Info about HostBee & host recommendations

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Gman447

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#270524 13-May-2020 17:52

Hi Guys

I'm looking for some info regarding a "NZ" Hosting Company called HostBee?

We have a couple of websites Hosted with them and so do some of our clients but something just does not seem right.

Originally, according to the Companies Office) they were setup as a company in 2013 as HOSTBEE GROUP LIMITED and allegedly had a shared server in an Albany Data Center.

We migrated to HostBee some years ago (2014) after being with 24/7 Hosting in Christchurch before it went bust.

It appears that sometime in 2018 everything HostBee has been "shipped off shore" and customers were not advised or informed.

After reviewing an recently Invoice that does not meet IRD requirements an inquiry was made to HostBee regarding their location and their server. It was confirmed by HostBee Billing "Help Desk" today that:

"Please note that Hostbee operations are currently not managed from New Zealand and hence GST information is not provided. We aren't charging GST. The server location of manuka is Sydney, Australia."

The server is apparently in Sydney x 2 and India?

https://check-host.net/ip-info?host=139.99.191.84

Questions:

Does anyone have any info on Hostbee?
Can a servers IP address be in multiple "locations" at once?
Any recommendations for an quality NZ based webhost? One of our site does approx 4gb of traffic per month, another a lot less. We also have some add-on domains and sub host these behind out site.

We would look at migrating but need to move to a Host that would assist with that process.

Thanks

Gman

hio77

12999 posts

Uber Geek

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Trusted

Lizard Networks

#2482975 13-May-2020 18:16

that link is just checking different geolocation databases.

The IP address is sitting in OVH range, It's in their sydney based datacenter.

they look to be your standard cookie cutter hosting company that just buys dedicated servers, slices and manages them onto the end customer.

Their website could do with some touching up...

if you are looking at moving, i'd highly recommend looking to dan below :)

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

danfaulknor

933 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Prodigi

#2482976 13-May-2020 18:17

I've heard of HostBee but haven't really looked into them. There seem to be a few hosts that have a NZ site but no other presence in NZ to speak of.

We have NZ based cPanel servers and can import your entire cPanel account directly off their servers for a quick and easy migration (assuming it's cPanel). I expect someone else would have jumped in to suggest us if I hadn't gotten here first as well :)

they/them

Prodigi - Optimised IT Solutions
WebOps/DevOps, Managed IT, Hosting and Internet/WAN.

danfaulknor

933 posts

Ultimate Geek

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Prodigi

#2482978 13-May-2020 18:19

Actually, now that I think about it, and the link to 24/7 Hosting... They popped up in the thread about 24/7 hosting going bust (back in 2014) with an offer for refugees and I was pretty sure at the time it was a Kiwi who posted that. It looks like someone offshore purchased their customers and name maybe?

they/them

Prodigi - Optimised IT Solutions
WebOps/DevOps, Managed IT, Hosting and Internet/WAN.

Gman447

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2483282 13-May-2020 23:58

Hi Dan,

Exactly... however a bit sneaky doing that and not telling customers. The invoice was picked up in an Audit (it's not much) but still :(. Also we've been having ongoing issues lately, horrid helpdesk support and downtime and loss of email does not assist business.

Yes Cpanel based, Our sites are linked to our CloudFlare accounts so we're looking for Host that is local, knowledgeable, trustworthy and hassle free.

I'll check out your Profile and any links etc and start a list :)

Gman

nzlotrfan

14 posts

Geek

#2522445 13-Jul-2020 19:05

I thought I'd comment because I just decided to check out the hostbee website out of curiousity but I see it is gone. I was the same; went to hostbee after 24/7 Hosting went bust. But after a few years, Hostbee started to develop issues for me and so I moved to Hoopla who have been excelent.

But yes, looks like HostBee has finished up.

Gman447

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2522522 14-Jul-2020 00:23

Hmmm...

"One" of HostBees servers went "down" tonight (ours!) and this is the response from HostBee:

"We rebooted the server and it didn't come back. On checking we found an issue with the Raid controller and technicians are working on it to get it resolved."

What ever. Currently we have had downtime for 5 hours!

I actually believe that their (our ) server 139.99.139.224 is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India and being masked for Sydney and Auckland - just a hunch. Is that possible?

100% sure that the whole Hostbee operation has been moved off shore, ongoing BS and communication issues with them, poor support, poor standards and false advertising. Not sure how they get away with setting up a NZ customer base then on selling them off shore. After pestering them about their invoices NOT meeting IRD requirements, it has just been confirmed that they are no longer in NZ - I have a full audit trail of invoices since coming on board with them.

No ethics I reckon.

Still on a hunt for an "affordable" solution for a tiny / small 100% owned NZ / KIWI Business doing 1-1.5 gb traffic / 90k requests per month - 4-5k unique visitors - nothing earth shattering but enough that email, site uptime and support are important.

I'll look at all [reasonable] suggestions.

Thanks

Gman

Gman447

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2522523 14-Jul-2020 01:00

nzlotrfan:

I thought I'd comment because I just decided to check out the hostbee website out of curiousity but I see it is gone. I was the same; went to hostbee after 24/7 Hosting went bust. But after a few years, Hostbee started to develop issues for me and so I moved to Hoopla who have been excelent.

But yes, looks like HostBee has finished up.

Thanks will check them out! Never heard of Hoopla

Gman

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nzlotrfan

14 posts

Geek

#2522606 14-Jul-2020 10:18

No worries. If you do end up signing up, I've never used my referral code before if you want to use it :D https://www.hooplahosting.co.nz/client/aff.php?aff=1200

In either case, hope it all works out