Is FQ For Me?

[GMan]

Hi all,

After some research on webhosting companies I was about to sign with ipowerweb and did a final search for perhaps a better company and discovered FQ. I'm not a web designer, administrator, or IT whiz-I'm just taking on the task of creating a web presence for my wife's artwork. I've checked out FQ and most everything seems way too technical for me. All I need at this point is about 30 pages containing thumbnails, jpegs, maybe a shopping cart eventually. I want to password protect certain areas at this time. I'm hoping somebody can advise me on the advantages of going with FQ if you think appropriate. ipowerweb has 24 hr phone support which I might need since I'm new to running a website, they are in LA as I am (not sure if it matters), and their pages seem to load faster than FQ sample pages (I'm on dialup). They also have some templates that I can use initially until I can get a site designed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Gary

[Jason]

Hi Gary,

I cannot comment on the specific technical aspects of FutureQuest - I'll allow others to do that.

However, I can tell you that the fact that ipowerweb's pages load faster for you than FQ's pages is actually not at all an indicator that those pages will load faster for anyone else on the planet. It's a simple fact that the Internet is a really big place made up of literally millions of separate, individual computer networks of varying sizes. And the way your individual packets travel from point A to point B will be completely different than someone else's.

Let's take a very easy example:

If you're travelling from Hawthorne to Burbank, you can take a whole bunch of different routes. You could take the 105 to the 5. Or you could take the 405 to the 110 to the 5. Or even the 405 to the 170 to the 5. You could even drive over to US 1 and drive up until you hit 170. And those are just the major highways I pulled off a map (been too long since I was in LA, couldn't remember most of the roads so I had to cheat). I bet there are literally thousands of different routes to go from Hawthorne to Burbank. Some of those routes are faster than others. Some are more direct than others. Some roads are larger and accommodate more cars. Some are smaller and more conjested and have worse traffic.

And so it is with the Internet. You may be taking a completely different route to FutureQuest's servers than even your next door neighbor does. It's not only possible, it's very likely (unless your neighbor uses the same ISP that you use - and even then it's possible). The main difference between the Internet and the roadway system is that, on the road, you as an individual have the power to decide how you get from point A to point B. On the Internet, that decision is made for you by a highly technical computer decision-making process that I like to refer to as "however they do that". It's not something you can decide yourself, so the only way you personally can change the route your connection takes from your computer to any given server is to change the ISP you're dialing into. To go back to the road analogy, it's kind of like riding a bus - when you're riding on a bus, the bus driver gets to decide which road to take. When you're dialing into the Internet, your ISP makes that decision.

Basically, the point is, ipowerweb might be very fast for you and slower than molasses for the entire rest of the world's population. And FQ could be slower than dirt for you, and zip right along for everyone else. It's all relative.

I can tell you that I have been a lurker and a friend here since 1998, and FQ's web pages have always loaded very quickly for me. I've never ever had a complaint about the speed of sites on FQ's network.

Anyway, good luck with your web site, and I'm sure that you'll get answers to all of your other questions from the people who make this forum one of the best support forums on the Internet.

Take care,

Jason

[TVB]

FQ sucks...

Because they answer support questions quickly---less than 30 minutes has been the norm for me over the past two years.

Because they have this great forum where we can ask others for help.

Because if the server we are on goes down, I hear from them before I hear from our visitors.

Because it may seem it is for more advanced web developers, I have learned tons more than I need to know about web-building.

Because I know if I want to disappear for a couple of weeks, our site is safe and will be there when I get come back to reality.

Naw...they don't suck but they sure do make my web life easier.

Betsy

[Jeff]

Jason covered the speed issue.

It makes sense that if you're in LA and ipowerweb is in LA that your ping time (time it takes for a test packet to go back and forth) will be lower from you to them (local) than from you to FutureQuest (across the country). This would be a big factor for game hosting, but for web hosting it's not a big deal. I find that my pages on FutureQuest usually load very quickly. FutureQuest uses Qwest and Internap bandwidth which are two of the fastest pipes out there.

Are you sure you're comparing apples to apples in the sites you're testing on each server? (in terms of the overall size of the pages, any dynamic elements being called, etc.?)

As far as 24/7 tech support, I prefer the forums here to the experience I've had with phone support. I like that I get a direct 'forum' for talking to the sysadmin and that a variety of skilled techs, each with their own specialities, can see my question and respond appropriately. I've found the response time at FutureQuest to be very, very fast, both via the trouble ticket system and via the forums here (not that I've needed tech support much.)

As far as templates, I would think that if you are creating an art site it would be better to build it from scratch so that it is unique. I think I'd prefer a simple original site that fits the artist to a more complex out-of-the-box template.

These are of course only my opinions. I can't recomment FutureQuest enough.

[Deb]

I'm not a web designer, administrator, or IT whiz-I'm just taking on the task of creating a web presence for my wife's artwork. Many of our clients are the same ;) We all have our own skills and they don't always include complex programming. The beauty of the forums being riddled with those with more skills in these areas is that "us simple folks" are going to receive expert help when we need it ;). Basic HTML etc can be accomplished easily and the CNC makes getting everything setup simple where things such as email accounts, password protection, and other such requirements are concerned. All I need at this point is about 30 pages containing thumbnails, jpegs, I have to suggest looking at Gallery for the art display. Visit: http://gallery.menalto.com/

I, as well as others in the forums, use it and it works wonderfully for displaying images, sorting them out, allowing comments, and it's pretty simple to install (not to mention free). maybe a shopping cart eventually. I think you will find, when you are ready, there are -many- options in this area and you may not even need to install a full fledged shopping cart. A lot just depends on your specific needs. They also have some templates that I can use initially until I can get a site designed Visiting http://www.Google.com and doing a search for "Free website templates" will reveal MANY available for everyone to use wherever they are hosted. They're great for those just getting their feet wet.

Whichever way you decide to go... good luck with it all. I think you'll find web site creation a lot easier than anticipated, and sooner than expected you'll be the "guru" others, who have not yet dived in, will envy ;)

Deb
- I'll never forget my struggles with <tables>

[Andilinks]

I am another satisfied customer (since April '02). The care that FQ shows for their customers is astonishing.

Andi

[GMan]

I really appreciate your responses...FQ it is!

Gary

[di_bear]

Gary,

If you're worried about FQ being too technical for you to work, have no fear. The Command 'N' Control makes working with a web page easier than hosting one on free services meant for people who have very low Web IQs. It's easier than Geocities...easier than the little web page building tutorial provided by your ISP. Sure, you don't have a web page building feature here, but there is loads of help to show you that it can be easy as 1, 2, 3! ...and...if you don't like working with FTP software because it's too complicated (it can be for someone who's never used it before), then FQ has a direct upload utility that I like to use all the time (less work than FTP). If you're going to upload a gazillion things at once, than that's when FTP would be helpful cuz it's less work. :-)

When you're ready to pick it up a notch and go all-out, then FutureQuest delivers! Also, their support staff is FAST (I've gotten all replies in less than 30 minutes as well). I've even gotten my second domain set up in a day - and the delay was due to Network Solutions! ;-) ...if you want to call a day a delay. (I remember when it used to take a week or so - yeesh).