[Wasp]

Bit of a newby on this so excuse my ignorance on the subject.

A friend's currently running a website created on Webplus x4, which is being hosted under his 1&1 account.

I will be taking it over - so the intention is that he transfers the domain name to my web host, and then sends me the webplus file to upload.

Is there a good free hosting site anyone can recommend?

The site gets little traffic, so bandwidth and storage not really an issue - but I really don't want any adverts popping up!

Apart from low space/bandwidth/adverts what are the disadvantages of using a free host?

What about Free Web Hosting with PHP, MySQL, Email Sending, No Ads ? Only 250mb storage but no ads.

Thanks for any help.

[accyuklad]

just search free hosting on google there be a few

[Wasp]

I realise there are plenty out there, but being inexperienced would like some recommendations and advice as my origianl post.

[noiseboy72]

250MB should be more than enough and Webplus does not use anything more complicated than basic (And usually quite poorly compiled) HTML. There is no requirment for PHP, MYSQL or anything else as it does not use a Content Management System.

Best advice when using free services is to back up everything, as they tend to disappear after a few years, sometimes without notice. Also, make sure that you minimse large images and play with the build order of items on the page, so if bandwidth is limited, the most important elements of the page build first.

Most free providers will limit the size of individual files - normally to 4MB or so. This is to prevent the hosting of videos and large images on their servers. Probably not an issue for you, but worth checking.

Can't see any big issues with the company you highlighted.

[noiseboy72]

Just done a quick ping test on their home page and it is quite slow compared to various sites I have paid hosting for and located in the UK.

Might not be an issue, but could be an indication of high server load.

[LJx]

i have used awardspace, it was easy and no ads

[daveyp007]

What i am about to suggest isnt free but at least it will be more reliable and allot cheaper than 1&1 check out TitanADSL Web hosting | TitanADSL - Broadband at it's best, Fibre Optic Broadband (FTTC), 20Mbs Unlimited Broadband, Complete Line and broadband packages, 0844 numbers and Web hosting services i use their base hosting package for £19.99 per year.

[Wasp]

Thanks. What's the process involved when transferring the domain name?

The Webplus x4 software says it has 18 months free web hosting with it (not received it yet), so I will probably go with that.

[faceoff1980]

Free hosts are good but generally tend to come with allot of advertising and minimal support.

[Wasp]

To update, I've taken up Serif's 18 months of free hosting which came with the software. The only drawback is that it's limited to 1 subdomain - so for the time being the current host is being pointed to the domain name to Serifs name server - this should be do the job until the offer expires, and then it can be reviewed.