Network Solutions Review: Nineties Hangover, Or Serious Choice? We Asked 106 Users
Network Solutions Introduction
Network Solutions is an American hosting company, but it started out in 1979 as an IT consultancy. For much of the 1990s, it dominated the sale of domain names, but lost its monopoly when ICANN was formed in 1998.
Over the last 20 years, it has been owned by a variety of companies, including Verisign and several private equity firms. After two high-profile security issues, Network Solutions was bought by Web.com in 2011 for $405 million. The company was then downsized considerably.
Network Solutions offers web hosting services aimed at small businesses, and some services are provided under the Web.com brand.
Network Solutions Hosting Plans
Network Solutions’ shared hosting is split into six plans. Three are provided under the shared hosting banner, while three are called Advanced Hosting. It has phased out its Windows plans; only Linux plans are on offer with these three plans. The most basic plan is limited in terms of disk space and email mailboxes, but the limits are set high enough for most purposes. Across all plans, the amount of data transfer allowance is not specified.
VPS hosting is available through two plans, Essential and Professional. Both offer 1GB RAM and one dedicated IP address. VPS hosting is offered using Plesk on CentOS servers.
Secure WordPress is Network Solutions’ managed WordPress solution, which includes automatic updates, malware scanning, backups, and SSL. Beginner WordPress support is free for the first 60 days.
Network Solutions Uptime
Network Solutions has a 99.99% uptime guarantee for Linux customers and a 99.9% uptime guarantee for Windows customers. Dig into the Terms of Service, however, and you’ll find that the company doesn’t provide any details about the guarantee, so it isn’t clear whether it compensates customers for downtime anyway.
There’s no information at all about its datacenter facilities on its website.
Network Solutions Support
All plans come with basic support. Network Solutions offers a toll-free US phone number, and an international phone number for support. There doesn’t appear to be a live chat facility or ticketing system on the website.
For an additional fee, customers can purchase Premium Support. This covers help with site migration, SSL setup, email address creation, and file transfers. There’s also a paid support option on the WordPress plan, aimed at novice users.
Network Solutions Control Panel
On the service pages, there’s no information at all about the control panel used on shared hosting accounts. Digging into the Support area, I discovered that customers are provided with a custom control panel.
Looking at the images provided, the control panel is very basic, providing access to domain tools, FTP, email, script installs, stats and a site builder. There are nowhere near as many features as cPanel or Plesk.
On VPS accounts, Plesk is provided and the cost is included in the monthly subscription fee.
Network Solutions Extras
Customers on WordPress, VPS and shared hosting plans get one free domain name. VPS customers receive Parallels Virtuozzo and a free domain name.
Network Solutions Money-Back Guarantee
Network Solutions provides no money-back guarantee.
Network Solutions Summary
In its heyday, Network Solutions was a pioneering company and a world-renowned brand. Over time, controversy and hacks have taken their toll. It now offers fairly standard website hosting services, although its website is well-designed and appealing.
The lack of a good control panel, email support, or any money-back guarantee, will limit the appeal of its hosting packages. But Network Solutions is an established brand with the backing of Web.com, a huge organization, so it does have that in its favor.
Network Solutions Reviews by Our Community
Overall Rating from 106 Reviews by Network Solutions Customers
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Most Helpful Reviews
Rakoto veve
commentenleverlescernes.com
Jul 26, 2013
Most Popular Network Solutions Hosting Plans
| Web Hosting | Secure WordPress | Web Hosting Professional | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disk Space | 300GB | 50GB | 500GB |
| Bandwidth | 3000GB | 500GB | 5000GB |
| Price | $9.96 / mo | $15 / mo | $15.78 / mo |
| Visit Network Solutions | Visit Network Solutions | Visit Network Solutions |
| Plan | Disk Space | Bandwidth | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| VPS Essential Shared |
10GB | 500GB | $55 / mo View |
| VPS Professional Shared |
50GB | 2000GB | $95 / mo View |
Network Solutions Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Network Solutions offer VPS and dedicated servers?
VPS plans are available, but Network Solutions does not sell dedicated servers.
- Do they have any reseller hosting options?
No. Network Solutions does not sell hosting specifically aimed at resellers.
- Would my Network Solutions hosting plan come with a free domain?
A number of select plans are available that come with an included domain. Network Solutions refers to this as a ‘free nsWebAddress’.
- Will the price for renewal go up after the intro price has expired?
Yes. Most prices will go up upon renewal, since the initial period is priced at a promotional rate.
- Do I get a money-back guarantee with Network Solutions?
For hosting services only, it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Does the company offer unlimited bandwidth and space for my site?
All plans include unlimited bandwidth, except in extreme cases where users are consuming an excessive amount of bandwidth. Disk space varies according to the plan.
- Does Network Solutions offer phone support?
Yes. There’s a dedicated support team that are able to answer questions online or by phone, 24/7. For premium support, you will need to pay for the Mytime service.
- Where are Network Solutions’ datacenters?
Network Solutions does not provide any information about its datacenters.
- How often will I be billed?
Monthly hosting packages are billed every four weeks.
- Will Network Solutions help me to transfer my website?
An optional, paid migration service called Mytime is available.
- Can I host more than one domain per account on their services?
Most plans limit customers to a maximum of 100 domains per package.
- Will I have access to site building software so I can build a website easily?
It offers a website building tool called nsWebsite, with two different pricing tiers.
- What kind of control panel will I get?
Shared hosting accounts come with a proprietary control panel. On VPS accounts, customers get Plesk.
- What is the uptime guarantee for shared hosting?
Network Solutions offers a 99.99% uptime guaranteed for Linux hosting, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee for Windows hosting. Both are backed by service credits for excess downtime. Downtime is measured across all servers, not individual accounts.
- What payment options does Network Solutions accept?
Payments can be made via MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover, and Paypal.
- What is its backup policy?
Network Solutions does not take backups of customer accounts. You can set up your own backups in its control panel.
- How many email addresses can I create?
Email accounts and email storage space is tiered, depending on your plan.
- Does it offer a CDN?
Some plans do include a CDN, but there are few details available.
- Are there any discounts for non-profits?
Yes. Network Solutions has a special plan for non-profit and community organizations.
Most Popular Network Solutions Alternatives
They are really professional, I’m a newbie in hosting stuff so I asked them so many questions on my hosting plan and how to set up those many features, they replied everything, sometimes in under 24 hour. So I’m a happy client.