WestHost Review and Test Results


Editor, NCMOnline.com

Summary

spacer. Ranking: 4.5 stars.
spacer. Cheapest Hosting Plan: (1-year term renewal)* $6.00 per month
spacer. Current Coupon Code: 50FURTHER
spacer. Company Founded: 1998
spacer. Domains Hosted: Unpublished
spacer. 24×7 Phone Support: Yes
spacer. Money-Back Guarantee: 30 days
spacer. BBB Rating: A+
spacer. Website: http://www.westhost.com/

*Price above based on 1-year term before application of coupon code/introductory discount. While you may pay less for the first year of hosting, unless otherwise indicated, the pricing displayed on this page is the 1-year term renewal rate. Star ratings based on a 0.5 minimum to 5 star maximum scale. Why you can trust this WestHost review. >

The Bottom Line

RECOMMENDED

Having heard little about the company, we did not have high expectations for WestHost. What we found was a reliable, A+ BBB-rated, easy-to-use, low-cost service with 24/7, US-based phone, chat, and e-mail support, backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.

The WestHost experience begins with the simple, 2-step sign-up process. The “Welcome” e-mail contains all of the info required to set up your website quickly, while cPanel and the Softaculous apps installer enhance functionality and usability. Speed and uptime testing yielded average page load times and a perfect 100% reliability score.

On balance, WestHost has earned the NCM Online designation of RECOMMENDED.

Visit WestHost >>

Rating

Price: 3.5 stars.
Ease-of-Use: 5 stars.
Disk Space: 4.5 stars.
Bandwidth: 5 stars.
Speed: 3.5 stars.
Uptime: 5 stars.
Support: 5 stars.
BBB Rating: 5 stars.
Guarantee: 4 stars.
Satisfaction: 4.5 stars.
TOTAL: 4.5 stars.

Review

HOSTING PLANS

WestHost offers three low-cost shared hosting plans: Personal, Preferred, and Business. Limited to one website, one MySQL 5 database (required for applications like WordPress), 10 subdomains, 100 e-mail accounts, and 100 FTP accounts, the Personal plan is the lowest-cost and includes the greatest number of restrictions, but we found both the disk space and bandwidth allotments to be more than adequate for most sites. The Preferred plan is geared towards larger, high-traffic sites like forums and news sites; while the Business plan is designed for shopping cart equipped e-commerce sites.

Screenshot of WestHost homepage. Click image to visit site.
PURCHASE PROCESS

As is our practice for testing and reviewing purposes, we purchased the cheapest available plan — Personal — using the PayPal payment option. The 2-step WestHost sign-up process is beautifully brief and straightforward. There is no attempt to trick you into transferring your domain name away from your current registrar. Unnecessary options are not automatically added into the shopping cart, and there is no fine print to read concerning renewal rates. The price you see is the price you pay. Simply select your plan and renewal term, enter your billing information, and you are on your way.

Screenshot of WestHost and GoDaddy Welcome e-mails. Click to enlarge.

WestHost and GoDaddy “Welcome” e-mails. Click to enlarge.

SETUP

The “Welcome” e-mail arrived approximately 9 hours after placing our order — indicating that new accounts are likely processed and/or approved manually. It remains the most comprehensive “Welcome” e-mail we have received to date. It provides complete account, cPanel, FTP, nameserver, e-mail, and support information. This allowed us to have our test site up and running in minutes.

For purposes of comparison, we have created a screenshot that includes both the WestHost and GoDaddy “Welcome” e-mails. It may seem like a minor point to some, but we have little use for the GoDaddy e-mail. It means that we will have to contact support or search for the answers to a number of pertinent questions:

  • What is the control panel URL?
  • What are the nameserver (DNS) settings?
  • What is my FTP login information
  • Is the FTP login the same as the control panel login?
  • Is there a default FTP account, or will I need to create one?
  • What are the mailserver names and port numbers?

Finding answers to the above questions is a waste of my time and GoDaddy’s resources. That information can be easily provided in a single e-mail as WestHost does. GoDaddy may have better looking spokespersons, but I’d rather deal with the smiling chubby guy at WestHost. He delivers.

In keeping with its committment to usability, WestHost provides the cPanel control panel for website administration. We have seen a number of different control panels, but we have yet to find one that can match cPanel for its wealth of features and ease of use. Further, installing applications like WordPress is quick and easy with the included Softaculous apps installer.

Screenshot of WestHost Speed Test Results Chart 4/18/14–4/27/14. Click to enlarge.

WestHost Speed Test Results Chart. Click to enlarge.

TESTING

WestHost speed and uptime testing began April 18th and was completed on April 27th. Speed testing results for our simple 1-page test site were somewhat average (see speed test results chart right). Site speed was fastest when accessed from California with a page load time of 1.1373 seconds. Site speed was slowest when accessed from Hong Kong, recording an average of 1.5431 seconds to load our test site.

All web hosting services reviewed by NCM Online are purchased and subjected to our 10-day test for uptime and speed. WestHost recorded an average speed of 1.4835 seconds to load our test site from 13 locations worldwide, and 1.1674 seconds from 7 U.S. locations. Tested for uptime every 15 minutes over 10 days, WestHost produced a perfect 100% reliability score (see uptime test results chart below right).

Screenshot of WestHost Uptime Test Results Chart 4/18/14–4/27/14. Click to enlarge.

WestHost Uptime Test Results Chart. Click to enlarge.

Pros

  • Very user-friendly
  • Straightforward, 2-step sign up process
  • “Welcome” e-mail includes information required to set up your site quickly
  • Generous disk space and bandwidth
  • 24×7, US-based phone, chat and e-mail support
  • cPanel control panel
  • Softaculous apps installer
  • 30-day money-back guarantee
  • A+ BBB rating

Cons

  • Average page-load speeds
  • 9-hour delay between purchase and receipt of “Welcome” e-mail

Conclusion

Perfect for inexperienced webmasters and web hosting newbies, WestHost provides reliable, low-cost hosting that is easy to buy, easy to use, and easy to maintain.

WestHost has earned 4.5 stars and is recommended by NCM Online.

Pricing and Features

Cheap website hosting company price comparisons based on 1-year term list price before coupon/promo codes or limited time/introductory offer discounts. These are the renewal rates for the second year of hosting. To ensure that you receive the most affordable WestHost pricing possible, please visit our Web Hosting Coupon Codes page for current discounts and special offers before making any purchases.

Plan Personal Preferred Business
Disk Space 50GB 200GB Unlimited
Bandwidth 1000GB 2500GB Unlimited
Setup FREE FREE FREE
Domain Name $12.50 Free Free
Included Websites 1 Unlimited Unlimited
MySQL 5 Databases 1 Unlimited Unlimited
Emails per Hour 1000 1000 1000
Sub Domains 10 Unlimited Unlimited
Dedicated SSL Certificate $33 $33 Checkmark.
Continuous Data Protection (CDP) $3/mo Checkmark. Checkmark.
Dedicated IP $2/mo $2/mo Checkmark.
Free File and Database Transfers Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Exclusive WestHost Features
cPanel Control Panel Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Toll Free 24/7 US Support Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Instant Activation Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Network Wide Backups Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Ad-Free Hosting Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
WordPress Support Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Softaculous Application Installer Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
SSH Access Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Email Features
Emails per Hour 1000 1000 1000
Email Accounts 100 Unlimited Unlimited
Email Forwarders/Aliases 100 Unlimited Unlimited
SpamAssassin Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
SMTP Access Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
POP3/IMAP Support Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Mailing Lists X Unlimited Unlimited
Enterprise-Class Webmail Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Exim Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
GnuPG PGP Secure Email Encryption Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Auto-Responders 10 Unlimited Unlimited
Advanced Hosting Features
PHP 5 Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
FTP Accounts 100 Unlimited Unlimited
Web Database Manager (phpMyAdmin) Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Python Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Private .htaccess Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Supports Custom php.ini Files Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Customizable MIME Types Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Custom Apache Error Pages Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Web-based File Manager Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Cron Job Editor Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
DNS Zone Editor Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Perl-CGI Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Personal CGI-BIN Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
IP Banning Access Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
File Handlers Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
GD Graphics Library Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
ImageMagick 5+ Support Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Server Side Includes (SSI) Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
PHP Nuke Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
cURL Library Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Hotlink Protection Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Data Center Specs
CentOS 5 w/Apache 2 Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Gigabit Ethernet Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
RAID 10 Redundancy Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
SAS 70 Type II Compliant Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Tier 3 classification Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Onsite WestHost Staff for Monitoring & Service Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Cold Aisle Containment & Cooling Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Redundant Power Sources Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Multiple Network Carriers Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
VESDA Smoke Detection System Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Disaster-Safe Location Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
24×7 Security and Digital Video Surveillance Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
30” Raised Flooring Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Online Statistics
Analog Log File Analysis Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Visitor Tracking Reports Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Sub-Domain Stats Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Access to Raw Log Files Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Advanced Web Stats (AWStats) Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
E-Commerce Features
OsCommerce Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Zen Cart Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Magento Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Shared SSL Certificate Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Agora Cart Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Cube Cart Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Merchant Account Support Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Pay Pal Support Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Password Protected Directories Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Web Design Features
CMS Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
FTP Client Support Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Instant Blog Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Instant Forums Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Instant Guest Book Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Dreamweaver Support Checkmark. Checkmark. Checkmark.
Price per Month* $6.00 $11.00 $15.00

*Prices based on 1-year term before the application of coupon/promo codes and introductory/limited-time offer discounts. While you may pay less for the first year of hosting, the prices displayed on this page are the 1-year term renewal rates.

Company Information

WestHost was founded in 1998 as a self-financed venture and its goal has always been to offer the dependable and powerful web hosting for customers throughout the world. After more than ten years the company maintains strong financial growth and profitability while serving global clients.

Screenshot of WestHost homepage. Click image to visit site.

In 2008 WestHost was acquired by the UK2 Group, a prominent hosting provider that further expanded its global presence through the purchase. The united power of the several hosting firms in the UK2 Group allows WestHost to provide clients with affordable yet exceptional web hosting.

The company has continued as a leader in the hosting business by following its original objective of combining the best technology available with outstanding customer support. The firm’s continued commitment to honesty and ethics has led to content customers and multiple industry awards.

The company’s large subscriber base requires a diverse range of hosting services. WestHost has tailored its offerings to fill these needs through services that are both flexible and scalable. The services available to clients include domain registration, shared, reseller and cloud web hosting, website design, e-commerce tools, dedicated servers, and account solutions for merchants.

WestHost’s offerings represent high value for an affordable price. Hosting packages contain free extra features that numerous competitors charge for as “add-ons.” The company’s US-based support provides prompt, informative answers presented in an easily understandable and friendly way. The firm offers a thirty day money-back guarantee in order to back its claims and give clients a chance to test drive its services.

WestHost is always focused and working towards meeting its clients’ needs. The company plans to continue as a low-cost, comprehensive Web hosting provider, with a dependable infrastructure, secure hosting environment, redundant and reliable connections, and high quality 24/7 client support. Premium hosting services are only be as good their supporting infrastructure. WestHost is meticulous in choosing where client data is hosted – at a Tier-3 center, which offers the security level that customers would expect at major banks and financial companies.

WestHost is headquartered in Providence (near Logan) in Utah, at the center of the beautiful Cache Valley. Utah State University and numerous expanding businesses that depend on high-quality web hosting are located in Logan. The firm proudly provides such hosting services and also helps support the local community. It aids community economic growth by offering programs, including Webucation, to local college and university students.

WestHost Corporate Headquarters 517 W 100 N Suite 225 Providence, UT 84332 800-222-2165 435-755-3433 Fax 435-755-3449 WestHost Website WestHost on Twitter WestHost on Facebook WestHost on Google+ WestHost on LinkedIn

How to Install WordPress

This video tutorial demonstrates the installation of WordPress on a WestHost shared hosting account using cPanel and the Softaculous 1-click applications installer.



Bullet green large.Visit http://www.westhost.com/

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