I was hoping for some credible insights as to how to evaluate a NEW webhost for which I need:
server for two sites, 6-8 other aliases (rerouting)
no e-mail broadcast restrictions through hoster's e-mail server (technical newsletter - NOT spam)
tech support availability
800 number useable in Canada for tech support
forum compatible
network status available on net
2 Gig space total
fast server needed - I checked for T3 but most seem not to be available to the public (ie verizon) and there seems to be a lot of misrepresentation of speed
need/want foreign language support (not just Unicode, as seems the case with Yahoo) for Chinese & Japanese in particular)
we do not sell on our website
minimal downtime during the transition from the old hoster to new

I am looking for a new hoster because:
1) level of downtime of e-mail server is unacceptable
2) tech support timited to weekdays and business hours
3) when they have problems they ignore my e-mails. Last time, they PUT a voice mail on their line for two days saying they had phone difficulties while both the webserver and e-mail server were down.
4) I only get 300 MB space per site - though they do only charge me for one site - they provide a second "free"

Any advice or suggestions would be gratefully accepted. PERHAPS even possible critical questions/issues that need be addressed by a potential new hoster.

One other question - anyone know of an easy/ier way of converting an HTML website to CSS?Whats up with no replies - did I ask too many questions in my post? I know that there is lots of experise on this site - like SOYBEAN - who I am sure can make some helpful comments on at least some of the issues??