Editor's opinion
Sean Thompson
I am a full-time web developer & IT professional with more than 18 years experience. I have been working with numerous hosting companies over the years.
First impression
UK2.Net, a global provider of internet services, was launched in 1998 by Danish entrepreneur Bo Bendtsen as a low-cost, no-frills provider of Internet domain names, and by the year 2000 already became one of the UK's largest web hosting companies, with an estimated 435,000 customers.
After going through a series of strategic acquisitions, it was finally acquired by THG plc in 2017 and now forms part of THG Ingenuity, an e-commerce services platform. Its services include Shared Hosting, VPS Hosting, Domain Name Registration, and Dedicated Servers.
Trial Period
If you find yourself unsatisfied with your UK2 Web Hosting package and still fall within the initial 30 days of signing up, you are entitled to a full refund. This refund excludes any Set Up Fees, Domain Name Registration Fees, or Overages.
To claim your refund, all you need to do is cancel your account by submitting a support ticket. Upon receiving your ticket, UK2 will process your refund within 30 days. Refunds are issued through either BACS or WorldPay.
Billing Cycle
UK2 customers can choose from monthly, annual, biennial, or triennial subscription options for Shared Hosting plans, with substantial discounts of up to 40% offered for longer commitments. For VPS plans, payments are accepted only on a monthly basis.
Accepted payment methods include Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal, ensuring convenient and flexible payment options for their customers.
Control Panel
UK2 has chosen to utilize the industry-standard cPanel, providing users with a comprehensive platform to manage their applications, backups, and security. This web hosting control panel is highly user-friendly and simplifies the management of web hosting and websites for users employing content management systems (CMS) such as WordPress, Drupal, Magento, and Joomla.
Designed to eliminate the complexities of web hosting, cPanel aims to make users' lives easier. Within this proven system, you'll find all the necessary tools to effortlessly create and automate server management tasks. This allows you to direct your focus towards what truly matters - your business, your customers, and ensuring a seamless website experience.
Limits
Customers who sign up for Shared Hosting have three plans to choose from, namely Starter, Pro, and Enterprise.
Starter, their entry-level plan, includes 10GB Storage, 10x MySQL databases, and you are allowed a single website. Pro and Enterprise both boast unlimited storage and MySQL databases, and what sets these two apart is that Enterprise has no limit on the number of websites whereas Pro is limited to 10.
All plans come standard with Unmetered Bandwidth, Unlimited Wildcard SSL certificates, Unlimited POP/IMAP mailboxes, and Free Daily Backups. What I really like is the fact that they include a complimentary domain name for the lifespan of your plan – something very few providers offer.
The only downside though is that the storage still runs on standard HDDs and not super-fast SSD drives.
For VPS plans, there are various scalable options, ranging from the V1-20 plan with 0.5GB RAM, 25GB SSD Disk Space, 2TB Bandwidth, and 1 Core CPU, to the top-tier V8-20 plan with 48GB RAM, 500GB SSD Disk Space, 9TB Bandwidth, and 8 Core CPU.
Website Builder
UK2 provides its customers with a custom-made drag-and-drop website builder. It features over 140 stylish, responsive, and easily editable templates, making it a great option for users with no coding skills who need to establish their web presence quickly. However, compared to what many other providers offer, the builder is rather basic. Additionally, it comes with a relatively high monthly fee, which, in my opinion, may be a bit steep considering what is offered. Many providers include more advanced builders free of charge.
Security
UK2 owns and manages its own data centers, strategically located in the USA, UK, and Europe. These state-of-the-art and highly secure facilities are equipped with optical, ionization, and heat detection sensors, as well as VESDA fire detection systems. With on-site staff available 24/7, your servers are consistently safeguarded.
At the hosting level, all accounts receive complimentary Unlimited Wildcard SSL Certificates through Let’s Encrypt, ensuring comprehensive protection across primary and subdomains. Additionally, UK2 provides free daily backups, along with antivirus and antispam protection.
For enhanced security, UK2 offers a "Managed Security Cleanup" service in case of file or server breaches. This service involves three key components: a Security Investigation to identify the root cause of the compromise, a Cleanup to eliminate any malware, viruses, or unauthorized users, and a Hardening process where security agents fortify your applications and plugins according to recognized security best practices.
It's important to note that this service comes with an additional one-time fee.
OS
They employ CloudLinux for their Shared Hosting plans. In contrast, their VPS options provide users with a selection of Operating Systems, including CentOS 7, Ubuntu 18.04 / 20.04 / 22.0, Debian 10 / 11 / 12, Rocky Linux 8, AlmaLinux 8, and CentOS Stream 8. Additional choices such as CentOS 7 (including cPanel), Windows 2016 & Windows 2019 Standard Edition, and AlmaLinux 8 (including cPanel) are also available but come with an extra monthly fee.
Support
Technical support agents are friendly and available around the clock via Phone, Email, Support Tickets, and Live Chat. They are quick to respond on Live Chat, almost instant, but unfortunately, I can't say the same for email, where I had to wait an average of 10 hours for a reply. I also got the feeling that their support is outsourced and at times had to ask the same question multiple times before my issues were sorted out.
Conclusion
Pros |
Cons |
- 30-day money-back guarantee;
- Free Wildcard SSL certificates;
- Free daily backups;
- Free domain for the lifespan of your plan.
|
- Average support;
- Very basic website builder.
|
With UK2, you receive some valuable features at no additional cost, such as unlimited Wildcard SSL certificates and a complimentary domain for the duration of your contract, a rarity among providers. In my opinion, they are worth considering if you are seeking straightforward and user-friendly web hosting services. However, I believe their support is a weak point, and the fact that their Shared Hosting still utilizes outdated HDDs instead of faster Solid State Drives makes them a less attractive option compared to some of their competitors.