UK based hosting provider Storm Internet is on our radar now. It focuses on giving the best service for small businesses, so offered prices are very competitive. Therefore, checking Storm Internet hosting is a must for us.

The Storm Internet has been providing its services for 16 years now. Started in 2004 as a Windows hosting company headed by CEO Salim Benadel. And now Storm Internet can be proud of 6 consecutive awards on UK Internet Industry Awards, including Best Hosted Service Award at the 2019 ISPAs.

Award-winning hosting services and low prices sound too good to be true. So, without a further delay, let’s check what Storm Internet has to offer.

Uptime guarantee

Uptime is an essential parameter for a hosting service provider. In the case of server downtime, you will lose your traffic to your website and along with your potential clients.

Storm Internet claims that their typical Uptime is 99.99%. Though, their Uptime guarantee provided in SLA (Service Level Agreement) is 99.8%. So, this will be a valid number for Uptime assessment.

What is the easiest way to evaluate possible downtime of the server? That would be our Uptime Calculator. By using it, I estimated that the downtime of the website server of Storm Internet could be 2 minutes 52 seconds per day, or 1 hour 26 minutes 24 seconds monthly.

Pricing & Features

You can choose from two hosting packages on Storm Internet – Linux and Windows. Which one to choose depends on what platforms your website needs.

If you are using WordPress, or phpBB choose Linux, and if your site demands precise Microsoft products, like ASP.NET and SQL Server, then pick the Windows package.

So, when you decide which package to choose Linux or Windows, you will be able to pick from two plans Plus and Ultimate. Both of these plans have the same space – 2.5 GB and Unlimited Bandwidth. This space is on an SSD.

The price of Plus is £59.99/year (around $74), while Ultimate costs £79.99/year (around $98). So, it comes to $6.17/month for Plus and $8.17/month for Ultimate. As always, if you buy a plan for a longer time, you will get a discount. In this case, you will get a 30 % discount for two years.

I talked with their Customer Support regarding renewal price, he confirmed that renewal price would be the same as the initial price of the plan. So, if you are thinking of using Storm Internet hosting for a longer duration, do not worry about the higher renewal price.

So, as you can see, the hosting of Storm Internet is expensive in comparison with other hosting providers. Moreover, you are getting only 2.5 GB of space for a website, while other providers offer 20 GB and more for a similar price.

As you compare prices of both plans, naturally arises the question – why Ultimate is more expensive than Plus? Because on Linux Hosting Ultimate plan can have ten domains and ten MySQL databases, while Plus – five of each. Also, the Ultimate plan has SSH Access and unlimited FTP accounts, while Plus – five FTP accounts.

And on Windows Hosting package Ultimate plan has a 500 MB SQL Server Database and related features, while Plus does not.

If you do have individual requirements for your hosting, have no fear, Storm Internet is flexible enough to offer a plan tailored only for you.

The great thing concerning Storm Internet hosting is that it has sturdy security – Storm Security Center has award-winning hosting protection, disaster recovery, and GDPR compliance.

As I read comments about Storm Internet hosting around the net, I found that Storm Security has a very swift reaction to hacking, like DDoS or other, and instantly neutralizes it.

Also, whichever hosting plan you will choose, there always will be 24/7/365 support. Thus, it does not matter at what time you will need the help – Storm Internet support will always answer.

Do you know the feeling, when you are using a service, but are not happy with it? Storm Internet covered it. Because, if you are not satisfied with your hosting plan, 30 days after order, you can refuse services and get a full refund.

Customer support

I liked the customer service of the Storm Internet. There are three ways to get help from support – by phone, live chat, or you can request a FREE Quote.

There is no way that you could miss these possibilities of contact on the website. Because, there are contacts and interaction buttons on the top of the site, on the banner, and the right bottom corner. So, Storm Internet did everything to make you contact them.

As Live Chat is the quickest and most convenient way to ask questions and help, I tested it, as I had issues finding desired information on the website.

It took only from one to two minutes to get all the information that I needed.

Though, I had a few issues while contacting. One of them was technical. The support agent was constantly disconnecting, and I could not get an answer quickly.

Another issue arose, when I asked about Uptime guarantee conditions in SLA, the agent told me that regarding this matter, they will contact me by phone.

Another downside of the site is that there are no Knowledge Base, FAQ, or Tutorials to solve the most common problems. You have to get in touch with customer service on every matter.

Ease of Use

Personally, for me, it was hard to navigate around the Storm Internet website. I felt like I was overwhelmed with information. The menu of the website has a lot of sections, and it is hard to tell which one is right for you.

Moreover, you will not find the prices of the plans easily. So, my recommendation would be straight to contact customer service and tell them what you need.

For Linux shared hosting servers, Storm Internet uses WHM/cPanel, which is the most popular cPanel on Linux servers. There are a lot of features on it, but WHM/cPanel is simple enough to use. Because for every section, you have a tutorial, which explains how to use it.

Moreover, there is a WHM/cPanel support center, where you can find the FAQ and Support forum. Or you can request help by issuing a Support Ticket.

Conclusion

So, can you get an Award-winning hosting provider for a competitive price? Well, no, the prices of Storm Internet hosting are too high in comparison to the storage they offer.

Though, if you like to have high security for your website, or do you have individual requirements for your hosting provider – Storm Internet hosting may be an excellent pick for you.