I've been building and maintaining web sites for several years now. I've signed up with several, and at this point I'm left with 2 hosts that have fit my needs. I use HostGator and AIT.
The web host that I use exclusively for new domains now is HostGator. The reason is two-fold:
1. The price is awesome. I've actually spread out several dozen domains over 3 separate servers, just to control the risk if there's significant downtime on one of them (actually there has never been any downtime that I've noticed).
2. The service is absolutely outstanding.
When investigating web hosting companies, I found bad reviews about every one of them, horror stories in fact. I even found a bad review or two about HostGator, but decided to take the plunge. On the rare occasion when I do have a problem (I've had several occasions to contact them), I can always get ahold of someone quickly.
Forget having to fill out a support ticket and wait, I have no time for that when I have work to do. With HostGator I've tried all 3 forms of support that they offer: email, phone, and live chat. Response in all three different methods has been exceptional. Even at odd hours and on weekends, I've never waited, as far as I can remember, more than an hour for an email response, and on phone calls, I don't ever remember being put on hold with a voicemail system.
As far as AIT, I do have a dedicated server with them, and have used that host the longest. Due to the number of domains and the complex software scripts that I have with them, it would take months to move away, so I don't. Their support has been usually fair, sometimes excellent, sometimes abysmal. I guess that's the case with most hosting companies, except it doesn't seem to be the case with HostGator.
I've recommended HostGator to dozens of members of my membership site, and I've never been told that they felt I gave them a bad referral, so I'll continue to recommend HostGator to everyone that asks. If you do sign up for a hosting plan, I recommend the plan that includes unlimited domains, the storage and bandwidth they allocate to you is generous and the features, which include cPanel and Fantastico, are top of the line.
