I tried googling for webhosts, but there are thousands, and I don't know where to start. Maybe someone can help me out here. I'm looking for a webhost that:

1. Is relatively cheap. $5-$20 a month or so.
2. Doesn't have a ridiculous setup fee, like $30.
3. Allows adult content (unless it's TGP.)
4. Allows me to choose MY OWN username to my specifications. Username does not have to have something like like 3-8 characters and absolutely have to have numbers in it.
5. Allows me to create my own e-mail accounts from scratch. At the very least, the primary e-mail address will be based on my username. (Last time my e-mail address ended up as [email protected]. Which confused people who thought it should be [email protected])
6. wakaba works on this host and I don't have to ask them to install mod_header, because it seems like I always have to do that.
7. Has a decent amount of space/bandwidth for the price.
8. Has a decent number of subdomains
9. Has a decent number of MySQL database.
10. MySQL databases don't have to begin with my username (or are all hosts this way?)

Other things that would be nice.

1. Doesn't use cpanel. cpanel is terrible.

I figured this would be the place to ask since some of you use wakaba and I basically want to use this host for image boards.

dreamhost

http://wakaba.c3.cx/soc/kareha.pl/1103187706

I second Dreamhost.

1. $10/month for the cheapest plan, which I will outline below. It's $8 a year if you pay two years in advance.
2. No setup fee IF you pay a year in advance.
3. Cool with da pr0n.
4. I don't remember the exact username specifications, but I got the username I wanted on the first try.
5. 600 mailboxes. You pick the address.
6. Wakaba works fine.
7. 2400 MB disk space, 120 GB transfer. I've never come close to using it up.
8. 15 subdomains, and support for up to three full domains. One domain registration is included with the plan (so no need to register it at GoDaddy or wherever and do all the DNS crap).
9. Unlimited SQL databases, but they're a bit annoying. Basically, each database must be on its own database server, which you set up when you set up the database. That means using "localhost" as the database server will never work... It's another couple steps whenever you want to set something up, but it's not that hard.
10. MySQL databases do not have to begin with your username (though I fail to see why that would be such a headache).

And it doesn't use cPanel. They almost never have unannounced downtime, and, the few times that I've had support tickets, they've always been quick to respond. They're a great value for the money.

The web site is http://dreamhost.com , or, if you would be so kind as to give kind old Albright a referral credit, http://www.dreamhost.com/rewards.cgi?albright

Lol, referral credit.

I think I was referred to dreamhost in the past but the setupfee/yearly-plan thing repelled me. I really don't want to pay $50 for a setup fee. That's blatantly ridiculous. I would pay for a years worth of hosting but I don't think I'm quite that committed to my site. It might fail (like it currently is, actually.) If I cancel my hosting will I get refunded for the months of hosting I haven't used?

(And yes I would give you a referral credit if I decide to use the service.)

You can cancel within 97 days and get a full refund.
https://panel.dreamhost.com/kbase/index.cgi?area=166
You cannot get a refund on pre-paid service after that 97 days.
https://panel.dreamhost.com/kbase/index.cgi?area=405

But hey, if your site fails, that doesn't mean you can't still use the space for a different site, for email, for backing up important files, or what-have-you...

As for the setup fee, ya gotta kinda look at it from the PoV of hosting companies. Of course it doesn't cost them anywhere near $50 to set up a new account, but they would all really rather that you paid a year in advance anyway. If it were your company, wouldn't you?

By the way, one more thing about DreamHost: Their stats suck. Not very detailed at all. Fortunately, they allow cron, a UNIX utility that can run scripts every so often, so I installed AWStats http://awstats.sourceforge.net and set up cron to generate new stat pages every hour. A bit of a pain to set up, but now I've got pretty and detailed stats: http://anre.org/awstats/pichan/awstats.pichan.html Give me the referral credit, and I'll help you set this up for your own site, if you'd like. :)

Speaking of referral credit, DreamHosts' are pretty generous; you can choose between 10% of everything your referee (heh) pays for the life of their account, or a one-time payment of $97. So if you go with the annual plan I mentioned above, and you can score two referrals, you'll more than recover the cost for your account. http://www.dreamhost.com/rewards.html

Curious: What is your current (failing) site? Is it an image board?

I really have to second Dreamhost.

There are a few things to be aware of:
a) Like Albright says, the default stats are bleh.
b) The update interface (create new users/db/etc) is slow, usually taking somewhere between 15min-2hours to take effect.
c) Support tickets take a few hours to process.
d) They have a configurable bandwidth limiter, but it's only processed once a day, and only works site-wide.
e) They never update their software. Perl 5.6.1...

Yet, for the price, it's completely worth it. I think the real clincher for me, other than the large amount of bandwidth, is the rather unrestricted shell access. They also seem quite avid on keeping existing customers, routinely bringing out new benefits.

BTW, email them and sound needy. I asked if I could pay monthly and with no setup fee, and they gave me a code for it!

Interesting, the no setup fee thing. I could try that.

Yeah it sounds like they pretty much just want to force everyone into paying for a year. I don't really have the $120 on my credit card, but I know it would just be stupid to pay $50+120 in the long run if I decide to stick with the host.

I prefer to pay monthly. At least if they give you grief you can leave on short notice. Consider it an additional bargaining tool when issues arise.

They gave me the no setup fee code thing. Thank you.

This host is awesome. I also got a free domain when I registered. I now own eleochan.org as well as gottimhimmel.com. For $10 a month! I am happy. I also get to host both domains (I have room for one more.)

Albright, I think i credited you. I didn't use the link you gave me but entered "Albright" in the referral textbox while I was signing up.

I would credit anon!21anonxxxxx but I can't. Thanks guys.

tell me your name and I can claim credit on you, I think.

It's, "eleochan".

Indeed, I'm seeing a credit from "eleochan." Thanks much, my man. (Though I don't actually get access to the credit until after your 97-day money-back trial expires.) Glad you're happy wit the host.

Oop, need your email too. Thanks!

BTW, I never claimed referal credit towards anybody either.

eleomason at sbscglobal dot net

Question: Do I gotta install my own MySQL query editor for this to work?

For what to work? If Wakaba, then no.

By "query editor," do you mean something like phpMySQL?. You already have access to phpMySQL; just go to the database's server address in a web browser.

I meant like phpmyadmin.

Nevermind, I found it.