The most workable independent web host?

[Leaf22]

I found NamePros from a review on TrustPilot (about Epik), and this seems like the best place to ask. I've been on a grueling "quick search" for a decent host for the past two days now, based on the following very absurd standard:

Is there a decently reputable USA web host free of Google/Amazon/MS/Alibaba (i.e., Big Tech) data sharing (and at least somewhat user-friendly)?

It's just wild how tough this is. And if this has been asked before, please let me know and I'll read those/delete this if the latter's possible

So far, my efforts have me considering InMotion, which uses UltraStack, whatever that is. Seems like InMotion offer weak RAM (dressed up with high burst rates), but I'll pay a little more if someone fits the bill. Thanks in advance!

 

[inforg]

I am also looking for a new hosting provider. I was with Bluehost for a long time, but they are eliminating the unlimited websites package and pricing has increased quite a bit. I use very few resources and only have a few running sites at the moment, but being able to have the ability to build a bunch of websites to test ideas is important to me.

I have narrowed it down to Dreamhost and A2Hosting, but would be interested to hear about others with unlimited website capability. I guess the main decision factor is what you will be using it for and the requirements for that.

 

[Leaf22]

A2 has great reviews on TrustPilot. Do you know if they use their own independent servers/infrastructure without relying on Google, AWS, Azure, and the like?

 

[A1EX]

I was in the same boat and literally just signed up for InMotion about 15 days ago, (I did the 1 month at a time plan incase I hated it, I paid 2 years upfront for NameHero right before this because I was promised something by there support that wasnt offered after signup and it was an insane process to get my money back, even though they say "30-Day Money Back") So with InMotion I got the R-1000N reseller plan with a dedicated IP, so far it has been great, super fast, I don't host much, but I wanted something with a dedicated IP and separate accounts incase anyone else I know wants to host a small site. Customer service very responsive (even after you signup, which is the issue with a lot of other company's) as for user friendliness, the AMP or (Account Management Panel) is very simple and there is even a quick click for listing all the Account Technical Details for when you need login info or server info fast... everything else is pretty straight forward if you are familiar with cPanel, if not... cpanel is also pretty simple. Im sure they would be happy to answer you in there chat about your "Google/Amazon/MS/Alibaba (i.e., Big Tech)" question, hope this helps in some way...

 

[Leaf22]

Just got an A2 rep stating they are "fully in house" and don't use Google Cloud, AWS, Azure, or Alibaba.

Thanks, A1EX! They've been very responsive to me too. Maybe with a little less shmoozing, the further I get into the process, I can see now; but as long as they hit my marks, oh well. They confirmed multiple times at my pestering that they don't use said bad actors. The rep pointed me to a link about their "UltraStack" system, which says its proprietary and lists the software they use. Seems good!

I appreciate your other tips, and best of luck! I'll probably pull the trigger and put this to-do list task out of its misery, omdg

 

[JB Lions]

I have shared hosting with:

HostGator
Dreamhost
Bluehost

No problems with them, besides my HostGator getting hacked, my fault for not being more secure. But I was looking for one more, and if I get a new one, it would be Hostinger, great reviews all over the place, top favorite for shared/affordable hosting -

Reviews​

21,722 • Excellent
https://www.trustpilot.com/review/hostinger.com?utm_medium=trustbox&utm_source=Mini

Shared hosting good for most people out there, my sites are usually niche sites nowadays, so not tons of traffic, I have one site that gets 100,000+ uniques a few days a year, and cached plugin handles that with ease.

 

[A1EX]

Just got an A2 rep stating they are "fully in house" and don't use Google Cloud, AWS, Azure, or Alibaba.

Thanks, A1EX! They've been very responsive to me too. Maybe with a little less shmoozing, the further I get into the process, I can see now; but as long as they hit my marks, oh well. They confirmed multiple times at my pestering that they don't use said bad actors. The rep pointed me to a link about their "UltraStack" system, which says its proprietary and lists the software they use. Seems good!

I appreciate your other tips, and best of luck! I'll probably pull the trigger and put this to-do list task out of its misery, omdg

Great! Yeah I would suggest signing up for a longer term plan to save money on the black friday/cyber monday sales... Since I did a month, i cant get the deal and they can only offer me 10% off on longer term commitments... It's my fault, just the experience with the other hosting company freaked me out... I would rather them get my $6 and I could just walk away no questions then pay $540 and deal with that again

 

[Leaf22]

Great! Yeah I would suggest signing up for a longer term plan to save money on the black friday/cyber monday sales...

I was torn on that, because I don't know what quality to expect. The savings for several years amounted to less than $20, though, compared to a single year. I plan on switching providers next black friday (timing A.F.), and just hop deals like this, pain and all, until I know what I'm doing. I took extremely thorough notes this time.

On sealing in deals: MochaHost has a "lifetime discount guarantee" (only on select plans) which seems amazing. I'd be using them if it weren't for an issue I wrote, then deleted, from my original post...
i.e., I chatted with their (and their parent company's) reps for a long time, got multiple assurances they don't use Google, AWS, etc.. ... I get hours into it, read the whole ToS, and at the very end, they listed all the companies they had assured me they didn't use. : / (they were very kind, though, and admitted they were mistaken when I pointed it out)

Web-host shopping with standards is a nightmare. I hope Web3 happens and cuts it all off at the knees; but at that rate, maybe I should just pray for a massive solar flare instead
--
Thank you, JB Lions!

 

[A1EX]

I was torn on that, because I don't know what quality to expect. The savings for several years amounted to less than $20, though, compared to a single year. I plan on switching providers next black friday (timing A.F.), and just hop deals like this, pain and all, until I know what I'm doing. I took extremely thorough notes this time.

On sealing in deals: MochaHost has a "lifetime discount guarantee" (only on select plans) which seems amazing. I'd be using them if it weren't for an issue I wrote, then deleted, from my original post...
i.e., I chatted with their (and their parent company's) reps for a long time, got multiple assurances they don't use Google, AWS, etc.. ... I get hours into it, read the whole ToS, and at the very end, they listed all the companies they had assured me they didn't use. : /

Web-host shopping with standards is a nightmare. I hope Web3 happens and cuts it all off at the knees; but at that rate, maybe I should just pray for a massive solar flare instead

Time to buy a server for the house haha

 

[Leaf22]

Well, looks like InMotion requires G Captcha, after telling me all day they don't use Google..... refund city.

 

[A1EX]

Well, looks like InMotion requires G Captcha, after telling me all day they don't use Google..... refund city.

Oh sorry, didn't know that you wanted not even a recaptcha, geeze... good luck with your search, but with the way things are you honestly may have to buy your own server if your going that strict.

 

[JB Lions]

Figures, now my Bluehost sites have been down last few hours. Chat guy pushing me on SiteLock, just like the HostGator people did. It's kind of like they're causing problems intentionally to drive business on over.

--------
I’ll be very happy if I can help you in safeguarding your account from hackers, malware etc. We have a team of experts helping customers in safeguarding their accounts. This service is called SiteLock and our specialists will recommend the exact plan to suit your website requirements. Please help me with your contact number so that I can schedule a call with them for you.

------
So after my Hostgator incident, I made sure my other Hosting accounts are locked down.

 

[Leaf22]

Oh sorry, didn't know that you wanted not even a recaptcha, geeze... good luck with your search, but with the way things are you honestly may have to buy your own server if your going that strict.

Thank you.

For the sake of thoroughness, I'll add A2 also probably requires captcha (they mysteriously didn't want to give a firm answer; these people are crazy).

 

[Leaf22]

It's kind of like they're causing problems intentionally to drive business on over.

It really does seem like that. Like they have more incentive to drain their own resources (for some reason?) than to give people what they actually want.

 

[JB Lions]

It really does seem like that. Like they have more incentive to drain their own resources (for some reason?) than to give people what they actually want.

You know i just noticed this as well. The past week I've been getting a lot of Wordfence alerts. Something I enabled after my Hostgator issues. All the same:

Wordpress Alert
Wordfence is blocking these attacks, and we're sending this notice to make you aware that there is a higher volume of the attacks than usual. Additionally, the Wordfence Real-Time IP Blocklist can block known attackers' IP addresses automatically for Premium users, including any probing requests that may not be malicious on their own. All Wordfence users can also opt to block the attacking IPs manually if desired. As always, be sure to watch your scan results and keep your plugins, themes and WordPress core version updated.

Below is a sample of these recent attacks:
.............

So I have Wordfence enabled on all my sites, all 3 hosting accounts.

But I'm only getting alerts for sites hosted on the one I'm having trouble with now, Bluehost. Since Wordfence wants me to upgrade to paid version as well.

 

[Leaf22]

Can anyone say if Hostinger requires Google Captcha to log in to a user portal? They don't have very accessible support unless you make a purchase (catch 22).

 

[Leaf22]

Great Moses! I just got word from Scala Hosting that:

A) We don't require Google Captcha to login to your client's area or the control panel.
B) All of our plans use our own data centers - New York, Dallas and Europe. We have separate plans with AWS data centers
C) We don't use any software from any of these major companies you have mentioned.
D) Yes, we provide Rocky Linux 8 for all of our Managed VPSes and different Linux OSes for our self-managed VPSes

 

[Leaf22]

...and I can attest that they (Scala Hosting) were correct. No captchas. And I took your advice after all, A1EX, and locked in the price for 3 years. Not going through all that again.

 

[Leaf22]

And they lied.

 

[A1EX]

And they lied.

You weren't kidding about a "grueling search"!

 

[Leaf22]

You weren't kidding about a "grueling search"!

I'll definitely try to mine this experience and my notes for an anti-captcha web-browser buyer's guide. That's what the world needs.

 

[webhostuk]

I found NamePros from a review on TrustPilot (about Epik), and this seems like the best place to ask. I've been on a grueling "quick search" for a decent host for the past two days now, based on the following very absurd standard:

Is there a decently reputable USA web host free of Google/Amazon/MS/Alibaba (i.e., Big Tech) data sharing (and at least somewhat user-friendly)?

It's just wild how tough this is. And if this has been asked before, please let me know and I'll read those/delete this if the latter's possible

So far, my efforts have me considering InMotion, which uses UltraStack, whatever that is. Seems like InMotion offer weak RAM (dressed up with high burst rates), but I'll pay a little more if someone fits the bill. Thanks in advance!

You can try Rshosting.com over 20 years in hosting .. as said they are independent as well.

 

[Leaf22]

You can try Rshosting.com over 20 years in hosting .. as said they are independent as well.

Thank you, they look excellent. It looks like they use Google Captcha at the client login, though, but I can't tell. Can you say if they do?
-
After everything, I went with something from Hostinger (even though it wasn't my first choice), because they use hCaptcha instead of Google. Lol, this is the sum total of trying to contend with high technicality + fear of bad actors + being a beginner.

For thoroughness' sake, to anyone relying on my dead ends for their own purposes, I'll say that Scala admitted the mistake and initiated a refund right away; InMotion has yet to initiate one (both were perfectly nice--and I should have realized I could have confirmed the captcha angle myself by just checking the client login pages instead of constantly asking).