How'd I find them?

Well, it was one boring afternoon, and I was just typing in words in the address bar. For some queer reason, I typed in www.catalog.com. I was expecting to find a site which sends me free catalogs (as if I don't get enough already) and was quite surprised to find that it was a web hosting comany. Coincidentally, I was looking for a web host, and Catalog.com seemed like a good web host. (they are rated #1 by www.cnet.com).

Free Web Hosting!

The main reason, I believe, any one would join catalog.com is because they offer free web hosting if you register a domain name through their site. Unlike other web sites, you don't get free web hosting for a month or two-- but for your life. The best part is that you get some of the greatest features for free, and you don't get any annoying banners or pop-ups on your site. You are allowed 20 MB Disk Space, 1 GB Bandwidth, SSL Protected Pages, Free E-Mail Acccount and so much more! You are probably thinking to yourself, "and they probably charge $50 for registering a domain," but no, you are wrong. You can register a domain for as little as $35/year, which is the average cost for registering a domain.

But I already have a site!

If you already have a site, you are unfortunately, ineligible for their Free Web Hosting Plan. You will have to choose between their Virtual or Dedicated Servers which range from $30 to $3000. They have plans for UNIX Servers and NT Servers. I signed up for their NT-Developer Plan, which is $59.95. Since I didn't sign up for any other plans, I will not be able to go over those.

Features of NT-Developer Plan

This is the most advanced plan for the NT Virtual Servers available at Catalog.com. It allows 500 MB Disk Space, 20 GB Transfer (extra 2 cents for each MB), 100 email accounts, auto responders, forwards, ODBC/DSN Connections, Custom DLL's, Cold Fusion, VBScript, Perl, Unrestricted CGI-Bin, SSL Protected Pages, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Frontpage, Microsoft SQL Server, 5000 Item Catalog and much more.

The Sign up Process

Before I signed up with Catalog.com, I emailed them with questions-- like will they be able to handle 30 GB of Bandwith each month and about some of the features I found unclear on their site. For about a week, I kept on exchanging emails with a representative from their site. From what he told me, the plan was perfect for my site.

The First Month

My First month with Catalog.com was better than my previous web host (Pennyhost), yet they still weren't worth the price. I was paying three times as much, and the services they offered didn't seem like they were worth it. The site was very slow, and produced various errors.

Some of the scripts weren't working on their site-- so I had to spend an entire week changing that. I didn't know why their site didn't allow it and Pennyhost's did. One of the scripts that wasn't working was of JMAIL (which was supposed to be installed on their servers). When I called them and asked them why it isn't working, they said "Oh, that isn't installed, please just use ASPEmail Instead." I was quite dissapointed, it says on their site that it one of the available SMTP Components!

Month Later

Now, its a month later and I still use them. For about a week I have been asking them to install Frontpage Extensions on my server. When I signed up with them, the Frontpage Extensions were installed, but all of a sudden then they disappeared, and then they reinstalled it, but then again they disappeared. I called them yesterday and asked what is up with that-- they said they don't know. When I asked them if they could reinstall it, they said sure but there would be a charge of $25. NOWHERE on their site does it say that they will charge that-- its suppose to be free. But I had no option, because I need those extensions badly. I have not been able to make any changes to the site for a week-- and I need to make some. So I said go ahead. They said the extensions would be installed by 6. (yesterday). It is the next day today and the extensions are still not installed. Their Customer Service Department is closed on weekends, so here, they have wasted more time!

Yet, still using them

Yet, I am still using Catalog.com. Because now the speed of my site is faster-- it loads in a descent amount of time. But then again, its maybe because half my customers left me earlier due to site problems. (it used to be extremely slow a week earlier) And besides, I can't find anyone else who has as many features as Catalog.com. I use all the features they have and I need them too. I have thought about going with Dedicated Server several times, but well, is expensive!

Conclusion

I would recommend Catalog.com to my friends, despite all the problems I have had, because no company is perfect. I have dealt with several web hosting companies, and the best one so far is NRWW. They have excellent support and the site is fast. The only problem is that they have UNIX Servers and I need NT Servers. I think that Catalog.com is somewhat reliable and they do try their best. (it just might not be enough though!)

Recommended: Yes

Monthly fees (US$): 60
Platform used: Windows NT
Hosted on Secure Server: Yes
Database used: MSQL
Main focus of Web site: Sales/E-commerce