Thursday, May 06, 2004

Domain name for you

Domain name

A lot of people have asked me about getting their own domain name in the last few weeks. I think this is one of the real neat things about the Internet. No mater how many times you change Internet Service Providers (ISP) your email address will never change. If you have a Home Page the address (URL) will never change either.

My kids wanted to get me a birthday gift fitting for the Geek that I am some five years ago. They registered WB9OTX.COM, this was my Ham Radio call sign and I have renewed it each year sense. It was a very nice gift back then as it was $70 per year and you had to buy it for two years, thus 70 + 70 = 140 = very nice birthday gift. You are lucky now as the price has came down to $7.95 or even free with some companies if you buy storage for your Web Page. The price ranges from free to about $30 a year, so shop around for the best deal. Some domain registering companies offer extra features like extra mail accounts and the like too. Read the fine print and ask around to see what companies others are using.

Some domain sales companies have very complicated control panels; this is where you set up the email and Web Page forwarding. GoDady sells names for $7.95 but the control panel is a nightmare to configure. I did use a company called Namesecure.com, the cost was $15 but their control panel was very easy to configure, even I could figure it out with ease. I now have dedicated servers to store all of the Web Pages I do for others and myself. I pay through the nose for the space, but it comes with guarantees and tons of extras that I need.

If you have a Home page and want dependable service with a free domain name look at
IX Web Hosting This company is top rated and do you know if you call them on the phone a human will actually say hello, how can I help you. Their control panel is very easy to use also. The starter plan is $5 per month, this is the same price as Tripod but you get a free domain name and all the storage and bandwidth most could ever use. Read the fine print on Tripod, you will find the deal they offer is not so good, been there – done that. I have used IX Web Hosting for well over a year and I think they are the best for the little guy and the fat cat big guy also. (like me)