Who to use for domain?

[salewit]

I'm looking to get another domain name. While in the past I've always used and been happy with Network Solutions (Verisign), they're now up to $30/year. I know I could get by for about $10, but I'm afraid of the fly-by-nights.

This site uses Aletia, but I checked their website, and they have the same address as the Aletia hosting, and that seems to me to be the LAST place I'd want to deal with.

Does anyone know of someone who has been around and offers names for less than $30.

Thanks

[colinstephenson]

i use godaddy.com

seem to be grand.

[Dazed]

You might check out 000domains.com . 13.50 a year. plus they have been around a while. I have 6 domains with them and haven't had any problems.

~Dazed~

[Connie]

I second 000domains.com . I have several domain names registered with them.

However there are others that are probably just as good, and some may
be less expensive. I would recommend you get away from net work solutions
for several reasons.

000domains.com would be a good choice.

[jason]

AletiaNic is owned by Jag now (they bought Aletia hosting) and is a reseller of eNom. They seem to be a good company.

In the past I've used GKG and I've been pretty happy for them for the most part. They only offer com, net, and org, so if you want one of the new gTLD's (biz, info, etc) or a ccTLD (us, cc, ws, etc) they won't be able to help. They charege $9.99/yr.

Based on my experience, I wouldn't go with Verisign. I've had bad experience with them trying to get changes made to one of my domains. They are also one of the most expensive registrars out there. I guess, since they are the biggest and have a lot of hold-overs from the days before the registry was open to competition, they figure they can charge a lot and provide bad service--but that's just my opinion.

--Jason

[rolyatag]

I've always been happy with Stargate -- I've had several domains registered with them for about 3 years.

They're currently offering domain registrations for $7.95/year. Their prices have fluctuated over the years, but I have never seen them exceed $13.95/year and have personally never spent more than $9.95/year.

I've had to deal with their support a couple of times for minor issues and had them resolved within a few hours each time.

[twcinpa]

I use GoDaddy.com. Very happy with their service, plus their prices.

I've transferred several domains from VeriSign (sigh) good to get away from THEM.

I like GoDaddy very much. No problems.

Tom

[clio]

i use http://www.dotster.com and i am VERY happy with them. I have 10+ domains with them, so of which i registered there, and some transferred. i love their system, it's so easy, especially transferring domains.

[salewit]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Here I was thinking Verisign was good (I never had any problems with them).

Let me ask this... what happens if I go with one of these companies, and they go out of business? What happens to my domain name and where does it go?

[clio]

Verisign is too expensive. The company I use, Dotster, has been around for a while and I've used them for years without any problems.

You still own your domain, if the company goes out of business. You will just need to find a new registrar.

[salewit]

Well I ended up going with Stargate because of the price ($7.95) and I guess you get what you pay for because I immediately had problems. Their system will NOT accept the ns1/2.aletia.com name servers saying they are not "registered" name servers. They give you the address to check, and they ARE registered (of course).

I sent in a ticket about 1-1/2 days ago, and haven't heard a word yet. Not a great way to start things off.

[rolyatag]

I feel bad that I was the one who suggested Stargate. I have never experienced that kind of delay in support. I went to their support page to check this out for myself and saw the following:

PLEASE READ BEFORE ENTERING SUPPORT: We were experiencing technical difficulties with the support system Saturday, November 23, 2002. All cases that had been either created or updated between November 21st and November 23rd are lost. Please simply just create a new case and we will respond as quickly as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Hopefully submitting a new ticket will solve your issue. I tend to shy away from posting in forums I read because I hate when my advice leads people in the wrong direction...I know it's not my fault, but sorry if things don't work out.

[salewit]

Well first of all, don't feel bad. They performed well for you so you just told it like it is.

I DID read that message and I did enter a new ticket right away. After a day of no response, I tried calling. Yes they have a phone number, no there is nobody answering it. I left voice mail at EVERY extension in the directory. This was Monday morning. It is now Tuesday afternoon, and I haven't heard a word or e-mail from them.

I sent a complaint to InterNIC for whatever that is worth.

Maybe they're just going through a little bit of a meltdown like Aletia did towards the end (hmmm.... I don't mean to imply the end is near for Stargate).