iPage Review and Test Results

Review

HOSTING PLANS

Unlike most other hosts who offer a number of low-cost shared hosting plans, iPage offers a single affordably-priced shared hosting option: the Essential Plan. It provides a number of unlimited features including: disk space, bandwidth, e-mail accounts, MySQL databases, and hosted domains. The SiteLock Security Suite, a well-stocked scripts and applications library, a point-and-click site builder, your choice of shopping carts as well as an online store are all provided free of charge.

iPage “welcome” e-mail. Click to enlarge.

The Essential Plan also features 24/7 US-based phone chat and e-mail support. On average, support calls are answered in 2 minutes or less. The Essential Plan is backed by iPage’s anytime money-back guarantee. If you are unhappy with the hosting services provided, they will refund the balance remaining on your hosting term. This is especially valuable if you opt for one of heavily discounted longer term plans.

PURCHASE PROCESS

While the 2-step checkout process is fast, we do take issue with the fact that two optional services are automatically added to the shopping cart (Advanced Site Protection/Performance Accelerator and Automated Backups). We unchecked these two options and completed our sign-up using the PayPal payment option.

SETUP

Six minutes after the PayPal receipt arrived in our Inbox, we received the iPage “Welcome” e-mail (screenshot below right). We are pleased to report that it provided all of the information required — including DNS (nameserver) settings — to upload our NCM Test Site quickly and easily.

iPage provides the vDeck 4 control panel for its shared hosting accounts (screenshot below right). While not as popular as the cPanel control panel, we have found vDeck to be the best comparable alternative. It is well-designed and easy to use. It does not include quite all of the same advanced features as cPanel, but it certainly includes everything you will need to set up your website and e-mail accounts without difficulty.

iPage vDeck 4 control panel. Click to enlarge.

Installing WordPress on iPage shared accounts is accomplished by using the included MOJO Marketplace installer. While we prefer the advertising-free Fantastico Deluxe and Softaculous script installers, MOJO Marketplace handles the task without difficulty.

TESTING

Once the NCM Test Site was up and running, the next step was to set up Dotcom Monitor testing. We are pleased to report that we were not disappointed by either the iPage speed or uptime test results.

All website hosting services reviewed by NCM Online are purchased and subjected to our 10-day test for uptime and speed. iPage speed and uptime testing began on April 18th, 2014 and concluded on April 27th, 2014.

While not the fastest shared hosting provider reviewed to date, iPage recorded very good page load speeds. Site speed was fastest when accessed from the New York testing location with an NCM test page load time of only 0.7885 seconds. As has been the result of all NCM page-load tests to date, site speed was slowest when accessed from Asia. iPage recorded a comparably good average of 1.7682 seconds to load our test site when accessed from the Hong Kong testing location.

iPage Speed Test Results Chart. Click to enlarge.

Overall, iPage recorded a very good average speed of 1.3455 seconds to load our test site from 13 locations worldwide, and an above average 1.1705 seconds from 7 U.S. locations. See screenshot right.

Tested for uptime every 15 minutes over 10 days, the iPage reliability results proved to be even better than the page-load speed results. See uptime test results chart below right. The server produced a nothing-less-than-perfect reliability score of 100%.

iPage Uptime Test Results Chart. Click to enlarge.

AN EIG COMPANY

iPage is part of the Endurance International Group (EIG), a NASDAQ-traded company with holdings that include a number of brands in the low-cost web hosting space. These include: A Small Orange, Bluehost, Dotster, FatCow, HostGator, IPOWER, Netfirms, and StartLogic.

Unfortunately, EIG has developed something of a reputation in the hosting industry for buying good hosts and applying cost-cutting measures that result in a diminished hosting experience for end-users. While we find that to be true in certain instances — HostGator, FatCow, and Bluehost immediately come to mind — NCM Online cannot afford the luxury of such generalizations.

Each host we review begins with a blank slate. We purchase their cheapest available, WordPress-capable plan; test them for speed and uptime; and report the results — along with the details of our hosting experience from a user’s perspective. We apply the same metrics and rating system to all the hosts we review.

While most EIG hosts have not fared well in our rankings, a few have. iPage is one of those hosts.

Pros

• A+ BBB rating
• Affordable cost
• Unlimited disk space
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Unlimited e-mail accounts
• Unlimited domains hosted
• Unlimited MySQL databases
• Free SiteLock security suite
• Free point and click site builder
• Free online store with choice of shopping cart
• PayPal payment option
• US-based, 24/7 phone, chat and e-mail support
• Anytime money-back guarantee
• Above-average page load speeds
• 100% uptime test result

Cons

• Although it is not difficult to use, we are not particularly fond of the MOJO Marketplace WordPress installer
• Two optional items automatically added to shopping cart during checkout process

Conclusion

There is a lot to like about iPage’s all-in-one Essential Plan. In addition to providing excellent features, it performed admirably in our testing. If you are considering purchasing affordable shared hosting services, iPage certainly merits your consideration.

iPage has earned 4.5 stars and is recommended by NCM Online.

Pricing and Features

Cheap website hosting company price comparisons based on 1-year term list price before coupon/promo codes or limited time/introductory offer discounts. These are the renewal rates for the second year of hosting. To ensure that you receive the most affordable iPage pricing possible, please visit our Web Hosting Coupon Codes page for current discounts and special offers before making any purchases.

Plan	iPage Hosting
Disk Space	Unlimited
Transfer / Bandwidth	Unlimited
Domains Allowed	Unlimited
MySQL Databases	Unlimited
Designing Building Site
Drag and Drop Site Builder (6 Pages)	Free
Template-Based Site Builder
Personalized Domain Name ($14.99 Value)	1 Year
Blog Setup Wizard
Photo Gallery Setup Wizard
Google Custom Search Engine
Hosting Utilities Settings
FileManager
FTP Manager
Secure FTP
Custom Error Pages
URL Redirect Service
MIME Types
Power Plugins
Content Management Systems (Joomla!, Drupal, Mambo, e107)
Blogs (WordPress, PixelPost, b2evolution)
Photo Galleries (Gallery2, Coppermine, ZenPhoto)
Forums (Gbook, phpBB, SMF)
Supported Software Scripts
PERL Support
Server Side Includes
Website Backup Software
Multimedia Features
Real Audio Video Support
Flash Support
Macromedia Shockwave
MIDI File Support
Selling Online
Free Online Store
Choice of Shopping Cart
PayPal Integration
World-Class Technology
ShopSite Shopping Cart
osCommerce Shopping Cart
AgoraCart Shopping Cart
Shared SSL
World-Class Technology
Web Hosting Control Panel
Enhanced Security Suite (A $100 Value)
24×7 Network Monitoring
High Performance Load Balanced Servers
Visitor Statistics/Site Traffic Reporting
Multiple Gigabit Fiberoptic Connections of Diverse Backbones
Two Data Center Locations
Cisco Routers Using BGP4 Protocol
NetApp Snapshot Data Backups
UPS Power Backup, Diesel Backup Generator
Bandwidth Disk Usage Monitor
Access Logs
Error Logs
Marketing Site
Access to Online Marketing Guides
$100 Google AdWords Offer
$25 Credit for Yahoo!/Bing Sponsored Search
$50 Credit for Facebook Advertising
Free Yellowpages.com Listing
Free Toll-Free Phone Number (US Only)
Sending Receiving Email
Email Addresses	Unlimited
WebMail (Checking Mail Online)
Email Forwarding
Autoresponders
Customizable Spam Filters
Virus Checking
POP3/IMAP Email Accounts	Unlimited
Customer Support
Extensive Online Help Center and Ticketing System
Step-by-Step Tutorials for Using Account
Anytime Money-Back Guarantee
24×7 Phone, Chat and Email Support
Calls Answered in About a Minute, on Average
Rigorous QA Testing of Staff
Price per Month*	$9.49

*Prices based on 1-year term before the application of coupon/promo codes and introductory/limited-time offer discounts. While you may pay less for the first year of hosting, the prices displayed on this page are the 1-year term renewal rates.

Company Information

Founded nearly twenty years ago, iPage has since been providing professional webhosting services. They have helped create all types of websites for personal, corporate, non-profit, and social use. Tools such as software, blogging applications, access to writing with HTML, and online site builders have helped many website owners achiever their goals. Useful features such as Dreamweaver and Expressions have also enabled countless customers build the website they wanted.

iPage uses two data centers with over 2400 sq. ft. of space in Boston, Massachusetts. Thousands of servers are used with storage of multiple Petabytes run with A/C and D/C N+1 power. They are protected with around the clock security and run with identical network equipment and architecture. The network operations center (NOC) is completely secure with equipment to detect and eliminate security breaches as soon as possible. The system is protected with database lockdowns, firewalls, pooled structure, and encryption practices. They have a dedicated and skilled management team that ensures the security of the equipment and also utilize a SiteLock security suite.

The pooled server creates a stable network structure as any server on the network could potentially access any website’s files. Any machine can access a customer’s data with the network-attached storage the firm utilized. The machines are identically paired to ensure seamless compensation if one fails. Disk failure is prevented with a backup of every unit to other storage units with exact copies of the data. The result is less downtime and faster loading for the customer’s websites as the quickest machine will serve. The network is also made up of redundant routers using BGP through multiple providers to gain worldwide access. Following analysis by load balancers, website data is managed by premium servers. The servers can be customized and specialized as they are split into separate application pools including incoming mail, web, FTP, and more. Dependable and quick services result from the increased density per box. The pools are spread out over a few racks meaning the dysfunction of one will not interrupt service.

One of the most valuable features that iPage emphasizes is their e-mail service which is fast with premium spam filters, always has the newest version of AtMail, uses Exchange hosting for bigger organizations, offers unrestricted forwards, and has mailboxes with unlimited capacity. These services are essential for a fully functional, efficient website as some of the most important to foster communication for organizations.

iPage maintains its responsibilities to its environment by purchasing RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) to reduce its carbon footprint. They go beyond their required responsibility by buying two RECs for each KWH of energy consumed- compensating for the energy usage by 200%. This is equal to planting trees covering 244 acres. Wind energy powers all the data centers, offices, and servers used. iPage Green Certificates and iPage Green Badges are available for all of their customer’s websites. These efforts prove iPage is not only a reliable and advanced webhosting service, but also a responsible firm that customers can depend on.

iPage The Endurance International Group, Inc. 10 Corporate Dr Suite 300 Burlington, MA 01803 877-472-4399 602-716-5396 Fax 781-998-8277 iPage Website iPage on Twitter iPage on Facebook iPage on Google+

How to Install WordPress

This video tutorial demonstrates the installation of WordPress on an iPage shared hosting account using the vDeck 4 control panel and the Mojo Marketplace applications installer.