đź“… The Early Days of Hosting Woes
This story goes all the way back to 2003 or 2004. I don’t remember the exact year, but I clearly remember browsing ASPindir.com while learning ASP when I came across an ad for Agora Hosting. Their features caught my eye—especially the ability to customize your hosting package.
Over time, I kept checking their prices and thinking about launching my own site. When I finally decided to go live in 2008, I explored every free blogging platform I could find. Eventually, I settled on Vox.com, which seemed to offer exactly what I needed.
But over time, the site began to slow down. So I moved my content to a subdomain under my university’s website. It had my own custom design and code. I was finally happy again—until I wasn’t. The limitations crept in again. I found myself stuck between writing new content or redesigning the site, and I ended up doing neither.
⚠️ A Bad Experience with a “Friend’s Hosting”
At that point, I had enough. A friend messaged me about Ikra Hosting, which was offering free hosting for four months. I thought, why not? I bought my own domain, set things up, and things seemed okay at first.
But then they decided to redesign their site. For a full week, everything went offline. I couldn’t reach them, I couldn’t reach my own site, and no one replied to my messages. Eventually, I learned they were doing "yearly maintenance" on the server. I was shocked.
After it came back online, my site still wouldn’t load. I messaged them again. Days later, I got a reply: they had deleted my site, and they didn’t have any backups.
I told them to cancel my hosting, and I waited five more days for a response. That was the final straw.
âś… Finally Found a Solid Host: Agora Hosting
That’s when I went back to Agora Hosting, and this time I signed up. No, I don’t get anything for promoting them, but honestly, I wouldn’t recommend anything unless it actually worked well for me.
Agora Hosting has been rock solid. The pricing might seem a little higher than some budget hosts, but it’s absolutely worth it.
Here’s what I love:
âś… Responsive support: They reply within a day and solve any issue fast
âś… Uptime: My site runs 24/7 without hiccups
âś… Speed: According to Google, my site loads in under one second
âś… Professionalism: Everything just works, no surprises
Now I even earn some ad revenue from the site. Finally, I can say I’m truly satisfied.
🧠Final Thought: Don't Work with “Friends” Just to Save Money
Doing business with friends almost never ends well. Trying to save money can end up costing you more in time, effort, and lost data.
There’s an old saying I really like:
“I’m not rich enough to buy cheap things.”
It was a hard lesson, but a valuable one. I hope my experience helps you avoid the same mistakes.