Domain purchasing/managment recommendations please!

[cheredenine]

I'm sorting out some web related issues for the school and there is a requirement to purchase some domain and have them redirect to the replacement school website we're building using Fronter, our VLE.

 

After mixed success the other day - we buy a domain without realising that the company doing the selling doesn't actually have any provision for managing that domain - i'm looking for recommendations for companies that can do the following:

 

* sell us domains as required

* let us set up DNS aliases (i.e. ww.school-name.co.uk, eportal.school-name.co.uk, et)

* let us redirect traffic from domain alias to the hosting site (i.e. ww.school-name.co.uk to ww.horrid-and-length.com/county/school-name) whilst letting the redirection remain transparent. I don't want the horrid URL replacing the nice new school-name domain at any point

* take over the management of domains already owned with minimal fuss

 

Any suggestions? Cheers!

[aeg102]

Heart Internet - (I am not allowed to post a link as this is my first post, but put it in Google...obvious domain name!) - very reasonable pricing for domains, and a pretty comprehensive control panel for managing the adding of 'A' records etc to your domains.

 

Al

[garethEds]

I personally use 123-reg to register my domains for numerous people that I use. I either register them under my account, or if the client is fussy I register their own account for them.

 

I didn't realise there were rules for posting links so again type 123reg into Google. They should be at the top.

 

GJE

[tin]

I'll second 123-reg. I have used them for many years. Their control panel is simple and always effective. However when there are problems their helpdesk becomes unresponsive, but show me a provider that doesn't have that failing...

[powdarrmonkey]

Me?

[tin]

Of cheap domains in bulk?

[powdarrmonkey]

I didn't realise there were rules for posting links so again type 123reg into Google. They should be at the top.

 

You only can't use a link in your first post, it's an anti-bot measure.

[cheredenine]

I've used 123-reg before... Can't say that i'm a fan, really. The control panel didn't seem particularly comprehensive, at least compared to the options offered by my current ISP who'll look after my domain and give me management controls free-of-charge. Also, my brother-in-law had many email issues with them when they slotted in some sort of anti-spam measure - delivery times went from normal to poor with seemingly random lengthy delivery delays. 123-reg's attitude was apparently 'oh well, you shouldn't be using us for business emails anyway'. Maybe things have changed?

 

I like the look of Heart Internet so far; might give them a punt...

[tin]

I do think the control panel is comprehensive, at least I have been able to do everything I ever wanted to with it.

 

However on the email side I may have been involved in the same issue as your brother-in-law and support were poor, hence my comments above.

 

Nonetheless we've used them for several domains for business email since 2003 and one hiccup is not bad for the price.

 

If you can find someone you KNOW is reliable I'd say go for it, but my comment is that most (bulk) service provider's customer service falls to bits the same time as their network does.

[cheredenine]

Had a reply from Heart which suggests what i want to do costs extra on top of the domain registration fee.. Oh well, maybe i will give 123-reg another look and forget my previous doubts...

 

Thanks all!

[Harlquinth]

I had similar issues with email not getting through with 123-reg, and after several one-sided arguments with them using their email support site (couldn't find a proper email address or phone number for them anywhere) I decided to move all my domain names.

 

Whilst reading about 123-reg on the internet I found out that their support has been going downhill (and their website not being updated) ever since they were taken over by another company a few years ago and the company that took over got rid of the existing staff/management. Some of the existing staff then formed 'daily.co.uk', which is where I transferred my domain names to after several helpful phonecalls with them to check that they didn't have the same email problems. The web interface for managing domains with daily.co.uk is much more modern than 123-reg, and their support is much more helpful, so I can certainly recommend it.

[Stuart_C]

I just use RM. But that's becuse they are our IPS and it ties everything up in one place. I just fax them anything I need doing (they need DNS changes on headed paper) and it gets done. A bit pricey but hey....