Let's start with the issues. Nothing like having the bad news first, right? 😀
I set up a new HostGator account last week and I've been having all kinds of disconnect issues, as well as incredibly slow loading pages and images.
I figured it was something to do with that site specifically, as I have several other HostGator accounts that seem to be doing just fine... but I've heard reports from other users that they are experiencing the same on their end.
If you have hosting accounts with HostGator, I'd love to hear from you either way - any issues with your accounts over the past week?
To be fair, I've never had any major issues with HostGator and their support is second to none. In fact, I can't think of a single issue I've had with them at all. So I'm inclined to wait this out as I'm sure it will be resolved rather quickly.
Earlier today I received the HostGator Newsletter, which I thought might mention the issue so I opened it up. No mention of that, but there were a couple of cool points in that email.
First is that you can find HostGator on Twitter: @hostgator - "In addition to updates and news about HostGator, unofficial support is provided via the company Twitter account". I can vouch for this, as they sent a timely response while I was having a conversation with someone else about HostGator just this week.
Second was about an upcoming live webinar that looks interesting:
HostGator Live
On Wednesday, July 29 at 8 PM central time, HostGator is hosting a live webinar and question and answer session for HostGator customers. The webinar will include:
- Tips on how to get the most out of your HostGator account.
- Exclusive discounts, deals, and giveaways
- Introduction to and question and answers about our upcoming Windows Shared Hosting offering
- Question and answers with senior HostGator employees and management
- See our blog post for more details, including information on how to listen in and participate.
And... I saved the best for last 😀 ...
Special Offer:
Save 20% on your next hosting plan or order with HostGator. Use the coupon code hgnews7.
You can also use the coupon code "wordpress" to get your first month of hosting for only a penny, so you'll have to do the math and see which coupon code would save you most on your order.
Like I said upfront, some of the accounts seem to be having an issue this week, but not all. But I'm sure that will get resolved fairly quick. I've been through some real hosting nightmares (!) in my years online, and HostGator is the absolute best host I've worked with to date.
I love the fact that they're doing the live webinar. That is scheduled for this coming Wednesday, so be sure to mark you calendar. 😉
Best,
p.s. HostGator allows you to host unlimited domains, websites, blogs etc on your one hosting account, for less than $10/month. I always use the account that is $9.95/month (or $7.95/mo if paid annually).
About Lynn Terry
Hi Lynn,
I've had 2 accounts with HostGator for over a year and like you, I've never had any problems with them, until earlier this week.
The account I host my membership site on was unreachable for approximately 10 minutes. But I'm definitely not complaining, there's not very many hosting companies that can claim the uptime that HostGator does.
@SharonMcP
I use HostGator for multiple sites and love them so far.
I use HostGator for a few of my affiliate sites, but I haven't had any problems this week. I hope it all works out for you! 🙂
-David
Probably just a glitch but it's possible they were hit by a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack as were Yahoo, Amazon and some US gov. sites the first part of this month. I've been using iContact for email management for about a year with zero issues and they went completely down last week due to a similar attack . They cleared it quickly and sent out a notification of the problem and fix, only to have it happen again almost immediately. Knowing what the issue was, they quickly fixed it again. Hopefully HostGator has cleared up whatever it was they had. I don't use their service as I have my own server, but I've heard only good things about them.
I have been using HostGator since November 2008 and have only had downtime one time and it was for 1/2 hr. I was happy with the way that they handled the situation and have been overall happy with them.
Their site seemed to be having problems earlier. I couldn't login to the affiliate admin area. All kinds of errors showing on the pages. Seems to be back up & running fine now.
While HG isn't my main hosting service now, I do maintain an account for a few sites and feel they are one of the very best for shared hosting services. For most people, HG will be a great choice. Their tech support is generally very good.
Have Fun!
Rick
I have had a few problems over the past two months such as when I change something on one of my sites the whole site seems to be damaged after I've had this happen twice. My sites are also loading slowly and they don't even have much on them. I'm not sure if they have down time or not yet.
When my reseller site, on which I have multiple sites, went down on Saturday, I called them and they said that someone on the server had done something that was using up too many resources, which slowed the whole server down. The only way to avoid this is to have a dedicated server. Another time when I had trouble, they said it was a DOS attack.
Host Gator is one of the best in the marketplace. I few issues were noted by my web developers over the past 2 weeks but didn't last long. I can't complain as I love their customer service.
Therese Prentice
@inthelivingroom
I use HostGator for my clients as well as my personal websites. In the past 2 years I have never had any problems with the service they provide. They are easy to work with and one of the best out there, not to mention the value.
I have hostgator for several websites and all of my stuff seems to be working fine. One thing I love about hostgator is the customer service/support. I left another hosting company because their customer support sucked.
There was probably a glitch or maybe they were just experiencing some technical problems. They've been one of the most reliable from the reviews I've read. Their service does seem to be topnotch. Excellent customer service should always be a priority for companies 🙂 Thanks!
Yes, my site just started today(acting up- sidebars and similar article post below the main content box.), that I noticed. There is nothing new that I did maybe it will correct itself later. I will let it ride for now. Along with support of HostGator, they have always helped me out and never a problem. The only problems were my own caused by the 10day secret plugin. (something to that effect) I really did not have any good luck with that, just---. Can you point me towards somebody who does inbound linking for me, reasonably priced. What are some of the methods you use for inbound linking for new sites. Thanks
I use Hostgator for all my websites and thier support is outstanding! As for the problems you are experience with pages loading slowly, I have not seen this with my websites at all. Hope that helps!
Kristina
@PartyPlanCompanies.com
Glad I decided to read this today. Somehow Hostgator and I got crossed wires earlier this week and the new hosting account I thought I had - not there and it dropped into a black hole.
I'm not especially concerned because using Paypal it was never processed but I did find it a bit unsettling.
Thanks for the heads-up.
Hey Georjina - any idea what happened with your account? That's unusual for sure. HostGator has been really awesome as a host. Even with their issues the last week or so you see a lot of positive comments here. That says a lot! 😉
Hey Lynn,
I just ran across this on HostGator's blog and thought it was interesting. It recounts an outage on Aug 5, 09 at their corporate offices, and details how it was handled. It is an unrelated incident, but I think it shows their dedication to service. I have used HostGator for about 6 months now and have been happy with their level of service, so I was surprised to hear you were having problems. After seeing this, it helps reaffirm my feelings toward their service.
Forgot the link 🙂
http://blog.hostgator.com/2009/08/10/anatomy-of-an-outage/
I never had major issues with hostgator. The only thing that I hate is the FTP access. Sometimes is way too slow and takes too much to connect. Maybe is just my internet connection but is very annoying.