Domain Name Registration: Advice

[Calum]

are these prices normal?

what sort of hidden costs should i be looking for? is there any one good agent for registering domain names, and if not, then what sort of things should i check for, and what sort of prices should i be expecting?
i am just a bit confused by it all, that's all..

[Master of Reality]

my domain was free and doesnt have ads. www.bobs.tk

ya, i believe those are normal prices.

[TheQuirk]

I bought www.belg88.com from www.godaddy.com

P.S
Calum, if you're going to be buying from phpwebhosting, can I tell them I reffered you?

[rtgwbmsr]

I got akgames.net for $35 from register.com. No hidden charges, 1 e-mail account (Adding more costs $15 an address). No ads, etc.

To see what the mail page looks like:
mail.akgames.net

Very plain, but that's a good thing.

[rtgwbmsr]

quote:Originally posted by Calum-21.2:
are these prices normal?

what sort of hidden costs should i be looking for? is there any one good agent for registering domain names, and if not, then what sort of things should i check for, and what sort of prices should i be expecting?
i am just a bit confused by it all, that's all..

It says $20 just to PARK it, but not to use it. Watch out!

[TheQuirk]

I know I didn't pay more then the $9 with godaddy.com. I don't think it really matters with the email thing, because he gets unlimited pop3 accounts that you can access using two different email systems (both GPL!). http://mail.phpwebhosting.com to see what I mean.

[Calum]

quote:Originally posted by x12 camera /Quirk:
I bought www.belg88.com from www.godaddy.com

P.S
Calum, if you're going to be buying from phpwebhosting, can I tell them I reffered you?

of course, however that is all on hold until i can find out if i will qualify for a visa card, from my bank. at the moment i have switch (EFT, for UK only) and personal cheque (

[preacher]

Hi Calum, while looking for inexpensive domain names I ran into a lot of catches. For instance, a lot of sites promising $9.99 domain names required you host your site on their servers. That meant you paid a high monthly fee to them. If you intend on just buying a name without needing hosting, you almost always will end up paying $35 a year.

I used to have a .tk domain, but first of all they had the annoying pop up ads, second I hated my page sitting inside a frame, and finally if your page doesnt get enough visitors in 90 days, they take back your domain name. These things suck, and I suggest you go ahead and get a real domain name. I ended up getting mine from http://www.netsol.com and although many people tell me I could have gotten it a little cheaper, the service is excellent and since they have been around a lot longer than some of the other companies, I had a little more freedom of mind when paying them. It cost me $70 for a 3 year registration.

[Stryker]

I say get it for $20, sign up for zonedit.com (free) dns servers, change your nameservers to what they say... and then host the site or service yourself... it's the cheapest way i can think of.

[Calum]

i don't mind paying $35 a year, $75 for 3 years sounds good to me, i just want one with no strings, that won't rip me off, but i am unsure of what strings to look for. it seems that one big one is that one where you are required to use them as hosts as well.
Why do i need to have an agent to buy my domain name anyway? and what happens when i buy my domain name for 3 years, and then the company i bought it through goes bust after a year and a half? do i still keep my domain name? does it get floated? would i just renew it through a different agency at the end of the 3 years?

i know little about this whole affair.

[Stryker]

I got mine with no strings from a local company called "Adept Online Services" but they do their domain registrations through opensrs.org which doesn't seem to have any string (i've had mine for nearly a year, no problems). I'm paying $20/year for the domain, using a free dns server, and am hosting it myself. I suggest doing it through a major company that won't fail though (register.com, opensrs.org...) If you go through a smaller registar ask them what would happen if they go under. They may move your domain to a different registar or it may go float. I'll see if i can find a link to such questions...

[Stryker]

quote:Originally posted by Stryker:
I got mine with no strings from a local company called "Adept Online Services" but they do their domain registrations through opensrs.org which doesn't seem to have any string (i've had mine for nearly a year, no problems). I'm paying $20/year for the domain, using a free dns server, and am hosting it myself. I suggest doing it through a major company that won't fail though (register.com, opensrs.org...) If you go through a smaller registar ask them what would happen if they go under. They may move your domain to a different registar or it may go float. I'll see if i can find a link to such questions...

just found a link that may be helpfull...
http://www.internic.net/faqs/index.html

and you can transfer your registar after 60 days.


(edit)
sorry i hit the quote button instead of edit... foolish me.

[ November 02, 2002: Message edited by: Stryker ]

[rtgwbmsr]

ICANN Credited registars (I recommend only using people on this list)
http://www.icann.org/registrars/accredited-list.html

[preacher]

Simply put, I dont trust free dns services, so what I did since i was hosting the webserver already, was to run a dns server off of my computer. It is not easy to set up bind, but I never have to worry about whether or not someone elses dns servers are working, and also I can easily add subdomains and be a back up dns server for friends.