Likelihood to Recommend Dreamhost was previously a great web host with reliable service and top-notch features, but I can no longer recommend them. If you're looking for web hosting on a Linux platform (such as running PHP or platforms like Wordpress, Jooma, or Drupal), with simple pricing services, then this is the great service for you. One big downside is lack of phone customer support. This is especially frustrating because of their many issues the last few weeks, which aren't easily resolved or addressed by their team.
Read full review My experience with using Network Solutions hasn't been great. At best, it has almost feature parity with its competitors at a higher price. But when you tack on all the minor annoyances of being given interstitial ads for their other products or discount offers when logging in or performing a transfer, the all too common bugs where a feature doesn't work, and in my experience support takes at least a half-hour to understand your problem before even attempting to fail at a resolution. It just isn't worth it in my opinion. Go with a service with better support, features, security, and lower price.
Read full review Pros Customer service is industry-best. We've never had a problem that wasn't solved by them almost immediately. Their dashboard is extremely easy to use and doesn't cause any confusion at all. Their website speeds are good but not great. In an age when speed is important, they are good enough, especially for the price. They have a great backup feature. Read full review Network solutions supports TXT, MX, and CNAME records. DNS changes propagate fairly quickly. Network Solutions has a web management portal for maintenance of your account. Read full review Cons They could have better deploy solutions for not so experienced users More integration with external services to automate some tasks Better ways to track hosting performance The user management could be easier to understand Read full review Support for Free Open Source 3rd party products you have to pay for the help Calling Network Solutions during busy periods can lead to an overflow center which isn't as helpful as the domestic support centers Pricing could be more competitive on domain name registration Email boxes could have a larger capacity without having to pay for more space Read full review Likelihood to Renew We have every intention of staying with Dreamhost, but we are a tad concerned with the company's recent involvement in high profile litigation and controversial topics. While we don't take a position one way or another on what type of content they should host, one concern we have is that repeated attacks on their infrastructure have caused significant downtime during business hours for us, and that's something we'll have to take into consideration going forward.
Read full review Usability The backend for managing your domain is very easy to work thru once you learn where everything is and what it is for if you want to do it yourself. The company has toll free phone support 24/7 that can also make changes for you if you are away from your desktop or have an emergency situation where you can't make the change yourself. This is peace of mind knowing that there is help out there should you need it. You don't have to learn the backend if you want to have the Network Solutions customer support team help you. They are secure and won't make changes for anyone who calls, they authenticate you for your protection every time
Read full review Support Rating Whether we're calling in on the phone, live chatting or emailing, we get immediate high-quality, native English-speaking support. This cannot be overstated when it comes to hosting, because support tickets are usually time sensitive and high stress. I've always had great experiences with the limited times we've needed to use DreamHost support. We've dealt with support for many other providers and no one comes close to DreamHost.
Read full review For the most part I've had excellent interactions with the customer support team I've dealt with at Network Solutions. When I've needed help with something like Wordpress, it hasn't always worked out so well but you can pay their techs for 1 on 1 help with these offerings, you just won't have the support for free. I've often been talked to on upsells for services that I particularly didn't need and found the offers to be annoying when the agents kept pushing me on an upsell instead of addressing my issue. It's hit or miss on that, perhaps it depends on the department you speak with.
Read full review Alternatives Considered We've tried a few other WordPress-specific hosts, as well as other shared hosting providers (Rackspace, WPEngine, and others). We have found that DreamHost gives the best balance of cost, performance, and features, for our needs. All vendors have their own pitfalls and shortcomings, and DreamHost isn't without its own, but it works for us.
Read full review Based on my experience to date, I would rate Network Solutions easily at the bottom of the list. I have not previously and would not select Network Solutions, but have worked with it as related to sites and clients previously set up there.
Read full review Return on Investment The service can really be a positive value with its very solid performance and lack of downtime issues found with other services. For those with limited hosting or web development knowledge, the service can be a challenge to fully utilize. Sometimes this may mean additional training. The service also provides a number of expansion opportunities for growing with greater functionalities. Read full review Huge time sink for routine activities. Higher direct costs than competitors with similar or better features. Poor service leading to even more expense of time on the user's side. Read full review ScreenShots