Uptime & Reliability

Reliable host that only guarantees 99.5% uptime

UK2.net offers a 99.5% uptime guarantee, with credits to your account whenever your reliability falls below that level.  This is somewhat interesting since almost all other hosts either don’t specify an uptime guarantee at all, or it is 99.9%.

Despite this odd uptime guarantee level, they do seem to provide high quality hosting that rarely goes down.  There have only been a few complaints of downtime from current and former customers, and given the size of this company, those complaints would be much more frequent if it were a major concern.

Features

Many different packages to choose from

If you choose to have your site hosted with UK2.net you will quickly find that there are many different packages to choose from.  Whether you need shared hosting, cloud based hosting, VPS, or dedicated servers, each level has multiple options.  This is good overall, but it can make it somewhat confusing, especially for people who are new to managing websites.

The shared hosting plans are all on a Linux system.  The lowest package allows only 500 MB of disk space, which is lower than some people may expect.  They also limit you to just one gig of bandwidth.  You can move up to bigger packages that allow you to host multiple domains and have unlimited disk space and bandwidth as well.

With the VPS or dedicated hosting options you will be able to select either Linux or Windows for your operating system, and they have many different system configuration options so you can be sure to get exactly what you need.

Support

Great technical support – Phone support costs extra

When you have problems you will be able to get help 24/7 through their digital help desk and live chat options.  The technical support team is skilled and knows how to fix just about any issues right away.  For more complicated or in depth trouble shooting, it can take a little longer, but that is normally to be expected.

The big problem with their support is that while they offer a 24/7 phone support option, it isn’t free. It isn’t just not toll-free, but it actually costs a set amount per minute.  This type of thing is really unacceptable.  Even though most people don’t use phone support, the company should either offer it for free or not offer it at all.

Pricing

Low base prices but lots of extras

When you first look at the pricing for this host you will be quite impressed.  For example, the entry level shared hosting package is just $1.60 per month, which is significantly lower than most other hosts.  The problem, however, is that many features that would otherwise be standard actually aren’t.

For example, you have to pay for website forwarding, DNS management, and several other ‘optional’ features.  If you don’t use anything other than the most basic hosting, this isn’t a big deal.  For many people, however, it is only obvious that they need these extra features after they have set up their sites.

As you go up into VPS and dedicated servers you do get some of these things included in your package, but of course the price of the package is significantly higher as well.

Summary

High quality hosting for individuals and companies around the world

Despite the name, UK2.net is actually a good hosting company for people from all parts of the world.  Of course, their primary market is within the UK.  They offer hosting packages for every type of website, which will allow you to grow within the company if your site becomes very popular.

Pros:

• Well established company with many clients
• Full lineup of hosting packages for sites of all sizes
• cPanel available for all hosting packages
• Nice list of extra features (though many do come at a premium price)

Cons:

• Only a 99.5% uptime guarantee
• Lots of ‘hidden’ charges
• Tech support by phone is not free