Escape from iPowerWeb: How to leave iPowerWeb
Escape from iPowerWeb: How to leave iPowerWeb.
After countless hundreds getting in touch with us over continuing iPowerWeb problems, we decided it was time to write a thorough guide on how to cancel an iPowerWeb account.
The success of our free ipowerweb transition program hasn't gone unnoticed, so we're still continuing it.
Below, we'll document the movement process step by step! It's a surprisingly simple process and the only arduous part of the journey is actually cancelling with iPowerWeb. If you follow the guide below, you should be able to get over to a new web hosting provider within 24 hours.
Choosing a new web host: The first step
The first step of getting out of iPowerWeb is to choose a new web hosting provider. In order to have a place to move your content and domain name, you'll need a new web host. Given the thousands of reviews Hostjury currently has from real clients, you've come to the right spot.
You can check out our web hosting reviews to help you select a new provider. There's a number of companies that clients moving away from iPowerWeb have had success with including:
You're certainly more than welcome to research your own though on our site. There's more than enough information here to get a good idea of who is who in the web hosting industry. Remember to thoroughly research each web hosting provider that you're considering -- after all, you don't want to be stuck with another iPowerWeb. There's a number of other companies out there actually owned by the same folks at Endurance International Group as well including PowWeb, so be very careful!
Here's a list that we know of:
AccountSupport
BizLand
BlueDomino
DomainHost
eHost
EntryHost
FatCow
FreeYellow
HostCentric
HostYourSite
HyperMart
ImOutDoors
iPowerWeb (iPower)
NetWorksHosting
PowWeb
PureHost
ReadyHosting
USAnetHosting
VirtualAve
Xeran
Avoid the above companies like the plague!
Try testing the companies support prior to signing up. The more testing you do, the higher the likelihood you'll end up with an excellent web hosting company. Once you've selected one.. you're ready for step two!
Retrieving your domain name
This step only applies to those clients who have registered their domain name through iPowerWeb. If you haven't, you can skip this step entirely and move onto the next one. If you have, the information below should allow you to get the access details to manage your domain name.
The first step to retrieving your domain name is contacting the OpenSRS Compliance Officer. OpenSRS is a domain reseller system owned by Tucows. It's also the system in which iPowerWeb sells domain names through so you'll need to get in touch with Tucows to retrieve it.
The compliance officers' contact details are:
E-mail: compliance@tucows.com
You'll need to explain that you've exhausted all methods of retrieving your domain name details & that you're just looking to move at this point. The provider will give you what are known as 'OpenSRS' login details or at the very least -- they'll resend them to the original e-mail on file. You may need to provide them with some additional information in order to verify your identity, but as long as you're the contact on file you should have no trouble with Tucows.
Unlike iPowerWeb, they're a great company.
Once you've retrieved your login details, you'll be able to access their OpenSRS system through the following link:
iPowerWeb Domain Management Panel
Inside you'll find all sorts of goodies including the ability to manage your nameservers / DNS. As long as you can modify your DNS / Nameservers, you can change hosting providers fairly easily. Now, onto step three!
Moving your content
Now here's where things might just get a bit tricky. In fact, that's why we have our free ipowerweb migration assistance program for users who need help moving. A number of the providers we have on our review list probably won't hesitate to assist you move though, so don't be bashful and forget to ask! It might save you a lot of hassle.
Moving your content itself though is essentially as easy as reuploading your data. If you have your new account details, you can FTP your information using them & that should just about sort everything. One step that a number of users may need to take though if they have dynamic sites like forums & other content management systems though is 'backing up your database'. Backing up your database through iPowerWeb can be done via your control panel.
Once inside your iPowerWeb control panel, you'll see a mysql or database management section. You'll need to login using your databases' login details (Contact us if you don't have them, this part could be tricky!). Once inside follow the directions at this site for backing up and restoring databases from phpMyAdmin. That part isn't necessarily going to be a cakewalk, so if you have any questions at all don't hesitate to contact us at feedback@hostjury.com and we can try to help.
Once you've moved all of your content, you're ready to point your domain name!
Pointing your domain name
By now, you should have received an e-mail from the Tucows Compliance officer about your domain name if you registered it through iPowerWeb. If you have access to openSRS, these changes can be made via the 'nameservers' panel there. If you've registered your domain name elsewhere (you smart cookie, you!) you can manage them through your specific panel.
You'll want to switch the nameservers over to your new providers' (the one they've given you) only after you're sure that 100% of your content and databases have been copied over. You'll also want to ensure that any e-mail accounts you require have been created ahead of time to avoid any e-mail loss. The rest, of course is history!
Once the switch takes place there will 'potentially' be some availability of your domain name for DNS propagation but that's almost ancient history these days. If you change your dns and still can't see your new site, try clearing your DNS cache on your local computer.
For windows uesrs, it's simple:
1. start, run, type: cmd
2. ipconfig /flushdns
3. try reloading your site!
For the rest of you, google it!
Once you're done with that, bravo. You've escaped from iPowerWeb.
The remainder of the steps are fairly easy.
Cleaning up with iPowerWeb!
The last few steps are just insurance of sorts. The first thing you'll want to do after escaping from iPowerWeb and seeing your site back up and online is cancelling with iPowerWeb. Cancelling is surprisingly easy and can be done via phone. On average it takes about 30-60 minutes to cancel so be sure to have some free time before sitting down.
“In order to discontinue your services we will need for you to contact our billing department at 888-511-4678 or 602-716-5399. Our billing department is available 24/7.”
Be sure to have your customer ID, mother's maiden name, city of birth & last 4 digits of your credit card number available before calling. They'll help you through the process fairly promptly. Note that a number of users have experienced 'rebilling' from iPowerWeb even after cancellation in the past so keep an eye on your credit card payment logs.
After cancelling, you'll want to transfer your domain name to another registrar. I'd personally recommend using the one with your provider or Namecheap. The only information you'll need to perform a transfer is the AUTH or EPP code from your OpenSRS panel. The information is readily available there & Namecheap and other companies should be able to provide you with instructions for transferring.
Enjoy the new provider, thousands of others already are.
Escape from iPowerWeb
Augphoto,
It depends on where your domain name is registered. Technically, all you need is your domain name 'unlocked' and an EPP (Authorization code, listed under 'domain extras' within tucows) to move away.
If you provide those details to Hostgator they'll be able to whisk you away safely :)
I, too, have had NO support from ipower!
I have moved (happily) to Hostgator. Everything is done except the transfer of my domain name. Here, I am extremely confused. Is this done at Tuscows? ipower? Hostgator? Please help with finalizing this transfer, as I don't know where to start
Sean,
After losing 50% of your clientbase it would be relatively hard not to improve support wait times -- if no employees have been let go.
200 representatives are now handling on average of 1,000 users. I've personally handled an average of 5,000 myself with about 5 minute response time averages ;)
Previously it was 150 representatives for 700,000 -- although even that's no excuse for the horrible lack of attention & dishonesty on a lot of their parts.
Some positive news perhaps...
I started reading this blog back in December 2007 and the rate of entries was high. I have noted a substantial decrease in new responses.
Yes, iPower had heaps of problems and I too have left them. This site's help was valuable, however Tucows, as reported by others, was useless. What's the good news then? Well, I believe iPower is slowly getting on top of things. The live chat wait, which incidently always seemed to say "you are number 12 in the queue", is now no longer the wait it used to be. I actually got through after 15 minutes and a very courteous person reset my domain management password so I could change the name servers.
I have now transferred my domain from iPower to another party and that process was not delayed by iPower at all.
I then send an email off to iPower and asked them how I could cancel my account with them. I had a quick response and they advised me that I could call but also gave me a link to their web site to cancel online. Again they were very polite and helpful. They followed up with an acknowledge stating that my account was now cancelled and I should not incur any further charges on my credit card.... I will keep an eye on that one!
So perhaps things will work out in the future. For now I am staying away from hosts with over 500,000 customers...
Jason, I never heard back from Tucows either. I went and did everything myself. If you manage to get through to support, iPower will supply you with the login for your server admin and you can unlock the domain and change the nameservers on your own.
I have contacted Tucows with three emails trying to get out of Ipowers grasp, but have yet to hear anything from them at all concerning this.
You should add Dot 5 Hosting to the list of hosts to avoid like the plague. I have an email from a tech at Dot 5 where he specifically refers to IPower as their sister company. If you want to verify this, just contact me and I can forward the email.
You *can* get a full refund from IPower, but you may have to register a complaint through BBB to do it. That's what it took for me to get a refund.
I was with IpowerWeb for three years. It was pretty smooth sailing, actually, until they migrated to the new system. After that, I noticed that I couldn't use subdomains correctly. I could no longer see subdomain.website.com. I contacted them and they said under the new system and security, I had to access it as website.com/subdomain. That was unacceptable to me as that essentially gets rid of subdomains as a whole. Also, I had tons of data loss on the root page. I lost photos and the site page (index.html). Fortunately, I have back ups of the photos on my local PC and I've been wanting to revamp the page anyway. Using FTP, I can see some of the data still there, but not all of it. I lost data in random folders as well. Folders were there, but empty. Fortunately, I don't run a business or anything, otherwise I would've crapped a fit. The best thing about it was that it led me to this great blog and I got together with Host Gator a couple of months ago. Since I still had a couple of pre-paid months with Ipower, I let it go until a few days before it was to renew. I just called this morning and I must have been one of the lucky ones as I was on hold for less than 15 minutes. The process to cancel once I got a rep was only a few minutes. Even though I had mentioned that it was scheduled to renew in 3 days, just to make sure I was clear, I asked her to make sure that Ipower does not charge me. She checked on it and typed in notes in her system to not have my CC charged. If I was canceling today, I wonder why she had to type in notes to billing renewal about that?? Anyway, I'll check my CC statement in a couple of weeks to see if I was charged or not. Big SIGH OF RELIEF getting out from under Ipower. That migration to the new system was TERRRRRRIBLE!!!!
Been with iPowerWeb for over four years now, but I've had it. My blog has been essentially inaccessible for over a month now. It takes FOREVER for it to load. I have contacted customer service several times and have been told that they are upgrading their databases. I asked when the problem will be fixed and they said they had no idea. This is the final straw. I just contacted tucows as instructed by this guide. How long should it take to hear from them?
I run a music school and recording studio here in Norway. I am from the UK and have been with IPW for around 10 years plus some. I have no entry to anything regarding my URL - no website, no e-mail, nothing. I rely on my website for customer registration for new and existing pupils. When I run the whois in my browser, it tells me that my URL is available????
I have made the escape!! Thank you thank you thank you! I HIGHLY recommend MediaLayer. You won't believe this, but they answer emails and phone calls IMMEDIATELY. I about fainted. NO waiting. VERY helpful, made the switch for me with ease including wordpress blog, 100 page site and more. I am so in love I sent them a care package!!
Ron, which hosting server have you switched to? Any reliable out there?
IPowerWeb cost my company $8500.00 last year, when they canceled one of our clients' database driven, e-commerce websites we had designed for them... the reason? "We can not locate an account under that domain name, and so we deleted that account"... Does that even make sense?!? IPower did not even help us retreive all the programming files our developers had put on the server. They whiped everything clean, HOWEVER they billed my client every month for the service. We had to pay out of pocket for a complete new website for our customer, who immediately switched to another host.
I've been with iPower for 7 years. Have 11 clients on their servers. The problems started about a few months ago since they moved to Vdeck 3.
There is no technical support, no billing support. They even cancelled my account and charged 2 others twice! After a phone conversation (35min. waiting for a person!) they will reactivate the accounts in 12-24 hours! It sucks!
The tech person could not help me with email forward issue that does not work the way it should.
I've arranged my personal account with StartLogic which, as turned out, is the same company as iPower!!! The StartLogic charges 1/4 the price but it sucks as much as the iPower. I'll gradually move my clients accounts as they are close to expire to different hosts (which one??)
Please, DON't consider iPower at this time unless they improve and prove that they did.
I have successfully moved all of my domains away from IpowerCrap and have them hosted by 1and1.com. I had to file a claim with the Phoenix BBB to get one of my domains refunded, but I'm done. Been with 1and1.com for a month now and smooth sailing. I know there is a lot said about 1and1.com's support, but every Phillipine person I talked to has been excellent AND they answer the phone! Plus, they're main office is only around the other side of Philly, PA. Only a 45 minute ride to yell at someone if things go south.
I am switching our host from IPower to CrystalTech today! For the past few months we have had nothing but email issues, vDeck login issues, downtimes, slow response from the technical support, etc. For the past week, no one in our office can use CuteFTP Pro 7 to upload or download anything without getting errors.
Jesse,
As far as I am aware, Site5 is not owned by Endurance.
You mention some of the companies in your introduction that people have had success with. I thought that Site5 was one of the Endurance brand hosting companies. i.e. StartLogic, iPower, etc.??
Ehost absolutely sucks. I'm sorry. I don't spend time posting crap like this often, but i am so beyond my wits end with those nitwits. If anyone has an issue can attest to, you try their online chat person who never seems to notice ANY performance problem that you can notice from multiple internet providers, etc. It's a joke... They 'escalate' issues by putting a ticket into their system and saying 'Please allow 24-48 hours for your issue to be resolved'. I ask them what the issue is - and they say 'sorry, we can't see any problems'. So then I ask, "What are you going to resolve in 24-48 hours then!?!". Complete disconnect. I've had countless performance tickets in because I believe my MySql is unavailable or the server is otherwise taxed...but they don't give a crap - there's thousands of idiots like me with their server data on ehost...what's one less if I decide to leave. Honestly, the lack of interest with my problem just amazes me.