1&1

I’ve been a customer of 1&1 for several years, mainly because it’s too difficult to swap hosts with so many sites to manage and the pricing has been good. I began by using the best of their shared platform, which I felt to be of poor value given the performance problems I suffered on even smaller sites. MySQL database performance was a particularly common issue on those.

Later I swapped to a dedicated server, which gave a good improvement but still had problems. For example, while most hosts offer MySQL5 databases, at the time of writing 1&1 has still not managed to upgrade my package to support them, thus seriously limiting what modern scripts you can adopt; it doesn’t even offer MySQL 4.1.

However while mediocre hosting performance is not uncommon at lower price points, customer support has been the weakest aspect. Support response times to e-mail messages can range from 4/6 hours to several days, though it has recently improved. When you do get a reply then they often seem unable to cope with more complex questions, frequently responding with answers that either conflict with other information the host has given or relate to completely different matters.

Generally speaking, 1&1 isn't a truly terrible host and I’ve been with far worse. So long as customer support isn’t a concern and you’re buying a dedicated server then they’re not bad but I wouldn’t recommend the shared hosting packages.

We initiated a DNS redirect of our domain from 1 & 1 internet ltd to a new DNS host. Meanwhile I also initiated a domain transfer request from 1 & 1 internet to the new registrar.

This resulted in a domain registration error and consequently we have lost all our email and website access. This has persisted for 5 days despite our best efforts to re-initiate service.

The support staff are un-cooperative and un-helpful in dealing with this domain registration error which should be an easy fix.

We sent 3 emails per day to the support and transfers desk (support at 1and1.co.uk and transfers at 1and1.co.uk) and the response is woeful at best (an automated response informs you that they will respond in 24 hours, but I have heard very little). In 5 days I have received 1 email in return.

I contacted the support telephone number twice per day for the last 4 days. The call routes to the Philippines where the call centre staff are unable to perform any functions other than to record the details of the conversation on an email which is then sent to the technical team (in New York). In addition, the call quality is extremely poor (phasing in and out).

In summary we have found 1 & 1 internet to be extremely unhelpful and at best obstructive in our case. This has severely impacted our business.

I urge anyone thinking of doing business with 1 and 1 internet to be extremely aware of their terrible customer service and woeful technical support.

I use to be with 1&1 before moving to 123-Reg, their support was as poor as the other reviewer has said but slightly more responsive when given enough time. The control panel is pretty useful and services are good but my website was extremely slow for the £8 odd I paid them in monthly fees. SQL databases are very weak, they could barely handle the needs of a small forum.. yukk. Everything else is ok.