Overview

In the 21st century, it is normal for hosting providers to network and form a large web of companies offering similar or complementing products and services. Web Hosting Hub is a perfect example of such a firm and we are going to review it on this post.

For starters, Web Hosting Hub was started in 2010 in the city of Virginia by the founders of InMotion Hosting. Its offices reside in Virginia Beach and Los Angeles in southern California. They own two United States based data centers that are on the East and West Coast.

The Web Hosting Hub team composes of over 200 US based members servicing around 40,000 customers. Their aim is to provide quality web hosting services that ensures customers get their websites online securely, conveniently, and affordably. For this, they offer shared hosting plans that are reliable and scalable to suit diverse range of subscribers. Generally, their web servers house everything from ecommerce storefronts, blogs, to custom websites. Their mission is to give businesses and individuals a versatile platform to reach out to the world.

If there’s anything to admire about Web Hosting Hub, it’s their observance to green web hosting policy. Even with their two data centers emitting a lot of carbon, they have measures in place to prevent the emissions from negatively impacting the environment. Again, they have won over 25 awards which is quite impressive considering they’ve limited users to shared hosting package and are still among companies in the budding growth phase.

Let’s now go through the specifics of Web Hosting Hub. We’ll begin by analyzing their hosting packages and plans, then on to key features, pros and cons, and their answers to the frequently asked questions.

Web Hosting Hub Features

Performance and speed

While this may not be the fastest or best-performing hosting, Web Hosting Hub at the lowest plan offers manageable speeds. In other words, they have an optimized framework that improves the loading speed of any size website. They host few sites per server which reduces the weight on the resources. Also, the websites reside on the solid state drives which are significantly faster to access data from than traditional disks. They have no inbuilt content delivery network yet which might be troubling for customers targeting users outside United States. Also, there’s the threat of downtime in case a denial of service attack happens and no firewall is installed by the user.

Nonetheless, Web Hosting Hub hosting packages are still decent for small and medium scale businesses due to the speeds of its servers. The performance features may not be the best at first impression, but the again this entirely depends on the plan that you are subscribed to and the size of business you are running. Spark Plan provides standard speeds, the other two plans provide faster services with Nitro being twice as fast and Dynamo being four times faster. While a small business may be satisfied or even impressed with the spark plan, a growing, middle scale business may require the Nitro or Dynamo plans.

Security

Security is one of the most important aspects of every business, both from the provider and consumer’s angle. In order to draw more web traffic, a web service provider has to offer the guarantee of security on information, content, and ownership of the website.

Web Hosting Hub provides the following security measures:

• Email Hosting comes with SPAM protection. This protects account holders from opening links and downloading files that would compromise the security of their accounts. Also, the mail storage remains sufficient with relevant messages stored in it.

• Login credentials assistant – this feature ensures users set strong passwords for their accounts to prevent against brute force attacks.

• On boarding process – Web Hosting Hub provides a setup walkthrough via an onboarding call. This helps in quick setup of the account with optimal configurations and minimizes the vulnerability of an account to unwarranted access.

Control Panel

Web Hosting Hub uses cPanel as its default control panel. This is what an account owner interacts with when they visit their site portal. It is an important management aspect since it gives you the ability to add or remove tools, settings, and software on your site. This way, what helps you draw more web traffic is brought aboard while that which is hazardous is left out. The following features are provided by the company via their cPanel:

Click App Installs

Your cPanel account comes express with a free app installer called the Softaculous. Creating, designing and managing a website with it is thus very straightforward. Softaculous automates installation of software that are essential to the growth of your business in quick steps. Top applications you can install using it include WordPress, Magento, Drupal among others.

Hassle-free Email Management

Web Hosting Hub uses POP3 and IMAP protocols to manage emails. The two communication channels are secure, supported by a wide range of devices, and are compatible with frameworks of most websites.

Website Stats and Logs

With these statistics, you can conveniently check the performance of your website against the traffic generated per unit time. This way, you will be able to add or eliminate content that generally affects the site’s performance.

Convenience Software

Some of the software manageable by the cPanel include but not limited to:

• WordPress

• Joomla

• Drupal

• Osclass

• PrestaShop

• OpenCart

• Magento

Backups and Transfer

With the Backups Wizard, you can get your account and user data all backed up at your convenience and without much trouble. Transferring data from one panel host to another is also handled via the functionality.

FTP File Management

The direct management of websites is made possible by the file manager which also gives access to team members through FTP accounts. This way, web admins and contributors can publish content on their own and in an easy way.

Full Domain Control

By allowing the creation of several domains, cPanel makes generation of multiple URLs possible with the process being short and straightforward. This way, you can have several subdomains and redirects without needing a third party to facilitate it.

Coding Assistant

This entails server language and infrastructure which has the following:

• PHP5+7

• MySQL 5

• phpMyAdmin

• Cron Jobs

• SSH

• Python

• htaccess

• SSL

Customer Support

With a highly responsive customer care service, the Web Hosting Hub is able to serve your needs and attend to your inquiries as soon as they are received. The help center provides information on setting up your domain and several helpful tutorials that will assist in designing your website and emails.

The company is of service to everyone worldwide that reaches out to them, but can only do this in the English language. Furthermore, their customer service is reachable both through live chat and call with the number to call being 1-877-595-4482. Also, you can launch a chat with the customer service or alternatively contact them via their help center. Although responsive to emails, the channel is a bit slower compared to the rest mentioned above.

Moneyback Guarantee

A good web host will provide you the services you need to set up your website and get it running in the smoothest way possible. To ensure that your experience is exactly as stated to you, Web Hub Hosting gives a 90-day money back guarantee. If you’re not impressed by the services or have any reservations on continuation of the contractual term, you can claim back your money.

Extras

Glyphs

Web Hosting Hub also provides an astounding collection of icons which work with various web and desktop software like MS Word. These give a final touch to your customization and can be picked depending on the category of preference your site needs.

Pros and Cons of Web Hosting Hub

Pros

Cost efficient

Web Hosting Hub is by far one of the cheapest and fastest web hosts out there. Their resources are decent even though they provide hosting via a shared web infrastructure. The cheapest, spark provides standard speed while both Nitro and Dynamo plans are twice and four times faster. Irrespective of the plan that you choose, you’ll surely be getting true value for your money.

Fast page Load

Most people have little patience to wait for a site to deliver the content they’ve requested. Thus a site that takes too long to load could be a great turn off which, in turn, could affect its popularity. Web Hosting Hub is one of those firms that care about reputation and competitiveness. It offers speedy hosting services which are facilitated by solid-state hard drives whose storage spaces they allocate. The drives are 20x faster than the traditional disks.

While they may not offer dedicated speeds, their shared hosting plans offer additional resources which cover up for the fluctuations. We feel that for middle-scale companies, their site loading speeds would be commendable and decent enough to run ecommerce hubs.

Timely support

It would be discouraging to need support with an inquiry that’s urgent but not receive a timely response. Being there when needed is one of the greatest quality of any well-performing hosting provider. Web Hosting Hub provides this support as soon as an inquiry or complaint is received. They have multiple channels to ensure communication is smooth irrespective of the platform.

Extremely easy setup

Setting your blog or website as a first timer may sound like something technical. But with the right provider, it can be accomplished with no extensive knowledge of handling technical stuff. Web Hosting Hub presents an account management interface that is friendly, versatile, and effective at the least. From the moment you sign up you have access to tools that facilitate quick navigation, installation of new software, and management of existing applications.

Free domain names

For new sites, Web Hosting Hub charges no fee to acquire a domain name. Additionally, via their website you can check whether existing ones are available for use and how much they are worth. On Nitro and Dynamo plans, the subscriber is free to create an unlimited number of subdomains with a redirection URL hooked to each.

Moneyback guarantee

Good and trustworthy companies provide a trial period for a while before you consider sticking with them. It saves to have this period in order to establish trust with the company and learn specifics which might be subtle at first glance. Web Hosting Hub gives you 90 days to establish trust with them and decide that they are the firm to use for your hosting. With services that are just as advertised, chances are slim that you’ll change your mind once you get started with them.

Cons

Shared hosting is not good for advanced users

Web Hosting Hub shared hosting package comes with three plans whose perks double as you ascend the ladder. However, this will only work for starting and middle scale websites which have less than 100,000 hits per month. For a high traffic site, the resources might not be sufficient enough to handle visit volume fluctuations effectively.

Furthermore, the provider keeps certain aspects too basic. Getting technical becomes problematic since you’re limited to a shared server which is inflexible for diverse functions. The applications whose reach to resources would be scalable under a dedicated server environment becomes impossible to run. Certainly, the bad neighbor effect is inevitable.

The plans are not that cheap after all

While the spark plan appears to be the cheapest plan, there’s an indirect catch. Here’s why…The subscription is not on a monthly or annual basis. Instead you have to subscribe for three years which sets the startup budget high. You will, therefore, end up using high cost plans which may not be what you had exactly planned for under the initial budget. And mind you, all this is in an effort to benefit from the monthly billing.

Backups and security features are not always free

Backups are important to any website out there irrespective of its size or business. This is because it is the only way you can regain your original data in case of a hack, plugin malfunction, or a bug in a new tool installed.

Since these backups are crucial, they should be done regularly and even on a daily basis. Web Hosting Hub provides regular automated backups, but they come at a cost. You will have to part with a few extra dollars to be able to restore data from the offsite backup storage.

Web Hosting Hub Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is there a money back guarantee?

Yes, there is. Web Hub provides a 90-day money back guarantee. This basically means that within the first 3 months, you can cancel your signup and get a refund of your money. However, there is no guaranteed refund after the 90-day window elapses.

Is there a free domain upon purchase from Web Hosting Hub?

Yes, there is. You are provided with a domain for a whole year at no charge. This also comes along with the domain’s hosting plans.

What are the forms of payment accepted by Web Hosting Hub?

Web Hosting Hub accepts various payment methods and among them are Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express. However, PayPal is not an accepted method with the Hub.

Can I make payment for my account on a monthly basis?

No, you can’t. The shortest plan runs for one year, Dynamo plan. The cheapest monthly plan, which is billed annually for 3 years, is the Spark plan.

Will the charge on my renewal be at the same rate as my initial payment?

The initial price is promotional. The period to which you subscribe will determine the validity of the price. Upon its expiration, the regular rates listed on the website will be restored.

Does Web Hosting Hub provide SSL certificates?

It does. SSL Certificates are purchased separately from the cPanel and are therefore not included in the monthly plans.

What languages are spoken by the Web Hosting Hub's technical support team?

Based in the United States, Web Hosting Hub tries to reach out to all its subscribers and clients whenever there’s a concern. However, it provides the assistance in English only.

Can Web Hosting Hub help with website transfers?

Yes, it can. Actually, Web Hosting Hub will handle all the transfers for you at no charge as long as the sites do not exceed 5. You just have to sign up for an account and fill a transfer form. The maximum wait time is 72 hrs before its completion.

Can I set up multiple websites with Web Hosting Hub?

Yes, you can set up unlimited websites, but only with the Nitro and Dynamo plans. The cheapest plan, the Spark, is limited to only two websites.

Can I get site builder software with Web Hosting Hub?

Yes. Web Hosting Hub provides a software called the BoldGrid which is a suit builder built into WordPress. However, a user has the freedom to avoid this and use the regular WordPress.

What control panels can I use?

The cPanel is Web Hosting Hub’s only control panel. With it, you can control account settings, hosting plans, installations, and tools available for use.