By Guest. on 3rd May 2008
Guest.'s Ratings| Reliability | 9/10  |
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| Customer Service | 9/10 |
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| Speed Consistency | 9/10 |
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| Value for money | 4/10 |
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| Overall value | 7/10 |
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 Guest.'s recommendation |
Good Points
Reliable web-hosting using clarahost package.
Technical issues with domain registration renewal sorted quickly i.e., 5 minute phone call.
Online invoices a welcome addition to services.
Very good web-statistics.
Bad Points
Won't let you send e-mail via clarahost account (using products like outlook) unless you are using clara.net as the connection ISP. An unhelpful restriction if several people work from home using their own ISP's (i.e.,broadband). Having 50 mail boxes is OK in principal to receive, though having to respond using the web-based e-mail is unproductive.
Expensive for me and hosting when compared to the wider market as far as I am concerned..
General Comments
I have used clara.net for roughly 5+ years for hosting. So far, the service has been reliable. However, the benefits offered by the SoHo package at over 140 pounds (when paid monthly) per year are not as good as other providers in my experience.
The restriction on sending e-mail is the biggest issue. When I first joined clara.net, e-mail could be sent and recieved, which was perfect. However, later this became restricted because some businesses were sending junk mail.
Surely, clara.net has the technology to track offenders, so that the rest of us can be allowed to send e-mail without connecting to them as the ISP (or perhaps this was a business ploy to earn a little extra cash).
Overall, the bad points have never been bad enough for me to be forced to move. However, the market is competitive and I think clara.net needs to address this in its pricing structure.
