Web Hosting Hub Review
Web Hosting Hub, otherwise known as ‘Hub,’ set out to be a one stop destination for all of your web hosting needs; a “hub” if you will. Whether you are looking for a shared, dedicated or VPS hosting service, Hub has everything an individual webmaster or business would need. Hub provides all of the features and user friendliness a customer in the 21st century would expect. They do also offer some unique features as well which we will explain in the upcoming section. However, Hub really set out to make their message clear: with Hub, you are guaranteed a pain free experience. This can be seen on their home page as their messages are about 1 click installations and no hassle in regard to reliability. Furthermore, for being a “smaller” web hosting provider, they truly surprise when it comes to customer support. Consequently, Hub is a great for any type of webmaster, but specifically if you are looking for intimate service.
Features
One of the many unique features Hub offers is the e-mail auto responders. This is available through all of their hosting plans. If you are looking to build an e-commerce website, Hub is an excellent choice. They offer a number of e-mail marketing tools and you can integrate credit card payments as well. These are just some of the advanced features you receive with Hub. That said, their basic features are great, though they are pretty standard. We don’t mean they are weak but rather they offer features that providers like iPage and BlueHost offer. Such features are:
- Unlimited disk space
- Unlimited transfer/bandwidth
- Unlimited MySQL databases
- Unlimited FTP accounts
- Unlimited sub domains and parked domains
- Unlimited e-mail accounts (and secure POP3/IMAP e-mail)
- Unlimited websites
- Premium website builder
- Spam safe protection
- Free backup wizard
In addition to these basic features, Hub offers countless features for all types of websites. Various shopping carts, blogs and content management systems are provided. They also provide forums and photo galleries such as Gallery, Coppermine and 4images. Moreover, they are mobile device compatible. The list can go on so be sure to take a look at their features page. If you do happen to visit it, make sure to check out the ‘Geek Speak’ section which lists more advanced features that is helpful for professional web developers.
Customer Support
You can tell that Hub is trying to set the industry standard, specifically in regard to customer support. They not only mimic other leading brands with quality customer support but they even outclass some of them. Like some powerhouse hosting providers with top notch customer support, Hub also offers 24/7 support via all the main channels – live chat, phone and e-mail. Their representatives are well trained and equipped to answer any question you may have. Their response times are well above average as well. We never waited longer than 15 minutes for a reply over live chat or phone, and you can expect an e-mail reply within 4 hours on average. They also sport a community, an education channel with an overabundance of content, FAQs, website tutorials and a learning corner. Hub is also very active on social media (Facebook, Twitter and Google+). You are also awarded a personal on board call to walk you through your account. Lastly, Hub offers a 90 day money back guarantee known as the ‘Ultimate Money Back Guarantee.’ Other large hosting providers may offer an anytime money back guarantee which means you could receive a refund only on the time not used (but you are still paying for the time you did use). With Hub, they give you 90 days to decide which is incredible. If you are not happy after 2 and a half months, you can simply request your money back and you will get it no questions asked.
Ease of Use
Hub made a wise decision in choosing to use the cPanel control panel. Firstly, the layout is very user friendly which makes for easy management over your website, domain and e-mail. It is virtually impossible to get lost as the icons are laid out in a grid formation like the icons on your desktop. Further, there is a section for beginners called ‘Wiki Instructions’ that can guide you through all of the functions you would need to perform. They also have a handy getting started wizard. If you are looking to use these, there is no need to search deep within the control panel as they are right there on the dashboard. As noted above, all application, CMS and add on set ups are one click processes putting Hub on equal ground with the main competition. These one click installs are made possible by Softaculous software which is essentially a competitor to the Fantastico commercial script library. Both are fantastic but Softaculous may be even slightly better, at least in our opinion.
Hub Add On Installation Within cPanel
Website Building
As noted several times throughout this review, the CMS installation is a seamless procedure. Hub also offers over 310 free tools to help build any level website. The main shopping carts that are provided by Hub are Cube Cart, Zen Cart and OS Commerce though others are offered as well. Hub also allows for a forum based site or a blog. All of these can be built with their highly powerful premium website builder. However, Hub really makes it clear that if you are a small business, their website builder is best for you. You can build a beautiful website yet there is no technical background required. They make clear note of the fact that building a website through Hub is a simple 1-2-3 process. Choose from dozens of themes, edit your content and then publish. We personally tested this out and we were relieved to see that Hub did not exaggerate the simplicity.
Reliability
We were shocked to find out that Hub does not offer any sort of uptime guarantee. We quickly contacted them to see if this was a mistake as this is one area which is generally most important to webmasters. We were initially upset to find out that this was no mistake. Hub reps informed us that the only reason why they do not have a guarantee is for legal reasons. Many companies employ the use of uptime guarantees which cause many headaches due to scammers trying to game the system. Hub wants to focus on ultimate reliability without these headaches. They have two separate data centers – one on the east coast and one on the west coast of the US to not only ensure optimal uptime but also maximum speed.
Summary
As their name implies, Web Hosting Hub is a hub for every type of webmaster. They have great plans and features across the board, however they are especially good for small business webmasters. The lack of an uptime guarantee may be a bit daunting but Hub does in fact have one of the best reputations on the market. Backed by their 90 day ultimate money back guarantee, Hub is a worthwhile choice.
