SigmaNet is a Latvia-based web hosting provider that puts great emphasis on brand values such as professionalism, data security, dependability, and technical expertise. Established more than 25 years ago, this vendor is among the top ten largest web hosting companies in Latvia by market share. They have registered more than 4,000 domain names, hosted more than 3,000 websites, and have more than 40,000 email users all over Latvia. Their website can be switched between Latvian and English languages.
Features and Ease of Use
SigmaNet is best known for providing shared web hosting, VPS, and email hosting solutions that include the following standard features:
- Webmail support
- FTP data exchange
- SSL certificate
- MySQL / PostgreSQL
- phpPgAdmin and phpMyAdmin
SigmaNet’s primary offering appears to be combined email and website hosting that comes in three flavors: alpha, beta, and gamma. It includes at least 5 GB storage for each email account, plus email admin panel and webmail support. They perform daily website backups to prevent loss of files and data, with backups being available for 14 days. Email backups can only be recovered from SigmaNet’s servers if the client’s email account uses SigmaNet webmail, the POP3/POP3S protocol, or the IMAP4/IMAP4S protocol, and the “save a copy of the message” option is enabled on the server.
The VPS plan allows clients to easily customize features such as HDD, RAM, and data transfer capacity. Because this hosting company’s VPS servers have supposedly limitless resources and can be deployed with all the necessary software, the VPS plan is an ideal solution for clients looking for vast server resources and the ability to install their own applications.
SigmaNet’s highly secure data center has 24/7/365 server monitoring, fire alarm systems, firewall, climate control, and video surveillance to keep their customers’ data safe. This data center also features a continuous power supply with UPS units and a diesel generator for backup power supply.
Prices and Support
SigmaNet provides affordable hosting plans, priced in euros, which can be paid for on a monthly or annual basis. You can potentially save money by paying annually, and they also offer discounts whereby you get one or two months’ free hosting when you pay for five or ten months in advance. Note that these discounts don’t include domain name registration or the provision of data transfer services.
Virtual server installation is free, as is the first time data recovery, but any additional data recoveries cost extra. There is no uptime guarantee and no money-back guarantee, but remember that you don’t have to commit for more than a month if you don’t want to (and if you’re happy not to save any money).
Customers can contact SigmaNet’s 24/7 technical support team via telephone, ticket, email, Skype or their social networking channels. I have found their response time to be satisfactory. For administrative help, you can even visit them at the University of Latvia’s Mathematics and Computer Science department during weekday office hours, but they are closed to callers at weekends.
SigmaNet maintains a fairly detailed knowledge base that includes a good number of tutorials and an FAQ section addressing most of the questions customers are likely to ask.