Changing web hosts

[campo]

After years of using unreliable free hosts I set up on a paid site last March. Everything was brilliant originally but I suspect the host I use could be becoming victims of their own success.
I now have continual problems and glitches with the CP panel which I use so that editing anything is fast becoming a nightmare. Support is apparently excellent to the degree that they always get back to you within 15 minutes but actually poor because the person getting back to you does not give you enough info or apparently truly understand the situation. I now feel that I may not renew here next March.
Is transferring everything (including the domain name which the present people host) to a new web host really difficult?? Anybody been through this??Any advice appreciated!

[bAdWaYz]

I have done that very thing a few times. The big trick "at least for me" was to get things going long before you actually plan to go live. Transfering a domain to another host isn't that big a deal and can useually be done in about 38 hours, the snag is the paperwork you have to do to show the domain is under your ownership. Most good hosting companies will let you fax in paperwork to show you own the domain and then they will start the transfer. So backup your site then start the paperwork, wait for the 38 hours and if all is well you will be all set on a new host.

[campo]

My present host just included the domain name (which I obviously chose) in the package - I have never seen any documentaion on this! Should I look into this?

[bAdWaYz]

So your parents got a package deal like 3 free domains with hosting? In order to transfer that domain even if its a free one in a package you will still need to show ownership. Likely since its your parents package the domain is under their ownership but as long as you have access to print out that info you can just fax it to the host you want and they should transfer it no problem. Once its transferd if you want to change ownsership to your name thats another story. You may need to get your parents to fill out some paperwork on that as well. If you don't mind my asking what hosting company do you have now and what company do you plan to go with?

[rockboy]

Hi campo, if you purchased a combination domain name/web hosting package you still should be able to transfer either or both. It depends on the terms of the original contract. You may be locked in for a period of time or pay a premium for early transfer. The website should have an faq or terms you can read to find out. Who is the current host?