Any suggestions for a new host?

[drewstair]

I just signed up with Verio to host my site. I was with a company before that I had no problems with, but I had to find a new host so that I could use shopsite (I am a bcentral user but they are shutting down). Thus far in updating my site I am noticing constant issues like images not loading (both on my site and in shopsite) and "system unavailable" messages. I haven't updated the DNS servers yet so thankfully my customers aren't seeing this. If this is what I can expect from Verio, there is no way I am going to stick around. Nit to mention all the bad reviews I am now reading. I checked out Lexiconn as I see it is highly recommended here, but they seem to offer rediculously low space. 900mb storage for $40 a month? Gimme a break. My site is at around 600mb now and will easily swell to a gig in 6 months. I need someone fast, reliable and knowledgable. Any suggestions?

And while we are at it, anyone have any shopping cart recommendations that use the "orderAnywhere" style system that shopsite uses? The SS layout and order processing is horrendous. But it seems I am stuck with it unless I want to switch my site over to php.

[VinceS]

We've been a Lexicon customer for at least four years now and couldn't be happier.

Outages are practically non-existent, technical support is fast, reliable, knowledgeable and most important AVAILABLE!

They have a great suite of add on tools that have improved our website significantly.

We left our original provider (who shall remain nameless) because their downtime was killing us and their tech support sucked. We left after our site was down for nearly a week because those bozos couldn’t get their act together. And trust me, they’re still listed as a host provider.

If you’re worried about paying $40 a month more for Lexicon than some other host, I suggest you think about how much you stand to lose by being down just one day.

[tinabel]

I'll second the Lexiconn suggestion. My client (www.giftsbydelivery.com) has been with Lexiconn for a few years now and we've both been extremely impressed (and this comes from someone who has been with a few different hosts and has seen how bad hosting can be). While it's $40/month, they have excellent service, you can call them if you have a problem and they're courteous and helpful, and we've had no problems with downtime.

Remember, just like everything else in life, you get what you pay for with hosting. What you pay for with Lexiconn is excellent service rendered by people who always have the customer in mind.

[Jeff]

Lexiconn isn't just our host. They also serve without cost as our technical consultant and Shopsite expert every hour of the year without fail.

Especially if you're new to SS, going with them or one of three or four other SS expert hosts would be the smart/cheap way to go. Once your store is running perfectly, you could consider switching to a host with a slightly lower "sticker price" but I doubt you will want to.

If the ability to speak with an expert BY PHONE matters to you (it sure does to me) then consider Lexiconn.

[knucklehead]

Last year Verio migrated our site to a new server; when they did, shop site was down for a week becuase they did not know how to make it work. So they put us back on the original server.

In December, Verio deleted our website without warning; they decommissioned the server we were on (they didn't think there was live customer on it??????????).

DAYS later, when they put us on a new server...

We noticed that they used a 3-month old backup of our website to load onto the new server. The three month old version had sales that were listed that were over, customers were asking us to honor the sale prices that we were not able to, prices had changed...a nightmare...

Then the new server could not process some of the asp code that we were using on ALL of our lead forms becuase it was dif version of windows server. So even when the website came up we could not handle customer inquiries.


They told me that they would see if they could have the code written for me becuase of the problems had experienced. The quote for the code (from thier coders came back at the cost of $6000!!!! of which they were willing to pay half!!! ( The code originally cost me $50 to have written!) Generous offer eh? Pay us $3000 for $50 worth of code as a gesture of our good will.

I left Verio for PAIR, and I had the new code written for $500 (cost more because we added more bells and features and I'll throw in inflation for good measure).

Verio cost us so much heartache, lost revenue, forced us to divert manpower to fix VERIO mistakes when we needed the hours in other areas of the company....

That's my story...Pass it on!

[tonytdm]

LEXICONN!!!!

[beley]

I'm a designer and business owner, and of all the ShopSite hosts we've used (at least 6 of them) Lexiconn was the best, by a mile.

Their in house expertise in ShopSite is unmatched (except maybe for the ShopSite guys themselves) and they have truly excellent support. Nights, weekends, if you have a problem, they'll have it fixed in no time.

The ONLY reason we don't currently host with them is that we have two fully managed dedicated servers and are ShopSite Certiied Hosting Partners ourselves (we only host sites we create).

Even a few of our clients host with Lexiconn, and they are probably the only other company we will work with. They are truly professionals in what they do.

You won't find recommendations for many other hosting companies on these boards at least.

[mtgotraders]

Yup i'm on lexiconn too and it's the first host where i've had no problems.

[MgmtSpec]

Hi,

I've used Pair networks for over a decade for both non-ecommerce and ShopSite hosting. Hundreds of sites, and dozens of ShopSites - they've been excellent.

Never used Lexicon, but never heard anything bad about them either.

[dgray]

I will put in a second recommendation for Pair. Their support is consistently fast and knowledgeable. I was recommended to Pair and didn't know about Lexiconn when I signed but I think these two may be the best.

[salman]

Hi, This post is very informative, however I would like some specific information. If someone can help me then please send me a private message. Best Regards,

[Jim]

Advertising of non-ShopSite related issues/products is not permitted in the forum. I have removed your links from your post.

If you have specific ShopSite related questions please post them to the forum.

[ridgeeq]

I would also recommend pair networks. We switched to them about 3 months ago after dealing with verio's garbage for years. We only had a shopsite store with verio for about 1 year.

From the second we signed up pair networks was far and away better than verio ever was. Good, responsive customer service, much faster performance from the site, and 5 GB of space on the shopsite pro account.

[dmsride]

I agree with ridgeeq, Pair has been a great host for our sites. They are really quick in responding to issues, seem very knowledgeable on the Shop Site product. We recently ran into a known bug with 8.3 and Pair installed the fix for us within about 2 hours of my call. They're quick, friendly, and a smart bunch. Good luck with your search.