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iPage Review: Web Hosting Review |
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| Cheapest on-year plan and fast server response time; uptime not the best; exclusive discount | |
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[Editor's note: iPage is currently offering NextAdvisor visitors an exclusive discount that brings the monthly price down from $5.25 to $3.50. There's no coupon necessary, just follow any of the links to iPage from NextAdvisor.com]
iPage is a new web host in the low-priced hosting business. Its offering is very similar to FatCow's, carrying many of the same components such as the ShopSite ecommerce program and the CM4all WebsiteCreator. It does have the cheapest single-year plan of any web host we've reviewed. Domain registration is free for life, though you must be sure to activate iPage's Domain Guard; it's not automatic. If you want to keep your registration info out of the public record, domain privacy will cost you $8.99 per year. Still, you're out the door for $50.99. A good price, though the bargain comes at some hits to performance. iPage uses the popular cPanel for site management, but also allows you to manage basic site functionality through a nice custom control panel. Add-ons, such as blogs, galleries, and forums are implemented through InstallCentral. It offers a lot of what the ubiquitous Fantastico script manager does, but it's much easier on the eyes. We were able to install Wordpress, the popular blogging platform, with ease. iPage also incorporates Google's Webmaster tools into the control panel. This helps you manage your Google site map and spend the included Google ad credits. Beginning web designers will love the Weebly Drag and Drop Builder. It's actually very fun to use, with animated WYSIWYG simplicity. The free version included with iPage limits you to 6 pages, and doesn't have a built-in ecommerce capabilities. Still, it will have you up-and-running quickly with a nice-looking, feature-rich web site that can hold a blog, youtube videos, audio, and a flickr slideshow. There's also the capable but somewhat kludgy CM4all WebsiteCreator that you can use, but we like Weebly better. Alternately, of course, you can upload your own site. If you need to sell goods online, the included ShopSite program is extremely easy to use, and is great for novice web merchants. IPage is a mixed bag in the performance department. During our four-month test period, its uptime was a little below the 99.88% group average at 99.81% (or five and a half hours of downtime). On the other hand, its response time was better than the group average at .381 seconds. However it was its handling of big media files that really left us wanting. The average speed of 4 minutes 38 seconds was so far behind the average of 1 minute 47 seconds, we would have to warn anyone interested in hosting their own media, including big graphics files, to look elsewhere. iPage's most distinguishing feature is the incorporation of a basic SiteLock Security Suite. SiteLock bills itself as "Security for Small Business" and provides a badge indicating site trustworthiness (somewhat similar to TRUSTe or Verisign). SiteLock provides very basic verification of your credentials (via your phone number) and performs a daily scan for malware and one complimentary scan for SQL Injections and cross-site scripting vulnerabilities 90 days after activation. If your site is safe, you get to display the SiteLock badge. It's good piece of mind, though complete protection from these threats would probably require more frequent scanning (which is why they encourage you to upgrade to the $199 per year plan). Still, it's hard to complain as it's a free service not provided by other web hosts. iPage provides 24/7 email, phone, and chat support. The phone support is based in North America and promises a hold time of less than two minutes. Our call was answered within seconds. Support was personable and helpful, with some modest attempts at up-selling. If you're not satisfied with the service, there's a 30-day money back guarantee for your hosting fees. If you do cancel in that period, you'll pay $15, mostly for the domain, which you will keep. If you cancel after 30 days, you'll get a refund for the remaining unused months, minus the above-mentioned fee. Ultimately we recommend iPage for its cheap single-year plan and Weebly site builder. The smoothly integrated add-on support, and easy shopping cart creator are nice too. IPage is also a green host, meaning they off-set their carbon emissions through the purchase of renewable energy credits. The only real caveat with iPage is an early indication of slow downloads on large files and a little higher than average downtime. Webmasters with particularly media-heavy sites may want to steer towards a more robust host like LunarPages. But at $3.50 per month for a single-year commitment, the price is hard to beat. |
| Cheapest Plan: | $3.50/mo 1 year (after exclusive discount) |
| 1 Year Plan: | $42.00/yr; $3.50/mo (after exclusive discount) |
| $ Back Guarantee: | 30-day full refund, prorated after; $15.00 domain charge |
| Domain: | Free for life with Domain Guard activation |
| Support: | Email, Phone, Chat |
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