Need ISP and host

I did a search and came up with this page:
http://www.netacclaim.co.uk/freeisp/

From it, I can glean that this site has both ISP and FP ext support.

http://www.free-online.net/

Others may too, but the information was not easy to find.

HTH

For an ISP try www.pennyhost.com.

For an Hosting Company try to find one using this site
http://www.budgetweb.com/budgetweb/virtual.shtml

When you get your web hosting company set up, be sure to have them set up your Frontpage extensions on their server so you can use the E-mail form ect...

Hopes this helps
SW

tony, do you have some feedback for us?

Hi both, sorry haven't been able to reply before now but my ISP has kept throwing me off for the last 2 days, I've literally only been able to stay on line for a few seconds which is one reason why I'm looking for a new ISP.  Unfortunately I haven't had chance to evaluate your suggestions as yet but what I'm really looking for is somebody who is already using a host they can really recommend through experience.  Obviously my ISP needs to be UK based because of the cost of phone calls but I'm not that bothered where I host my site so long as I can upload and administer it reasonably quickly.
I'm going to post this now before I get thrown off again.
Be in touch ISP permitting by the way my current ISP is through cable.

tony, this TA doesn't get a lot of traffic....why don't you post a 0 point question in the General Web Development topic with a link to this q?

Then more experts will drop by...90% of the q's in here are answered by me at the moment, and being in Canada, I can't recommend a UK ISP for you.  8-(

Hi both I am still being thrown off my ISP, ***** pain.  it took me 2hrs to send one email yesterday

Hi
Twproduction www.pennyhost.com. seems to have gone out of business. but http://www.budgetweb.com/budgetweb/virtual.shtml Looks a good site to find a host.  I came across http://www.addr.com/ looking though budgetweb. Has any one heard any thing about them?

Perhaps both of you would be kind enough to have a look and let me know what you think

I have never tried frontpage before although I have been building web sites for about 5 years, so I am not sure what to look out for. I am used to HTML JAVA etc. so I do need help and any input is much appreciated

ClassyLinks I will do as you suggest and post a link

Thank for your help so far
Tony

addr looks like it will meet your needs and is the least expensive of all the ones budgtweb found that have the criteria you need.

You really have two issues -- hosting your site and internet access. They're not the same thing.

You can get internet access from AOL, if you want, and host your site with a hosting service anywhere in the world. It won't make any difference when it comes to using your site.

Look for a good ISP first -- that's where your main problem seems to be. I've seen lots of people I know in the UK using demon.net. They can host as well. Not sure what the cost is. They're pretty big, so they can probably handle anything you can throw at them if you decide to host there as well.

As for hosting -- take your pick. Once you have internet access, you can use literally anybody in the world. US hosting services run from $20US and up. I haven't looked outside the US for a while, but there used to be one in Australia that was really cheap.

Hi

Kneea
I have had a look at www.fasthosts.co.uk and they look pretty good for the money. I would prefer a UK Host and #60 a year isn't too bad.

Thank you for your comments on the problems and cost of credit cards and the internet in the UK the banks will only deal with a sure bet and then try to rip you off.
For a third party card processor I have had a quick look at http://www.charge.com/affil.shtml?mktg6059 as they claim to be able to operate within the UK, I've e-mailed them and asked for a breakdown of their charges but as yet have not received a reply, perhaps if you know of any other third parties you would be so kind as to let me know.

webwoman
Thank you for your input.  I used to be with Demon some years ago, at that time they were not interested in small businesses so I came off them and went to BT however, due to recent policy changes at BT I have since cancelled that account and currently use cable as my ISP but they are proving very unreliable.

Tony

tonyrees,

I believe asp is more suit to you in features, this is a free asp hosting, if you want email support, you can to be payment user in here:

http://www.aspfree.com/asp/freeasphost.asp

Best suggestion:
http://www.brinkster.com/

Regards,
Wee Siong

The market changes very quickly.  I would recommend in finding someone that you can talk to on the phone.

uk2.net have been wanting to implement cc options for more than a year now but have had problems.  I suspect that they have been rejected on the grounds of security.  I know that BT have some options, but they are expensive.  What We tend to do is persuade the retailer to obtain customer not present transactions for there existing cc system and then all you need to do is:-

1) get a secure server to record the cc info and goods ordered, etc via a form.

2) encrypt the info with something like pgp and then send the encrypted data as an email back to retailer.  DON'T store the info on the server in clear format.  The server should only have the public key on it.

3) use the private key on the retailers own pc to decode the emails and read the info.

Nice and easy.

There are quite a few things to configure to get this working and it all depends upong the server and what facilities are available.  There are plenty of people who can give an instant answer on exactly how to do it if they know your server configuration, but I am not one of them.  I would have to look it all up and ask a couple of people.  The decrytion of the email can be done automatically by outlook express for instance.

If the number of transactions becomes large then just go for someone like BT.  The money made will outweigh BT costs and think of all the time and security headaches it will save you.


Anthony

Hi everyone I am still here 8-)
thanks for all your comments

I have been watching this thread https://www.experts-exchange.com/jsp/qShow.jsp?ta=webdevgen&qid=20129768 (You may have already seen it) and come across http://www.2checkout.com/ which may help someone looking at this question in the future
no mounthy fees but 5.5%, $0.45 per Transaction
But again USA and as far as I can see only $ Transactions.
Charge.com want about #50 a month with lower transaction fees, but will do # transaction. Just cann't win 8-(

It just seems there is no perfect answer for folk in the UK the USA have loads to choose from, UK banks are years behind.
UK third party are not setting their stall out for small or start up business. The UK will loose out 8-(

I have been reluctant to close this thread because I was hoping to get a bit of a debate going.

I feel this is an important problem in the UK, so to give any and everyone a chance to comment I will close this question in three days or so.

Thanks again to all of you who has taken part 8-)

Tony

If you want the latest uk situation, I would reccommend in buying one of the net reveiw mags which are available.  A quick trip to whsmith and you can have a nosey to find out which mag is best.  Buy the mag, read the reviews and then visit the websites and /or make the calls.

There are so many net mags that it will take you a while to find one.  I can't remember the names but I know that quite a few have tables in them with server details, facilities, features, costs, etc.  I'm sure that the have e-commerce or similar somewhere.

If you want to get something up and running asap then that would be the best way to go.  If however you want it later then check it all out a couple of months before you need stuff because things change way too fast.

Something else I have heard of is actinic.  You buy the software and they do your card transactions.  Many ISPs support this. I have all the details somewhere, but you are looking at several  hundreds of pounds up front payments - and you need to use a recognised distributor which means another hundred or two. This is a total start-up cost of around 500 pounds.  Less than DIY, but more than third party.  NB evaluation CDs are available for free.

Anthony

Tony...can you close this question now, or do you require more info??

Hi all

Sorry for being unable to get back when I said, my family has been struck down with gastroenteritis, ended up going around the county looking after grandkids phoow. What a weekend. Not an experence I would wish to repeat!

Once again I would like to thank all those who have contributed in particular Classylinks and Kneea.

I think that there is no right or wrong answer to this one.

I feel that Kneea has made the greatest contribution and therefore will be awarding the points on this question to kneea.

However that said, Classylinks and twprodutions has also made valubale contributions so I will post some points for them in the frontpage forum.
 
I hope you will all think this is fair 8=)

Thanks again until next time I need help.

Tony

I forgot to include weesiong I ma posting the points now

sorry 8-(

Tony

Thanks for the points.

I guess you went with fasthosts or are going to use them.

Banks...

The only UK bank worth talking to for internet stuff is Natwest. I question Lloyds from time to time because that is who some of my main customers are with and I also bank with Lloyds.  Many people are switching from Lloyds to Natwest and many of the Lloyds managers are now in fear of loosing their jobs because of it!

HSBC (formerly the midland) is a serious organisation which is opening new branches ...and that is the real reason why Natwest stopped it's branch closure programme!  So you could talk to HSBC.

Here is the magic starter question

'Is it possible to talk to a business manager about e-commerce facilities for small businesses?'

American hosting...

I look at this quite often to check prices but find that when you take the exchange rate, currency conversion and pricing methods into account, uk hosting is usually much cheaper.  US hosting is usually priced in dollars per month - in the uk it is pounds per year.  The discount you get by paying for the whole year seems to outweigh even the VAT.

Dollar based credit card facilitied are a definite no no because you will find that the cc processing company is reluctant to send a cheque to the uk, and if you get one it will be difficult to cash the cheque because it will be an American bank with dollars.  Then there are the special fees which your bank might charge you, never mind the commission rate, and fluctuating exchange rate.

The uk still has some learning to do when it comes to e-commerce.  But we are getting there!  The answer you want is out there somewhere even though it might be hard to find.  A year from now, everyone will be doing it! (...a nation of shopkeepers and all that!)

Anthony

Hello twproductions:

Please pick up your points at:  https://www.experts-exchange.com/jsp/qShow.jsp?ta=frontpage&qid=20138164