If you are looking to select a web hosting package, what should you look for to make sure the package you select is worthwhile?

In my experience i'd say, the following.
1. Make sure there are NO ADS!
2. Server uptime needs to be guaranteed for at least 99.9%.
3. Monthly bandwidth should be at least 3GB or more.
4. Disk Space needs be a minimum of 100MB really.
5. Mysql databases are always needed i believe
6. Technical Support response time needs to be responsive.
7. Get the best price but make sure it's reasonable as you may receive a cowboy service if the price is to good to be true!

Check the reviews before you go with a host very important to google your webhost like i did with streamline.

Hope it helps, and remeber if something sounds to good to be true it proberly is.

will there ever be a server uptime that will be 100%. It's always that 99.9%

it's impossible to have a server uptime as 100% due to the reason , servers are upgraded, re-booted and datacenter's are switched round etc it all depends on how busy your webhost is. If there really busy they will be hosting 4-5 web domains on one server if not more and due to space required they will upgrade hard drives, increase memory and upgrade the cpu's running the servers. This is all done to benefit the clients on the server.

Most places you can buy packages that have different levels of guaranteed up time. Recently I had a horrible time with a host, who three times in as many months left me without a website for more than 3 days at a time. It was horrendous.

But I hadn't paid for protection, had got the cheapest package which made no guarantees. So all I could do was whine....

i'm sorry to hear that britjojo hope it has not put you off hosting in general. I recommend you try streamline for your next host when you decide or if you decide to change webhosts in the future. Also feel free to use the link in these forums if you do as i make a little commission from it.

Right now I don't have a site to host. I am between projects, just helping run other people's sites, so it's their problem if they have to suffer or pay a lot, not mine.

Mean aren't I? But when the time comes, I'll look at it. Thanks.

No your not mean , your thinking straight although it always helps to have a server at your ready if you need to test a website project etc.

I know alot of programmers whom would not know how to work properly without a webserver to test there code updates on.

Haha that's me. I've had my own servers for so long I wouldn't know what to do if I had to go back to shared hosting.

I do a lot of playing around with scripts and programming, and it's just so much easier if you have your own server. And of course there's a lot of stuff you just can't do if you don't have root access to a server.

Hence why I have apache, php and mysql installed on my laptop.

This was my thought. If I was that serious a programmer I would simply install apache or whatever else I needed on a stand alone machine that I had in my house. I mean, all a server is is a computer.

Yup, that's the easiest way to do it. Any computer can run as a server, it just needs to be set up correctly.

1). I'm not serious. I play around a lot (I'm in the learning process, and nobody to teach me. I'm teaching myself). and

2). I need a place to host my own sites. I sell hosting to others to cover my server fees so that my own hosting is free. and

3). I'm having a BLAST with my own servers. I have gained an incredible amount of skills in a short period of time.

I always look at three things:
1. Speed
2. Uptime
3. Technical support

Most people look for big number in space or bandwidth. Truthfully, you will never use such high amounts of space or bandwidth so there's no point in looking for high number there.
Uptime and responsiveness of support is far more important.

I have been with one that has been a dream host...

1.) Uptime 99.9% uptime
2.) Technical Support if I have a coding problem their technical support staff knows PHP, MySQL and everything so is usually able to fix errors for me.
3.) Price is wonderful.