1&1 Web Hosting is a mediocre web hosting provider that offers basic web hosting packages with limited functionality. And while the service lacks eCommerce features and can be cumbersome to use, its unrivaled 90-day money back guarantee is a strong incentive to give the service a try – assuming you aren’t looking to host an eCommerce website.

1&1 Web Hosting’s packages are conventional to say the least and certainly nothing we haven’t seen before. The only package that offers truly unlimited hosting is the business plan, with unlimited disk space, bandwidth and MySQL databases. The starter and unlimited plans both have caps on various features and hosting capabilities. We did like, however, that the web hosting service lets you choose between Windows or Linux hosting. While this won’t matter to most users, if you have a preference when it comes to programming languages, you may find this useful.

This web hosting service provides an integrated control panel that gives you access to your pages, image files, publishing tools and more. It also has a website builder that allows you to build very simple websites with just a few pages. Other features the service has include basic site statistics and shared SSL certificates, important if you plan on hosting an eCommerce website.

When it comes to server access, 1&1 Web Hosting supports secure shell (SSH) access and the business plans provide unlimited FTP accounts. What the service lacks is .htaccess and anonymous FTP, both of which would further enhance the service’s access options.

Most of the service’s features are easy to use, but we did run into a few problems when navigating the service. We found answers to most of our questions by contacting the web hosting service directly. One-on-one technical support is available 24/7 over the phone or via email. Each of the representatives we spoke to was friendly and helpful, providing informative answers to our questions. Where the service lacks is additional resources. The 1&1 Web Hosting site offers virtually no documentation or support resources, save for a few FAQs and a single video tutorial; neither proved to be very helpful. Perhaps the biggest issue we have is how difficult the service makes it for users to access support. We scoured the website looking for a support section. The one and only posted link to the support section can be found in small print in a navigation bar located at the very bottom of the homepage. Additional support resources are crucial for a web hosting service, as they help current and potential users better comprehend web hosting and understand the service.