Buying a domain name...newbie advice

Mercyknight · 17th September 2008

I can easily find where to buy domain names from offering such things as buy that domain name for 2 years at this price etc... but what is the best website to buy a domain name from, what sort of prices should I be looking at, any advice would be helpful, or useful websites...

Penguin · 17th September 2008

The quality of a domain name doesn't vary between different companies, therefore you generally just need to look for the cheapest option to register the particular type of domain that you want, unless you require any specific extras thrown in with the domain such as Web forwarding, DNS management, etc.

othellotech · 18th September 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penguin

The quality of a domain name doesn't vary between different companies, therefore you generally just need to look for the cheapest option

The quality of a registration service *does* vary wildly, and "registrars" vanish off the planet on a daily basis, do you really want to risk your domain and therefore your entire internet presence on a no-name cheap reseller of a muppet of a reseller of ...

Although "age" of the company is not a guarantee of stability, it does at least indicate a history, which then tends to leads to there being negative reviews if the service is poor.

Pick one that has direct relationships with the registries for the domain types you want, they're more likely to be able to fix anything that goes wrong (and things sometimes do)

ALWAYS make sure the domain will be registered in your name, less professional registration companies create the domains in their own name so effectively retain ownership, which leads to problems later on

The facilities available a each of them, similarly varies, but should be the starting point - what *services* exactly do you require
- just registration, regsitration and dns, registration and forwarding, etc.

Your domain is possibly the most critical part of your internet identity, dont risk building an entire brand and having it dissappear when the registrar goes t!tsup.com just to save £1 /year - re the RegistreFly fiasco...

Mercyknight · 18th September 2008

Ok I'm thinking of going with 1-2-1-reg.co.uk

Good or bad choice, do they have a good or bad reputation? And they only allow me to rent that domain for upto 10 years, how do I register my domain name so I can keep it for life?

othellotech · 18th September 2008

1-2-1-reg.co.uk doesnt exist - the domains never been registered
(makes a quick mental not to buy it for the SEO traffic now its published on a forums ...)
- so that would be a *bad* choice

maybe you meant 123reg (part of pipex, unless they've managed to sell it now) - large, established, not great on support, cheap for some domains, not so cheap for others, there are worse.

burble · 18th September 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by othellotech

maybe you meant 123reg (part of pipex, unless they've managed to sell it now) - large, established, not great on support, cheap for some domains, not so cheap for others, there are worse.

Aren't they owned by the same people as webfusion now?

othellotech · 18th September 2008

webfusion was hosteurope who sold out to pipex (this weeks chosen "company name" is back to being gxn) over 3 years ago ;p
keep up at the back ...

burble · 18th September 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by othellotech

webfusion was hosteurope who sold out to pipex (this weeks chosen "company name" is back to being gxn) over 3 years ago ;p
keep up at the back ...

Webfusion is owned by GXN is owned by Pipex is owned by Tiscali?! It's so confusing! Learn something new every day. I'll just go back and sit in the corner.

But yes, original poster, go for someone who's reputable rather than just cheap. Lots of fine people here do them - surprised nobody's been poking you at their websites, what with this being the the "request a product" forum and all.

racksensesid · 18th September 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by burble

Webfusion is owned by GXN is owned by Pipex is owned by Tiscali?! It's so confusing! Learn something new every day. I'll just go back and sit in the corner.

Unless I'm mistaken, GXN is not owned by Pipex. Pipex was sold to Tiscali, the bits that were left over became part of GXN (i.e. WebFusion).

That's obviously a simplification.

Sid

othellotech · 18th September 2008

the pipex dsl service was flogged off and isnt called pipex anymore AFAICR, pipex is still gx is still 123reg is still hosteurope is still xo comms is still gxn is still gx network is still xoc is still donhost is still .... the name changes on at a least a quarterly basis ...

racksensesid · 18th September 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by othellotech

the pipex dsl service was flogged off and isnt called pipex anymore AFAICR, pipex is still gx is still 123reg is still hosteurope is still xo comms is still gxn is still gx network is still xoc is still donhost is still .... the name changes on at a least a quarterly basis ...

You might want to have a chat with Tiscali then:

Pipex Internet Limited, a Tiscali UK company, 20 Broadwick Street, London W1F 8HT

Mercyknight · 18th September 2008

Ok, thanks for the information so far, but how do I go about paying a one off fee and owning an domain name for life?! I don't feel like renting it, and then having to renew it, I want it to belong to me and obviously I'd be paying for the server support etc... but the actual domain name is what I want as my own forever! Lol

racksensesid · 18th September 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercyknight

Ok, thanks for the information so far, but how do I go about paying a one off fee and owning an domain name for life?! I don't feel like renting it, and then having to renew it, I want it to belong to me and obviously I'd be paying for the server support etc... but the actual domain name is what I want as my own forever! Lol

That's actually how it works - you buy a domain name, until it expires. Some domains will expire after a year by default, some after two years.

Your domain registrar can however automatically renew for you (per year for example), for as long as you continue to pay them.

There might be some esoteric top level domains that don't expire, but I don't know of them.

Basically - this is normal.

Sid

PaulTG · 18th September 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by othellotech

the pipex dsl service was flogged off and isnt called pipex anymore AFAICR, pipex is still gx is still 123reg is still hosteurope is still xo comms is still gxn is still gx network is still xoc is still donhost is still .... the name changes on at a least a quarterly basis ...

I love it when people keep their company hierachy simple don't you? Does anyone else think that board meetings are spent just drawing out flow-charts of the different divisions on the massive white board to get everyone back onboard?

othellotech · 19th September 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercyknight

Ok, thanks for the information so far, but how do I go about paying a one off fee and owning an domain name for life?!

How long are you going to live - find a registry that will take years*domaincost from you and "hope" they dont go belly up before you die

With the majority of domains types (come/net/org/biz/info/uk/tv etc) you never "own" anything per-se, you retain a right to have the domain listed in the regitsry zone files for as long as you continue to pay for it and no-one disputes your right to use it.