Tanzanian web hosting provider Route Africa Networks Limited (or simply “Route Africa”) offers all kinds of hosting, including shared hosting, reseller hosting, email hosting, VPS, cloud servers, managed servers, and dedicated servers, plus associated services such as domain registration/transfer, SSL certificates, and SEO solutions.
This provider’s entirely WHMCompleteSolution-powered website doesn’t say much about the company itself. However, its Facebook page (not linked from the main website) was created in March 2018, and it states the company’s founding date as 2017. Put simply; this looks like a relatively recent entrant into the hosting market.
Features and Ease of Use
Route Africa offers eight Windows and five WordPress hosting plans, five reseller hosting plans, two email hosting plans, two VPS, two cloud servers, two managed servers, and four dedicated servers. The WordPress shared hosting plans provide you with:
- 1 to 15 GB disk space
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 5 to unlimited subdomains
- 10 to unlimited email accounts
- Free SSL (with the three higher plans)
Although this provider doesn’t state that backups are performed on their website, their terms-of-service page does mention that customers should not rely on their backups and should take their own steps to safeguard website data.
If you opt for a VPS, you get root access for complete control of your server. If you choose a dedicated server, the RAID 1 replication helps guard against potential disk data disasters.
Pricing and Support
The WordPress hosting plans start dirt-cheap, whereas the Windows shared hosting plans are expensive. You can pay for plans in U.S. dollars, Tanzania shillings, or Kenyan shillings via PayPal or credit cards on yearly terms. You needn’t worry too much about making an annual commitment because first-time customers get a 30-day money-back guarantee.
24/7 customer support is offered via telephone, ticket, email, live chat, Skype, or WhatsApp. However, I couldn’t find the WhatsApp, the live chat was unavailable when I wanted to try it, and my exploratory email went unanswered. When it comes to self-support, the knowledge base contains only four entries:
