WHAT U PAY FOR

Overall summary: An outstanding set of features for a very low price. Good support and user forum. Not recommended for large or mission-critical sites though, due to poor reliability and a limited total number of files that can be hosted. Features and Value For $5/month you get more features than most people will ever need - currently 110 gigabytes of disk space, 5 terabits/month of bandwidth, 110 domain pointers and unlimited mail accounts, mySQL databases etc. Admittedly, you have to sign up for 24 months to get that price, but if you leave early they promptly refund the unused portion. This includes features that are sometimes missing or cost extra at other hosts, such as your own IP address, SSH access, shared SSL, mailman "discussion" mailing lists, Ruby on Rails, anti-virus scanning and a user forum. They also offer more expensive "true multisite" accounts, a bit like reseller accounts with their own control panels.

They currently advertise a "free website time machine" call Flashback but I believe it has been withdrawn, so their advertising is not really honest here. They have their own control panel, but it's just a "skin" over cPanel with all the same features (and a few extra bugs, such as a file manager that added extra characters to the end of files and set incorrect file permissions!). One unusual trick though is that it can access webmail via the usual http or https ports (80 and 443) instead of the strange port cPanel uses (2095), that sometimes gets blocked by corporate firewalls.

Support and Reliability: Their support staff are generally helpful and unusually knowledgeable - probably the best of any hosting company I've experienced so far.

Response times are not always quick, especially at weekends, but the overall time to solve a problem is good because they don't waste time asking stupid questions. Their user forum is also very useful, although marred by heavy-handed moderation of anything vaguely critical. The set of icons that can be used to label discussion threads have had all unhappy faces removed - how pathetic! There's an unusually comprehensive wiki-style user manual.

Unfortunately, they're not very good at monitoring and maintaining their servers. Their web site claims "ultra-low number of sites per server", "our customers love the extra speed they get" and "99.9% uptime guaranteed" but my own experience over many months and two different servers was that pages would often load slowly or not at all, and 99.9% uptime was never achieved. This was particularly frustrating when trying to access webmail, which could be impossible to reach for a whole day. They often seemed to be unaware of these problems and it was very hard to get anyone to acknowledge or address them, even when shown evidence from monitoring logs. Ultimately taking care of servers is what webhosting is all about and these problems were one of the main reasons I left. Site5 don't give you any help when migrating, and in fact I had to raise several tickets to get misconfiguration of my account corrected before everything would work. They don't even help when migrating between two of their own servers - the recommended way is to sign up for a new account, download all your files, upload them to the new server, configure them, change all your nameserver settings, wait for the DNS propagation then terminate the old account when everything is working. It's not difficult but it takes several days, during which your sites are offline for a while. Plus the time for the inevitable tickets to be resolved.

Restrictions: Another reason I left was their "30,000 file" limit. 30,000 may sound like an awful lot of files, but it's surprisingly easy to exceed if you install some standard applications like phpBB or Gallery, each of which can quietly add many thousands of files to your site (even when empty). I only have half a dozen small "community" sites with a couple of forums, one photo gallery and a shopping cart, but I was way over the limit without realizing. I was still over the limit even after trimming them down by removing all unused language packs and templates. This limit also means it's effectively impossible to use some of your web space for offsite file storage (e.g. for incremental backups or for accessing files away from home). I've discovered that many cheaper hosting companies have limits like this, possibly because large numbers of files cause backups to fail, and it's definitely a significant "gotcha" to watch out for. There are other usage restrictions (e.g. a maximum of 15 concurrent MySQL connections, 50 simultaneous Apache connections or 200 mail messages per hour) that could be a problem for popular sites.

Don't expect to get dedicated server performance for a fraction of the price!

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4.0 stars

UNDERSTANDING

We are a web design company. We have been with site5.com for over 3 years. The best experience we have had among all the hosting companies we tried. Their support is superb. Very quick, understanding and to the point.

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4.0 stars

GREAT

Site was hacked and tech was great in IDing the problem, restoring the site, and helping troubleshoot the problems that arose afterwards.

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4.0 stars

AWESOME

Simply awesome service. Was able to have an issue with an email account, on my reseller platform, resolved in an extremely short period of time (for the record it was also late Saturday night/Sunday morning when Site5 responded!). I have been a very happy customer of Site5 for a couple of years, and this was the first time I actually needed technical support - it was both a relief and pleasure have a problem resolved in a manner that exceeded my expectations.

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4.0 stars

GREAT HOST

I had an issue with Site Builder, and submitted a ticket. Site5 was very prompt and courteous in responding to the ticket, and almost immediately attempted to resolve the issue. It turned out that it took a couple of days to finally resolve the issue, but Site5 staff kept me informed as to their progress, and did resolve it to my complete satisfaction. My experience here was consistent with what I have heard about Site5's responsiveness, which was one of the reasons I chose Site5 in the first place.

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4.0 stars

SITE5 REVIEW BY MOHAMED

Excellent hosting service. Amazingly quick and friendly support. Their servers are relaiable, and they're very generous with bandwidth. I recommend them to anyone with serious need for professional web hosting.

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4.0 stars

SITE5 ROCKS!

Site5 rocks! Support is really helpful. ;) Site5's also really nice uptimes.

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4.0 stars

SITE5 REVIEW BY TOM TEMAGAMI

I have been with Site5 for over 10 years and would never change. I left them once for a short time (maybe 1-2 months) then came right back to stay.

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4.0 stars

SITE5 REVIEW BY VISIONSXPRESSED

The Site5 support service just keeps getting better and better! Quick replies, great attitudes, and always with customer satisfaction in mind. The icing on the cake is that they take the time to explain when I don't understand something. I truly appreciate each and every one these guys!

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4.0 stars

SITE5 IS GREAT

They are cheap, fast, efficient and reliable. I emailed them with a question and twenty minutes later got the answer... they are all great people there, and all deserve a great round of applause! I emailed support on a little problem I had and they emailed me back within twenty minutes, and were polite and professional. Hi Jacob, "Thank you for writing, and for your recent order. I apologize for the unexpected delay encountered with your recent order. It appears that our telephone verification system did not provide an initial "0" digit, which is understandably confusing. I have reviewed your order personally and see no reason to hold it any longer -- as such, I have provisioned your new account and your new welcome message has been dispatched automatically. You are all set! If you have any additional questions or concerns, feel free to contact us at anytime. Thanks again, and welcome aboard."

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4.0 stars

SITE5 REVIEW BY JAMES

I have 5 sites being hosted with site 5 using there domain pointer feature. First I wold like to say that their uptime has been really good for me.

Their customer service is some of the worst I have ever seen. I have been hosting a couple Ruby on Rails apps with them and there have been multiple issues in which I have needed support (20plus). Their response time to my questions is at the very soonest 12 hours and usually around 16 - 24 hours. When they do respond, it is usually with another question of insufficient response. So, it going back and forth with them at that rate takes forever to resolve an issue.

If your site goes down with something more than just the norm, I would expect at least 2 days before it gets fixed and a week is what I'm used to.

So overall, the hosting has been good, the customer service horrible. It's up to you weather you want to host with them or not, but you better be patient if you do.

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4.0 stars

SITE5 REVIEW BY JONATHAN

I had a good and bad experience with Site5. They really do care about the customers, but their uptime was sub-par to my expectancy. This is the biggest reason why I moved to dedicated hosting. Site5 has great services and has great shared hosting plans. They have an in-house-developed cPanel theme which is really nice to use. They've been in the industry for a very long time and they know what they're doing, they're just still going through some growing pains.

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4.0 stars

SITE5 ROCKS

Easy to use, support si always fast and correct. Answers on the first go round. A previous provider - not so much - actually, not even close. I am pleased every day that I swithched to Site5!

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4.0 stars

SITE5 - AWESOME WEBHOSTING

I was let down dramatically by my last web host, a ton of downtime and poor support had left my website rapidly loosing visitors and was running out of options as to what I could do. I chose Site5 after a little bit of research and recommendation from a friend, and so far it has been the best web host I have used.

I didn't get off to a very good start with Site5. Unfortunately they don't accept PayPal, and while this is only a minor hindrance it does make a difference, but after a quick email to their billing department and a swift response I registered with Site5 using a credit card, instead of PayPal.

I have never ceased to be amazed by the excellent response and professionalism of Site5 whenever I have had a question, they were quick to respond to my emails and support tickets and I can't say I have ever had a problem with the server. One time I had a question about the version of PHP they were using and I received a response and had everything sorted within 30 minutes � and there are time zone differences from where I live to the data centre. I've had no downtime that I am aware of, no server crashes or MySQL errors. Never have any of my domains been slow to respond or unavailable, I�ve never had problems with the Site5 website or logging into the backstage system. When adding on domains, Site5 has picked up the nameservers quickly and on several occasions I have had my domains up and running in an hour or two, far quicker than in previous experience with other hosts. Everything just ticks over smoothly, and it's great to know that my website is in safe hands with support when I need it, I know I�m guaranteed a fast response and I don�t have to worry if my websites are going to still be there in a couple of days.

The backend panel (called backstage and account manager at Site5) is also very stunning. Visually it�s very impressive and much easier to use than the normal cPanel that comes with hosting. Everything is split up into categories at the side of the website which makes for quick access to any part of the website and control panel that you need. It also contains everything you�d expect, from Fantastico and AwStats to phpMyAdmin. Even though I had never seen the backend before I signed up with Site5 and it was a shock to see something other than cPanel there, I quickly got the hang of it and round it much more pleasant and easier to use.

A great referrals system is also included in Site5, whereby referring people to Site5 can make a fair amount of money. Even just referring a couple of friends, the amount that you can achieve through the system is very large.

Overall, Site5 is an excellent host with great value for money, extensive and knowledgeable customer service and it continues to serve me well!

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4.0 stars

SITE5 REVIEW BY FRANCO N.

Site five used to be awsome, a 4 out of 5, since the new owners have taken over it is even better 5/5. Great systems, great support, serious escalation. I love that I am taken totally seriously even when I am wrong. As of Oct 2009, I have moved all my web hosting business and all my Consulting Clients to Site5.

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4.0 stars

SITE5 REVIEW BY BASSIN

I've been with Site5 for almost two years now and couldn't be happier. They supply some neat back-end utilities ie: messageboards, shopping carts etc. that I have found extremely useful. When I have required assistance, I submitted a ticket from their control panel and within a day I have a helpful response. Good deal for the dough!

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4.0 stars

SITE5 REVIEW BY SANTAI

Support : only a ticket system, at times wish was voice but. Any and all problems i have had, DNS, server overloads ( due to others on it ) restoring an old back up have always been done in a timely manner - their order to accomplish things. Server/ site has been and i feel is quicker than most other shared hosting. Not a real active site, vBulletin still its nice for people, and me not to have to "wait" for my turn to get a page, as with php its all dynamic and needs to be processed before it can be displayed. Watch server loads - all day, avg: less than .1 ( 4 processors ) 90% of the time. Kenj / GFXstyles

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4.0 stars

DON'T EXPECT DEDICATED SERVER PERFORMANCE FOR A FRACTION OF THE PRICE!

Overall summary: An outstanding set of features for a very low price. Good support and user forum. Not recommended for large or mission-critical sites though, due to poor reliability and a limited total number of files that can be hosted. Features and Value For $5/month you get more features than most people will ever need - currently 110 gigabytes of disk space, 5 terabits/month of bandwidth, 110 domain pointers and unlimited mail accounts, mySQL databases etc. Admittedly, you have to sign up for 24 months to get that price, but if you leave early they promptly refund the unused portion. This includes features that are sometimes missing or cost extra at other hosts, such as your own IP address, SSH access, shared SSL, mailman "discussion" mailing lists, Ruby on Rails, anti-virus scanning and a user forum. They also offer more expensive "true multisite" accounts, a bit like reseller accounts with their own control panels. They currently advertise a "free website time machine" call Flashback but I believe it has been withdrawn, so their advertising is not really honest here. They have their own control panel, but it's just a "skin" over cPanel with all the same features (and a few extra bugs, such as a file manager that added extra characters to the end of files and set incorrect file permissions!). One unusual trick though is that it can access webmail via the usual http or https ports (80 and 443) instead of the strange port cPanel uses (2095), that sometimes gets blocked by corporate firewalls. Support and Reliability Their support staff are generally helpful and unusually knowledgeable - probably the best of any hosting company I've experienced so far. Response times are not always quick, especially at weekends, but the overall time to solve a problem is good because they don't waste time asking stupid questions. Their user forum is also very useful, although marred by heavy-handed moderation of anything vaguely critical. The set of icons that can be used to label discussion threads have had all unhappy faces removed - how pathetic! There's an unusually comprehensive wiki-style user manual. Unfortunately, they're not very good at monitoring and maintaining their servers. Their web site claims "ultra-low number of sites per server", "our customers love the extra speed they get" and "99.9% uptime guaranteed" but my own experience over many months and two different servers was that pages would often load slowly or not at all, and 99.9% uptime was never achieved. This was particularly frustrating when trying to access webmail, which could be impossible to reach for a whole day. They often seemed to be unaware of these problems and it was very hard to get anyone to acknowledge or address them, even when shown evidence from monitoring logs. Ultimately taking care of servers is what webhosting is all about and these problems were one of the main reasons I left. Site5 don't give you any help when migrating, and in fact I had to raise several tickets to get misconfiguration of my account corrected before everything would work. They don't even help when migrating between two of their own servers - the recommended way is to sign up for a new account, download all your files, upload them to the new server, configure them, change all your nameserver settings, wait for the DNS propagation then terminate the old account when everything is working. It's not difficult but it takes several days, during which your sites are offline for a while. Plus the time for the inevitable tickets to be resolved. Restrictions Another reason I left was their "30,000 file" limit. 30,000 may sound like an awful lot of files, but it's surprisingly easy to exceed if you install some standard applications like phpBB or Gallery, each of which can quietly add many thousands of files to your site (even when empty). I only have half a dozen small "community" sites with a couple of forums, one photo gallery and a shopping cart, but I was way over the limit without realizing. I was still over the limit even after trimming them down by removing all unused language packs and templates. This limit also means it's effectively impossible to use some of your web space for offsite file storage (e.g. for incremental backups or for accessing files away from home). I've discovered that many cheaper hosting companies have limits like this, possibly because large numbers of files cause backups to fail, and it's definitely a significant "gotcha" to watch out for. There are other usage restrictions (e.g. a maximum of 15 concurrent MySQL connections, 50 simultaneous Apache connections or 200 mail messages per hour) that could be a problem for popular sites. Don't expect to get dedicated server performance for a fraction of the price!

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4.0 stars

HOSTING IS TOP NOTCH

I made the switch to Site5 quite a few months ago after my currently employer was telling me about it as he had a few sites on the hosting service. I was a skeptic as I already had a fairly decent hosting service provider at the time and they were providing me with adequate space and bandwidth at the time. I decided to take up the offer to try out Site5 using their promotion to allow me to transfer my entire website to them and to receive a credit to my account.

I am not going to lie, I have had an issue here and there with their interface or with a domain not forwarding properly. However, even with the issues, there is a powerful support team there from what I could see. I have always received the best responses from their support team as they help to fix the problems whether it's a problem I have made or something that is wrong in their system. They are also fast to respond when there is an issue which itself was an issue on my old provider.

I find their services to be quick and the hosting is top notch. I haven't had any downtime on the sites aside from self-caused downtime due to problems with my domain registrar. Beyond that, the servers are fast and everything is setup in a decent amount of time. This is everything I could ask from a hosting provider and I am proud to be a client.

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4.0 stars

SITE5 REVIEW BY RACHAEL

It's October now and I've been with Site5 since July. I'm on a reseller account, which is great value for money, especially with the $100 dollar rebate and the exchange rate from USD to GBP! Technical support have been more than helpful. I had one little problem with my cpanel which was fixed within an hour. Site5 also have a very friendly and helpful forum community that are just as good, if not better, being able to help with questions / problems, than the tech support. I would definitely recommend Site5 to others. I already have done, and I will continue to do so.

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