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Web Hosting Pad Web Hosting Review |
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| Good choice for intermediate users looking for a cheap hosting option | |
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Web Hosting Pad is one of the most affordable web hosts we reviewed. At $4.95 per month, for a year, it comes in at the lower range for web hosting services. One domain name is included and there are no extra registration fees. Domain privacy is also included for free, a feature we strongly recommend for individuals, and that some other web hosts charge for, but there's at least one major caveat.
Your hosting service buys you "unlimited" storage and data transfer, comparable with most other hosting options. It also buys you a rather standard set of page-building and shopping cart options, none of them stellar in terms of ease-of-use, but acceptable for those who want to learn them. The SoHo sitebuilder is counter-intuitive at first. Users looking for a particularly nice set of online site creation tools would be urged to look at Yahoo! or HostGator. One thing to keep in mind is that Web Hosting Pad's terms-of-service prohibit distribution of multimedia products. It may explain that while we were able to upload our 83MB test site in a speedy nine minutes, our 78MB video played in fits and starts. While not the worst video performance we've seen, users looking to provide music, video, or other high-bandwidth downloads should look elsewhere. We had some trouble with our shopping-cart installations, which is not uncommon for web hosts, since the web host often uses applications designed by other companies. We had to call a toll-free technical support number to get our shopping cart to work. Tech support was capable and the hold-time was short. One other thing to note is that after the fairly standard 30-day money-back guarantee, there are no refunds offered. This is unusual for a web hosting company, so if you do chose Web Hosting Pad, make sure you're happy with the offering early on. All-in-all Web Hosting Pad is a good solution for budget-conscious users who either plan on creating their own site offline, or don't mind learning a somewhat unintuitive site-builder. You also need to be comfortable with the limitations on multimedia restrictions. While you won't find it as nicely thought-through as some of the more full-service options, you can't beat the price. |
Service Details:
| Cheapest Plan: | $1.99/mo 3 years |
| 1 Year Plan: | $59.40/yr; $4.95/mo |
| $ Back Guarantee: | 30-day full refund, no refund after; $14.95 domain charge |
| Domain: | Free for life |
| Support: | Email, Phone, Chat |
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