Web Host Review - Lunarpages Shuttle

Introduction
Our attention was drawn to Lunarpages a while ago when their name started cropping up in forums around the net – rumours abounded of great service, a quality lacking in some other hosts we’ve heard of! Needless to say, some research was in order and we soon found ourselves signing up for a package.

The Package
The sub-$10 package currently on offer is their Shuttle deal. Actually it’s only $7.95 per month.
For this price, you get 40gb bandwidth and 800MB of disk space. In other words, you get a lot of bang for your $7.95! More than enough for the great majority of users. If you’ve any suspicion that you may need more, Lunarpages have their other package, ‘Voyager’, an e-commerce ready service to keep you in business.

Pricing
A couple of points worth noting about the quoted monthly price for the Shuttle package:

The current pricing trend amongst web hosts is to offer free set-up and low monthly fees in return for an up-front annual commitment. Lunarpages are no exception here.

You pay for one year in advance and get free sign up and an equivalent rate of $7.95 per month. That’s how they quote the $7.95 per month. You won’t be billed monthly. A one-off up-front lump sum is what you’ll need, payable by credit/debit card. As I say, this is pretty much industry-standard at this level. Just something worth bearing in mind if you were hoping to spread the cost of hosting with a monthly bill for example!

You also won’t get a free domain name thrown in at this price – as some of the other providers say they do. If you want a domain name set up at the same time by Lunarpages, this can be arranged for a one-off fee of $14.95 or you can get your domain registered elsewhere if you wish. They do offer free sub-domains however (e.g. somedomain.lunarpages.com).

(slightly off topic and not related to Lunarpages, but be wary of these free domain name offers – sometimes they are not actually registered in your name and this can result in problems down the line – worth checking out in the small-print)

Service
We’ve said it before, but it’s worth re-stating, Service quality is exemplary. The uptime is 99.9% but that’s just part of the story as the quality, flexibility secrity and stability of their servers shines though. As with all our featured hosts, they run their own kit, in this case from their data-centre in LA. Here they look after things with what’s known as active response protocol – which basically means they monitor everything all the time and take any corrective action before problems arise. Prevention being better than cure means performance levels are optimised and service to you is as you’d like to expect – Perfect!

The application process
Application for the package is simple, fast and easy. Minimal form-filling is involved – All they need is name, address, telephone number and credit/debit card.

Very soon (usually within hours) after you apply online, account acceptance and receipt of payment is confirmed by telephone in person by a Lunarpages person from LA – Very promptly and courteously, worldwide.

So it’s important you give a contactable phone number in your application and you appreciate you WILL be getting a call on that number. They just confirm that you have indeed ordered the service and they process the card transaction while you’re on the phone. Then you’re up and running right there.

If you’ve ordered the optional Domain Name at the same time, that’ll normally take a further 24 hours to kick in.

Accounts are generally set up on the day of application. We set up an account from the UK within a just a couple of hours of completing the online form. Top service.

The extra mile
The bottom line with Lunarpages is service, service, service!!!!. They are fanatical about it and the depth and breadth of their people’s expertise is truly outstanding. The team are always on hand, 24 hours a day 365 days a year to assist you for free with any issues.
Contact can be made toll-free by phone, by email, by online forum, even via a chat-room with team members

The Lunarpages customer base is more like an online community, sharing information and advice on a myriad of topics via various Luunarpages Forums. The last time we looked, the forums held over 85,000 posts! No need for membership, It’s free for all to see – just take a look for yourself. you can chat and ask questions of experienced users and staff before you join.

Lunarpages also provides a free online resource centre, with Flash demos of Dreamweaver, Frontpage and all the control panel features. Again a great way to add value to the hosting experience and certainly makes life easier for the newcomer.

The Lunarpages team are an experienced bunch and many have been in the game since before Lunarpages was actually launched in 2000. That’s because before Lunarpages, there was Add2net, which was providing large scale hosting services for three years previously.

In all, we believe your hosting needs couldn’t be in safer hands – and all for less than $10 per month - $7.95 in fact!

Thanks for taking the time out to read our review. For more detail, please visit the Lunarpages site and / or take a look at our package comparison list. This is where you'll find side-by-side comparisons of the top hosting packages.

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