We Hosting Problem

Following from my previous thread, I decided to go for webhost4life as my web hosting provider. Unfortunately I am already starting to regret this decision. I got the web space OK but the domain registration process is made more difficult that it needs to be. They seem to be using Godaddy or someone else to handle it but they dress it up to look like their site. But what annoyed me was the fact that after I went through the registration process, they cancelled it. They did not say why, it was simply an automated email that told me. When I emailled to ask for an explanation, I received more automated replies but nothing else. This lack of support is very disappointing. I could call the helpline, but I don't want to have to call the U.S from here especially as I only have a mobile and no landline.

So what I want to know is, can I register the domain through someone else e.g. 123reg and get it to point to my web hosting? I don't understand why such companies offer a service for around $8.99 to transfer domains if it isn't necessary for what I want to do.

My knowledge of this kind of thing isn't that great so I would really appreciate it if someone could explain it a bit.

Cheers.

Well, if you register for both the domain, and hosting with another company you could set a redirect or something to that other site, but tranfers usually do cost some $

How much did you pay already? Could you just quit that deal and find a better and more reliable one?

That's pretty bad. I went with z-host.com and got an entire year's hosting plus domain name for under £20, and it was set up and working in literally minutes.

I've had a few problems with z-host since (they updated cPanel and broke most of it), but they seem to have bucked up their ideas lately and everything's working great.

I never use the same company to register my domain and host the site.

If you end up in dispute, they can hold your domain to ransom. Not good.

I always use planetdomain.co.uk because they are very efficient, don't bug me to purchase 'value-added' products and give me a nice clean interface to freely configure all aspects of my domains. The only emails I ever get from them are a 1 month warning of expiry of my domains.

Hosting is hit and miss. 1&1 are good but pricey. Zen are more than excellent, but feature-starved on their low-end products.

Shop around for places offering a 1-month contract until you find a decent one.

Zen used to be my ISP (until about two weeks ago). Can't fault them anywhere, except on their prices.

Yes you can register a domain name with a company and point it to another companies hosting service.

I have domain names with 123reg and godaddy and use their respective control panels to point the domain name. Most of the time it's a simple case of telling the domain which name servers to use.

JKP, are you transferring a domain?

When I transferred my domains not to long ago, I had to go to the registrar that had it and turn on a setting that said it could be transferred. Then I went to the new domain registrar and requested the transfer.

Maybe your current registrar cancelled the transfer and you have to OK it through them before they will allow it to happen.

well, little ad from my host here...
hostmysite.com
I work with them for like 4 5 years, I never had a serious issue, they are just too great!
there is a live chat, they are on 24/7.
Very pro!

If you want to host some things, you ca ntry BlueHost imho, good cPanel is a nice utility for your maintainance, and you can host multiple sites in one account.