[Narcissus]

I am getting ready to renew my domain name again. I am currently listed under Network Solutions, which I believe is Verisign now. I see quite a few name servers now that are much more affordable than the $70/2year deal from NetSol. What do I get? What do I lose? Speed, service, reliability?

Here are some I have seen so far: BuyDomains.com, Domains.com, NameScout.com. Any I should avoid? My budget has really shrunk with so much lost business since last year, so I need to pinch any penny I can.
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[The Neoracle]

Godaddy.com

You don't lose anything. Netsol used to have a monopoly on the domain market, that's why they charged so much, it's been opened up and now many companies can provide the exact same service for a much cheaper price.

[Narcissus]

Thanks.

I had heard of the Verisign scams, so that was also another big reason to drop them.

[Sem]

I use registerfly.com. Good pricing, and a pretty nice control panel for managing your domains. They tend to run specials every three months or so for members.

Sem

[riceraver]

has anyone transfered domain hosts before? i haven't done that but i will be needing to soon and have no idea whats involved in it or what it'll cost

[supernova333]

Do you mean switching hosts or transfering your domain to another registrar?

Going to another registrar will usually cost you one year renewal on the domain. (that shouldn't be more than $15 or you are paying too much) You won't have any down time doing this, all the information for the domain stays the same.

Switching hosts can be a little tricky. You will want to set up your hosting account at the new host before changing the domain name DNS entry so you can test everything out. If you have any scripts, they will probably need to have some paths and settings changed. Once the site looks good at the new host, you have to point the domain name toward the new host. They will give you a primary and secondary Name (or DNS) Server. If you registered the domain name, you will need to log in and change these settings. If you didn't, you will need to talk to the person who set it up.

Any changes to the domain name can take up to 48 to be seen all across the internet. Either way, you should be able to do the switch without any down time.