Midphase Introduction

If the idea of your web host going out of business makes you nauseated, check out Midphase.

Past history does not guarantee future returns, but given that the company’s leadership team has been together since 1998 and the company itself has been around since 2003, we expect Midphase to continue to provide excellent service to its customers.

However, is this company the right option for you? Read our review to find out.

About Midphase

Midphase is an American web hosting company that specializes in shared web hosting but offers many other services.

Located in Utah and founded in 2003, the company has grown its customer base to over 120,000 and had more than 200 employees at the time of this review.

The company has also opened offices in London, England; and Lviv, Ukraine.

Part of the UK2 Group

Midphase has become a part of the UK2 group, known for providing web services to over one million domains across 140 countries.

That gives Midphase solid backing in the industry.

Notably, it shares its headquarters with WestHost and other similar hosts.

Midphase has a reputation for cheap and simple web hosting, but it also offers dedicated server hosting as well.

While VPS hosting is not available directly, the Midphase website points customers to its sister brand, VPS.net, for these services, so the option is there if you’re prepared to use an alternative supplier.

Midphase Hosting Plans

Midphase offers many options when it comes to hosting plans.

There are the company’s shared hosting plans, with more premium offerings classified under the Midphase Pro category.

Shared Hosting Plans

Options for Linux-based shared hosting packages with Midphase are kept simple with just two plans on offer.

Linux-Based Plans

Customers can sign up for a month, 1, 2 and 3-year terms; the longer the term, the lower the price. Each plan comes with unlimited bandwidth and disk space.

• The Personal plan allows for one website with ten sub-domains and 1 MySQL database.
• The Business plan removes the limit on websites, MySQL databases, and sub-domains and also comes with an SSL certificate and a dedicated IP address.

Windows-Based Plans

Windows-based shared hosting is available in a choice of three plans.

Each plan comes with unlimited disk space and bandwidth.

Customers can choose the term of their contract from monthly up to 3-yearly.

• The Starter plan only allows for one website, dub-domain and MySQL database.
• The Unlimited plan lifts the limits on sites, sub-domains, and MySQL databases.
• The Business plan also comes with a dedicated SSL certificate and a dedicated IP address.

Reseller Options

Linux-based reseller hosting through Midphase is offered on a 5-point sliding scale.

This starts with a basic plan and scales up to Plus, Pro, Max and Alpha reseller plans.

Again, customers can vary the term of their contract from 1 month to 3 years.

All plans come with a brandable control panel, billing software, 10 SSL certificates and a dedicated IP address.

The plans start with up to 50 GB of disk space and 500 GB bandwidth which can be scaled up to 250 GB of disk space and 2.5 TB bandwidth.

Midphase Pro: VPS Cloud and SSD VPS

There are multiple options under the Midphase Pro umbrella.

Midphase offers two different types of VPS hosting: VPS Cloud and VPS SSD (the latter is a more traditional option).

There are four different VPS Cloud plans from which you can choose, while the latter option is infinitely customizable.

Midphase offers dedicated server hosting based on the processor the customer needs.

Each plan comes with free setup and 10 TB bandwidth.

• Servers with the Atom D510 1.66 GHz processor come with a 500 GB hard drive and 2 GB RAM.
• Servers with the Xeon E3-1220 3.1 GHz processor come with a 500GB hard drive and 8 GB RAM.
• Servers with the Xeon E5-2620 2.0 GHz processor come with two 500 GB hard drives and 12 GB RAM.
• Servers with two Xeon E5-2620 2.0 GHz processors come with two 500 GB hard drives and 24 GB RAM.

VPS hosting and dedicated servers require system administration.

If you don’t want to manage this yourself, you can opt for Midphase’s managed server services where the company’s technical team will keep your servers humming on your behalf.

Affiliate Program

There is also an affiliate program which allows Midphase customers to earn money for successful customer referrals.

The Midphase E-commerce Builder

Midphase offers an e-commerce builder for those looking to get started with an online store.

Midphase claims that you can get a new store up and running in less than thirty minutes.

Each of the three plans offered by the company includes everything you need, including:

• Store templates
• Page editing tools for your product pages
• Hosting
• SEO tools
• Marketing tools
• Shopping cart
• Checkout functionality
• Payment processing
• Delivery options
• Ability to set tax rates
• Bulk import of products via CSV
• and more

The entry-level package is excellent for small businesses new to the world of online selling, while the premium options get an established business additional functionality.

Website Builder

Midphase also offers a website builder for customers who don’t need e-commerce functionality.

Some potential uses of this builder include for blogs, creative portfolios, and service-based businesses.

Midphase Uptime/Downtime

Midphase customers are not promised an uninterrupted service as such, but the company says it strives to make its hosting services available at all times.

Importantly, this is backed up by an uptime guarantee.

Uptime Guarantee

This guarantee compensates Midphase customers should the server uptime drop below 99.9% in any given month.

As you’d expect, this covers downtime that occurs outside of scheduled server maintenance.

There aren’t any available uptime statistics for Midphase’s servers, but there is a server status page on the Midphase website which anyone can access – even non-customers.

Data Centers

The main Midphase data center is located in ‘disaster-safe’ Lindon, Utah, although dedicated servers can be held in a choice of locations across the US and the UK.

The primary data center is a Tier-3 data center which utilizes redundant power sources and on-site monitoring and security staff, to ensure the servers a kept up and running at all times.

Midphase Customer Support

Midphase customers are given a wide range of customer support options should there be any problems with their hosting services.

Online Help Resources

There is a knowledge base for self-help purposes, a blog, and server status page for news and updates.

Direct Support

Customers can also contact the Midphase US-based support teams 24 hours a day through a live chat facility and free telephone line (a US and an international number are available).

Support is also provided via ticket and email.

The plans come with a support response time guarantee although there is no information confirming what this is.

Social Media Interaction

Midphase maintains very active Facebook, Google+ and Twitter accounts.

More importantly, it appears to interact frequently with its customers through social media if any support requests arise.

Comprehensive SLA for Dedicated Server Customers

Dedicated server hosting customers are also provided with a comprehensive SLA which covers bandwidth guarantees, connectivity guarantees, and hardware replacement guarantees.

What Control Panel Does Midphase Offer?

Midphase provides cPanel for all of its Linux-based hosting plans.

cPanel will be familiar to the majority of web hosting customers who have used reputable hosts before.

If you’re not accustomed to using it, Midphase also provides a useful demo on its website.

Midphase Extras

All of Midphase’s hosting plans come with a free domain name.

Hosting supports WordPress, PHPNuke, osCommerce, ZenCart, Ruby-on-Rails, Python, Perl and more.

Customers are also provided with the Softaculous one-click installer.

Midphase also offers a large number of add-ons and additional services, so you can easily build a package that meets all of your needs.

Midphase owns multiple datacenters, and depending on which hosting package you opt for, you can choose where your site is hosted.

Does Midphase Have a Money-Back Guarantee or Cancellation Policy?

All of the Midphase shared hosting plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is relatively standard for shared hosting plans.

The refund doesn’t include domain name registration fees and other additional services that have been purchased.

How to Get a Refund from Midphase

Customers need to complete an online form in order to cancel their account and must give at least 14 days notice before the end of their term to cancel before the account is renewed.

Midphase also retains the right to cancel a customer’s account within 72 hours when a customer has been exceptionally rude or vulgar to support staff.

Midphase: A Stable Company

Midphase has attracted little attention in the media, and there is a distinct lack of any news stories, good or bad, about the company.

Midphase’s umbrella organization, UK2 Group, have not had much attention either, so it’s probably safe to assume that the services both companies provide are relatively stable.

Midphase Alternatives

If Midphase is a bit of the expensive side for what you need, check out HostGator. HostGator offers full-featured, budget-friendly web hosting packages, and the company backs its offerings up with top-notch customer support. See our HostGator reviews.If Midphase does not offer enough for your needs, especially when it comes to managed VPS hosting and dedicated servers, check out Rackspace. Rackspace is a purveyor of premium web hosting selections geared toward those with resource-intensive websites. Check out our Rackspace reviews..

Midphase Summary

Midphase stands up exceptionally well against other web hosts/web hosting companies in the industry.

Its shared hosting plans are well structured, and although there are not any freebies to tempt customers to sign up, the option to purchase shared hosting on a monthly basis is a big plus for anyone who is unsure about whether the service is enough for their needs.

The Midphase support department appears to be well-organized and well-run.

Although there are no video tutorials or user guides available, the use of social media sites to liaise with customers is admirable.

The choice of data center locations offers a good amount of flexibility for large companies as well.

Midphase is a solid, dependable web host offering a wide variety of web hosting/website related services that will likely meet the needs of most customers on the market.

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Additional material by Katie Horne.