IX Webhosting started hosting websites back in 1999. Since then they have achieved massive growth in a short period of time, primarily due to positive word of mouth and outstanding service. They recently opened a new data center in Hopkinsville, KY. Over 80,000 loyal customers swear by them and use their hosting services daily.
Many hosting companies guarantee 99.9% uptime, but IX Webhosting was one of the few that actually quantified how they would compensate you if the servers did go down. Keep in mind, no hosting company can guarantee 100% uptime and if they do, run away as fast as possible.
Here's what IX Webhosting will do for you if your site goes down:
1. If downtime exceeds 0.1%, you will be credited.
2. Every 3 hours of downtime, receive 1 free month.
3. For 24 hours downtime, receive 1 free year.
We set up 17 accounts and tested them over a 3 month period and all 17 accounts achieved 100% uptime. They also offer a strong 30-day and any-time money back guarantee. When a company backs up their promise with their own money and they do it in writing, it impresses me a lot.
Score - 10/10
IX Webhosting's lowest price offer is $4.95 per month and no set-up fee when you pay for 12 months in advance. It's called the 'Expert Plan'. They also offer different priced packages, but we're going to focus on this plan for the review.
For the price, you get a lot for your money. You get 20Gb of disk space and 250GB of data transfer monthly. You also get 2 dedicated IP addresses and 20 subdomains. This plan gives you one free domain registration.
Some of the additional hosting features include 2500 pop3/imap email accounts, 2500 ftp accounts, and 2 domain aliases. You also get support for perl, php, ssi, cgi-bin, and Frontpage extensions.
Score - 9/10
This is an area that IX Webhosting excels in. You can contact them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, everyday of the year via phone, chat, or email. Having phone contact whenever you need it is huge because your able to get to the heart of a problem or question in minutes instead of days. Also, the staff at IX Webhosting is extremely well trained and we're able to handle highly technical questions with no problems.
One of the unique selling points that IX Webhosting has is their 'one-hour response guarantee'. When you submit a ticket through the help desk, they promise to get back to you within an hour. I didn't believe this because I've dealt with companies that take days to respond back to you when you submit a simple ticket.
So we tested them.
In the past 3 months, we submitted 57 tickets through the help desk and every single one of them was answered within an hour. On 6 of them, we had to go back and forth a couple of times to clarify the answer, but all of the rest of them were handled within the hour. This was impressive to say the least.
The customer service we received at IX Webhosting is excellent and I'm sure you'll receive the same.
Score - 10/10
When you log into your account at IX Webhosting, you'll be using a H-Sphere control panel. It's extremely easy to use and quite robust with all of the things you can do with.
You'll be able to add and remove subdomains in real time, handle your ftp uploading and downloading, use Frontpage, manage your email accounts and all passwords, and password protect directories in real time.
All of the instructions are laid out in a user-friendly, easy to understand manner. And if you run into something you don't understand, help is a single phone call away.
Score - 9/10
Overall, I give IX Webhosting an A and I highly recommend them. If it wasn't for the incredible service and experience I had with Jhost.com, IX Webhosting would be the top choice for 2007. You won't go wrong choosing them as your webhost and IX Webhosting lands at the #2 spot for 2007.