Web hosting company suggestions AND who has terrible hosting.

[sKunKbad]

Although there are many threads/posts asking about shared web hosting suggestions, I thought it would be beneficial to hear from the more experienced phpfreaks members regarding specific questions.

 

I'm looking to change hosts, and am considering questions like:

 

1) What version of php? I'd prefer a 5.2.X installation. Many hosts don't keep their php installations current or even close to current.

2) Where is customer support located? I'd prefer somebody that doesn't have a strong accent. (I speak english, and am in USA).

3) Is mod rewrite available? Am I able to utilize .htaccess files, and what am I allowed to override?

4) How many domains can share the same hosting account? I need 3 for right now.

5) Are PEAR modules/packages installed? Can they be installed?

6) Beyond the bare bones php installation, are there extra php extensions installed?

7) Will technical support be a joke, like Godaddy, who's default answer to any question is, "It must be your custom script, and we don't help with that unless you pay us $70 an hour".

How many MySQL databases are available?

 

I'd like to be told if there are other important questions to consider. I've worked with godaddy, ixwebhosting, bmc, yahoo, and quiltropolis web hosting, and am considering going back to ixwebhosting, but would like some input before making the decision.

 

One thing that I liked about Godaddy was that when the site did work it seemed really fast, but their downtime and the amount of technical issues I've had with them in the last year is unacceptable. I'm not really interested in having everyone just list their favorite host. It might be better to have people list their favorite host and ALSO LIST reasons why other hosts really sucked.

 

Thanks for your input.

[trq]

Question has been asked many many times, in fact, there is a sticky at the top of this board that should have it covered.