Features and Ease of Use
Nine Web offers a comprehensive range of cloud hosting services including its shared cloud hosting plans which come with these core features:
- 99% uptime guarantee
- Daily website backups
- Free .com or .org domain with annual plans
- Unlimited domains
- SSL certificates available
- Unlimited data transfer and disk space available
You can choose between Windows and Linux operating systems, as well as servers located in either Thai or U.S. data centers (both options mean the servers are co-located), which is quite flexible for a shared hosting company.
It’s hard to tell what the uptime guarantee is as there isn’t an SLA displayed on the website, and there are various different percentages advertised depending which page your read, ranging from 99.9% to 100%.
All of the usual features for expert users are included, for example, plans come with unlimited FTP accounts, MySQL and Microsoft SQL databases, phpMyAdmin, and support for PHP, albeit far slower version 4 and 5. There’s even Cron jobs to schedule repetitive tasks easily, as well as SSH access.
The situation regarding beginner features is not as positive, and after reaching out to support, customer service confirmed that they have a one-click installer, but no website building tool.
Pricing and Support
Surprisingly, the prices are quite high when compared to other local and international competitors. Even the base package with 200MB disk space (granted, it has unlimited domains and data transfer), has a premium price point. You do get a free domain when you purchase an annual plan, as well as an SSL certificate, which goes a little way to help.
Plans can be purchased in three, six, twelve, and twenty four month terms, and there is a discount when you purchase a longer term upfront. While it’s not the smoothest checkout flow I’ve seen, unlike a lot of Asian companies, you can purchase and pay for the hosting entirely via the website.
There are a variety of methods to contact support, if you need assistance. You can email various departments, including sales, finance, or general support, or phone or fax the company. Ideally, Nine Web would add live chat (it is mentioned on the website, but it seems to direct you to Facebook messenger, which then tells you to send an email) and/or some form of help desk with articles to improve the customer service offering (there’s only a basic FAQ section).
On the plus side, I sent an email at around 3:00 p.m. on a weekday and received a reply in English on the same day. The reply was brief but it answered all of my questions in full.
