bad idea to get domain and hosting through same company?

Joobs · 2 Feb 2007 at 11:48

I've read on some forums that it is a bad idea to get your domain and hosting through the same company?

Why is this exactly?

I'm going to get some hosting from vidahost, and i want to transfer the domain from namecheap to an english company, but not sure who to chose (looking for someone with good support).

Beansprout · 2 Feb 2007 at 12:01

It's seen as a bad idea because some unscrupulous companies will give you hell and slap on charges if you want to move your domain away, make changes etc.

Those companies are rare & should be steered clear from. Shouldn't have a problem with any decent ones

Additionally, specialist domain registrars such as 123-reg will give you more advanced control over your domain than most hosts will/can, but it all depends on what you need

Joobs · 2 Feb 2007 at 12:27

Its for a website of a non profit organsisation i voluneteer at. So i dont think i need any advanced controls.

I just want to transfer to a good english company, because currently our domain is set up in the name of an ex-volunteer (who has the login information) and trying to sort with out with namecheap is taking a long time due to different time zones etc.

stoofa · 2 Feb 2007 at 12:58

So long as the domain is registered in your name, you've got a Control Panel where you can make changes and there is nothing inthe small print about a transfer cost then these days it isn't so bad having them both with the same company.

However, I do have all of my domains with one company and my hosting is with another.
All of my domains are in the one place, I access them via a Control Panel, they are in my name and I've got full control over them.

Remember good UK based hosting will always cost more than a US company - space inside UK datacentres is simply more expensive.
Oh and make sure whoever you go with for hsotsing do NOT offer either unlimited disk space or unlimited data transfer.
Neither of these can ever be unlimited - it is far better to know what you are limited to before you get going than to find your sites off-line further down the line because unlimited really didn't mean unlimited after all.

foobar · 3 Feb 2007 at 19:59

Six of one, half a dozen of the other really.

Many prefer to have their domains at the same company as the host because it's just easier with one company to pay and have contact with in the event of any issues. Also, if the domain is with the host, they will usually take care of things like nameserver changes which some clients may not be too sure of.

On the other hand, others may consider this risky with stories always around of hosts disappearing or being very unreliable. If the domains are at a separate registrar it's not as difficult to move hosting because you control your own dns nameserver settings without having to go through the host.

My advice is to do your research very carefully and pick a hosting company that ticks all the boxes for being around in the long term. With a trustworthy and reliable host, there should be no issue with having your domain with them aswell.

Also worth noting that there is no technical difference in terms of speed, etc if you have your domain at a different registrar so don't opt to have it with your host just because you may think it will be faster.